#and Silver would hate that! Silver would not at all want Espio to have someone else dictate what he's supposed to be doing

[true-blue-sonic]

I know for sure I've asked about this a long time ago before but I'm kinda back to thinking about how different the development of Espio and Silver's dynamics would've been in Rivals 2 if they weren't as quick to fully trust each other as they were in canon but remained "enemies" a bit longer and only really teamed up out of necessity. If their dynamic isn't already near-spotless following an inexplicable "for some reason I trust you" type conversation, there's more room (and requirement, really) for growth on both sides; in the original dynamic it feels more like if there's any growth to be had then it'd be solely on Silver, so this thought might also help find a balance

I recall having talked about it before as well, yes. I would say that Espio and Silver alike have quite a few vices that would make cooperating between them far more difficult: they're both tremendously stubborn, proud, opinionated, hot-heated, and just to the extent neither can let evil go its way. While none of those are necessarily attributes that are bad in the situation they are in, I can envision them clashing very badly because of those traits. Considering Espio is actively chasing Silver down to gather evidence of him committing a crime, Silver's hot-headed nature might cause him to fly right off the handle if Espio keeps pushing him about it. And Silver's haughty and rude attitude in turn might make Espio far less willing to see the best in him and try to trust him. I think it speaks to Silver's honest nature and Espio's ability to see the truth in it that they were able to cooperate so relatively smoothly in Rivals 2, but I can also envision many scenarios wherein things did not go so idyllically until far later in the game.

What you're saying next is actually a bit of an issue I have when writing my fics: I've joked before that Espio is "already perfect" because he's just... basically an expert at everything, haha! He completes his missions well, he's driven and skilled, and his overly serious demeanour as the Chaotix's straight man alongside his snark feels like more like comedy than a flaw or something that truly hinders him to me. Meanwhile, Silver is far more 'imperfect' to me: he jumps to conclusions, he can be uncooperative and rude out of nowhere, and even if he is always right in the end, the way towards that end can be tremendously rocky because of those personality traits. That was why I wanted Espio to also go through a development in Stories that made sense to who he is as a character: specifically that he follows Vector's rule to a T regardless of his personal opinion on the matter, which begins to clash with the fact Silver is very much guilty but did what he did for a good cause (aka not a black-and-white scenario at all). And since Silver plays a central role there as well, I think his flaws can play a role also: he doesn't want Espio to be walked over, but the way in which he conveys that (which is rude as hell) might make things worse at first. Vector might be even more pushy about Espio gathering evidence if he gets yelled at by Silver, and Espio in turn might feel needled and put under pressure from two parties now that demand entirely opposite things from him (in his mind). I think such a thing could help make their dynamic more interesting and also different from New Beginnings, while fitting with their personalities.

[project-sonadow]

Fate?

Summary: Sonic never cared about soulmates, but in a world where everyone had a red string of fate wrapped around their finger, Sonic decided to wear gloves.

Read the rest below!

To put it bluntly, Sonic had never cared about soulmates.

He wasn’t exactly unique in this mindset. In this modern day and era, it was only slightly progressive to spend your entire life without ever meeting your other half, let alone devoting your life to them. Radical ideas, such as platonic soulmates, familial soulmates, or even soulmates being bad if you ended up paired with the wrong person were common talking points in the general public and media. That red string of fate which had governed entire lives in the past no longer seemed critical to most people.

Sonic didn’t care about any of that either. In fact, until he started hanging around populated human areas more often, he didn’t realize there was so much controversy about it. He always lived how he wanted, paying barely any attention to the subject. 

-

Sonic’s friends all had very different opinions about soulmates.

Tails was kind of like him, in that he didn’t care about the red string encircling his pinkie and leading to a far-off point in the distance- or, at least, he pretended not to. Amy had been heartbroken that she and Sonic weren’t soulmates, before deciding to prove to Sonic and the world that true love couldn’t be predetermined by fate (her words, not his). Knuckles didn’t want to leave his duty for long enough to find his soulmate, and had admitted to Sonic once that he felt bad for whoever his soulmate was. Cream was excited to find her soulmate when she got older, but wasn’t under any illusion that it was a requirement for happiness in life, considering that her own mother was forever trailed by her own cut string, dragging limply on the ground, and seemed just fine despite that. Blaze and Silver both viewed it as a luxury that they couldn’t indulge in (ironic, because their shared red string of fate was apparently strong enough to cross through time and dimensions). Vector didn’t care about it at all, considering that he had his eyes set on Vanilla. Espio thought it would get in the way of his “duties as a ninja”, whatever that meant. Charmy just didn’t like the idea of relationships in general. Rouge hated the concept in general, Shadow refused to talk about it, and Omega said he would refuse to accept his soulmate unless they were willing to help him destroy Eggman. Big had a gentle kind of apathy towards his string. Whisper didn’t talk much about the subject to begin with, and considering that she wore blocker gloves 24/7 people didn’t ask her about it. 

Tangle…

Well, it seemed like she was trying very hard to convince herself that she didn’t care about the idea of never finding her soulmate. 

“I just don’t get why everyone thinks it’s such a big deal, y’know. Like it’s great if you do find your soulmate, and in a tiny village like mine half the soulmates are paired up before they’re teenagers, but it’s not like you need to do it! My moms aren’t soulmates and they’re doing just fine!”

Tangle’s moms were currently divorced and trying to rekindle their relationship, but Sonic decided not to bring that up.

“And then we have to throw a huge stupid party everytime someone comes back from vacation with their soulmate in tow, and I just. Ugh. We all make such a big deal out of getting to choose how to live our own lives, but we’re all born with this stupid string around our pinkies and told to go off and find the other end. It’s so annoying.”

This probably wasn’t what was actually bothering her, Sonic thought. It was probably the fact that one day her string had stopped moving by itself, only responding to Tangle’s own body, and currently led to a forest in the middle of nowhere with nobody at the other end. It was probably the fact that her soulmate had apparently been the type of person to try on a pair of blocker gloves one day and then never take them off.

Sonic thought about Whisper. About the blocker gloves she never took off, the way she started fiddling with them whenever Tangle was around. The way she looked so anxious whenever Tangle grabbed her by the hand and started running, like she was scared Tangle would pull the glove clean off. The way Tangle and Whisper looked at each other, in general.

Like always, he wondered if he should tell Tangle what he thought.

Like always, he decided against it.

“If you want a huge stupid party, I can always just throw you one, soulmate or no soulmate,” he said instead. “Hell, if you really want, we could pretend that we’re soulmates just to rub it in your town’s face.”

Tangle fake-gagged, and Sonic took fake-offense to that.

“Like you’re one to talk, Mr. Celebrity,” she said, and Sonic drew himself back a little, spines involuntarily bristling. “Whenever people talk about soulmates you just roll your eyes and say some shit about ‘living free’ and ‘going with the flow’. Do you really not want to find your soulmate? It would be easy for you.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, and then instantly realized what he had done when Tangle started laughing at him. He hastily cleared his throat. “Don’t know if there’s anyone who would be able to keep up with me.”

“I know at least three people who can go about as fast as you can,” Tangle said, punching his shoulder lightly. “C’mon, if you really didn’t care that much you wouldn’t wear those stupid blocker gloves all the time.”

Oh, so she had noticed. “Eh, I mostly wear these because I tend to get mobbed by crazy  fangirls if I don’t. If I make it obvious I’m not really available then most people won’t attempt to tell me that they’re totally different from the hundreds of other people who have been convinced we’re meant to be over the years.”

Tangle narrowed her eyes at that. “Crazy fangirls? Like Amy?”

“Crazier.”

“Wow, scary,” Tangle said, and then moved on to talking about how her own friends had set up a Sonic fanclub once, and the conversation moved on from there, and Sonic was glad he didn’t have to talk about it anymore. 

-

So yeah, Sonic wore blocker gloves, and yeah, it was so he wouldn’t be harassed about the subject whenever he showed his face in public, or when journalists ambushed him on the streets, or people edited photos of him to make it seem like he had a thin red line coming down from his pinkie and leading to some stranger in the photo. It was convenient. It was easy.

It was even mostly the truth.

Sonic knew a couple other people who wore blocker gloves- Blaze studiously kept hers on to keep up a vaguely professional air, even when her cheeks flamed fire-red every single time Silver so much as existed in her general vicinity, Espio had his on so the string couldn’t get in the way of his “duties as a ninja” (seriously, what the hell did that mean), Vector occasionally wore them on the job and had made half-hearted attempts to get a pair for Charmy, which kept on being mysteriously lost. Rouge and Shadow both wore a pair, presumably because of their super-secret spy jobs that Sonic wasn’t supposed to know about (glowing red strings which could phase through any solid object would probably make hiding difficult, he figured), and Omega had found a way to simply turn his string off, somehow, which was more impressive and terrifying than anything else Sonic had seen him do. 

The only person Sonic knew who steadfastly refused to wear blocker gloves was Vanilla, despite the troubles she sometimes saw because of them. She was a single mother whose string had been cut by an untimely death, and she didn’t care who knew it. She lived each day of her life with a bright, happy, genuine smile on her face.

She was, so far, one of the only people who had ever seen Sonic with his gloves off. The only other person besides Tails, actually, who built his gloves in the first place. And the only person who hadn’t said a word to him about the subject, just cleaned the cut he had gotten on his palm and told him to keep himself safe.

He was grateful to her for that.

Rouge was Vanilla’s polar opposite, in regards to the string. She not only hid her string, she made a show of hiding it, commissioning custom blocker gloves and shoving the subject right back in the face of any poor soul who dared to question her about it. She had a million and one excuses for why she didn’t want to find her soulmate, all of them tiptoeing around the truth and never once touching on the actual reason why. She bragged about being able to date anyone she wanted even without showing her string off. She complained about not wanting to be tied down. She whined about how annoying societal expectations were. She crowed about the amount of people who desperately wanted to be her soulmate.

Sonic saw through all of this as the extravagant bullshit that it was, but he really had no idea what the actual reason was. Didn’t really care either. It wasn’t like she brought the subject up an annoying amount either, she was far more likely to yammer on for hours about her one and only actual love (jewels) than she was to start talking about literally any other subject (and if he could put up with the jewel talk, then he could put up with anything). 

It was just that sometimes when they hung out, people would get the wrong idea about them. Sonic and one of his friends (a woman at that), both with blocker gloves, spending time together, alone? It was apparently unthinkable to some that they could just be friends. So they both made a big joke out of it, Rouge flaunting how untouchable she was and Sonic pretending to be heartbroken. It made for some hilarious think pieces about how Sonic was a bad role model, at the very least.

Still, he didn’t want to deal with all of that every time they hung out, which was why Rouge had dragged Shadow along with them this time, mentioning that he owed her for something.

So here they were, sequestered away in a tiny café, Rouge and Sonic talking about everything and nothing, while Shadow was also there, sipping delicately at his tea while Sonic chugged his large chocolate milkshake and Rouge got whipped cream from her hot chocolate all over her face. 

Good times.

For once, the general populace seemed content to ignore them, at least for now, so the conversation went wherever it wanted to, Sonic and Rouge loud and energetic, Shadow quiet and solemn (despite the fact that there was nothing to be solemn about).

At least, nothing until Rouge spilled hot chocolate all over her glove. 

“Ohgoddamnitshit,” Rouge said, all in one breath, dabbing at the stain on her very expensive glove with a napkin, a small frown on her face, before it turned into an outright scowl. “Oh come on-”

She shifted her wrist, and Sonic saw what had bothered her so much. Some of the liquid must have gotten into some of the actual electronics in the glove and messed with it, because Sonic could now see Rouge’s string. Rouge’s cut string.

Rouge groaned, and then shoved her hand under the table, her head in her other hand. “Not. A. Word.”

She said it lightly, like Sonic and Shadow had just seen her do something embarrassing instead of accidentally revealing that her supposed other half was dead and buried, but Sonic could hear the threat in her tone, and he wasn’t going to tell anyone about it anyway. He mimed sealing his lips shut, Shadow just gave her a terse nod, and before either of them could do anything Rouge had thrown some cash onto the table and ran out the front door, presumably to go home, get a new pair of blocker gloves, and hide her face from them for at least a couple months.

Sonic put his chocolate shake down on the table. He had a feeling it wouldn’t taste anywhere near as good as it did a second ago.

“I know Rouge already said as much, but if you tell anyone else about that, you’ll regret it,” Shadow said, the threat in his far less concealed than Rouge’s had been.

“I won’t, jeez,” Sonic said. “I’m not an asshole. And I don’t care about soulmates either.”

Shadow just raised an eyebrow at him, and Sonic glared back half-heartedly. “Those gloves serve a purpose, Sonic.”

“I only wear these because I’m a celebrity for some reason, and people think that makes it okay to pry into every detail of my life.”

“‘For some reason’,” Shadow said, mostly to himself, sounding incredulous. “That can’t seriously be the only reason you wear them.”

Well, it wasn’t, but he wasn’t about to tell Shadow that. Especially when he had no idea what the other hedgehog thought about soulmates beyond just a general unwillingness to speak about the topic. He was born over 50 years ago and raised by a bunch of uptight scientists in literal outer space, so Sonic was curious if he had any different opinions from the general crowd he hung out with.

Shadow didn’t seem willing to share, so Sonic decided to push the issue. Just a bit. “Why do you wear blocker gloves?”

Shadow’s lips curled in a vaguely unpleasant way. “I don’t want to find my soulmate. That’s all.”

Well, that was an unsurprising and boring answer. “Okay, but what would you do if you met your soulmate and fell head-over-heels in love with them? Or if you’ve already met your soulmate, but didn’t know because of the gloves?”

“I wouldn’t fall in love with anyone. And I’m not even slightly concerned about the second possibility. There is nobody in my life who I would want to become my life partner.”

Sonic pouted at him, and something in his chest hurt, just a bit. “Nobody? Not even little old me?”

Shadow’s expression flickered, before it hardened again. “I hope, for your sake, that what you just said was a joke. I’m an immortal being, Sonic. My string will end up cut, at some point or another.”

“Hmm. Good point,” Sonic said. “Well, unless your soulmate is Omega, I guess.”

Shadow choked on his drink, and Sonic couldn’t help but grin like a maniac even as Shadow glared at him (it was less scary than normal, with tea dripping out of his mouth and into his chest fluff. He looked adorable. Sonic tried not to think about the fact that he thought Shadow was adorable). 

Sonic decided against talking about it anymore for his own health (Shadow had proved he was more than willing to suplex Sonic through a table if he annoyed him too much), so instead he just waited for Shadow to finish his tea before handing him some gold rings to pay for the half-drunken milkshake. Shadow glared at the rings like they offended him. “They don’t accept those as payment in human establishments.”

“My mistake,” Sonic said cheekily. “Guess I’m dining and dashing. The next date will be my treat.”

And then he dashed before Shadow could actually suplex him through the table.

-

Sonic didn’t leave the city when he left the café, instead opting to nap on the nearest rooftop before night fell. Whenever he visited the big cities he always made sure to stay off the streets themselves. With so many people all locked into one tiny area, the red strings, thin and frail as they were, became far too many, all at once, hundreds and thousands and millions of them all crisscrossing their way across every visible surface, choking his view and making it impossible to run unless he wanted to be half-blind. So he stuck to the rooftops, and waited for night so he could at least get a good view for his trouble.

At night, the streets of every city lit up, suffused with a red glow, invisible during the day but radiant when the sun went down. The strings varied in size, thickness, length, how strong they were, how much they were moving, but every single one of them, collectively, bound people together in the most literal way possible. If you had a soulmate, it was impossible to get rid of your string. It would remain there until the day you died, so most people still said it was better to try and use it, to find happiness with your other half.

Sonic didn’t put much stock in that idea. Or in the idea of other halves existing in the first place. Some of his friends called him an idealist for thinking so, but he had always believed that people were complete by themselves, and that finding someone else made them something more than just themselves. 

Shadow would probably call him an idealist for that, too. Even if he had a sneaking suspicion it was something close to what the other hedgehog thought.

Or maybe Shadow would just call him stupid. 

High on his chosen perch, Sonic surveyed the glove on his right hand. Tails had made it for him. It was mostly pure white, just like his old gloves, but with a thin ring of silver at the bottom which made its purpose obvious. It looked professionally made. To everyone except him and Tails, it even looked like it worked. 

When he removed it, his hands were bare, free from any string. He never had one in the past, and would probably never have one in the future. Sonic had learned a long time ago how people reacted when they realized he didn’t have a soulmate, and decided he hated it even back then. The gloves were a convenience, a way for him to avoid explaining himself, a preventative measure to stop everyone from looking at him like he was broken. 

Because Sonic wasn’t broken. He only needed himself, so even if fate said he was doomed to be alone he was perfectly fine with that.

Sonic thought back to Shadow, in the café. 

Well, there was a reason he had never put much stock in fate, either.

[multbasa]

I never got into the Archie comics for a variety of reasons, but one of my issues with it was the portrayal of the future where Silver is from. I really really dislike the idea that the future is "stable" and it doesn't matter what happens in the past even with time travel because it won't affect the future. I honestly hate it.

What's the point in traveling back in time if it affects nothing? It doesn't reflect the actual canon future in the Sonic games which is clearly volatile and changes often in response to present events as we can see with Silver's numerous appearances where he had a good future in Colours but a bad future in Forces.

And this will offend some people, but I didn't like the Article future cast either. Silver having his own crew of friends in some unchanging future really defeats the purpose of his time travel and I much prefer the existential horror of the delicate existence of everyone Silver may meet in any one future.

The idea that some existences will be erased or changed when he goes to the past all for the greater good is much more reflective of Silver to me. He's someone who considers the bigger picture over the few which contrasts him from Sonic who had seen what Eggman has done but still would not go so far as to kill him.

We see this side of Silver in '06 where he and Blaze promised to fix the world at any cost, and he struggles with the thought of killing one to save the world. He ends up being unable to choose the world over his only friend and when the sky clears, he looks away even though that was what he wanted all this time.

We also see this in Rivals 2 (albeit more aggressively because every character is super aggressive in that game) where Silver is very driven to complete his goal even at the expense of others for the greater good. He and Espio end up leaving Eggman Nega to die in the Ifrit dimension.

And even though I hate Forces' portrayal of Silver being a "realist", the fact that he prioritizes the bigger issues over finding Sonic does make sense for that part of his character—my issue with Forces is that he can't be a realist because a realist wouldn't travel back in time, and Silver being pessimistic about Sonic surviving while he was optimistic in '06 even when Sonic was dead in front of him is such a mischaracterization.

Silver is the way he is because of how volatile the future is with how much is on the line. He's an optimist who holds onto hope that he can fix everything (which also gives him a bit of an ego). Giving him a stable future defeats the purpose of his time travel and diminishes his motivations. He is the way he is because the future can be changed and changes often.

The IDW comics have Silver in the past for "no reason" which is fine to keep him around in the main cast, but they are not allowed to show details of the future created which is mandated by SEGA. A lot of people hate this, but since the writers are from the Archie comics, I'm actually glad because I fear they would just tread the same ground and make the future impossible to change because it would affect original characters. I'm happy that Silver can be involved in present events because he gets to interact with the main cast a lot more. In Sonic Team Racing, he is shown to be a bit paranoid about things that could happen with a bit of a strong intuition which I think is something that can be explored in the present. He's so focused on the future that he struggles to relax when there isn't an obvious threat. IDW already touched upon this which I think is great and I want to see them explore his character more.

Also give us more depictions of Silver's power. I love the fact that Silver is threatening but everyone is fortunate that he is so focused on doing good. I like seeing characters in the series like Mimic see Silver as a threat.

I think there's a lot that can be explored without establishing some cushy happy future with cushy happy friends. Silver is alone in his time travel and the people he meets in the futures he creates may not exist in the next one and that is way more interesting to me and includes a moral question that is more meaningful than "Silver goes back just to make the past a little nicer which has zero impact on the future because the future doesn't change."

[myymi]

if im not too late with the drabbles;

tails has a really bad nightmare about westside (parent abandonment or another traumatic incident) and he goes to his big bro sonic for some emotional support and cuddles

feel free to ignore this if they arent open :)

word count-1369

ao3

--------------------

He’s tired of running.

He’s tired of being chased.

But he doesn’t want to get hurt, so he keeps running despite how out of breath he was.

That is, until a figure steps out in front of him, causing him to skid to a stop.

Their head was a blurry mess, which he assumes is because of the tears in his eyes.

Somewhere in his mind he knows the real reason, but he doesn’t get much chance to think on it when more blurry figures surround him.

The forest scenery he’d been running through started morphing into other things. The village, the beach, other clearings around the island, until everything went black.

Everything but those damn figures.

They approached him, causing him to shrink down. He couldn’t do anything. They were blocking any chance of running, and everyone knows he’s far too weak to fight back.

His breathing quickened even more as he curled into him, biting down sobs as he prayed to some God out there to protect him despite knowing nobody would do anything for him.

He was a deformed freak. Why would someone save him?

One of the figures grabbed him, and then everything disappeared.

He was trapped in an endless void as voices bounced around the air, insults worse than anything you could think of thrown at him from every angle.

He just had to take it.

Covering his ears did nothing to drown it out.

A few voices were more prominent than the others. He recognized them.

How could he not, when they were laughing about how much better their life was now that he was no longer a part of it?

The voices eventually merged into one, the sentence being repeated over and over.

It started as some random one he’d heard years ago, then morphed into those of his ex-family’s. His older brother, mother, hell even his father despite the fact he hadn’t heard his voice since he was one year old.

It didn’t stop changing.

It eventually morphed into his new family.

First, Shadow.

Next, Rouge.

Vector, Cream, Silver, Espio, Charmy.

Amy then Knuckles. Until, finally..

It was Sonic.

“Why would anyone want a freak like you in their family?”

–

Tails’ eyes shot open, breathing uneven and he felt his fur sticking to his skin in the most uncomfortable ways possible due to all the sweat.

His quick breaths slowed as he looked around, recognizing his bedroom.

He was fine.

No one was chasing him.

With a groan, the fox pushed himself into a sitting position. He brought a hand up to rub at his eyes, pausing when he felt the trail of tears on his muzzle.

He swallowed dryly, suddenly feeling very dehydrated. He glanced at his digital clock as he pulled his blanket off to the side, not caring about neatening it. He had to wash it and his sheets anyway because of all the sweat.

3:37 AM.

Tails wiped away his tears as he exited his room, socked feet taking careful steps on instinct to avoid all the creaky planks.

He hated the noise they made. He really needed to fix it.

The kit used the wall for support as he descended down the stairs. He took a deep breath as he made his way to the kitchen.

He stopped in the living room.

Sonic was on his couch, sprawled out in a way that could not be comfortable in any way. Drool spilled from the corner of the hedgehog’s mouth, snores louder than most of the fox’s machinery filled the air.

Tails wanted to roll his eyes at the scene. It wasn’t unusual for Sonic to crash at his place unexpectedly–he did have a key–but did he always have to use the couch? He had a bedroom of his own for this specific reason.

But the fox’s breath felt caught in his throat at the sight of the older, his nightmare flooding his brain full force.

“Why would anyone want a freak like you in their family?”

His ears pressed against his head as new tears piled in the corner of his eyes. He swiped at them, but more immediately took their place.

His breathing started picking up pace and, before he knew it, he was in front of Sonic, his ungloved paw hovering above the hedgehog’s shoulder.

He forced his body to freeze, biting his inner cheek.

Tails is 8 years old now. He shouldn’t be running to his big brother because of a bad dream. He’s old enough to deal with these on his own.

But no matter how hard his mind begs his body to leave the teen be, it’s a losing battle.

His hand makes contact with the hedgehog’s shoulder, shaking it as softly as he can to tell the other he’s not a threat.

“Why would anyone want a freak like you in their family?”

With a grunt, Sonic’s eyes slowly opened as he looked up to see who woke him. Tails immediately regrets it, the teen looks exhausted.

That exhaustion seemed to disappear when Sonic saw the tears welled up in the younger’s eyes.

“You okay?” His voice was groggy, still catching up to the rest of his body being awake. The little fox shook his head as the teen sat up.

“C’mere, kid.” Sonic gave him a sympathetic smile as he opened his arms, inviting the kit to lay on him. Tears finally spilled over as Tails crawled into his hero’s arms.

Sonic shushed the younger, his left hand petting the kit’s head as his right held him close. The kid buried his head into the older’s neck, hiding his tears.

“D’ya have a bad dream, bud?” The teen asked quietly, his head leaning against the fox’s as he gently rocked them.Tails’ head bobbed ever so slightly, hands gripping the hedgehog with a strength you wouldn’t expect an eight year old to possess.

Sonic hummed, letting the kit know he heard him as he continued the slow rocks and gentle pets. He kept it up until the sobs quieted, the death grip on his back easing as the younger pulled away.

The hedgehog frowned at the sight of his brother’s face. It was obvious he had been crying even before waking the teen up, his eyes were too red and his fur was a complete mess.

“Wanna talk?” The older asked, using the hand that was petting the fox to wipe away his tears.

“I-It–” Tails shook his head and leaned into the touch, “It was just.. Bad memories. Westside.” The kit tried not to talk too much, his throat feeling scratchy. He needed some water, but he didn’t want to get up.

“Again?” Sonic frowned. The fox had been having a lot of nightmares about Westside recently.

“I-I know, I’m sorry.” The boy bit his lip, suddenly thinking that this was a terrible idea.

“No, don’t apologize, li’l bro. Not your fault.” The teen pulled the younger into another hug, feeling how much he was shaking.

“Still. I-It’s childish to run to you every time.” Tails grumbled, but he didn’t pull away from the hug. He cuddled into his hero, his namesakes providing them warmth as they curled around.

“Nothin’ wrong with being childish. Or needing help.” Sonic shook his head. He had to break the kit free from that thought process, but he just couldn’t figure out how to do it.

The fox didn’t respond, just closed his eyes as he worked on evening out his breath.

The teen hummed as he moved to lay back down, pulling the cover over the two of them without releasing his hold on his little brother.

“Get some sleep, buddy.” Sonic whispered as he scratched the spot behind Tails’ ears to help ease him. “We can deal with it in the morning.”

The fox nodded as he shifted slightly to be more comfortable, mumbling a quiet goodnight to the older.

The hug paired with the gentle petting made it easy for the kid to fall asleep. He was out within a few seconds.

Sonic sighed, pressing his forehead against the younger’s.

He just wishes there was something he could do to make the nightmares leave his little brother alone.

[heckinconfusedparade]

Which sonic characters would most love ddr?

Sonic Characters VS Dance Dance Revolution

Sonic- Shocked? You shouldn’t be. You saw his lil dance moves after getting those chaos emeralds. He adores the hard levels because it lets him speed up his steps.

Amy- she is the champion in a few towns. She originally started playing to impress Sonic, but quickly grew to love it too.

Big and Froggy- they’re so in synch and love to work together. They tear up the dance floor, flowing with the vibes. Are they good? Depends on the genre of song. Not the difficulty, but the GENRE. For some reason they’re good at KPop but terrible at Hip Hop.

Shadow- he is training to beat Sonic in everything, and this is one of em. He will win. His fancy feet and AiR sHoEs will carry him to victory… one day. They always tie, tho!

Cream- She loves to dance! She’s pretty short so stepping from tile to tile can be tricky and tiring, but she finds her way through hopping. She’s always super tired after and can only do a few songs.

Tails- he’s a bit too short and needs to stomp a little extra harder. He can do it, but if he loses focus for one second and loses his tempo, it’s hard for him to get back to it. As he gets older he’ll get better.

Knuckles- He regrets skipping leg day. He thought this would be a walk in the park, but he was very very wrong. Knuckles knows how to beat, not listen to THE beat. If it’s not an activity that requires punching, climbing, digging, or gliding, he isn’t all that interested.

Silver- what is this? What are these sounds? He is convinced that if he does this, he will change the course of the timeline and ruin his future. He’s ok with watching, but it does make his head spin.

Blaze- she tries her best, but the world of DDR just isn’t her thing. She is sometimes close to torching the thing because someone is repeating the same song over and over.

Eggman- Sonic loves it, so therefore he hates it with a burning passion and is planning a DDR Themed robot and trap that hedgehog. He refuses to try for whatever reason.

Rouge- feelin herself. She knows what she’s doing and even poses doing it. She just has to be careful because if she steps too hard she will accidentally break a panel with her heel.

Omega- Destroy.

Vector- This guy is such a show off

Espio- This guy challenges the show off

Charmy- This guy watches with popcorn and wants to be those guys when he grows up

Vanilla- she’s not too good at it.. at first. Slowly she becomes a beast. One Sonic and Amy have trouble facing. Shadow refused to accept a fight he won’t win.

[teahatts]

you know what, fuck it. i have more to say about silver

Silver is, as mentioned, always being ignored by Sega in literally any media they put out. even in Sonic Prime, or Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, both in which they could have very easily incorporated him into (especially Sonic Prime. seriously. Time Travel, diffferent timelines, a mess of keeping each variation in check??? this is literally all Silver. i'm coming for you Sega) even if it were as simple as Silver coming in at the end and going batshit at Sonic and Shadow for causing such a big mess for him to clean up and keep in place

AND AND ☝️ don't even get me STARTED on he gets treated in canon.

Sonic 06 is the one i'm gonna bring up the most bc memphis tenesee can catch these motherfucking hands.

like, mephiles is, and i will die on this hill, one of the best written villains, perhaps even THE best villain that Sega has produced. he is evil for the sake of being evil, but not in the same way that eggman is. he's evil in a dark way, a manipulative way that we see with how he treats Silver, and by extension Blaze.

when you were to look at Mephiles plan, silvers role was not necessary at all. mephiles didn't manipulate and gaslight silver due to a greater plan, he did because he was bored. Silver nearly killed Sonic (and don't say he didn't, silver was more than ready to kill a man if he thought it was necessary) simply because mephiles wanted to see how it would play out.

THEN, him befriending and proving his worth, creating friendships and actually better understanding the world, IT ALL DOESNT MATTER BECAUSE THE TIMELINE GETS RESET (i love angst so so much, but by god im gonna climb up the wall)

Silver being a time traveler doesn't help either considering how he is stuck in between two impossible situations. on one hand he can befriend ppl from the future that may begin to exist whenever the future is saved, however, every time the future is ruined, those people wouldn't be alive anymore. then when the future is safe, those people may just straight up cease to exist due to technicalities that could arise from time travel or they would not remember silver because of him going back in time and due to time travel technicalities.

then we got the other side because what would sega do besides give us so much fucking angst hidden in optimistic characters that just want to see other happy. (Sega, once i'm done with memphis, i'm coming for your jugular.) The otherwise is Silver befriending the people of the past. him befriending Sonic, Amy, Espio, Vanilla, Blaze, and everyone else is all fun since they are all very good people. until you pay attention to the fact there is a over 200 year time difference between them and Silver and that when Silver were to come back to his home, y'know, the one that he never knows will be an alive place with actual living organisms or an endless ball of fire, all of them would be dead!! oh and also them really seeing him as a bad omen since he almost always come when something bad happen. this doesn't affect his mental health at all!!!

So Silver is stuck between two options that both suck and aren't good for him. He is constantly lonely, lonely in all things someone as optimistic and joyful shouldn't be.

and i distinctly remember when i was a kid, first getting into sonic, the way that Silver was treated in the fandom. he was hated on so much. i didnt understand it and i still don't understand the sheer amount of hate i saw my favorite character receive. i'm so glad the fandom be a lot nicer to him and actually treat him like a character, but goodness, the damage that he received simply from being connected to Sonic 06 was insane to me.

in the end, Silver is still a kid. a fourteen year old that just wishes for a better future that was lok

Sega really did just give silver the most depressive backstory in all of Sonic history. like they just straight up said

"yeah he lives in an apocalyptic world that is on Fire in complete isolation and his only best friend was sent to a different dimension after the whole universe was reset bc some Evil Dude took advantage of his naivety and hope for a better future to destroy all of time and space and he's stuck over 200 years in the future so every friend he ever makes would be long dead by the time he time travels back to his home that, incase you forgot, is a ball of fucking fire because ppl keep on trying to destroy the world and he has to keep trying to travel back in time to fix a problem that will only repeat itself and he is considered an Omen of Death by many as his prescience means destruction and he cannot catch a break and he is only 14"

pleas let this boy be in a big game, series, comic, literally anything i beg of you sega let this poor boy breathe he has been through enough

[headcanonstation]

Sonic Cuddle Headcanons

Your conductors are screaming at the wheel together... wait, why is there a wheel in a train?

Sonic

Let it be known that the blue blur enjoys cuddling, and all his friends are allowed to snuggle with him.

He just doesn’t really cuddle often or feel the need to.

Sonic is a lazy cuddler with anyone, even his s/o.

He’s not partial to anything specifically when it comes to cuddling and goes with the flow.

He’d just prefer something not going on too long because he does feel like he needs to do something, and running tends to be a thing he likes to do.

And, well, cuddling is hard while running.

There’s not really anything specific with his s/o he does aside from occasional lazy nuzzles and kisses.

Sonic isn’t too into spooning really.

It’s not often he’s cuddling as is, so he’s really not doing much spooning either.

The most he would have is his s/o on his chest, but Sonic is the type to get restless in bed to really do much snuggling in bed.

Knuckles

A flustered boy, especially with his s/o, who would be the only one he’d be cuddling with.

He just has the mind that snuggles is more so for intimate relationships like romance.

He’s not very good with PDA in general and gets easily flustered by it, so he much prefers his snuggling in private.

He’d still be pretty nervous and red faced with cuddling his s/o in private at the beginning of the relationship, but as time goes on, he doesn’t get as flustered.

Most definitely a big spoon. He just wouldn’t feel as comfortable being held and would prefer to be the one doing the holding.

Amy Rose

She cuddles everyone. She’s the poster child for cuddling.

She really enjoys snuggling with her friends and especially her s/o.

In fact, her s/o gets special ultra cuddles.

Amy has a large preference on being a little spoon, though she could do just fine being a big spoon.

But she’d prefer being the little spoon because she’d like to have the warmth around her and feel her partner hugging her. But, it’d also be due to wanting to be like the movies and books where a strong man holds a delicate woman.

Even though she could absolutely punch pretty much anyone through the wall.

Shadow

Not into PDA, so not a big fan of cuddling with friends in a casual way in public.

Snuggles are really only reserved for his s/o.

Even then, he doesn’t really actively show or indicate how he feels about cuddling or if he even wants them.

So his s/o is really the only one of the two to initiate any cuddling.

When they do cuddle with him, he doesn’t exactly show how he feels about it too much.

Shadow doesn’t hate cuddling, but he doesn’t love it either.

Not to say he doesn’t enjoy cuddling, he just doesn’t show how he’s enjoying it much aside from a soft smile every now and again.

Shadow isn’t a fan of spooning too much, but if he is doing it, he’ll only be the big spoon.

He isn't the little spoon. He’d like to have control in the situation.

Rouge

Proud cuddler.

Shamelessly so. 

She does only the lightest of cuddling with friends, but not much. 

Closer friends she totally doesn’t mind getting into the “this is a straight up cuddle session” vibe. 

Her s/o has to deal with a new level of cuddling. 

Rouge isn’t clingy, but she’s needy and will not be subtle about wanting some snuggle time. 

She likes to have pampering done to her, but she’s certainly all for doing some loving on her s/o easy. 

She’s absolutely both a little spoon and big spoon. It really just depends on her s/o and their preference.

Silver

Awkward cuddler. 

He likes to cuddle with either of his friends or s/o, but he’ll end up pretty nervous throughout the whole time. 

At some point he’d let himself relax more when he does it more, but a new cuddle buddy will be faced with a stiff boy. 

When he finally enters a relationship with his s/o or crushing on his s/o, he’s back to being stiff and awkward again for quite awhile. 

There’s an incredibly high preference to being a little spoon, and he makes it clear that this is his preference. 

He wouldn’t mind being the big spoon if his s/o wants to be a little spoon, but he’s never volunteering to be the big spoon. 

And, although he loves doting on people, he really loves being doted on himself.

Blaze

She’s also an awkward mess when it comes to cuddles. 

Only her s/o would be allowed to cuddle with her. 

Blaze doesn’t necessarily look to having cuddles unless it's been a long day or she’s totally stressed and needs the attention. 

She’s more inclined to be a big spoon, but she’d be fine being a little spoon as well. 

It really depends on who her s/o is. 

Though if given the choice, there is a much larger preference to being the big spoon so she can feel she has more control in the situation.

Espio

Cuddling privileges with Espio are restricted to his s/o and Charmy and Vector to a degree. 

Vector more so has accidental cuddle action on both parties. 

Nothing too much though, most being Espio leaning on Vector and falling asleep during a movie or when they’re out camping for whatever reason. 

Charmy however is a cuddle machine from the start. 

The bee needs affection, and Espio doesn’t mind giving it to him. 

There’s been plenty of moments where the two are just sleeping completely knocked out on the couch (or Charmy wide awake with Espio asleep and perhaps with marker drawings on his face and horn). 

Or when Charmy gets a nightmare and doesn’t go to Vector for the night, Espio is fine with giving the bee comfort. 

Any sort of domestic cuddles can happen between Charmy and Espio. 

With his s/o, Espio doesn’t seek cuddles unless he was deathly worried about them and just needed to have it cemented that they’re with him. 

Similar to Charmy, he also wouldn’t mind giving cuddles to his s/o if they wanted it or see they clearly needed it. 

He doesn’t really do spooning and would need to be reminded he’s not the only one in bed. 

Espio doesn’t seem like the type to lay on his side often since it gives an opening to any attackers. 

So the fix it here would be to have his s/o laying on his chest with his arms wrapped around him.

Jet

Cuddles with Jet are only with his s/o rather than with friends. 

He wouldn’t actively search for cuddles really. 

The times he does is when he’s genuinely tired or after an extremely bad day where he’s bitter but also completely exhausted. 

However, he doesn’t necessarily outright say he wants cuddles but rather strongly suggests to his s/o that he wants cuddles before they give in to what he wants. 

When he isn’t having tired cuddles, he sometimes gives the occasional snuggle, just not much. 

Typically, he only gives the cuddles when his s/o wants to, but he certainly has his moments when he’s relaxing that he alludes to wanting to cuddle. 

His preferred style of cuddling would be where his s/o is on his chest. 

Jet is also determined to be the big spoon, and sometimes he manages to keep being the big spoon, but he typically ends up falling into being the little spoon naturally.

Wave

Her s/o practically drags her for cuddles. 

Wave really just likes to do things and doesn’t enjoy doing nothing. 

She can certainly do nothing for a bit and relax, just not too long and wants to be doing something. 

As a result, Wave doesn’t actively seek snuggles. 

She’s also the type where when she’s not doing it, she sees no appeal or point of cuddles. 

But when she’s actually having a cuddle fest, she melts into it. 

Wave seems like the type to have too often a broken sleep schedule to really be spooning anyone with her going to bed when her s/o is getting up. 

If any spooning does happen, it’s really give or take as to if Wave is the big or little spoon with who she’s with and who’s more awake. 

Some nights, there’d be no spooning taking place. 

She’s overall not very affectionate in a physical sense, but wouldn’t mind receiving or giving attention. 

However cuddles are off limits for friends.

Infinite

Not at all a cuddle buddy really. 

Tends to avoid it. If he does cuddle, it’d only be with his s/o, and even then it doesn’t happen much. 

He’s more mixed feelings about cuddling and doesn’t actively try to do it. 

When he does, it’s certainly on part by his s/o or complete accident. 

Subconsciously however, Infinite is certainly a big spoon and often reaches anything in his grasp to spoon something.

Honey the Cat

Honey adores cuddles, and her snuggles are reserved for her s/o and incredibly close friends. 

She tends to lowkey make sure when she’s cuddling with someone that it’s all aesthetically pleasing. 

Sometimes it’s on purpose, other times not so much. 

Honey prefers being the little spoon, but she’s occasionally willing to be the big spoon.

Bunnie Rabbot

CUDDLE MACHINE. 

This woman will suplex you into a hug. 

She’s just dandy about giving cuddles to anyone who’s a friend, family, and so on. 

Bunnie wants to be the big spoon all the time, wrapping herself around her s/o. 

Just giving nuzzles and kisses every now and again.

Antoine D’coolette

Easily the most flustered boy. 

Whether platonic or romantic. 

Once he gets around, he very much enjoys his cuddles. 

However, to him, cuddling seems too intimate for something done between friends. 

So only really his s/o and children would be allowed for snuggling with him. 

Antoine would have the preference of a little spoon certainly, though he wouldn’t mind being the big spoon every now and again. 

He’s just embarrassed to say that he prefers being a little spoon.

[sonic-wildfire]

Emotion Sickness: Diary Entries from Shadow the Hedgehog (Part 1)

Select entries from Shadow’s diary were found and compiled by Sonic (with Shadow’s permission) as an homage to both Shadow’s development and their relationship together. The entries were made between March 2009 and October 2013. This part of the compilation contains the entries made between March 2009 and December 2010.

10:53 PM - 4 March 2009

Hmph. Another day behind me. I crossed paths with Sonic today and he offered to have lunch with me. The request was somewhat flattering, but I turned it down. I don’t really need to eat.

Why is Sonic always so nice to me? It’s a liability to be within ten feet of him at this point, considering how much trouble he gets into. Whatever. I’m better by myself anyway.

5:02 PM - 19 July 2009

Amy visited me today and said she was here on Sonic’s behalf. Don’t know why, but she wanted me to know Sonic was offering to have me over at his place.

Sonic has a permanent home? Who knew?

I thought about it for a bit, but I declined. Again, I don’t understand why Sonic continues to do nice things for me even though I’m the most miserable being on the planet. It’s not that I hate them or anything, but I just can’t get close to anybody else. What if they reject me? What if...

Forget it.

I can’t think about this stuff. I’m going to take a nap. My thoughts are the last thing I need to be with right now.

6:46 PM - 30 November 2009

Wouldn’t you know it, that stubborn blue hedgehog turned up at my door today and again asked me to spend time with him. I was about to just tell him to piss off, but something about this interaction was different. I don’t know what, why, or how, but... it actually sounded appealing this time?

Very hesitantly, I said I’d think about it but don’t expect me to take you up on the offer. He just smiled, said okay, and left. 

Maybe I should at least try to be somewhat charitable for once. I called up Rouge and told her about what had happened and she just teased me over it before hanging up. You know, typical Rouge.

But she did tell me that it was ultimately my decision to make.

Hm. I think I might go after all.

12:25 PM - 2 December 2009

Just got back from having breakfast with Sonic. He was actually surprised I showed up. Honestly? I was surprised, too.

I didn’t talk too much, but Sonic... oh boy, Sonic. It’s like he never ran out of things to talk about. He’s smiling the entire time he’s with me, too. It was almost alluring just how much his bright demeanor contrasted with my moody self.

One of the things Sonic talked about was his friends. I was fully ready to just stop him right then and there (it rubs me the wrong way when anybody mentions friendship), but then he told me I was a “good friend” to him.

I asked him if he was serious. Sonic said yes.

In retrospect, it was certainly more eventful than most days. Perhaps little meetups like this would be healthier for me if I did them every once in a while.

3:59 AM - 28 May 2010

I can’t rest. I keep thinking about Sonic.

We’ve been meeting occasionally like I said I should. The longer I’m with Sonic, the more I begin to see in him what I could’ve been.

He’s a caring, generous man with everything going for him. People like him. He has a purpose in life. He’s coolheaded, rational, and valuable to society.

So why on Earth would Sonic be spending time with me, a reprehensibly depressed alien who is so completely worthless and undeserving of care? How could he possibly like me when I don’t even like myself?

I’m tired and tears are pricking at the corners of my eyes. I need to talk to someone in the morning.

1:51 AM - 29 May 2010

I called Rouge and told her about last night. She wasn’t very vocal, but she did offer a little encouragement. She said I don’t get enough sleep and that a little bit of rest would put me at ease for a bit. But I’m still on edge. What does Sonic see in me that I don’t? Or am I just overthinking this? My thoughts are erratic right now, so I’m sorry to anyone reading if this doesn’t make sense.

Ugh.

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes already.

I’m so weak. I’m so pathetic.

Who would ever want to spend time with someone like me?

All I do is brood in the corner of the room all day and be an asshole to everybody. I don’t understand how anybody could be tolerant of me, much less a “friend.”

Yet... I’m still drawn to Sonic. For whatever reason, he’s just so inviting. He’s nice. Too nice.

11:32 AM - 8 August 2010

Over the past few months, Sonic and I have been visiting each other more often, and not much has changed.

From me, at least.

Sonic has been growing even kinder towards me than before. Sometimes, he’ll give me small gifts like a scarf. Other times, he’ll ask me about myself. If I were ready, I would’ve just spilled my true feelings about myself right then and there.

But I wasn’t ready. So I just talked about the very few things I did find enjoyment in. Gardening, space, and Chao. I begged him to never tell anybody about what I said to him, and he looked at me like I had three heads but vowed to keep it a secret anyway.

I just don’t know. Sonic’s a good guy, but... I can’t bring myself to be friendly with him. If I start growing close with people, they’ll just die or leave me and I’ll be heartbroken again just like last time. I can’t go through that again. I’m not strong enough.

I appear tough on the outside. But the truth is, I’m always on the verge of breaking down. My mental state is so volatile and virtually uncontrollable.

Chaos damn it, just get out of my head already!

3:40 PM - 23 December 2010

The holiday season. A time for joy, reminiscing on the past, looking forward to the new year, and exchanging gifts.

For everybody else, that is.

Ever since I came here, I’ve spent every Christmas alone.

All the others have a big gathering at Sonic’s house, having a good time (allegedly). I was never interested in these and I always declined every single invitation I got from Sonic. Yet, like clockwork, he still sends me one every year. Maybe hoping that I’ll change my mind one year.

After a lot of self-reflection over the past year, though, I’m not sure how much more invitations I can reject before Sonic gives up trying.

I crumble in social situations. Interacting with anybody other than Rouge, Omega, or Sonic for more than ten seconds takes an insane amount of willpower.

Something has to give. Either I go for once or they stop trying.

12:48 AM - 24 December 2010

I’ve decided I need to go. Maybe bring one of my Chao if things go wrong. I’m not necessarily doing this because I want to go. In fact, I’d be a lot happier if I didn’t go because at least I know things can’t go wrong if I’m by myself.

But I can’t stop thinking about Sonic and his friends. It drives me crazy.

9:21 PM - 24 December 2010

Party’s tomorrow. Note to self: don’t fuck this up.

11:17 PM - 26 December 2010

How quickly things can change has always amazed me. Tonight proved that.

Everybody was really surprised to see me showing up, but they said they were all grateful I showed up. Sonic, of course, was the first to welcome me, giving me a hug that admittedly felt like a breath of fresh air after so much time alone. Then again, I have a reputation so I needed to act like he was crushing me to death.

I didn’t spend much time talking with other people, though I did exchange some small talk with Rouge. The usual.

As the party grew longer, I found myself being... complimented by others?

Knuckles said he hoped I was “doing well.” Cream gave me a single flower while wishing me a merry Christmas. Tails shyly waved at me (I put on a smile and waved back). Omega said I was “one of the only creatures made of flesh” he trusted.

I’m sorry. Did these people forget who they were talking to?

Dinner was fine, though I was particularly eager about the sweets. Oh, right, I forgot to mention I have a knack for candy. The more you know.

Of course, then it was time for gifts. I swear you could fill the Grand Canyon with the sheer amount of presents under the tree. I guessed that roughly three of those were for me, ready to be mailed to me if I didn’t show up.

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw eight presents being dropped into my lap and all of them reading “To: Shadow.”

We all took turns opening our presents. I had two presents from Amy (a coffee mug and a Chao toy), one present from Espio (a kunai), one present from Tails (a bag of coffee beans), one present from Knuckles (a Kill la Kill DVD) and... three presents from Sonic?!

The first one was classic Sonic stuff. A sweater with the word “faker” sewed on the chest. He thought that one was really funny. I didn’t really care.

The second one was more genuine. A pair of rocket boosters for my shoes. My old ones are just about dead, so this was welcome.

The third one... subverted all expectation. It was a small box that contained a piece of paper. It read:

“Dear Shadow, stay after the party and meet me upstairs when the others leave. Signed, Sonic.”

The others were curious about what Sonic meant by this. Silver joked that I was being sent to the principal’s office.

Eventually, the party came to a close and people left. I went upstairs as Sonic had told me, and there he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

He motioned for me to take a seat next to him. I sat down and asked him what he wanted me for, half-expecting something stupid.

“I understand you haven’t had the easiest life...”

I instantly got up to leave. No way I was sticking around to hear this again.

But Sonic grabbed my arm and yanked me back to the bed, his face now spelling genuine concern.

“...I know you mean well. Sometimes, you do things that we think are dumb but actually turn out to be smart. Other times, you just do dumb stuff. But that’s not the point. The point is, I want you to know that I’m still here for you. I can tell you’re bothered by your thoughts. But the bottom line is that I, and we, care about you. We love you, Shadow. I love you. Please don’t think you’re not worthy of being cared about. We have our ups and downs, but we always work it out eventually, right? I know your thought process works differently than mine. That does not make you any less deserving of respect. My greatest wish is that you would love yourself as much as we love you.”

I was stunned. That bastard. Quickly losing my composure, I began blubbering about how I couldn’t stand the thought of getting close to someone just to lose them again. How I’m so terrified that I will just be manipulated and used by people pretending to be my “friend.”

Sonic told me that he would never go away and that he would never “use” me.

Fuck. Fuck.

Sonic embraced me and I’m embarrassed to admit that I began sobbing as I wrapped my arms around him. I swore to myself that I’d never show any kind of weakness around them.

“It’s okay to cry,” he told me. “Don’t be afraid anymore. I’m here now. I’m here.”

“And I always will be. That’s a promise.”

[verocitea]

Sonic Cooking Headcanons

They are pretty basic but jotting all these down is just the stress relief i crave.

Individual Headcanons

Sonic: He can cook exactly 2 things on his own: chilidogs and one (1) box of kraft mac n’ cheese. He likes to collect recipes though on his many adventures from all the different places he visits and attempt to make them with Tails (to varying degrees of success). He gets pretty impatient and easily distracted while cooking, which can be disasterous.

Amy: Not a new idea by any means at all, but Amy loves baking sweet things and dainty cafe foods the most, so that’s mostly what she sticks to. She loves to make it all cute and pretty, and especially loves soaking in all the praise her friends give her for it. Vanilla taught her all the basics, and Amy then went wild experimenting through cooking magazines and cooking shows (she especially got hooked on the “Great British Baking Show”). She insists on making all of her friends’ birthday cakes.

Knuckles: He’s mostly a fruit, veggies, and bugs kind of guy. He’s amazing at cooking things over an open fire, and can start a fire almost as fast as Blaze can with her powers. His cooking is more survival oriented and simple, but its a super useful skill on adventures. Despite his own personal taste, he is never oposed to eating his friends’ cooking.

Tails: Amy showed him exactly one and a half episodes of an Alton Brown’s "Good Eats” and nothing was ever the same again. He enjoys the science side of cooking, and if he can make himself a whole pan of brownies on a whim then that’s just an added bonus. He mainly makes simple recipes, but enjoys attempting Sonic’s recipes with him (when Sonic doesn’t set the oven 2 times hotter than it should be to see if it will cook faster).

Shadow: He honestly loves to cook, though most of the time he is too busy for it. He likes making savory things and complicated dishes the most. Maria used to eat really weird combinations of food on the Ark when she had an appetite (we’re talking like scooby doo and shaggy kind of weird), so Shadow got really experimental with his cooking and likes making unexpected flavor combinations. Adores Gordon Ramsey obviously.

((more characters and group headcanons below))

Rouge: This girl is all takeout, though she indulges in a fancy resturaunt at least twice a month. She hates cooking and would much rather help herself to Shadow’s cooking. Shadow gave up on her when she left a pot of water on for so long that the bottom of the pot melted.

Omega: He’s a robot, and doesn’t need to eat. He did shove a slice of Shadow’s meatloaf into his processor once. When they were able to clean out his system and reboot him a week later, he claimed it was “the most flavorful system shutdown to date” so that’s got to count for something.

Cream: This girl is all sweet things, thanks to the influence of her mother. Shadow is secretly trying to persuade her towards the dark side of savory dishes though.

Blaze: Absolute disaster. Do not let her in the kitchen.

Silver: Coming from a destroyed future, he was amazed by the variety and complexity of a lot of the foods in the present. Amy is currently teaching him what she knows, and Cream comes over to help every now and then during their sessions. He is a massive clutz in the kitchen, and can’t decorate for anything, but after all is said and done, he’s a pretty decent cook.

Chaotix: They’re all pretty hopeless. Takeout fiends, the lot of them. Their freezer is stuffed with frozen meals. Charmy won’t stop eating pizza rolls and chicken nuggets for every meal and Espio and Vector are becoming concerned.

Group Headcanons

Once or twice a year, they all get together and have a potluck. Shadow makes the main course, Amy and Cream make the deserts, Silver makes a casserole or something (with help from Amy), Sonic and Tails attempt a foreign dish, Knuckles brings fruits and greens from Angel Island, and Rouge shows up 15 minutes late with KFC.

Shadow likes to sneak into Tails’s place to take Sonic’s recipe cards every now and then. He thinks no one notices, since he is very stealthy and Tails doesn’t have the heart to tell him he has security cameras.

Contrary to popular belief, Amy watches far more cooking shows than she does romance dramas. She is very much a backseat baker when she watches the competition shows, yelling whenever someone slips up.

Omega can’t eat food (and has not attempted to since “the incident”) but he likes to stare at it.

Amy wants to start a cafe one day, so she routinely mocks up menus and stuffs her friends full with food to get their opinions. Her friends will never starve.

I’ll be so pissed if i forgot anyone, oof. If y’all have any headcanons of your own pls send them to me because I’d love to see what y’all think!

[cinnamonrollorder]

It Spreads

(This is the 1st prompt that the lovely @annikatti proposed to have done!)

The second everyone got on Angel Island, Sonic started running. Save a brief greeting to Knuckles, of course. He could practically feel the virus trying to latch itself on his mind, ripping away every little bit of himself. He was tired of running, but things like that wouldn’t let him rest.

So he kept running.

He kept running for a good 30 minutes, maybe an hour. Sonic wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was tired, and the virus receeded back under his skin. It was gone for now. He slowed to a stop and took a deep breath.

He’d been running around the perimeter of the island, knowing everyone else was in the middle. He didn’t want to run into anyone. While he would be fine, they certainly wouldn’t. Force was damage enough; Sonic didn’t even want to think about the virus.

When had he last touched someone? Oh, right, Tangle. It had felt so good, then, yet so sad. He wanted to help people, but he was just a liability. A guilty, faulty liability. He didn’t stop Eggman. He didn’t stop Metal. He didn’t stop anything, and now he was just a walking time bomb that could turn other people into theoretical time bombs.

He’d avoided it for so long. He almost messed up a few times at first, but he didn’t. He hadn’t gotten anyone hurt. Sonic’s breathing quickened. He’d done something right, hadn’t he? Amy, Espio, Emerl, Cream, Whisper, Rouge, Silver, Tails… they were all OK for now. Not to mention the handful of civilians they still had. They were still OK. Sonic hadn’t touched them.

He was in the carrier and the room was too crowded. Too crowded, too crowded. Sonic, move, move you’re gonna HIT someone and they’ll all hate you-

Nope. No. Not thinking about it. Sonic didn’t realize how lightheaded he was. Was he breathing? Did he want to start again? Not really. He could stay there for a little, and everyone would be fine. They didn’t need him. They didn’t-

Sonic staggered and pitched forward onto the grass.

----

Tails was worried.

There were many things for Tails to worry about. The apocalypse, no cure for the apocalypse, losing his friends to the apocalypse, and almost losing his brother to the apocalypse. Turns out, the end of the world is quite worrying. He was trying, though. He was helping Amy whenever he could. He’d sent her to bed at least three times the past two days, just trying to let her get some peace for once. He had to fly the carrier here because she fell asleep doing it. It was worrying.

What was more worrying was that Sonic was nowhere to be seen. He knew the blue hero ran off about an hour ago, for good reason. Everyone was on edge with Sonic being that close. He had been clean when he got in, save for a patch or two. It just… got worse. And he couldn’t run off like normal. Everyone was tired and wanted to rest, so Sonic didn’t even try to run in place. He sat down, curled up as tight as he could, and waited. Tails watched him.

The virus seemed to start in multiple spots. The right side of Sonic’s head, his left hand, and his mouth. It even creeped into Sonic’s mouth, grossly enough. Or, it seemed to. Sonic only opened his mouth a few times. He wasn’t asleep, that was for sure, but he wasn’t moving. To Tails, that was a level of disturbing only rivalled by the virus. Sonic shouldn’t be still. That wasn’t his thing, and it never should be. Sonic was always moving, always smiling. To see him so cold and unmoving felt… wrong.

Yet Tails said nothing, and neither did Sonic. He left him to go check on Amy and when he saw him again, he…

Tails ran out of the pilot’s area and towards Sonic. “Hey, Sonic, we’ve-“ he never finished that thought, because the first thing he saw was one red eye. It seemed to stare into him, as if Tails didn’t exist, but something else. Then he saw the pale, metallic blue sheen. He was too late, he was too late, too late too late-

Wasn’t prepared for that level of infection. He didn’t want to be able to imagine what Sonic the Zombot looked like. Didn’t want to know just how wrong it would feel to look Sonic in the eyes, and know that part of Sonic didn’t recognize him right then. But it was OK, Sonic left and started running.

He just hadn’t come back yet.

Tails told Espio, the closest nearby, he was going to look for Sonic. He wanted someone to know where he was. He wasn’t sure why, but it made him feel safer. Sonic didn’t have to be feared, though. They were safe. This was a safe place.

He decided to look in the most barren places he could. Knowing Sonic, he’d pick the spot with the least amount of danger from himself. And so he searched. For… about 30 minutes. As luck would have it, or, perhaps more aptly, as luck would unfortunately have it, he found Sonic.

Sonic limp and lifeless on the ground, with a pale blue metallic coat.

Tails ran for him, yelling his name. He wasn’t moving, so he wasn’t turned yet. There was still a chance.

But Sonic didn’t respond.

Tails got close enough to realize that Sonic wasn’t just lying down; he was unconscious. Flying around the hedgehog slowly and carefully revealed a few things to Tails.

Sonic had bigger bags than Mary Poppin’s under his eyes, his position was unnatural, like he’d fallen, and he was far, far too skinny to be healthy. Come to think of it, Tails hadn’t seen Sonic sleep or eat in days. They had food, of course, but whenever it was handed out, Sonic was nowhere to be seen. Tails realized that even if Sonic had eaten, it wouldn’t have mattered. Sonic was running too much, and there was no way they could afford to have kept up with the amount of calories Sonic was burning through.

No wonder he fainted. The problem was the virus, now. It was almost to the point it was earlier. Sonic’s face was clean, so was a bit of his upper arm. It was spreading, though, slowly but surely. He had to wake Sonic up.

“Sonic, you have to get up,” normal voice, no response. “Please,” a little bit louder. “Sonic, get up!” He shouted this time, panicked. Nothing. No response. He didn’t have time to find something to poke Sonic with. A tree branch would only get infected. Tails stared at the uninfected parts of Sonic. It was just the face. Tails moved as quick as he could and smacked his brother. He pulled back as if Sonic was on fire. Hit him hard and hit him fast.

Sonic’s eyes snapped open and he sat up with a yelp. “What the- Tails?” concerned green eyes met scared blue, and Tails didn’t have anything to say, suddenly.

He was just very aware of the coldness of his finger. Both pairs of eyes slowly drifted down to that shaking hand, to that shaking finger. The shiny pale yellow-orange slowly spreading down it to the rest of his body.

“Tails? Buddy?” And Sonic was up, hands hovering close, wanting to comfort but afraid of causing more damage. “I-I’m so sorry, Tails, I…” it hurt to hear the emotion in that voice. Tails knew Sonic was trying to be strong, trying to be there for him.

Sonic could survive being infected.

Tails could not.

But yet, he just found himself smiling. “I knew the risks. They need you, Sonic. As long as you’re there, it’ll end up alright. I let you leave once, Sonic, I’m not doing it again,” he said.

“You didn’t leave me, I failed you then, Tails, and I can’t-“

“It’s not a matter of can and can not. You have to. They need some hope.” Tails stepped forward and hugged his brother. Sonic stood there, unresponsive, until he returned the hug suddenly. “Now I have to get out of here.”

“Tails, maybe we can-“

“We can’t cage me. I can’t fight this.” Tails moved past Sonic, ignoring the heartbreak and tears on the hedgehog’s face, and moved towards the ledge. Everything that could fly could still fly as a zombot. He’d be OK. He hoped.

“I’m sorry.” It was so quiet, so broken. Tails looked back at his brother. Half of his own body was gone to the virus. He tried to smile, but it was only a faint smirk.

“S’ not your fault, Sonic. Just save us like always, alright?”

And he stepped off.

----

Everyone was worried when they heard the scream.

It wasn’t even really a scream, it was more of a wail. If it had been anywhere else but Angel Island, they would’ve expected it. But this was the one safe place they had left.

No one had heard that sound before, it was foreign and unfamiliar. It was filled with pain and anguish and anger that was all mixed together.

It was 10 minutes till they found the source.

Or, more precisely, the source found them. Sonic appeared, somehow appearing more beaten-down than anyone there. He was sparsely patched with the virus, but what truly alarmed everyone was the tears pouring down the hero’s face. The heavy sobs that wracked his body.

Espio, the only one who had the information required to figure it out, paled.

“He’s gone.” It was all Sonic said. “He’s gone.”

[naivesilver]

If you’re still doing the Sonic ask meme, can you do 32,33,34,37,42,51,62,74,75,96. You don’t have to answer all of them if it’s a lot.

YO ANON YOU ARE THE BEST I love talking about Sonic I’ll do them ALL

100 Sonic Questions

32.) Most underrated character, GO 

HOPE KINTOBOR!!!!!! So many Archie characters did a full 360 once Kenders left and I remember them fondly but Hope is the fucking best! I want to see her again! She’s such a good girl with a great story and I may or may not be planning a fic involving her

33.) Most overrated character, GO

I should say that they are all good and deserve endless love but it’s not true. I can’t lie. The Babylon Rogues are just too boring to me.

It’s fine if you love them! Even if they are your faves! I apply to this the same principle I have with other Pokemon fans loving Pelipper when I could easily go a whole life without seeing its soulless bird eyes again.

(Okay maybe I have something against birds.

Except the Hatoful Boyfriend ones. Those are good.)

The thing is I just don’t find them all that interesting??? I don’t hate them, I’m just kinda meh about them. But I follow some people who adore them with a passion and it’s very endearing to watch someone pour all their love on their fave characters so I tolerate it and even reblog some good art when the mood strikes. But they still don’t rank in my top ten and probably never will.

34.) Guilty pleasure game? 

When I was in middle school I watched 06 cutscenes all the time and I’ve never been able to replicate the surge of intense excitement I had in those days.

It’s a bad game. It’s true. But it holds a special place in my heart and it introduced the best boy ever so I can’t let it go.

37.) List your favorite platonic ships.

I have LOTS for a start Sonic and Knuckles have a great dynamic and I want to see it more. And while I ship Vector and Espio romantically the way they both interact with Charmy is ADORBS they’re the trash parent/older brother figures he deserves. And Shadow and Rouge!!! God I could go on all night maybe friendship IS a superpower.

42.) If you could say one thing to Sonic Team right now, what would it be? 

HAVE SILVER AND BLAZE INTERACT MORE IN-GAME YOU COWARDS

51.) If you were your least favorite character for a day, what would you do and why?

Given that my least favorite is Zavok I would sit down and have a fucking nap instead of causing problems on purpose

62.) Opinions on Japanese and English voice acting, GO 

I know next to nothing about the Japanese VAs but the English ones are quite good??? I feel like they often embody their characters quite well. Certainly better than the Italian ones looking at you, Luca Ward and your C-level Metarex roles

74.) What’s the best thing about being in the Sonic fandom?

The creativity! Canon is so flexible that everyone can pick and choose what they please and there are thousands of headcanons, redesignes and plausible backstories that one can find everywhere, it just makes me dizzy with joy.

And the OCs! I could spend days gushing over other people’s OCs (and mine, though I never gather the courage to do it here). I say it before and I’ll say it again, if you ever need to show someone the character you made, send it over! I’ll praise them from head to toe because they’re all great. Full stop. No exception. Cringe is fucking dead.

75.) What’s the worst thing about being in the Sonic fandom? 

Antis. Worse still, antis recycling old arguments that I thought we’d buried deep down underground.

You can’t - you can’t come at me in the year of the lord 2020 and tell me sonamy and sonadow are problematic ships and everyone who endorses them is a disgusting person. Dude. That’s the literal backbone of the fandom. What the fuck.

(Also, as someone who got called some really nasty words bc I ship vecpio: I don’t give a damn. Ship what you want. Indulge in your kinks. We actively cheer for brightly colored antropomorphic animals to win in made up races against time or fights against mechanic overlords, stop taking everything so seriously.)

96.) Which character annoys you? 

Shade. Not because I have anything against her. I just never understood where she came from and why I never see any screenshots of her game and at this point I’m too afraid to ask anyone about it.

[bonebreakjack]

Winter Warmth

Knuckles doesn't like the cold, he grew up on tropical island for cry out loud!

But maybe winter ain't all bad.

Genre:friendship

Rating: G

Knuckles let out a sneeze as he shivered in his thick scarf, he didn't like visiting everyone during winter he was always sleepy, cold, and freakin wet! But Amy invited everyone over to her house for Christmas this year and even he for all his responsibility ....can't deny eating his friend’s food around this time of year, especially when she's offering.

Plus Chaos and Tikal insisted he go take a break.

(As well as bring some back for them. Sneaky gluttons, how does a ghost and being made of water even eat?)

Amy always made a lot of food around this time to give and help them through their semi hibernations. It was hard being hibernating mammals, your body ached with the ancient need to stuff yourself till you pop and sleep until you started to see flowers again.

Very annoying when you have to guard an ancient sacred relic with the power to destroy the world 24/7. That does not even mention the water deity of destruction that lived within it.

Their bodies may have evolved the automatic knockout out but they still are slower, sleepier, and much heavier than any other part of the year. It was amazing Eggman didn't attack them more often during this time when their at their weakest but he guesses not even Eggman likes working in this hellish cold.

Hearing voices he moved his head and nearly stopped cold at the crowd that was surrounding Amy's house pushing and shoving at each other. Feeling his hackles rise he let anger burn him warm. If these assholes came to start trouble he will give them a reason to start it!

Stomping his way over Knuckles was going to start laying into them when and even louder high pitched voice did it for him.

"I. SAID. GET IN LINE!!!"

Like obedient and scared school children the people got into a neat in orderly line(even if there was an almost stampede quality to it in an effort to quickly do as they were told.)

Knuckles raised a brow as he saw Amy having come outside her house armed with her hammer huffing pissed off and annoyed. She had her apron and bandana on covered in all sorts of food stains.

"You all are going to wait for your turn! You didn't want to wait for the deliveries? Well then unfortunately you're gonna have to wait in line like proper people." Resting her hammer on her shoulder she turned to Knuckles looking ready to go into another row before she stopped realizing who it was. Squealing, she made the ever so feared weapon disappear to hug him.

"Knuckles! You're early." She pulled him into the house and Knuckles tried to ignore the glares of death as he was allowed entry into the house. He was feeling petty and stuck his tongue out at them not helping their ire.

"Sorry, for that, after the whole thing with the Resistance, a lot of people were left without jobs. So I made this program to help get food around this year to those who can't afford it." Amy took him into the kitchen and he had to blink a couple a time to take in what he was seeing.

Food, so much FOOD. 

Miss Vanilla was currently manning the stove and giving people directions like she was a head chef in a restaurant, not a movement out of place as she cooked and fluttered around to check everyone's progress. Beside her, and Knuckle’s was guessing is her assistant Shadow who was cutting the meats and veggies at lightning speed.

Cream, Chocola, and Cheese were doing the wrapping of aluminum and plastic to keep the food warm before fitting them in the bags already stuffed to the brim. The back door was open for some reason and just as Knuckles was going to bring a voice to his question a familiar blue blur came in and at least half the bags were gone.

At a much slower pace Silver and Big came to take the rest thus starting the process all over again.

"I was cooking but there were too many orders for my area and everyone was already here so I asked them for help. But the deliverers were having trouble with directions so i was delegated to calling and directing the deliveries instead and that fuss outside isn't helping." Amy huffed and rubbed her head as the familiar rustling of unhappy people outside made Knuckles narrow his eyes before it turned into a smirk.

It seems Amy went overboard with trying to help again and is getting stressed. That's a big no in Knuckles book especially at this time of the year where everyone is supposed to be slowing down and resting more. Even on the others, he can see the tiredness seeping into the bodies not wanting to fight nature’s call. 

Amy had enough delivery dogs, and he doesn't think his cooking skills will be much help since Vanilla and Shadow seemed to be a well-oiled machine.

So that leaves only one thing to do to help ease his friend’s burden.

"Hey! Knuckles where are you going?"Amy called out to him as he marched back to the front door.

"I'm going to remind the people outside about *manners*. You already got your army working overtime, I can help by reducing the noise level." Knuckles cracked his namesakes but was stopped as something warm was thrown on his head. He took it into his hand and realized it was a thick warm pink jacket, he turned to Amy confused.

She just smiled gratefully and Knuckles felt happy as he already saw some tension leave her.

"I don't know why you don't get yourself a jacket. It was way too cold to have just a scarf. Take mine and don't be too persuasive now."

They both laughed as he put it on, giving her a salute as he closed the door behind him. The crowd from before were already yapping their complaints but they stopped cold at Knuckles glare.

"Listen here you bunch of ungrateful brats, they are working very hard in there to get you all fed. And behaving like jerks won't help you get it any faster. So, you’re going to sit here, shut up, and behave."

Someone in the middle of the line let out a disrespectful PFFFT before sticking their head out. A kind of turtle teenager who gave Knuckles an unimpressed look.

"Oooo, I'm so scared-"He shut up very quickly as Knuckles got into his face.

"You will be if you keep causing trouble."

A loud swallow and the teenager was shaking in his spot, and for extra measure Knuckles glared at the rest of them before nodding in satisfaction as the now cowed group. Going back to the front he played guard as everyone inside got work in a much more peaceful environment. Slowly but surely the people diminished as they got their promised food and apologies were given without Knuckles needing to do anything. 

A tap to his shoulder woke him up and he looked around to see it was already dark and somehow he had fallen asleep at the door. 

"Hey come inside we're all done Mr. Guardian." Knuckles shivered slowly as Amy took him in and lead him to the living room. Inside there were a lot more people than there was earlier, it made him chuckle a bit as he realized Amy really did put EVERYONE to work today. Guess they earned their winter foods today.

Vanilla was on the couch and while her posture was as perfect as ever she looked ready to slouch and take a nap. Young Cream curled into her mother with her Cheese and Chocola in her lap. Gemeral stood next to them not looking fazed but would occasionally pat Cream on the head. Vector sitting next to her with Espio resting against him knocked out and Charmy splayed across his lap. 

Shadow was in the corner of the eyes closed and arms crossed leaning on Omega who had found the only space that didn't have anything breakable near him. Rogue had lost all her decorum and rested shamelessly on top of his metal head letting soft snores.

Big the cat was on the recliner and Froggy rested on his stomach. Even Sonic was asleep with a blanket thrown over him and Tails as they slept. Silver took the other couch and that’s where Amy led him to lay down and dropped a blanket on him.

"Here everyone is staying here tonight and we're going to work together to make our winter meals tomorrow."She said softly as she gave him a pillow and Knuckles didn't realize how tired he was until his head hit it. The warmth and companionship in the room was making him sleepy.

"Thanks for the help Knuckles."

"No problem Amy, now you got to sleep too you ever relentless meddler."

"Meddler; he calls me." It got him a tired giggle but he finally heard the girl leave to rest as she had thrown blankets on everyone.  He was happy he was able to help even a little bit, hopefully, he can help more than just guard tomorrow. 

As much as he hated winter, this is one benefit he will give it. An excuse to see his friends more often. Yes, he had Tikal and Chaos now, but Tikal was an ancient ghost who hasn't been in touch with the modern world for a long time and Chaos....well was Chaos. It felt lonely up there sometimes even if he did prefer his privacy and space.

It was good to see everyone, checking in on them and seeing how they were. He may not be able to verbally admit it but he had grown close with this strange group of misfits who somehow become friends from saving the world over and over.

He hated winter but Knuckles can admit it’s not all bad.

[deliriousabsol]

More Things Than You Ever Cared To Know About My Writing

This was originally posted by ‘vorchagirl’, reblogged by someone I follow. And I thought it would be fun to just outright answer these in a questionnaire type way, rather than as asks. So here we go =)

Feel free to do this yourselves if you like it. Just please remember to add the original poster.

Fanfiction Questions

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Properly? Probably Pokemon. I’ve been writing fanfiction for it for years.

2. What is your latest fandom?

Funnily enough, Sonic, despite being a fan since I was like seven years old. I’ve just never seriously got into it since then until now.

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

The Pokemon fandom. I’ve made some awesome friends in it.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

You hear things, but I’ve not really come across any toxicity besides the reaction to the Sonic Movie.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

A good few, but the only ones you’ll find are Pokemon, Sonic and Zootopia.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Zootopia - Judy/Nick

Sonic - Shadow/Rouge, Silver/Blaze

Pokemon - I don’t usually ship in Pokemon, but Jessie/James because reasons

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Sonic/Amy. Sorry. Some art is cute, but it’s not my jam.

Shadow/Maria. I don’t ship animals with humans.

I also don’t ship yaoi/yuri pairings.

I do not poop on any ship. If it’s one I’m not fond of, I just scroll on and leave it be. Shipping can be pretty toxic sometimes, and I just don’t get it at all.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

I was writing Mask Behind the Monster and my husband’s aunt suggested I join a specific Sonic forum to post it in. So I joined the Amino and posted it, all nervous. The reception blew me away, and I met some awesome people, so I stuck around.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

The friends I’ve made.

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Probably. Can’t think of any off the top of my head.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Shadow/Rouge. Also Infinite/Amy. This is because of my current writing projects.

12. Who is your current OT3?

None.

13. Any NoTPs?

We’ve been over this *looks up*

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Sonic/Tails =3

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Infinite/Amy. I didn’t initially.  But if it’s done right, and there are reasons for them to be together in that setting, then it works. 

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Sonic/Shadow, Infinite/Gadget

I’m also not a fan of most Pokemon anime ships.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Knuckles/Amy. I still have a soft spot for it.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

Amy/Espio. I went through a phase... Read a couple of ‘fics and thought ‘Why not? Sounds like fun.’ XD

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Not really. As much as I like shipping, because I’m a fluff-junkie, I have to just like it.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Again. Inf/Amy. This one took me by surprise.

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Erm... if I remember right, Some cringy self-insert Pokemon ‘fic when I was like 14/15.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Everything I regret writing has been deleted.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

The End and Mask Behind the Monster. I can’t choose one over the other. They were both written with a lot of meaning and emotion behind them, and I have a soft spot for both.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

I keep thinking about re-writing The End, but I worry it will lose its fire if I do...

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

I think... THINK... it’s Mask Behind the Monster.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

To Title is hard. System:Reboot was a suggestion off a friend who I have lost touch with. Its working title is ‘Hacked’. A lot of my stories have preliminary working titles until I come up with something. The End was named after a song. Confectionary Conundrum was originally called ‘Sugar Snow’ which is the name of the sweet shop in that story. The Mainframe Saga’s Scrivener file is still called ‘Datastream’. Its separate books have been renamed as I’ve been ‘planning’ them out (as much as I plan).

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Probably summaries, because FFNet leaves very little space to do so.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

I have actually had fanart, so this is hard to say. A lot of people like drawing my cyberpunk Infinite redesign which has surprised me.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

My husband proof-reads my stuff, and then I question him on it. I don’t have a beta. I’ve thought about it, but I stick to a strict time-frame when it comes to uploads where I strictly give myself very little leniency. So if it wasn’t beta’d in time, I’d get a little frustrated and I do not like to pester people. I also worry I’ll be told to edit and cut a LOT, and I don’t like to butcher my ‘fics. I do that enough while I’m writing 8D

30. What inspires you to write?

My faith. That is a BIG one. You will find references and metaphors to my faith throughout my stories. Particularly in The End and The Mask Behind the Monster. Music is another huge inspiration drive. I’ve come up with entire scenes and even plots or sub-plots listening to music. I was just on a walk listening to some cyberpunk tracks when I got the spark for The Mainframe Saga.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Oh boy. Where do I start? I think I was especially moved when someone told me they read The Mask Behind the Monster to their sisters.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Yes. A lot. I listen to a variety of stuff from Christian rock and EDM to cyberpunk instrumental tracks. Main bands are Thousand Foot Krutch, Family Force Five, Cruxshadows, Holon, Misanthropix, Scandroid and Celldweller.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

It really varies. I lean towards epics. Even Glitched ended up being longer than planned, if memory serves, although it’s not epic length. The Mainframe Saga is made up of chaptered ‘fics, ficlets and one-shots.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

I couldn’t tell you, because Scrivener crashes when I try to get the word count for System:Reboot XD

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I don’t, but I have thought about it.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Sci-Fi. Hands down.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

I prefer third person, particularly restricted third person, because it is easier to write about different characters. That way the reader knows what’s going on when the main cast do not. I was very surprised I enjoyed writing first person so much in Mask Behind the Monster, though. But I did leap into third person a couple of times to give a wider perspective.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

I love creating OCs. But I will use canon characters in the Sonic fandom.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?

From what I’ve been told, character development.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Violence. And tragic back stories. I have legit questioned my sanity when coming up with scenes that include this.

Also... when I write fluff... I kind of grind to a halt and struggle through it. Often interspersed with gazing from the window and thinking well further ahead than where I’m currently at. This often results in forgetting dialogue I think up during my garden gazing.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I won’t post links because it is much too fiddly. But Guiding Light by Ambyssin, Heart Song by Suetonicsonic, Fall From Power by Lordius Dannius.

Hands of Creation by Namohysip, and The Curious and the Shiny by Nebula Dreams. Both of which I seriously need to pick up again.

I believe you can find all of them on FFNet.

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

Same applies as above. Ambyssin, Suetonicsonic, Namohysip, Chibi Pika and Nebula Dreams.

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Ambyssin has provided some amazing constructive criticism on System:Reboot which has resulted in me making a terrifying antagonist out of Gadget the Wolf. I strongly hope no other antagonists will develop what I have nicknamed ‘Socket Syndrome’. His drive and commitment to his writing has been pretty inspirational, too.

But in all fairness, I think most, if not all, of my writing friends have been inspirational and very supportive. I offer digital high-fives to each and every one of you.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

I can’t think of any. People should write what they like. And I believe if you want to read it, and it doesn’t exist, then you should write it yourself if you can.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Guiding Light by Ambyssin. It’s not often I fall in love with a fanfic.

Fall From Power by Lordius Dannius is another.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

The End or The Mask Behind the Monster, because they’re pretty special to me.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

FFNet. I’ve been posting there for years. I’m iffy on AO3. I’ve considered posting to Tumblr, but my solution to that is to post links and artwork instead.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

If I feel I have something to say, I’ll post a review. I like to make sure I do so, though, and I have been known to make notes on my computer and post reviews in bulk to works posted on Serebii.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I love comments, and I will try to respond to each one. Reblogs are totally welcome!

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I’ve been writing for many, many years. Since before I was ten years old. Pokemon likely got me into fanfiction. I can’t remember writing it for anything else prior to that cringy ‘fic I mentioned earlier (which we will never, ever talk about. Ever.)

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

I love the creativity behind it, especially OCs. Pokemon OCs are my favourites, particularly in PMD or Pokecentric settings. Both Sonic and Pokemon offer a lot of inspiration to create OCs as the worlds are both pretty vast. AUs and canon settings both offer massive scope for creativity. It’s seeing peoples’ headcanons and takes on the franchises that I really enjoy. Yes, I do like shipping, but a story does NOT need it to be a good story. It’s the way people tell it that matters more to me.

I know this says ‘one thing’. But I just want to make it clear, the one part of fanfiction I don’t like, is M-rated stuff. And I will not read it. It... bugs me when a ‘fic I’ve been enjoying suddenly changes its rating XD

(I do not own any of the fandoms or characters mentioned in this post) <- Nervous Nelly moment?

[isakthedragon]

The Chaos Emeralds

I've been curious about the Emeralds recently, about how they like to wander, are sometimes drawn to certain individuals, and the powers they might contain. So, I decided to take in all the information I could, with a bit of my own ideas added in, to determine what makes these Emeralds tick. I did try to stay as close to game canon as possible, but I could only infer so much when there isn't much known about the Emeralds at all. I also admit I may have followed some ideas other Tumblr folk have guessed but only enough to try and create my own ideas. So, um, yeah, here's what I think of the powers of the Chaos Emeralds.

Red: A jewel filled with the emotions of rage/anger/wrath. It's energy is raw, explosive, and powerful, and full of overwhelming strength. Negatively, it draws to angry, hotheaded individuals who's power derives from being wild and move first before thinking. Positively, it can head to determined, strong individuals that will stop at nothing to achieve their goals though they must be wary from being too stubborn minded. This emerald is most drawn to Knuckles, as he perfectly fits the Emerald, but if he is unavailable, it can also be drawn to Might, Vector, Omega. Eggman, Rouge, and Amy are usually the rare candidates to get the gem, only if they are in an angry mood. Other thing of note, it is most likely the cause of Shadow's Chaos Blast power.

Yellow: A jewel filled with emotions of happiness/light. Its energy is in the form of bonds that can be put together to form various shields of defense that can only be torn apart by the user or the other Emeralds. Although there is no negative energy tied to this Emerald, it can be drawn negatively to those that have shells around themselves. In fact, it literally creates a mental barrier, like a cocoon, around the real personality, while helping finish the fake personality act completely on its own, for all to see instead. They usually also feel like they have a barrier around them, protecting the fake personality. This unfortunately means that friends of the individual will have an extremely difficult battle to help the real personality break out on their own. More often than not, it is usually drawn to happy individuals that are bubbly and all around joyous. These individuals can help form barriers of protection both physically and mentally for themselves and their friends. This Chaos Emerald tends to bounce around between Tails and Cream, since they are the most happy individuals in close proximity to the Emerald, but on a rare occasion, it does like Charmy's spirit.

Green: A jewel filled with the emotions of vitality and kindness, mixed with some chaos. That chaos it holds can accidently let the gem be fooled into believing someone is good when, in fact, they are evil and hateful. Power wise, its energy is generally used as a form of healing, but an evil user could also use it to steal away that health to keep forever young and health. Negatively, it can be drawn to those who are often vain or heartless and would only use the good side of the power on themselves. Positively, it can be used to heal others of their wounds and bring out the kindness in an individual. Be wary, however, as that this emerald is blind enough that you can cause necromancy and raise the dead or create zombified or split individuals. Cream seems to draw this particular Emerald a lot, since it is mostly used for healing, but it is also drawn to Shadow sometimes because his Chaos powers are so active and he does have some healing abilities too.

Blue: A jewel filled of orderly, but also chaotic movement. It exhibits traits of wind and water, always flowing and never stopping, but said flow at its core is orderly and predictable, if it has a worthy listener. Emotionally, the user may feel a sense of calmness and think clearly. Negatively, it is drawn to those who don't act with the best of intentions, who want to cause chaos and harm. For those, they tend to rip open time-space carelessly and leave the rip open for others to use. Positively, it is drawn to those who do have good intentions and want to help others. It usually grants super speed, but a really strong user can also create those time-space manipulations, but they close up soon afterwards. Other important thing of note is that it is the most likely cause of Chaos Control to warp the user elsewhere. This emerald usually bounces around between Sonic, Big and Espio, since all 3 have a sense of calmness around them, and on a rare occasion, Ray.

Cyan/Light Blue: A jewel that is an odd mixture of its related Red, Yellow, and Blue Emeralds. To describe its power is a trifecta form of defense, speed, and strength. Emotionally, the user would feel a sense of jovialness/pleasure and to an extended measure, cockiness and smug. Negatively, it is drawn to those who are narcissistic and own-minded. It can tend to make these people cold, both with the power of ice, but also pushing anyone away mentally. Positively, it is drawn to those who are free spirits and that they are usually happy with who they are. But be reminded that it is not stronger than the other Emeralds, but combines them into a more useful form of power. It could be said that the Cyan/Light Blue Emerald would be always drawn to Sonic, if given the chance.

Purple: A jewel filled the power of the mind and the Aether. Surprisingly, this gem has a mind that can intelligently choose its user. Emotionally, the user will feel a sadness deep within them that doesn't go away until the Emerald is gone. Whether the individual is good or bad, the gem only goes to those who are strong-minded.  Of course, it can be fooled to a negative person whose mind wants to be used for nefarious purposes like to cause mental instability and disorders, anxiety, or mind control a population. Positively, it can offer the user to bring mental calmness or bring out the good side in a person. But be wary, either side are still working with a form of brain hypnosis, and the subject of the power may not be pleased with their mind being messed with. It's mostly drawn to Silver, because he is a particularly powerful Psychokinetic user, but it tends to usually favor Amy, who seems to be able to suppress the sadness it brings and her mystical powers from Little Planet please the gem.

White/Silver: A mysterious jewel with an even stranger power. Users would actually feel more of a lack of emotion, like a void, a stillness, an emptiness in their hearts. Its power can be considered mysterious as well as it seems to give the user the ability to control energies, and create new, pure energy to their uses. Perhaps it can be best described as the power of imagination, or a power of god(s). So, whether good or bad, it is drawn to those who have a great imagination, who build huge mental worlds of their own. Of course, negative entities crave this power as it can basically give them the building blocks necessary to build a world in their essence, changing the landscape physically to their will. It could also be used to create a new universe if they got the mental will for it. To the eyes of the side of good, that could mean building a world of peace and tranquility, where there is no hate. On the flip side, one could destroy it all and leave it just nothingness, the White Space, a place between dimensions that have no 'time', and, if the Universe was torn apart painfully, with a purpose, ruined memories and destroyed, familiar landscapes. If this sounds familiar, it's because that's exactly what happened in Sonic Generations, just with the Time Eater, a being most likely made from this Emerald. This Emerald also seems to love Eggman's company a lot, and might never leave his side. It's unknown if there is anyone in the series with a good heart who can control this emerald.

So, that's it. I kinda hope I do get some feedback on this, maybe to build on anything about the Emeralds I may have missed.

EDIT: Bit more on the negative people of the Yellow Emerald can be drawn to.

[105ttt]

Hey why is Vio a better fit for Shadow than Shadow Link, since Shadow Link is the obvious choice. Hes literally named Shadow. What a missed opportunity.

Okay first off hi Noot

Second off, I used to have a million reasons for why I always thought Vio was a better fit for a Shadow the Hedgehog role instead of Shadow Link, but since that was ages ago and I’m tired, I’ll just sum up my thoughts as best as I can.

Most people would assume that Shadow Link fits Shadow the Hedgehog’s character better than Vio because they think of Shadow the Hedgehog as a stereotype mostly promulgated by Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) that isn’t really true to all of his character: they think he’s an edgelord who loves shooting guns, riding around on motorcycles, and being violent and cranky and mean for no reason. Vio’s thing isn’t really violence, but Shadow Link has been shown on multiple occasions to be easily angered and violent to the point where he acts animalistic. For people who aren’t really invested in the Sonic franchise, they would see Shadow Link as a better fit for Shadow the Hedgehog because of the name similarity, color scheme similarity, and shared grounds for potential violence. They would see Vio as more fitting for someone like Blaze or Espio, calm purple characters who act cool most of the time. And that makes perfect sense! There’s nothing wrong with interpreting those characters in that way. It’s just a silly manga and video game franchise crossover.

However, I feel like people who are more invested in the Sonic franchise such as myself know that Shadow the Hedgehog isn’t just your typical violent edgelord. He’s so much more than that, and it gets overlooked because he hasn’t had a major role where he really got character development since Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). If you look back at the Dreamcast Era games (Sonic Adventure 2 to ShTH, since he wasn’t in Sonic Adventure) and Sonic ‘06, however, you realize that there is so much more to Shadow’s character than just what we see in ShTH. He’s loyal to a fault to those he loves. He’d do anything for his loved ones, even if it puts him in danger. He feels personally responsible for the bad things he did and initially felt guilt over it. He’s very clever and driven by his passion for his loved ones and his desire to protect them. After ShTH, he doesn’t let anyone manipulate him or make him stray from the path he sets for himself (see the famous cutscene from Sonic ‘06 where he tells off Mephiles for trying to get him on his side), and he pursues his goals by any means, even if that means doing morally grey things at times. And he’s a great actor, actually (see the cutscenes in SA2 where Shadow the Hedgehog pretends to be in on Eggman’s plan when first explaining the Eclipse Cannon to him). And if you read all of those and compile them together, it really sounds a lot more like Vio than Shadow Link, doesn’t it?

Yes, I admit Shadow the Hedgehog does have many similarities to Shadow Link: besides what’s obvious, both were misguided and manipulated villains who turned into heroes after some truth about themselves was revealed to them by a wise girl who cares about them that made them release what they had been doing to achieve their goals was wrong the whole time. Both also have some sort of innate power most people don’t have that can be likened to magic (Shadow the Hedgehog has Chaos powers while Shadow Link has dark magic), which makes them powerful (though I’d argue that Shadow the Hedgehog is way more overpowered in his universe than Shadow Link is in his). Both also had an identity crisis where they felt like they had to prove they weren’t mere copies of someone else and got defensive if anyone tried to imply they weren’t who they said they were or otherwise threatened the validity of their identity.

However, the reason I still say that Vio is a better choice for an AU role where he takes the place of Shadow the Hedgehog is because of the part of Shadow the Hedgehog’s personality that is quiet and gentle. He does brood quite a bit (not in a I-hate-everyone way, but he still does it), and that’s simply because he’s not as expressive as other characters. He has a resting frown, and he’s not as outspoken as other characters unless he wants to be. Shadow Link isn’t the type of person to brood and be a loner. He wants attention; it’s literally part of his character arc. He makes sure he’s heard and that everyone knows his thoughts and how he’s feeling. He’s very expressive and quick to get angry, excited, or sad. Vio, on the other hand, is more reserved, but like Shadow the Hedgehog, if he shows his rage or excitement, it really shows and is deeply felt. And Vio had to learn it was okay to show his emotions, just like Shadow the Hedgehog did after SA2 and later in Sonic Heroes. He’s quieter in those games because he doesn’t know who he is and is learning about his place in the grand scheme of things, but after he’s developed bonds with his loved ones, he learns to be himself and not bottle everything up and hide his feelings or thoughts from people. Sound familiar?

And I’d argue that the level of devotion Shadow the Hedgehog has for his loved ones and the lengths he goes to to do things for their sake is a lot like Vio’s devotion to his teammates and princess. Shadow the Hedgehog was literally willing to die for Maria in SA2 if it meant he fulfilled his promise to her, and in both SA2 and later games, we see Shadow the Hedgehog put himself in harm’s way or do drastic things for his loved ones (like jumping in front of Sonic when Silver was beating him up in Sonic ‘06, or catching Rouge as she fell to the ground after being shot down in one cutscene in Sonic ‘06 knowing that he would lose something critical to the mission at hand, or when he pushed Rouge out of the way of Omega’s deadly fire at the beginning of Sonic Heroes even though he didn’t remember her at all). That kind of innate heroism, that desire to protect innocent people, doesn’t seem as easily associated with Shadow Link as it is with Vio. Vio is a literal hero of Hyrule. That kind of kindness and selflessness was always inherent in him, even if he seemed like a jerk at first because he was so full of himself originally. This cockiness is another trait he shares with Shadow the Hedgehog, who often bragged about being the Ultimate Lifeform just as Vio often bragged about being self-sufficient and not needing teammates. Both started as loners, but they eventually became devoted to their loved ones. By that same token, they both were willing to deceive people if it meant helping the ones they loved (though it had different implications for their true characters). Shadow the Hedgehog deceived Eggman in SA2 in order to get the Chaos Emeralds faster and get access to the Eclipse Cannon that could destroy Earth and satisfy his need for revenge for Maria’s death. We all know what Vio did as a double-agent for his teammates that ultimately led to him hurting Shadow Link (and while that wording may tempt you to associate him with Rouge instead of Shadow the Hedgehog, don’t let it). Both Vio and Shadow the Hedgehog felt guilty for the bad things they had to do to accomplish their goals (we see this less with Vio, but there is the infamous panel where he says Shadow Link’s name while looking sad as if he regrets hurting him, so we can assume he feels guilty), but they also try to right their wrongs by doing only heroic deeds after coming to realize that what they did was wrong in some way. They may do morally grey things to accomplish their goals, but they ultimately do them for the greater good (or at least for Shadow the Hedgehog, in games after SA2), and they don’t let anyone lead them astray.

I would also like to quickly note that the way Shadow the Hedgehog saw Maria and the way Vio sees Zelda is very similar. It is clear that Vio is very close to Zelda since Link was close to Zelda, and Shadow the Hedgehog canonically saw Maria like a sister according to ShTH. Both parties felt a deep connection to their sister-figures, and they would do anything to protect them (with Vio going on a journey to save Zelda and Shadow the Hedgehog trying to run away from the G.U.N. soldiers on the ARK with Maria, though unsuccessfully). Their devotion, as well as the way they talk to and act around their cherished sister-figure, are quite similar. In fact, Shadow the Hedgehog almost seems like Maria’s knight despite not formally being so as Vio is to Zelda. In ShTH alone, we see that Maria was always able to call on Shadow the Hedgehog for help with anything, even if it there wasn’t any personal benefit that would come out of it for him, and he talks to her in such a gentle, caring way that lets you know they’re the closest of friends. Vio’s knightly and brotherly devotion to Zelda is similar in the sense that she can always call on him for help if she needs to (both because it’s his job and because he loves her), and he would do anything to keep her safe. It makes for a neat, sad, bittersweet relationship in any Sonic Four Swords AUs where Vio takes Shadow the Hedgehog’s role and Zelda takes Maria’s role.

“But Fanta!” you say. “Rouge is literally a double-agent like Vio!! It’s a perfect role for him!!”

Well, there’s a few good reasons you could choose for Vio to take Rouge’s place instead of Shadow the Hedgehog’s, such as the double-agent thing and their high self-esteem as well as their love of showing off. Both can also be snarky and use their charms to get what they want. But, in a surprising twist, I would actually say Shadow Link fits Rouge better than Vio. Yes, this has many weird implications seeing as this basically swaps the relationship they had in canon, but if you ignore that, I believe that Shadow Link really does fit Rouge better. Rouge is more outspoken and quick to take the lead. She’s a master manipulator when it comes to getting people to work with her, and she really does want it all - just like Shadow Link. I honestly can see the fun-loving and rambunctious Shadow Link acting a lot more like our favorite bat girl than Shadow the Hedgehog, who is known to be reserved. Again, the idea that Shadow the Hedgehog is a violent edgelord is a misconception, and so while it would seem obvious for the two edgiest characters to match each other better, it’s not as simple as it seems. I could write a whole separate post about why Rouge is a better fit for Shadow Link than Shadow the Hedgehog, but this is about Vio right  now.

Case and point, I’d argue without hesitation that Vio is best suited for swapping roles with Shadow the Hedgehog in a Sonic Four Swords AU of any kind (my favorites being SA2 and ShTH) instead of someone who is less important in most games such as Blaze or Espio or someone like Rouge. Having Vio as Shadow the Hedgehog and Shadow Link as Rouge allows them to be on the same importance level as the typical matchups for the rest of the Links (which is usually Green as Sonic, Blue as Knuckles, and Red as Tails). That isn’t to say that assigning Vio to Rouge and assigning Shadow Link to Shadow the Hedgehog is wrong or bad, but I personally just have it the other way around. I’m probably missing some other points I’ve thought of over time here, but I hope this is enough to make sense and be convincing for the moment.

[cinnamonrollorder]

Whoops

I DID IT AFTER 9000 YEARS. This is prompt 3 of the set that the lovely @annikatti gifted the world with.

 Everyone knew Sonic was tired. It wasn’t a secret, no matter how much the Blue Blur tried to hide it. There was eventually no hiding the super-sized bags under his eyes, or how hard it was to catch his breath after a long run. He usually stood tall and proud, with his signature smile upon his face, so it was hard to not notice how much he slumped, or his smiles were strained. And yet, matter how bad it seemed to get, Sonic never stopped.

Anyone he’d pass by would at least get a greeting, or a half-hearted smile. He was trying so hard to bolster everyone’s spirits, even if the metallic patches of fur that always lingered on his skin nowadays dulled the effect. Sonic would often stop by Cream and Whisper, trying to see if they needed anything. When it was late at night, he’d go around making sure everyone was asleep. Amy eventually just let Sonic do all the night jobs, at the promise that he’d wake someone up if he was going on a run. Sonic never did, but somehow always turned up fine.

Espio should know, since he had been watching the hedgehog. It had been Amy’s request.

“He can’t run off the infection for long. I just worry about him, and I don’t have time to check up on Sonic.”

“You want me to watch him, correct? I can do that.”

“Thank you, Espio.” Amy had looked so tired in that moment; so tired, in fact, Espio had no choice but to set aside his grudge against the blue hedgehog and agree. He was quite aware that Sonic had no way of knowing that letting Eggman go would cause all this, but it didn’t change the fact that Sonic had caused all of this. If Sonic had destroyed Metal, and let Eggman be put away in a monitored location, then no one would be in this mess.

Vector and Charmy wouldn’t be in this mess.

The chameleon shook his head, dispersing those thoughts. There wasn’t any point in dwelling on the “what ifs”. What was happening now was too important.

The “now” was evacuating a sizeable little town that had just gotten hit by the virus. The problem with this town is that it had been adequately defended up until now; there were walls all around the town, along with multiple choke points made with buildings, and freshly dug draining holes that were supposed to limit the spread of the liquid virus. They couldn’t tell how well it worked, since they had to land outside the walls. Eggman and Starline had already flown off, seemingly content on leaving their group to suffer, and probably not wanting to risk getting infected themselves.

Sonic was there, this time, he, Silver, and Tails were supposed to climb over the wall and find a spot for the others to get in. Sonic and Silver would clear the spot out as Tails would go back to report it. On the surface, it was a sound plan. Sonic and Silver were the only ones who could safely hold off zombots, and Tails could easily fly to escape any dangers.

The problem was that Espio had been watching Sonic, so he know exactly what the hedgehog had been doing the last two days.

He’d watched as Sonic stayed up the past two nights doing all the night jobs, having convinced everyone that he was fine and they needed the sleep. Espio himself had to sleep both those nights, since he’d be found out if he just ominously was in dark, shadowy places watching Sonic. Not to mention, Sonic kept periodically checking everyone to make sure they were resting.

So, technically, he hadn’t seen Sonic stay up, but considering the hedgehog’s virus always stayed relatively contained those nights, it was clear Sonic hadn’t let himself rest. Or eat. Eating was another problem entirely.

Espio hadn’t noticed until it became his job to notice, but Sonic didn’t eat. He already had permission to eat at a different time than everyone else (Amy and Tails agreed that it’d be easier to keep Sonic away from the small crowd that always gathered when food was handed out), so it was easy to miss. Sonic just seemed to rarely stop by to get food. Espio remembered one night, where Sonic had stumbled into the storage room, grabbed a hidden half of a ration, and ate it. He realized what Sonic was doing at that point.

Sonic was trying to conserve food. He’d stop by every once in a while, and eat half of what he should. He’d leave the next half for whenever he came by again. That left more food for everyone else.

The problem with that was Sonic’s metabolism was as fast as the blue blur himself was, and that half of a ration was certainly not doing anything but barely keeping him alive. Oh, and the fact that Sonic ran enough miles every day to short-circuit a fitbit.

However, addressing this would reveal Espio had been watching Sonic, and then that would lead to asking why Espio had to watch Sonic, and then that would lead to Sonic being told he was slowly losing his immunity. Which, all things considered, wasn’t the best idea. Despite the fact the hedgehog was the easiest one to blame for everything, he was their one bit of hope. Even if it was running out, Sonic had an immunity to the virus. He was trying to bolster spirits and help as best he could.

Espio couldn’t afford to dim Sonic’s spirit, even just a little.

So, he pulled aside Silver and told him to keep an eye on Sonic.

“Got it! You can count on me!” He said, with a little smile. Espio left it at that, glad Silver didn’t ask why.  He was a good kid, but Espio wasn’t sure he was the best at secret-keeping. He’d done what he could, at least.

----

Silver may not always have the best judgement, but he wasn’t an idiot. He know what Espio wanted, and he knew why. He’d have to be stupid not to. Silver wasn’t around the pink hedgehog that often, but he’d noticed last time he was that she kept glancing at Sonic, who’d been on top of a shelf in the corner, watching everyone. He noticed her concern.

Besides, he was worried, too.

He could see it in the way the hedgehog carried himself, and he had a better picture of it by not seeing him every day. One week he didn’t have any bags, the next week he carried the world in them. One day he’s standing up straight, the next time he sees the blue blur he’s hunched over all the time. It was like watching a slideshow progressing towards someone’s death. He hated it.

It was obvious Espio was keeping an eye on Sonic, most likely because of Amy’s orders, and since he couldn’t come with them right now, he’d asked Silver to do it for him. He could do that. He was gonna do it regardless, because Sonic was particularly bad today.

----

Sonic couldn’t remember the definition of self-care. Sleeping, eating, drinking, all of it was foreign. Well, not exactly. He had a bit of stale bread…. A… day ago? He wasn’t sure. He knew he hadn’t slept all week, at least. Maybe it was getting to him.

He felt stiff all morning, and his head was pounding with vigor the rest of him didn’t have. He knew they were nearing a place with people, though, so he did his best to appear awake and alert.  He was pretty sure he did a decent enough job at it. No one stopped him, at least.

When he was finally told what his mission was, he couldn’t shake off a feeling of unease. It wasn’t that he thought it would be difficult, it was just some inherent feeling he couldn’t shake off. Silver was certainly capable of taking care of himself, since no Zombot could even get close to him. Tails was smart, and he could literally fly. Sonic himself didn’t have to fear being touched, he just needed to make sure he wasn’t grabbed and pinned. All things considered, he shouldn’t have felt so worried.

Upon later consideration, Sonic believed what should have happened was a future Sonic would suddenly appear, shake him vigorously, and demand to know why Sonic only had one brain cell.

The mission started off well enough. They scaled the wall, got inside, and Sonic hopped from roof to roof trying to find a nice, safe enough spot for everyone else to come in. He realized that the village’s defenses had actually sort of worked. The holes weren’t big enough and numerous enough to hold everything, but it did keep most of the virus from spreading through everything. The funnels between buildings helped keep the hordes at bay, since they were too stupid to wait to go through one at a time, and just amassed a body pile at the entrances. By now, uninfected townspeople were rushing over to the trio. A male goat with a kid in his arms pointed to a specific spot on the wall and yelled, “over there! There’s a mechanism that’ll open it up!” Sonic gave him a quick salute and darted over. One of the bricks was jetting out more than the others, so he pressed it. He was feeling oddly energetic, so he made sure Tails saw the opening in the wall before running for the zombots that were slowly beginning to get close to innocent civilians.

----

Silver made sure Tails got out before turning in the air and going after Sonic. He had only stopped for a second, but that was enough for Silver to realize that Sonic had been shaking. The blue hedgehog didn’t seem to realize it, of course, but he somehow looked like death had a ton of caffeine. Sonic was making a beeline for a few zombots who were trying to grab any nearby people they could. A few solid kicks from him and they were beaten back, so he moved on. Silver watched this as if it were a ping-pong match, just watching as Sonic seemed to bounce between targets.

It was at this point Silver remembered something very important.

The ground was all grass, and it was infected. It was slowly spreading through the town. At this point, everyone who could be infected was safe at the escape area, minus Silver himself. At least for now. Silver started trying to cover up alleys and breaks between houses with anything nonliving he could find. Sonic was watching him, too, and started clearing out areas specifically for Silver to block. They had to fall back a little, since the virus was still trying to spread, and the zombots were zeroing in on them, but it was OK. They were doing fine.

About half of the town had been lost, but the rest were OK. Silver glanced back a few times to see the progress of evacuation. They were almost done, it seemed. Some people hadn’t left, and they were trying to find them and get them out while they still could. They could hold out a little longer, it was OK.

Then it was suddenly very much not OK.

It was like watching dominoes fall, but instead of a gentle little tap knocking them all down, it was like Shadow had come in on his truck and ran over all the dominoes. One of the barriers failed, releasing a bunch of zombots and the liquid virus. When they went over to fix it, another barrier failed. Then another. And many more barriers.

“We can’t hold them! Get out of here!” Silver yelled as loud as he could. He couldn’t check to see if they’d heard him, because a zombot tried jumping up to grab his foot. He barely managed to fly out of reach. Sonic, who was grounded, wasn’t so lucky. A small beetle child had snuck up behind him and latched onto him. Silver used his psychokinesis to wrench the little kid off and throw her back towards the approaching hoard. Taking one look at Sonic was all Silver needed. His chest was heaving, and he was covered in metallic patches. He was still shaking, but this time he actually looked worn out. “Sonic! Run!”

“No way! I’ll be fine if I keep them off me; I’m not leaving you to hold them all off!” Sonic yelled back, delivering a firm punch to a zombot. Not wanting to waste time arguing, Silver accepted this. He kept a close eye on the hedgehog, keeping the zombots from grabbing the blue blur. Sonic, in turn, made sure no zombot had a chance to go after Silver. Suddenly, Silver heard his communicator beep. I forgot I had this. He quickly tapped it.

“Silver, everyone’s out. We have to shut the gates. Can you and Sonic make it out?” It was Amy. He glanced back to find that, yes, everyone was out, and that the virus had almost spread to the exit through the grass. There wasn’t time to go out that way, but they could use the wall.

 “Yeah, we’ve got this. Shut the gates, and we’ll get out.” He responded. Another beep and the closing of the gate (or sliding panels in the wall to be more specific) was all Silver needed. “Sonic! We’re clear!” He called to his friend. Sonic, without missing a beat, whirled around and started running away from the zombots. He didn’t have much time. Silver flew low enough to keep a good eye on Sonic.

This is the point where the dominoes actually get run over.

Sonic faltered in his steps, and stumbled clean off the roof he was on. Right below him was a river of the virus. Silver grabbed him with his psychokinesis, only to suddenly realize Sonic wasn’t moving. He’d just… completely shut down. Setting him gently down on the roof, Silver quickly tried to look the hedgehog over. He was injured, but not bleeding. So he’d been right. Sonic had passed out. The hedgehog from the future had about one second to take this in before he was brutally reminded of where he was. The zombots had gotten onto the roof, and they were not happy. Psychically grabbing Sonic and himself, Silver jetted up from where he once was. His head hurt. Sonic was twitching, probably due to being manhandled in the air.

Silver tried to get away, he really did. Just as he geared himself up for a dash out of the area, a rock hit him square in the head. Hard. He and Sonic dropped out of the sky like disappointing pizza dough. Sonic almost slid off the roof, but Silver caught him. It was then Silver realized something very very important for the last time.

His head hurt too much to focus now.

He couldn’t carry himself and Sonic out. He’d have to leave either himself or Sonic behind, which was a no-brainer. He scrambled to his feet, ran forward, and psychokinetically chucked Sonic as far as he could like a football, in his haste missing the fact the hedgehog’s eyes were suddenly wide open. The second he let go of his hold on his inert friend, he tried to lift himself away. It didn’t go nearly as well as Sonic Toss had.

Something grabbed his foot before he was a foot off the ground. Silver turned to see that same gremlin beetle child, latched onto his boot. He quickly tapped his communicator as he teetered on the roof ledge, unbalanced. He sent out one last message before he fell and plunged into the ton of metal virus on the ground.

“Sonic got out.”

-----

Everyone had seen something get thrown out of the village. If they were looking, that is. Espio was looking. Espio saw it. And being a detective, it took him one second to see something blue fly out and realize holy heck that’s Sonic’s body. Espio also correctly deduced that something had gone very, very wrong. He started running towards where Sonic had fallen, but stopped when he saw Amy’s face.

It was like someone had just died. Which, considering the situation, was probably what it was.

“Amy, what-“

“Silver didn’t make it.” She said, then threw her communicator to the ground. Espio wished he had the time to say something to that. He did. But, instead, he just started running towards Sonic’s impact zone. Once again, he was stopped by seeing that telltale blue streak of a supersonic hedgehog running away from him. From everyone. He just turned on his heel and went back to the group, clenching his fists.

He did not just sign up another one of his friends to die. He did not set Silver up to die.

That’s what he told himself, at least.

That’s what he told himself when he saw Amy giving out orders through her tears.

That’s what he told himself when Tails kept telling everyone that Silver probably couldn’t use his psychokinesis anymore, but that they still had to go.

That’s what he told himself when right before they took off Sonic came back with a haunted look in his eye.

I’m so sorry, Silver.