#and i find that i just play on instinct when i'm playing sonic and or avatar levels

[sonicboomseason3]

a brief recap of what has been going on with the sonic movieverse in the past several months:

paramount has come out in public support of israel

keanu reeves, a man who has publicly rubbed elbows with none other than benjamin netanyahu, reportedly gets cast as shadow for the upcoming third movie

james marsden, the guy who plays tom, got exposed as having written a letter of support for a convicted pedophile

there's fucking??? zionist propaganda in the knuckles series???

kind of connected to the last point but adam pally, the guy who plays wade, is evidently pro-israel too

this is a complete and utter joke.

EDIT AS OF 4/30/24: if people see this version of the post, i'd really appreciate it if you reblog it instead of the other versions, as it's the most updated one with all the information that i want included. thank you :]

you know, it's been a few days since i've made this post, and some of you (not most) are staying determined in defending/justifying/giving the benefit of the doubt to keanu for that photo with netanyahu, whether it's because "it was a decade ago," "him being civil to someone he ran into at a party one time doesn't mean anything," "he's probably just silent because his pr managers won't allow him to speak up," etc. i've made my thoughts on the matter quite clear by directly responding to these people, but at this point, i'm tired of both seeing them in my notes and repeating myself, so take this as my final word on the issue.

i can't help it if you don't think the photo with netanyahu is damning, and i'm done engaging with everyone going out of their way to tell me that. i obviously disagree, especially after finding out that 1. the host of the party, arnon milchan, is a former israeli spy who has a history of developing israel's nuclear program and promoting apartheid in south africa (information that had broken out a few months prior to the party and thus would've been fresh news around the time keanu chose to attend) and 2. keanu has been caught hanging around at least two other weirdos, but if you don't find any of that to be cause for reasonable concern, then there really is nothing else i can say afaik.

with all that said, i'm beginning to realize how strange it is that these people's first instinct when seeing this post is to start debating about keanu's political stances without ever acknowledging any of the other bullet points. you guys realize that this isn't just about him, right? i know tumblr reading comprehension is known for being piss-poor, but like… you realize that i was trying to make a point of how there are MULTIPLE terrible things that have broken out about the people and company involved in the sonic movies, right? and yet, a lot of the people leaping to speak on keanu's behalf in my notes are completely ignoring the parts where i bring up paramount, pally, etc. all in favor of zeroing in on the singular point about keanu and making bad faith assumptions about me for holding him accountable. really makes one wonder where your priorities lie if, in a post that talks about so many other things, me accusing an a-list celebrity with, according to google, a net worth of almost $400 million is where you draw the line and apparently the only thing worth your acknowledgment.

ultimately, what i'm trying to say is that the intention of this post was just to gather up everything that i had been hearing for the past several months and put it all together in one place. there were a bunch of people who didn't know about at least one of the bullet points before seeing this post, and i'm glad that i could help inform them, that was what i was hoping to do! but as for the keanu thing, i've said pretty much all i can say for now, and i don't want to derail the original post even more than i may have already. unless something new comes up, i'm done talking about him.

[nightmanatee]

nice little details from 13th doctor era that i love:

13 loves being called "doc"!!! i personally hc this as her reflection to "yasmin khan. yaz to friends" bc she considers fam her friends.

graham mentions that he plays cards on his "adventures" and i'm a firm believer that 13's doctor spends her evenings playing card games with him.

she has different ringtones for each of fam members!!

even tho she has her own phone she loves using yaz's one to text/locate others etc.

i mean that's given but her weird points/stars system!!!

13's first instinct is to always protect people - shielding them with her own body - she's done this numerous times standing in front of groups of people/closing the door and leaning on it to keep everyone else safe.

she usually asks permission before doing something like entering someone's mind or offering them some devices aside from life threatening situations and always(?) after finding out about her own secret.

she ALSO favours yaz a lot esp in s11 - when splitting choosing to go with her.

13 pretty much hates being alone - it's even more obvious in orphan 55 (when she is visibly upset over fam leaving her) and in cyhm? (literally talking to herself as if fam is still here).

graham having psychic powers???? like he literally just sees and talks to ghosts and has connection with gods and everybody just accepts it.

her beautiful beautiful tardis that reflects her mood by being blue when she's very sad. and by turning on the lights when she touches it in the tc ep.

she likes fixing and creating things: from her OWN sonic to other different devices!

also pay attention to yaz's earrings and the hearts in the background - istg i canNOT find this post with this theory but i love it so so sooo much. bc there are so many hidden hearts in this era.

fam always having each others' backs (like in the tc graham saving yaz from ashad while in a cyberman suit).

all of the main couples in this era paralleling thasmin in some way!!!

there's probably more feel free to add if you want to!

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

Nobody asked me for my opinion on the controversy that dropped today when the Sonic Movie cast pay rate was revealed, which is fair ig since I try to stay positive on this blog. But in case you're wondering, yeah as a certified AFAB™ I'm pissed, but not really specifically at the Sonic crew. Actor pay rates are usually negotiated between agents and the production companies so just like all the other problems with the Sonic movies, this is most likely an issue with Paramount and their patented dumbfuckery. Disclaimer that obviously it could very well be a Sonic crew issue as well, obviously I don't know the inner workings of the entire film production.

Also, if you're mad about this: please be mad about the pay gap that has been going on as long as Hollywood has been alive. This isn't a problem unique to the SCU. I know the phrase "pay gap" is thrown around a whole lot but do you guys actually know how big an issue it is?

Recent percentages are that male and female actors have "a wage difference of about 25 percent," with an estimated difference of $1-2million between star-power men and star-power women.[x][x] Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone said she made $500k to Michael Douglas's $14mil– and when she was asked to be lead in a film being made in ~2022, the lead male, who was "new", was going to be paid $8-9mil, with her salary still at $500k. Last December, Biggest Monopoly In The World Disney was sued by 9,000 women over their pay gap.

This article is from 2019 but brings up some big fucking pay gaps between leads– for instance, Gillian Anderson was offered half of what David Duchovny was for the X-Files reboot as one of the two main fucking characters, Amanda Seyfried has disclosed she made 10% of what her male co-star made on an undisclosed film, Natalie Portman made 1/3 of the salary of Ashton Kutcher in No Strings Attached, and Ellen Pompeo, the titular character of Grey's Anatomy, was paid less than the actor playing her love interest, Patrick Dempsey. In fact, Dempsey was being paid almost double what she was.

However, BIG issue with the 2019 article: it only focuses on what White actors are being paid. Research shows that Black actresses make 57 cents to every dollar white actors make on a good day. Viola Davis, one of the most popular and talented actresses of our generation, has said that black women "get probably a tenth of what a Caucasian woman gets. And I'm number one on the call sheet." Octavia Spencer had to collaborate with Jessica Chastain to make sure they both got paid the same amount of money on a film they both worked on, and revealed that her new salary increased 500% afterwards.

At the end of last year, while promo-ing The Color Purple, Taraji P. Henson broke into tears while talking about how little she's being paid when compared to her white and male contemporaries. And when she talked about the gap, I find it so fucking frustrating that the general audience response was to immediately blame the only Black female producer on the film. I have a million gripes with Oprah Winfrey but TCP cast has said that she herself managed to fix a lot of the problems on set and was nothing but supportive to them. Oh, and there were a lot of problems on set, including a lack of food and dressing space for the main actors. And this is all from celebrity women. Just think about how Hollywood is treating women who don't have the star power to speak up.

Of course this isn't even a problem solo to Hollywood, let alone Paramount, let alone just one movie. And honestly it was probably really sad that when I saw the pay rate for the Sonic 3 cast, I wasn't even surprised, because I've seen worse on bigger projects.

[anartisticnerd]

All of my current Leverage and Leverage Redemption headcanons!!!!!

• Every night, Eliot checks that everyone is asleep in their beds, checks the locks on the doors, and makes sure the security system is working.

• It really freaked Breanna out the first time she saw Eliot severely injured. Hardison's stories made Eliot seem invincible. Eliot had to hug her and assure her that he was alright.

• Sophie hates Converse and Vans. Like she has some extreme beef with them.

• Breanna and Harry play Pokemon Go together often. Breanna is Team Instinct and Harry is Team Mystic and they fight over gyms all the time.

• Harry knows how to braid hair because when he was still married, his wife insisted that he should be able to do his daughter's hair.

• Eliot has an entire cupboard of drugs, mostly painkillers, ambiguously labled. He has received calls from every single girl on the team boiling down to, "Eliot, I'm on my period, and I can't figure out which of your stupid white bottles is ibuprofen." He's become quite used to it, and now keeps a special area of the cupboard for period stuff.

• Parker steals a stuffed toy whenever the con involves a store owned by an evil person. She's amassed quite a big collection, but bunny will always be her favorite.

• Hardison, with contributions from Parker and Eliot, now sends so much money to Nana that Nana was able to save up to buy a new house in a better neighborhood for all her foster kids.

Edit: she instead invests in supporting local community programs because people have enlightened me that nana wouod never move

• Harvey and Brenna text terribly made memes to each other all the time.

• Breanna's contacts are as follows:

Eliot: Wallmart Batman

Sophie: 👑SLAY QUEEN👑

Hardison: 👨🏿‍💻

Parker: 🐈‍⬛️Cat Burglar🐈‍⬛️

Harry: STUPID LITTLE LAWYER MAN

• Weekly movie night choices:

Sophie: Downtown Abby

Parker: Finding Nemo

Eliot: The Last Mohican/Rocky

Harry: The Spy Next Door

Breanna: Sonic (for the memes only)

• Eliot's room is the comfort room. Bad dream, feeling kinda sick, a recent con weighing heavily in mind, go to Eliot's room. He's almost never asleep, he knows more than anyone about first aid, and he gives the best hugs. He'll act all annoyed, but he'll always make the whumpee stay until they feel better.

• Everyone assumes Sophie can sew because she's the mom friend, but she has no clue. The team seamstress is actually Harry.

• Eliot keeps an ever-growing list of everyone's favorite foods. He keeps extra ingredients around, so he always has what he needs to whip something up if someone's having a bad day.

• Breanna can be extremely petty when she wants to be. She has been known to hack alexas to say creepy stuff out of nowhere and streetlights to turn each one red just to mess with people.

• Harry really loves dogs.

• Sophie once owned a turtle named Mistress Shellington that now belongs to her daughter.

• Harry's favorite color is yellow.

• Breanna forcing everyone to see the Barbie may not be the worst thing to ever happen to him, but Eliot ranks it pretty high on his list of life tragedies.

• Sophie has noticed that Eliot, when it comes to Parker and Breanna, will always grab them (hand, elbow, shoulder) when crossing the street. Nobody gives him any grief for it because they know he just wants to keep them safe.

• Breanna, from upstairs: ELIOT WHAT'S AN 8-TRACK TAPE?

Eliot: *deep sigh* I'm so old.

Harry: *chokes on drink*

• There are so many dents in the walls, and Sophie loves each one. Scrapes from Parker's grappling equipment, divots from Eliot's throwing knives, dents from Breanna's drones. It makes the HQ feel like home.

• Harry is an honorary girly. Girls' night is more like girls plus Harry night.

• Hardison has a note on his phone of things Breanna has said that make him feel old.

• Eliot has resigned himself to the fact that he will be Parker's and Breanna's personal jungle gym until his dying day. Parker pokes his bruises and climbs all over him, and uses his shoulder as a pillow. Breanna is almost the same. She punches and pokes him, just like Parker, and she often lays her head in his lap when watching tv.

Sophie has a picture on her desk of Breanna, asleep in Eliot's lap, and Parker, asleep against Eliot's shoulder. Eliot has one arm around Parker, the other caressing Breanna, tucking her fly away hair behind her ear. A calm smile is on his face. It's one of Sophie's favorite pictures.

• Eliot follows the sidewalk rule at all times.

• Eliot always sits facing the door. If the team is somewhere in public and one of the others takes the seat with the clearest view of the entrances and exits, he will make them switch seats with him so he can see the doors. It's a military habit.

• Parker hides chocolate in the vents so that nobody else can find it.

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Cyber Revolution, Entry 84: The Chao Garden

''I'll go to bed, when I want to sleep. I'll wake up during the day. I'll play, when I want to play. I'll eat, when I want to eat. I'll smile, when I'm happy. I'll let myself cry, when I'm sad. Today I'm doing my best again for the sake of tomorrow's me. I work hard, so that tomorrow I won't have to strain myself so much.''

– Ashita no Watashi ni Sachi Are (May the Future Me Be Happy) by I May Be a Guild Receptionist, But I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time

xXxXxXx

Amy sighed, feeling concerned for both Surge and Kit. She hadn't seen the two since yesterday, after Surge calmed somewhat down and Kit telling them that he would take care of her. She hoped that they would be fine. She then focused on the ongoing conversation.

Team Neos had gathered at the Taylor Workshop, discussing the adventures within the Cyberspace Fields, including Knuckles going to Angel Island, Tails and Warren suddenly finding themselves at Mystic Ruins, Amy, Minami, Silver and Makoto's adventure at Eggperial City and Touka and Eclipse somehow ending up in Crisis City. Minami had just finished telling everyone what happened at Eggperial City, with the collective reaction to Starline's death being ''Good riddance''.

''What had this Starline person done to be so hated?'' Eclipse asked Amy, being out of loop in regards to past events.

''A lot, including being the reason why Perfect Chaos was unleashed upon Neos City and causing suffering to Surge and Kit,'' Amy explained. Eclipse nodded, having already been told by Touka about Perfect Chaos and Surge and Kit and being determined to memorize the name of every enemy and ally Team Neos had for his own sake. Eclipse then observed Amy for a moment, noting to himself how she was a kind, considerate and trustworthy person. While he didn't care about the first two traits, he figured that Amy was someone he could talk to about anything without worrying about being judged.

''I have a question about something,'' Eclipse started, only to be met with a curious smile, which encouraged him to continue. ''Is there any meaning to someone eating another person's face?''

''Eh, what?'' Amy was baffled by Eclipse's question, but then forced a smile, wondering if she misunderstood something. ''Could you explain to me where you saw that?''

''I saw my brother doing it with the blue hedgehog.'' Eclipse pointed at Sonic. ''They had their mouths all over each other's faces and they seemed to be enjoying it. I thought at first that Shadow had finally given into his instincts as Black Arms and consuming the flesh of his ally, but I may be wrong.''

Amy blinked, processing Eclipse's words for a moment, only to realize what he meant. ''Oh, you mean they were kissing. Yeah, it is actually a sign of affection between two people who really like each other and- wait, Shadow and Sonic were kissing?!''

Eclipse jumped when Amy suddenly shouted, giving her a nervous look as he wondered whether he said something wrong. He also didn't like the fact that everyone's attention has turned towards them. He was ready to defend himself, but that didn't seem to be necessary, because Amy walked straight to Sonic and Shadow with an accusatory look.

''Be honest you two – are you dating?'' Amy dropped the bombshell, startling the two hedgehogs. Sonic blinked, giving her a confused look.

''Uh, yeah? We are. Why are you asking?''

This confession caused an avalanche of surprised shouts and stunned looks from everyone, save for Lucas, Touka and Eclipse, the latter still having no clue what was going on. However, Amy quickly took over.

''Since when?''

''A day after that bodyswap fiasco, I believe. We figured out that we liked each other, so we gave this dating thing a go. So far, we have no regrets,'' Sonic said, with Shadow nodding in agreement. Neither of them could say that they had an experience with dating, having gotten used to being together. Amy just gave them a baffled look.

''And you couldn't bother telling us about it?'' she asked, raising an eyebrow, with Sonic suddenly realizing why she was upset.

''I guess I kinda forgot,'' Sonic admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

''It is none of your business,'' Shadow responded in a sharp tone, glaring at Amy. He couldn't give a damn about what people thought about his relationship with Sonic, including his friends. Why was she even prying into their private life? As far as he was concerned, this was something between him and Sonic.

Amy just shook her head in disbelief, then turned to Lucas and Touka. ''Did you two know about this?''

''Who do you think actually helped them get together without causing some kind of disaster because of a misunderstanding?'' Touka countered. Sonic and Shadow shifted anxiously, recalling how that reveal went. Frankly, neither of them wanted to get reminded of that.

''Yeah, that makes sense. I guess at least I avoided the pain of playing matchmaker between you two,'' Amy muttered in a deadpan tone, much to the ire of the two hedgehogs, even if they knew that was the truth.

''I still can't believe that you two got together and no one noticed,'' Tails remarked. Sonic just smiled.

''Well, what can I say… We were just trying things out,'' he responded, shrugging. Amy put her hands on her hips.

''At least I can say that I knew that something was going on between you two,'' she said.

''And yet, you never brought it up,'' Shadow said in a snarky tone, causing Amy to roll her eyes.

''Honestly, I can see how you two would get together,'' Lily said. ''You have a lot in common and I guess the whole rivalry angle provides an additional thrill to your dynamic.'' She then glanced at Knuckles, muttering, ''If only someone else realized the same.''

Knuckles, who heard this loud and clear, turned his head away in embarrassment as he recalled his last encounter with Rouge. He hadn't told Lily anything about it and he didn't really plan on doing it, at least until he figured out what to do with Rouge.

''I still have no clue what's going on,'' Eclipse muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. Frankly, he was more disappointed that Shadow's Black Arms side didn't awaken and he didn't turn on his allies. Touka was about to respond and explain the situation to him when Lucas suddenly got a call on his AR Visor.

''Huh, it's from Cream,'' he said, stunned to see the caller ID, and answered it. As expected, Cream and Cheese showed up on the holographic screen.

''Hello, Mr. Lucas! Hello everyone!'' Cream greeted them politely.

''Hi, Cream! What's up?'' Lucas asked, only for Cream's cheerful expression turn worried.

''I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something, but I'm calling because a Cyberspace Field showed up near my home and I don't know what to do with it,'' Cream explained. ''You have told me to inform you in case that happens and that you'd take care of it.''

''Right, don't worry, we'll be there soon,'' Lucas assured her. Cream's face immediately lit up.

''Thank you so much! I'll be waiting for you there. Bye!''

''Cha-Chao!''

''Bye Cream, bye Cheese!'' Lucas then turned to the rest of Team Neos. ''Well, you heard it. Cream and Cheese need our help with a Cyberspace Field.''

''I wonder what it's going to be this time,'' Makoto said in a somewhat deadpan tone, not really looking forward to dealing with this. Even though he knew that Team Neos all agreed that they would be the ones handling the Cyberspace Fields, it wasn't less exhausting or dangerous.

''Well, there is only one way to find out,'' Silver, who missed Makoto's thinly veiled sarcasm entirely, replied in a chipper tone.

xXx

As expected, Cream and Cheese were waiting for them at the Cyberspace Field, immediately running up to them.

''We made sure not to touch it, nor did we let anyone else close to it,'' Cream said, with Cheese nodding along.

''Great job, you two!'' Lucas praised them, with Cream and Cheese giving him a proud look. They joined the rest of the team as they surrounded the Cyberspace Field. Tails was already holding up the Miles Electric, trying to get a read on it and failing.

''Still nothing,'' he said, feeling disappointed by the lack of data.

''Well, from what we've seen so far, these things tend to open up randomly and pull whoever is the closest inside. All we have to do is to wait, buddy,'' Sonic said.

''Except patience isn't your greatest strength,'' Knuckles commented.

''Oh, please, I can be patient when I want to,'' Sonic said in an exasperated tone, sensing a challenge.

Unfortunately for Knuckles, it seemed that the Cyberspace Field was favouring Sonic today, because it suddenly started to glow.

''Aw, com'n! At least you could've waited until the Hedgehog started begging you to open up because of sheer boredom!'' Knuckles grumbled, throwing his hands up as the group suddenly got enveloped in a red light.

xXx

''I guess this proves that I can be patient,'' Sonic told Knuckles in a teasing tone while sporting a playful grin. The echidna warrior only scoffed in response. They then joined the rest of the group, having found themselves inside a cave, with Lucas leading them.

''Okay everyone, be careful. We don't know what we'll encounter, so we should make finding a Goal Ring our priority,'' Lucas said.

''Got it!''

''Sure!''

''We know that!''

Fortunately, everyone, save for Cream and Cheese, was already familiar enough with Cyberspace Fields to know what to do in this situation. However, no one expected to find what they found.

''No way!'' Lily's jaw dropped as she muttered what was on everyone's mind.

Because what they saw was something of an oasis with various fruit trees surrounding it, as well as a waterfall cascading down a rocky surface into several pools of water. But it wasn't the oasis that caught them off guard.

''Chao!'' Minami exclaimed. ''We're at a Chao Garden!''

Indeed, there were a bunch of Chao living in this Chao Garden, some of which have already noticed the newcomers, even flying up to Cream and Cheese to greet their fellow Chao friend.

''Look at that, Cheese! Now you get to play with many new friends!'' Cream said joyfully. Cheese chirped in response, joining their fellow Chao who welcomed them happily.

As for Team Neos, they too got surrounded by curious Chao who had taken an interest in them. They all had various reactions to the Chao, ranging from surprise to being completely captivated by the Chao and their innocence and cuteness.

''We can stay here for a while, right? Right?'' Minami asked Lucas, already itching to pet and play with the Chao.

''Well, I guess it wouldn't be a bad thing to stay here for a while. Not to mention, I don't see a Goal Ring anywhere…'' Lucas trailed off, being completely ignored by everyone the moment they heard they would stay in the Chao Garden. He sighed, watching them as they scattered all across the Chao Garden. He then smiled softly as a curious Chao approached him. ''I guess that no one can resist the cutness of a Chao.''

''Cha-Chao!'' the Chao responded in agreement, having taken an interest in Lucas and landing on his shoulder, deciding to stay with him.

Similarly to Lucas, every member of Team Neos found themselves interacting with a Chao, save for Eclipse, who appeared not to understand what all of this excitement was about.

''What is so great about Chao?'' he asked, furrowing a brow, his arms folded across his chest and his tail flicking. He didn't notice a Chao standing behind him, trying to play with Eclipse's tail.

''Well, Chao are really cute and it is fun to take care of them,'' Touka said.

''They can also adopt traits of those who take care of them,'' Cream, who joined them, explained. ''That's why Cheese is always so polite. He learned that from me.''

''Does that mean that a Chao would be able to adopt Black Arms traits?'' Eclipse asked curiously.

''Well, I guess that would be possible,'' Cream said, a little unsure about her answer.

Eclipse just grinned mischievously. ''That's all I need to know.''

He then blinked when he felt something pull his tail, turning around and noticing the Chao, who just wanted to play. Smirking, he picked the Chao up and walked away, with Cream giving Touka a look of concern. ''I hope he won't bother the Chao too much.''

''I'll keep an eye on Eclipse, so you don't have to worry,'' Touka assured her. Cream nodded, only for the two to see a Chao landing on Touka's head, taking a liking to her and deciding to accompany her.

Cream then left, wanting to make sure that everyone was treating the Chao well. She had spotted Shadow walking away from everyone, with another Chao following him.

Figuring that he didn't need her help, she instead walked over to Knuckles and Lily, who were dealing with Chao who were intrigued by Knuckles' strength. The echidna warrior destroyed a rock with his fist, impressing the Chao.

''If you want to be able to crush rocks like I do, you will have to train with us,'' Knuckles said, with the Chao cheering.

''Don't tell me that you want to turn the Chao into fellow Guardians,'' Lily stated, with Knuckles giving her a determined look.

''Why not? If they want to train, I will happily train them so they can protect their friends,'' he said.

''Maybe the Chao will be able to adapt your power,'' Cream, who approached them, suggested.

''That would make things much easier,'' Knuckles told her with a smile.

''Then, I wish you guys good luck,'' Cream told them, walking away. She then spotted Amy and Minami a bit further away, playing with their respective Chao.

''They're so cute!'' Minami exclaimed, being completely enamoured by the little critters. She poked their cheek and stomach, with the Chao laughing as Minami's actions tickled them. Meanwhile, Amy was petting the Chao who was sitting in her lap.

''I see that you're having fun,'' Cream commented.

''Yeah, we do!'' Minami said. ''Although, I wish we had some toys for the Chao to play with.''

Cream hummed in thought, only to suggest, ''Maybe we could find or even make a toy for the Chao.''

Amy and Minami exchanged glances, both smiling.

''Why not? We could try,'' Amy said.

''And I already have an idea what we could make,'' Minami added, lifting a vine that was lying under the palm tree they were at.

Cream left them to their work, turning towards Silver and Makoto, with the two helping their Chao in gathering fruit by using Silver's psychokinesis to levitate it down. The Chao were amazed by Silver's powers, happily reaching for the fruit and eating it. Meanwhile, Makoto piled up the remaining fruit for the other Chao to eat.

''Do you need any help?'' Cream asked them.

''No, thanks,'' Silver replied, only for his Chao to run up to him and reach out, waving their arms. Silver gave them a confused look. ''What's wrong?''

''I think the Chao wants you to lift them up,'' Cream said.

''Oh, you mean like this?'' Silver used his psychokinesis on the Chao, who cheered in joy as they pointed upwards. Silver nodded. ''You want me to lift you high enough so you can help with the fruit gathering? Sure!''

The Chao chirped back in agreement, glad that Silver understood them and got to work by plucking fruit for their friends, while the Chao accompaning Makoto was helping piling the fruit up.

Cream was happy to see that all of the Chao would have a nice lunch and was about to move on to the next pair, only to see Eclipse pass by, carrying a Chao in his arms and being followed by two more. Cream wondered what he was up to, but she figured that Eclipse wouldn't try to harm the Chao, and walked away in the opposite direction.

She found Tails and Warren at one of the small pools of water beneath the waterfall, with Warren giving instructions to his Chao.

''Okay, so you have to hold your head up like this and move your arms like this,'' Warren said, moving his arms in a swimming motion. The Chao nodded, carefully observing his actions. ''I will be right next to you in case you get scared and start to sink.''

The Chao nodded, but they still looked a little nervous when they glanced at the water.

''Are you teaching the Chao how to swim?'' Cream asked Warren.

''Correct. It seems that the Chao just recently hatched, so they have trouble swimming,'' Warren replied.

Cream then turned to Tails, who was dealing with a Chao who was anxious about flying. They flapped their wings, getting about a centimeter or two off the ground, only to fall back. Tails hummed in thought, scratching his head.

''That should've actually worked,'' he muttered.

''Maybe the Chao is just afraid of heights?'' Cream suggested.

''Do you really think that might be the case?'' Tails asked, turning back to the Chao, who sighed in defeat. ''But, you are a natural-born flier. Certainly more natural than I am.''

''Chao?'' The Chao gave Tails a confused look. Tails then gave them a thumbs up, accompanied by a confident look. He then started twirling his twin-tails, flying up. The Chao's jaw dropped as they stared at Tails in awe, who was hovering above them. They got encouraged to try again, albeit with their eyes closed in order to not look down. They managed to slowly get up to Tails' height, who then grabbed their hands to steady them.

''You can open your eyes now, I got you,'' Tails said, with the Chao opening one eye tentatively, then the other one. Fortunately, instead of feeling fear, the Chao was happy to have overcome their fear.

''You did great!'' Cream cheered for them, then moved on to the next duo – Sonic and his Chao, who were practicing their racing skills.

''Once we're done here, you will be the fastest Chao in the Chao Garden,'' Sonic said. The Chao gave him a determined look, then turned towards the path they were using as a racing track.

''I see that you're busy training,'' Cream said. ''May I watch?''

''Sure thing, Cream! You are about to witness awesomeness!'' Sonic said. ''Maybe we could even have a Chao Race competition with the others?''

''That would be fun!'' Cream replied with delight. Even the Chao agreed with Sonic's idea.

Sonic and Cream then observed the Chao sprint to the goal and back, only for their attention to turn towards Eclipse as he walked past them. He was now accompanied by five Chao, not counting the one holding onto his head, who had now taken a red and grey coloration.

''Um, Mr. Eclipse?'' Cream turned to the little alien. ''Could you tell me what you are doing?''

''I'm gathering an army,'' Eclipse replied, confusing Cream.

''What?'' She tilted her head quizzically. Even Sonic was caught off guard by this response.

''What do you plan on doing with an army of Chao?'' he asked.

''You'll see. But if you must know, I'm planning on getting my revenge on Shadow,'' Eclipse said, leaving them even more confused. They were then joined by Touka and Lucas, who overheard the whole conversation, while Eclipse left. Cream turned to Touka.

''Uh, should we be worried?'' she asked. Touka rose an eyebrow, thinking about it for a moment, only to shake her head.

''No, I don't think there's anything to worry about. Besides, Shadow can handle Eclipse,'' she said, glancing towards Shadow. He was at another fruit tree, tossing an apple to the Chao who had been following him. Despite having distanced himself from everyone, he was clearly busy taking care of his Chao, who was slowly turning darker in colour.

xXx

''Where is he?'' Cubot asked, looking behind a machine.

''Keep trying to find him. We don't want him to annoy the Boss,'' Orbot said. The two assistant robots were busy trying to find the tiny creature that somehow got inside the Egg Base, worried that Dr. Eggman would find this creature first. They thought about asking Metal Sonic and Ferra for help, but then figured that it would be better if they tried this on their own.

''We have turned this whole place upside down, but we still can't find them,'' Cubot said, looking at Orbot for help. The red orb robot was quiet for a moment, unsure about their next move, only to see something move in the shadows, flying past them. ''There!''

They quickly followed the creature, trying to catch it, but it was much faster than they had anticipated. Orbot realized that they would have to re-think their tactics.

''I go this way, you go this way,'' he told Cubot, pointing at the opposite side of the room. Cubot followed his suggestion, with the two surrounding the creature floating in the middle of the room. The two assistant robots sneaked up on it, leaping at the creature, only to slam into each other and falling down with a clunk.

''Oh, that looks like it hurt!''

Before Orbot and Cubot could even respond, they suddenly heard footsteps. Eggman walked into the room, looking irritated.

''What is going on here?'' he grumbled, observing the situation before him. He then rose an eyebrow in surprise. ''What is Omochao doing here?''

He stared at a small robot modeled after a Neutral Chao. He had a round waterdrop-shaped head with large orange and yellow ripple-like eyes but no nose and a round torso smaller than his head. Both his head and torso were light blue with a stripe of darker blue running down the middle. He also had small rivet studs around his framework, gray cable-like arms with round yellow balls at the end for hands, and smooth yellow feet with orange soles and tips but no legs. Neither his arms or feet had digits and had a yellow smiling mouth. Lastly, he had a small orange two-bladed propeller on the top of his head and a windup key on his back, giving him the appearance of a windup toy.

''I came here through a Cyberspace Field. Don't mind my presence, I won't be staying here for long,'' Omochao said in a loud, announcer-like voice. ''Although, your robots probably need more training if they want to capture a Chao.''

Orbot and Cubot gave Eggman a sheepish look, who just facepalmed in exasperation, dragging his hand slowly across his face. He wasn't in the mood to deal with any of this, walking away. Orbot and Cubot glanced at each other, then back at Omochao.

''You should better start working on your coordination,'' Omochao told the two in a chipper tone.

xXx

Back at the Chao Garden, Knuckles was proud of his Chao, which had developed into a Knuckles Chao, having gained considerable confidence in their abilities. The Chao gave Knuckles a determined look, throwing a punch. They were still a Chao, though, meaning their strength was nothing in comparison to their caretaker, but that didn't matter. They were still happy with the results of their training.

Further away from them, the Amy Chao was helping another Chao swing on the swingset Amy and Minami built out of vines and wood they had found lying around. The new attraction had attracted the attention of other Chao, who wanted to take turns on the swing. Rest assured, the two caretakers were happy that their efforts had paid off.

Meanwhile with Warren, his Chao was swimming happily in the shallow pool, joined by Lily's Chao. As for Tails, his Chao had turned into a Tails Chao, improving their flying skills, much to their and Tails' joy. Both had fun zooming around the Chao Garden, flying past Makoto and his Chao, who were distributing the fruit to the Chao that got hungry.

As for Silver, his Chao had turned into a Silver Chao, narrowing their eyes as they stared at the fruit before them. They then held out their tiny paws, mimicking Silver and attempting to lift the fruit with psychokinesis, but it was obvious that they didn't adapt Silver's power, only his appearance. They sighed, looking sad about it, only to be lifted by Silver who gave them an encouraging smile.

''Don't worry. What matters is that you're doing your best to help your friends. After all, you helped us to gather fruit for your friends to eat,'' Silver assured them, with the Silver Chao chirping in joy.

The Sonic Chao suddenly ran up to them,  grabbing a spare fruit and ran back to Sonic. While not having supersonic speed, they were a bit faster than your typical Chao, thanks to Sonic's training and offered their caretaker the fruit. Sonic smiled, petting his Chao and then returning the fruit to them.

''You should eat it. You deserve it for the effort you put into your racing skills,'' he said. The Sonic Chao cheered, happily eating the fruit.

Unknown to them, the two, specifically the Sonic Chao, were observed by someone who was hiding behind a tree. That Chao was the Shadow Chao, showing curiosity for the Sonic Chao while sporting a mischievous smile. Shadow observed his Chao, well aware that the latter, unlike his blue counterpart, was up to mischief. In fact, after witnessing Sonic and his Chao training, the Shadow Chao also attempted to prove themselves in strength and speed, its power being comparable to the Sonic Chao, if not even greater.

''So, you want to become The Ultimate Chao?'' Shadow asked in slight amusement, being intrigued by the Chao's determination. The Chao nodded, showing confidence in their skills, with Shadow agreeing to help them grow and develop. Soon, he found himself observing a miniature copy of himself, brooding under the tree, but at the same time also glancing at the other Chao, clearly wanting to join them in their games.

Shadow took note of that, and when the Shadow Chao glanced back at their caretaker, he nodded. ''We should challenge them to a race show how fast you are.''

The Shadow Chao cheered in agreement, flying up to Sonic and the Sonic Chao, both of them being surprised when they were suddenly approached by their respective counterparts. The Shadow Chao started to talk and gesture to the Sonic Chao, who understood that they were getting challenged. Both took their places on the makeshift racing track, shouting in unison as they started their race. Sonic observed the two with a smile, glancing at Shadow as they watched their Chao compete.

''Who would've said that you'd be such a good Chao caretaker,'' he told Shadow in a teasing tone.

''I'm glad that you're acknowledging that I'm better than you at taking care of a Chao,'' Shadow replied in a haughty tone.

''Whaaa- I never said that!'' Sonic responded, acting as if he was offended. He was well aware that Shadow was just teasing him back, evidenced by the smirk on his lips. Sonic then rubbed his nose. ''Besides, I'm sure that we both know who is the best at Chao raising.''

The two then turned their attention to Cream, who was playing with Cheese and the other Chao.

''I agree with you,'' Shadow said, him and Sonic turning back to their Chao as they raced each other, now going back to them. Both winced when the Sonic Chao suddenly tripped, lunging at the Shadow Chao, with both tumbling towards their respective owners, stopping in front of them with no clear winner.

Fortunately, both were fine, with the Sonic Chao even laughing about this whole thing, while the Shadow Chao just huffed. It seemed that the blue Chao saw this whole thing as a game, while the black and red Chao considered it a competition. The Sonic Chao took note of the Shadow Chao's grumpy look, only to tackle the Shadow Chao, hugging them in an attempt to cheer them up.

''Your Chao certainly shares your personality,'' Shadow commented in a deadpan tone, with Sonic snickering.

''I could say the same for your Chao,'' Sonic said, with the Shadow Chao now sitting on the ground, still being hugged by the Sonic Chao, trying to not show how much they appreciate the gesture by acting uninterested while at the same time not pushing the Sonic Chao away.

Unknown to them, Cream took note of their interactions, glad to see that Shadow and the Shadow Chao joined everyone else. Her attention then turned to Eclipse, who was now accompanied by a dozen of Chao, as well as an Eclipse Chao. His Chao Army was now sitting on the grass, listening carefully to his instructions, some having confused expressions, others looking excited. Cream wondered if she should warn Shadow, considering how Eclipse was targeting him specifically, but she then recalled Touka's words of assurance that there was nothing to worry about. She knew that Shadow and Eclipse were siblings and that they had a bit of a sibling rivalry, concluding that maybe Eclipse's plan had something to do with that. She was of the opinion that siblings should get along, but according to Touka, this was the best-case scenario and to just leave the two be. At least they accepted that they would be living together and agreed to keep peace.

Eclipse then rose his hand, his fist clenched, after having given his Chao Army what appeared to be a pep talk, with the Chao Army then marching towards Shadow… or rather, just walking, their steps making a tapping sound. They got close enough, then stopped, with Shadow, Sonic and their respective Chao raising their heads, looking puzzled.

''Now, attack!'' Eclipse suddenly shouted, with the Chao Army, led by the Eclipse Chao, charging straight at the dark hedgehog. Shadow's eyes widened and he didn't even have the time to react when he got knocked over by Eclipse's Chao Army, who kept him pinned down on the ground and were… tickling him? He could feel their little paws all over his body, their laughter echoing in his ears as they engaged in this 'attack', and biting his lip to not laugh as he felt a mix of disbelief and annoyance, but also a sense of amusement due to the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

Eclipse approached them, looking quite proud of himself as his tail flicked and waved contently, while Sonic gave him a baffled look. The Sonic Chao and the Shadow Chao, on the other hand, joined the Chao Army, seeing the 'attack' as a game they wanted to participate in.

''Eh, Eclipse? What was this attack?'' Sonic asked.

''That was my revenge!'' Eclipse declared, watching as Shadow sat up, giving the latter an annoyed look while still having the Chao cling to him. Sonic snorted, having to admit that this was kinda hilarious.

''What are you talking about?'' Shadow asked, glaring at Eclipse.

''After you have defeated me multiple times, I have been thinking of a way to get revenge on you, brother. Once I learned more about this place and the Chao, I decided to gather my personal Chao Army to defeat you. Admit it, you can't even attack me like this,'' Eclipse replied in a haughty tone, relishing in his victory. Shadow just rolled his eyes, only to sigh.

''Fine, you defeated me. Happy now?'' he asked. Eclipse nodded, arms folded across his chest.

''Very.''

Sonic started laughing, finding this whole exchange funny. Further away from them, Touka and her Chao joined Cream, with Touka giving Cream an amused look.

''I told Shadow can deal with Eclipse's mischief,'' she said confidently.

''It looks to me more like they were playing a game,'' Cream commented, relieved nothing bad had happened.

The group was then approached by Lucas and his Chao, both having somewhat troubled looks on their expressions. ''Hey, guys, we found the Goal Ring! It's back at the cave we came out from.''

''Really? So, does that mean that we'll have to leave now?'' Minami asked, looking quite disappointed. In fact, everyone felt downcast when they realized that they couldn't stay forever inside the Cyberspace Field, especially since they had no idea whether their exit would vanish.

''I know. We've been having so much fun playing with the Chao that we forgot in what kind of environment we are,'' Lucas stated.

''Can't we just bring the Chao along with us?'' Eclipse asked, not wanting to separate with his Chao.

''Unfortunately, we can't. The Chao's home is here in the Chao Garden,'' Cream stated, with Cheese giving her a sad look. ''We could try to find another spot that would work as a Chao Garden at Neos City, but I don't know whether that would be possible.''

''I can't think of any area that has this kind of environment where the Chao would be able to live in peace,'' Tails admitted.

''Starlight Lake could work, but it's too deep for the Chao to swim in and it also is something of a tourist spot,'' Lily mentioned.

''Maybe we could bring them to Eden,'' Makoto suggested.

''We could try, but I don't think that all of these Chao would want to leave their home,'' Silver said, with some of the Chao nodding in agreement. It was obvious that there was no easy solution here. Then, the Knuckles Chao stepped up, gesturing that they would all be fine and that Team Neos didn't have to worry about them. They were joined by the Amy Chao, Tails Chao, Silver Chao, Shadow Chao, Sonic Chao and Eclipse Shadow, all of which assured the group that they could leave, certain that they would see each other again.

Despite their gloomy mood, the group did say their good-byes, going towards the cave and leaving through the Goal Ring. They found themselves next to Cream and Cheese's home, surprising Vanilla and Chocola as they were watering the garden.

''Oh, Cream, Cheese! I was wondering where you two went to,'' Vanilla said as her daughter ran up to her.

''We have found a Chao Garden, but…'' Cream lowered her head, only for her and everyone's attention turn to the Goal Ring, which was starting to glow, only for the red star inside it to vanish, but the portal itself to remain. To everyone's shock, the Chao they seemed to have left behind suddenly emerged from the portal, all of their flying towards their respective caretakers.

''But, how?'' Lucas was stunned when his Chao hugged him tightly. ''I thought the Goal Ring was supposed to close!''

''That's because it has been determined that this Chao Garden will remain open.''

The group turned their attention to the person speaking to them, all of them stunned to see Omochao flying above them.

''Eh, Omochao? What are you talking about?'' Amy asked.

''Does this mean that someone is really behind these Cyberspace Fields?'' Tails asked, furrowing a brow. Omochao just crossed his stubby little arms.

''I'm sorry, but I cannot disclose any further information. Point is, you've been granted access to the Chao Garden anytime you want,'' Omochao replied, then flew away. The group exchanged glances, completely baffled.

''So… now what?'' Touka asked.

''How about a cup of tea and you tell me about what had happened?'' Vanilla suggested, with Chocola cheering at the idea of playing with many more Chao friends.

Team Neos just grinned in agreement, figuring that this was a Cyberspace Field they'd be happy to allow to remain open.

#Previous Chapter

#Next Chapter

[my-own-walker]

Someone You've Never Seen Before

A Kyle Spencer Fan Fiction

frat!kyle AU, fem!main character, sexual themes, mature language, use of drugs and alcohol, frat boy antics

17.

Learn to let go of what's not meant to be held.

It's easier said than done, but it must be done. It's something that carried me through the days leading up to Halloween. I felt that any feelings toward Kyle, negative or positive, were not meant to stay. I used everything I could to distract myself. 

I didn't dare look in his direction during class on Monday. The goal was to remain transfixed on my note-taking. I listened to music wherever and whenever I could, avoiding Sonic Youth like the plague for obvious reasons.

Lily took me everywhere she went if she and I didn't have class. We took a trip to a nearby shopping center to get our Halloween costumes in order.

"Hannah, would this cover my ass?" Lily asked, holding up the shortest red pleather skirt I had ever seen.

"Not a chance in hell," I laughed, turning my attention back to the rack I had been flipping through. She sighed loudly, dropping her arms down to her sides. "Wear shorts underneath. Or bloomers."

"It took me this damn long to find a red skirt, how will I find red shorts for underneath?" she whined, exasperated.

"Get your ass to work, Davies."

She planned to be a cute little devil, complete with horns and a pitchfork. She had already bought a headband with dainty sequined horns fastened on it and a black bustier top embellished with chunky red rhinestones. I, of course, was to be the angel. I already found a small pair of white wings.

My idea was to be an angel in the way Juliet was in the 1996 movie version of Romeo and Juliet. So when my eyes landed upon the long, empire-waisted white dress on the rack, I nearly squealed in the middle of the store.

Lily got invited to a party that was to be at the TKE house on Halloween. She asked me, very delicately, if I'd like to attend it with her. While my every instinct was screaming "no," I kept true to letting go of things that were not to be held. While my fears over what happened were very real, I did not want to rot away in my apartment for the remainder of my college experience.

Thursday, aka Halloween, was spent skipping class and running last-minute errands. We bought some red lipstick for Lily, a pack of rubber bands for my hair, and most importantly, liquor. I would only feel safe if we were drinking our own liquor.

We sat getting ready in my room, Lily sitting on the floor, my full-length mirror just inches from her face as she leaned in close to paint on some eyeliner. I sat at my desk with a tabletop mirror, creating two small braids in my hair that I would form into a halo with pins and elastics. Arctic Monkeys albums played softly over my small speaker. 

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, breaking the lapse in conversation.

"Me?"

"No, the other person in this room right now," she snarked. I turned to look at her. She had moved on to brushing blush over her cheeks. I opted for minimal makeup, so I was already done. She still needed her hair done.

"I'm a little nervous, I guess," I admitted, "but I think this will be fun."

"Just let me know if you want to leave and we will. No questions asked," she said sternly. "I'm not playing any games tonight. I will kill a motherfucker if I have to."

I pinned down one braid and dropped my hands into my lap, then turned to face her. "I love you, Lily. Seriously. You are my best friend."

"Don't on me with the sentimental shit right now, Martin. I will kiss you," she joked, turning to face me.

"I dare you," I replied, then breaking out into a fit of laughter.

We got to the party around 11. It was already in full swing. We got rather drunk while pre-gaming at the apartment, so no part of me cared about how crowded it was. I guessed everybody's week must have been tough, though. Everyone was drunk, loud, or pissed off. 

On the front stoop alone, there were two sets of people arguing about god knows what. The front door opened to a barrage of music and voices. It smelled of latex and hairspray with all of the Halloween costumes inside. We found a place to settle in the second living room along the wall.

It wasn't long before Lily found someone she knew and disappeared into the crowd. Not before asking me if I would be okay alone roughly thirty times. I insisted everything would be fine. I was confident I could find someone to talk to.

I meandered around for a while, stopping here and there to chat with a few people I vaguely knew. It was when I crossed into the kitchen, though, that my stomach turned. Standing next to the doorway I had just walked through was a tall figure.

"Hey, angel," his deep voice spoke. This voice was low and quiet, he said a secret no one else but me could know. I turned my head to my left slowly, my gaze landing on Julian's deep, tired eyes. His full lips curled into a wry smile.

Before, the way he towered over me was endearing. Something that gave me butterflies. At this moment, though it felt downright terrifying. Suffocating, even. He could easily overpower me and cause me harm. 

Without a word, I turned on my heel, crashing into the poor girl in the cat costume standing behind me. "S-sorry, I-" I stammered, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady myself before bolting for the front door.

The night was cool. I rushed to the edge of the stoop where there was a railing and gripped it for dear life, letting the cold metal remind me I was on Earth. I took in the fresh air of the night, but it was soured by a cigarette smell, making it clear that I was not alone. A boy with a mop of tight curls smirked over at me.

"Wanna smoke?" he offered, holding out his cigarette to me. "You look like you need it."

"Fuck it," I muttered, grabbing it from him and taking a long drag. I handed it back to him and blew a large cloud of smoke out into the night.

"You're Hannah?" he asked, unprompted, before taking a drag.

"Yes...what's it to you?" I inquired, brow furrowed. I was growing tired of men and their stupid attempts to talk to me.

"I'm Lance. Lance Hamont," he answered while exhaling smoke. He held out the cigarette for me again and I took it. "I'm in KLG."

I took a drag and blew it out upwards. "Right, right. I don't think we've ever formally met."

"Yeah, I've just seen you a lot is all. Guess that's how I knew you'd need a smoke," he chuckled.

"Oh?"

"You know, dealing with Kyle and all," he shrugged before inhaling more smoke. "I've seen you come through the house a lot this semester." His voice sounded funny as he tried to hold in the cigarette's vapors.

"That was for a project, that's all" I answered quickly, trying to end the Kyle subject. "He was my project partner for a class."

"Really?" he asked, cocking his head. "You weren't dating? The amount he talked about you I figured you were."

"Talked about me?" I exaggeratedly repeated. I reached for the cigarette and he handed it over. I took in a large puff of smoke and held it in for a beat longer like Lance had just done.

"Oh god, all the time. Just this week even," he scoffed. "You two close at least?"

"Not really," I trailed off, growing despondent. I handed him the cigarette back while staring off into middle distance.

"Damn," he laughed. "He's always mentioning 'Hannah' -er, you, in conversation. That's weird."

"Yeah..." I whispered, backing up a few steps before turning to walk inside. "Thanks, Lance."

"You owe me a smoke next time I see you!" he called after me.

I don't even smoke. I replied in my thoughts.

I found Lily in the front room sitting on a side table. She was talking to a girl in a cute sailor costume. I grabbed her shoulder to make my presence known.

"Hey, baby!" she exclaimed. Party vibes had already gotten to her. "Maddie, you've met Hannah, right?"

"Yes!" the sailor, Maddie, smiled. I didn't remember meeting her ever, but I returned the smile and nodded.

"Right," I grinned. 

"I was just talking to the most interesting person, Hannah," Lily smirked, raising her eyebrows. Maddie got bored and turned away to speak to someone else. "He was asking how you were."

"God, I can't even deal right now," I groaned. I screwed my eyes shut and tilted my head back. The night was already annoying enough as it was. No answer she was going to give me was going to make things any better. 

"Who was asking about me?"

Previous Part | Next Part

[tarotcxrdrose]

Hello everyone! My name is Temar/Tem! I used to write Amy Rose a while back but in a more canon divergent light. I decided to revamp her and now I'm here! I look forward to interacting with everyone!

Now to begin with the major points. I am selective of those I will interact with, if I don’t follow you back please do not take it personally, I may follow you down the road or I just am unsure how to interact. I’m used to only interacting with a few select people I trust so I’m working on opening up more. I’ve just gotten back into the sonic fandom and there is so much to unpack! I don’t mind anyone correcting me on lore points that I get wrong or even offering help in making things sound a bit more concrete.

Amy will be headcanon heavy and canon divergent to a point. However I mostly follow the lore for the story! I still have a lot to catch up on but here is what currently goes for Amy. Amy lived in a village with her parents, however when Eggman took over her village fell under a prototype test of the Roboticizer, this was an ultimate failure with her village being turned into an abandoned base, Amy was rescued early on and only ventured back once to find out what happened to her loved ones. The entire thing deeply traumatized her and she latched onto the one positive of that outcome which was sonic, often she ended up wandering the world to find a place to settle down for herself.

Amy is actually incredibly strong, much stronger than she lets on, however she has terrible control of this strength and is thus terrified not only of using it but it possibly hurting the people she cares about. This happened in her youth where she was playing with a group of other kids, accidentally hurting one of them with her grip. This caused Amy a lot of strife and she grew to be worried about ever scaring her friends, it's why she sometimes down plays her abilities, not wanting to ruin the friendship she's made. Amy usually is much more mellow and listens to others, there's still shine of her energetic nature.

Amy doesn’t have confidence in her abilities and needs a kick start to jump into actually using them, a way to do so is triggering her rage or strong protective instinct for her friends or those she considers friends.

Amy actually wears color contacts! Her normal eyes are actually a bright red and it often scared others when she was younger so once she had the chance she quickly managed to find a solution, this happened before she met any of the sonic gang or sonic himself, however after a while she's begun to start using them less and less. On top of this she does have small fangs, nothing exactly prominent but mostly to help with eating.

The rings around Amy's wrists and ankles actually serve as weights and inhibitors. To both slowly get stronger overtime and to also keep her strength in check. They also hold a psychic link to her hammer which allows her to summon it from wherever. Amy does have psychic potential, however she likes to use her tarot cards more than anything even if most find it silly, yet her predictions are usually close to the truth, though she won't know how much.

Amy acts a bit more tomboyish, however she often enjoys gardening and baking. Her sense of fashion has changed to outfits that are more suited for the environment she lives in, this being a summer flora and fauna dominated place. Taking residence in a large forest that's been affectionately labeled 'The Garden' due to it hosting a massive amount of flowers and more, often times hand grown by Amy herself. She ended up building herself a small home, though she's working on adding more so if her friends need they can drop by and stay a night.

Amy did have a crush on Sonic but she quickly realized it was one sided. Despite that realization, it took her a bit to truly let go of her feelings and her childish behavior back then makes her feel a lot of regret on that aspect. One of the things she hopes to do when she finds the time is apologize to Sonic for her past behavior. Amy is still energetic and friendly going, however due to multiple traumatic experiences and the history of combat with Dr Robotnik Amy is much more cautious now and wiser. She's a strategist and tries to utilize her own strengths alongside her friends/allies.

Amy is 20 years old. Writing her at this age where she's more in her young adult years is my personal preference and also for the case of any shipping to come to this blog. I am more of a slow burn and chemistry shipper than anything, thus it would have to be plotted out and it could take a while.

[tayfabe75]

Love your blog. Been going down rabbit holes myself. I’m fascinated by the idea they may have met sooner than 2013/14.

Taylor’s first UK concert was August 22 & 23 at V Festival. The headline act was none other than Oasis, a band that Matty has a history of liking and excessively calling out for breaking up, both from Manchester area.

Ironically enough, Calvin Harris also played at that same festival.

So it’s possible he went to the show? I can’t find anything that says Drive Like I Do was playing anywhere that day. But they were starting to play gigs at this time & with Matty’s parents connections, it’s not far fetched he would be close to some of the acts there.

Also Matty does write in The 1975 song Mine the lyrics “looking back on 2009” & with the “Mine” reference on Guilty As Sin? it’s making my head hurt.

Who knows. I’m clowning. But interesting information if you have anything else from this time period.

Thank you so much!! I've been a bit quiet since I'm working on a pinned post that will better help users navigate the blog better, hopefully aiding in falling down more of those rabbit holes!

First and foremost, I personally believe chances are pretty good that Taylor and Matty knew each other before this 2009 festival you mentioned (more on that here). Here are all of my posts from 2009, so you can get a sense of what was going on for them around this time (most notably, Taylor appears on Loose Women and, please read this post thoroughly about when and where she started writing a 13 on her hand!)

As for Drive Like I Do, it's so hard to find information about their early gigs, but they seemed to play small bars around Manchester and occasionally in London. Even if DLID was not playing at the festival, chances are still good that Matty was there, since he has talked about going to music festivals when he was younger.

I'm glad you brought up Oasis! Taylor happens to have a very curious unreleased song from 2006 called Love to Lose. As much of a banger as it is, I don't think there's any chance it could end up as a vault track on Debut TV because of how sonically and lyrically similar it is to Wonderwall by Oasis!

Wonderwall: And backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out Love to Lose: Come on, gather 'round, I'm gonna tell you how the fire went out

Curious to me that she would so heavily base one of her early songs on not just a song from Oasis, but one of the most popular songs of that period? lol Like you said, a Manchester band that Matty once described as the "coolest band in the world". Wonderwall was also featured on her playlist from 2008.

My question is... could this possibly be a "plot device"? 'Love to Lose' would also come to have one of its melodies recycled in a 1989 vault track 'Is It Over Now' (listen here) (IION also uses of of Matty's melodies!) I can't shake the instinct that she uses these "plot devices" to tie songs, themes, and perhaps subjects together. I mean, we're seeing her do this in real time with her surprise song mashups!

While there's no telling whether Taylor meant her 'Mine' or Matty's 'Mine' in 'Guilty as Sin'… the song has a country feel to it, right? Another song with a country feel is 'Roadkill' by The 1975! Interestingly, at about 1:42 in the visualizer, the word "mine" starts floating around the screen! The storyline in the video is also worth analyzing, especially since the song shares lyrical similarities with 'Cruel Summer'.

Is any of it related? Who knows! But my "tattered" brain is stuffed with strange coincidences and parallels, so now I'm giving it to you to clown around with lol 🤡 As for Taylor's 'Mine', well she played it as a surprise song in Nashville with Matty in attendance, and gave a fascinating speech beforehand! Thanks for the ask! 💛

[overlordofcute]

Honestly pretty disappointed in IDW Sonic #64

Full disclosure, I've only started reading the comic from #63 onwards, so I realize I'm not getting the full picture here.

But man, as someone who actively despises the trope of "Antagonist joins the group and ruins the protagonist's life by actively causing harm while everyone thinks the protagonist is overreacting or acting out of turn (because why would the new guy ever do anything wrong)," (I find it tedious and frustrating, but that's a tangent for another day) I was somewhat hopeful in a subversion wherein Whisper ended up believing Silver and was willing to side with him. It seemed like the comic was going "yeah, I get that this type of plot might be frustrating to read, but we're going to move into them trying to actually catch him instead, since that's more interesting."

...Until we got to next issue in which their genius plan to catch Mimic was to stalk him, actively put him in harms way, assault Lanolin when she rightfully doesn't believe you given you don't have any evidence, and then proceed to assault Mimic (as Duo) in the misguided hopes that he'd instinctively blow his cover (when he's already demonstrated that he has no reason to when he can just play the innocent card and everyone will believe him).

It honestly just felt like a filler chapter, given all that was really accomplished is that now Mimic has access to the main office with Jewel and now Silver's been booted out from the Diamond Cutters.

As part of my disclosure, I realize I don't fully have a read on Whisper or this version of Silver like more long-time readers might have, but this just felt absolutely impulsive in a way that was very frustrating given the monthly release schedule (Which, another tangent, I need to stress I'm glad the comic book is released under, I don't think putting stories out weekly is something that is sustainable for the mental health of those working on the comic). I just don't understand what either of them were thinking when they did what they did, and I was left siding with Mimic given he felt like one of the few sane players in this plot that wasn't a neutral party such as Lanolin herself (Which feels very wrong to me given he's literally the antagonist here).

I'm going to keep reading because I want to see where this plays out, but I'm just disappointed that I waited a month to only be told "Nope, they're just going to mess things up and look like an idiot, wait until next chapter to see how this plays out."

EDIT: Some more thoughts:

I'm not frustrated that they didn't resolve the plotline immediately or anything. I'm more frustrated that very little was accomplished or taught to us. Realistically, I would've been less harsh on this if the plot was Silver and Whisper staking out Mimic to try and figure out what his deal was, learn his motivations or plans, and still are unable to convince Lanolin or the others that something's amiss.

In a way, all we're told is "Whatever Mimic is planning, he's playing a long con for it", as well as, I guess, "He's trying to cause discourse within the Diamond Cutters by having them try and oust him to no avail (given he's directly showing himself to be Mimic to people)".

But... I don't know. It just felt like I waited a month just to be told "nah, they're just going to attack him and hope that solves things. Wait until next time to see if he actually does anything."

I did think it was cute that it tied into the Sonic and Blaze B-plot by having a cute heart-to-heart moment between Silver and Blaze, though. I thought that was a nice moment even if the story that lead to it I felt was faltering in execution.

[symptoms-syndrome]

Ugh reading my old psych reports is always such a mixed bag. I don't rly know why I do it.

My most recent psych report is mostly just about autism. And it's fine. Says all the normal stuff about autism. Struggles with "reciprocal social interaction," also apparently they said I have a "very restricted affect," which is interesting. It's not something I'm aware of. I know that I do TRY and make faces sometimes to convey how I feel but that's very much a conscious effort. It said I have "low imaginative play" or something like that which I'm not sure what they mean by that. I know what it means for kids but not for adults.

But it also includes some background info from my previous psych tests, ones that were done somewhat punitively in middle and high school. It says I struggle to make relationships with others. I'm "paranoid and oppositional with those around [me]," "intense and volatile," and that I "place [my] needs before others, while simultaneously relying on positive feedback from those around [me] to feel good about [my]self."

On one hand, I know that that testing was obviously biased against me in the first place. I was also in a really, really hard spot. Plus, obviously, I don't have a full memory of what I was like to confirm or deny any of that. But on the other. What if they're right? They're the professionals. What if I'm so self obsessed I don't even see my own shortcomings? What if all that psychobabble is why I can't make friends like I want to? It's hard to fix something I don't even see. I wish someone could point out exactly what I'm doing wrong. I did wrong bad things a lot as a kid without knowing. People told me all the time that what I was doing was wrong or bad and it always took me by surprise because I didn't know.

I really, really wanted to make friends my whole life. I never really understood why I couldn't. It feels like I need to investigate, dig into what those professionals saw in me and eliminate it. Like digging out a bullet from a wound. How am I supposed to be a better person if I don't confront my flaws?

I also feel like I'm so, so buried under all the diagnoses I've gotten over my years in psych. BPD NPD OCD ODD PTSD MDD GAD all these fucking acronyms and labels all before I was even an adult!!! How am I supposed to know who I am when who I am has always been defined by a DSM code. I've always been a disorder or a sickness. My therapist says most of those diagnoses are bullshit, either just in general or for me specifically. Which, and I know I'm a biased party, but I agree with.

I want to be a good person so, so bad. I don't know why people don't think I am one. I feel like I need to try harder. There's something rotten inside me and I need to find it and get rid of it. But I can't find it. I'm trying my very very best but still can't manage to be a person who's okay for other people to be around and I don't know why.

TW for CSA stuff under the cut.

It also notes in both previous tests that I was "very sexual" and "had sexual relationships with classmates and adults." It says that I reported "it's what my brain did and I didn't like it" and that "I didn't know how to stop."

That makes me sad. I don't remember explicitly any of that, but the idea makes me sad.

It really is one of the ways I try to connect with others. It's the way my brain feels like it's wired. It's got very clear rules, it feels like. It's a clear exchange. And like. I don't know. It's something I know I can offer that people will want to take. "They want to have sex with me" is sort of my default...I don't know. Instinct when someone shows interest in me. I know it isn't true all the time. I just feel like sometimes it's all I can give. My other interests and everything is sort of secondary. Like...people will listen to me talk about Sonic or let me be weird or will hang out with me if I give them sex.

I hated hated hated being called sexual or a pervert or anything like that in school but it was also like. The thing that everyone defaulted to when talking about me. Even friends made jokes about it that I hated. I was always the sexual one. And at the time I didn't really know why, because I didn't feel like I was very sexual. Now I know that it was mostly dissociative barriers.

It just makes me sad, also, because like. Isn't that one of the big red flags for CSA? Why didn't anyone do anything about it other than punish me? Why was a child being punished for being sexual when they should have been...I don't know. Helped? It was clearly an issue that was fairly obvious. I don't know why I was punished for things I just didn't understand.

And now I'm all messed up about it. I don't know how to have close relationships because my brain just puts sex as a major factor so if people don't want to have sex with me...I don't know what they want.

[sonicasura]

Proto had done it at times I'll admit that, but only when he was sure Hina was not able to see or find out. Lets just say Hina was not happy when she first found her husband doing that. Nor with using other pests as his dinner for that matter. At least he never ate the strays nor offered his 'special' food to humans or Hina for that matter, he had some common sense after all.

Mostly.

And for your information, Kafka would never try that unless he had not other choice. Due to how he was raised and saw how others around him reacted to stuff like that. However, when rats and othe wild life darts around in the alleys, Kafka finds he has to restrain himself quite a bit as his hunting instincts reacts quite a bit about the darting creatures.

You can also bet that when Mina first introduce Bakko to Kafka, things went a little pear shaped. Even as a cub, Bakko knew Kafka was not fully human and was not happy meeting the himbo. It took years and a lot of patient for Bakko and Kafka to properly bond. Fights stills happens, mostly through play as both himbo and tiger finds it quite fun to challenge each other in ways the others can't. But sometimes the two can get into arguments due to misunderstandings or the other not wanting to share that last kaiju steak.

Mina is honestly jealous at times with the bond Kafka has with Bakko. Since the tiger is a kaiju hybrid as well, Kafka can to a degree understand the other. Granted she don't really need that since she has basically raised Bakko herself, but as a cat owner I'm pretty sure you know that there are rare times when you have no idea what is going on in their brain. Kafka is great to have in those times.

Also, Kafka actually gives Bakko some training too. Once Mina is able to take the tiger with her for longer periods. Bakko learns some interesting tricks and gains far better stamina and endurance that makes him able to last a lot longer too. And well, Kafka kinda did some secret gene therapy of sort on the tiger as well. Without Mina knowing it. See, Proto has left behind some rather interesting books, or if this is where my old kaiju lives to at least half the main events helped his grandson with the tigers DNA.

Its a know fact Bakko is a 'failed' kaiju as it is said. Now what that implies I have no idea, but when Kafka finds out about this he sort of corrects some of the stuff that makes the tiger a failed one, unlocking a hidden and stronger form that Bakko don't use until that bit when Bakko fights to protect Mina. Mianlyu because it takes years for Bakko to properly use it and the tiger is smart enough to understand its best it stays hidden for now. Lets just say the tiger last a lot longer against the mushroom bastard and shocks a lot of people.

Mina is unsure if she should hug her best friend having done this to Bakko or give him a solid beating. She's really struggling on that front. Soshiro, Okonogi and all the others finds Bakko's hidden from quite cool and awesome.

Hina immediately sends him to brush his teeth and use mouthwash, lol. I see Kafka trying to eat a pest as a little kid though. Like no common sense or self restraint at that age so his parents had to keep a trained eye on him.

I totally see Bakko having different forms. Same goes for Kafka, something my ass still needs to write down. Alternate transformations that are more situational like for terrain or certain opponents. The closest comparison which comes to mind are the Wisps from Sonic Colors.

I don't blame Mina at all. Cats in general tend to do weird things that puzzles everyone. And I got five cats who are complete oddballs.

[frappes-random-reblogs]

Hi nobody is going to read this so I'm gonna rant about how TikTok DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO NOT SPOILER THINGS

I usually avoid TikTok when a new version of a game I like comes out, I play Hoyo games, mostly, so since a lot of people play the games, there's gonna be people who Speedrun the story. I spent 8 hours straight playing the story yesterday so I could not get spoilered

I knew spaces I was safe in, that is Tumblr and Discord

Unfortunately for me I opened TikTok because I was bored and I needed some short form content (I genuinely cannot find long form content that entertains me. I've been watching Markipliers playthroughs of things that aren't horror games atp. I'm on inscryption currently) and everything was fine! I saw a lot of people making content about the sandpit! I was really happy seeing that content because I wasn't in the sandpit for long due to wanting to continue story. But I made the mistake of going into search...

Now Tumblr and TikTok have biiiiiig differences. But one thing they have in common is A SHITTY FUCKING SEARCH SYSTEM ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

I don't know how well you know TikToks search system but to explain it simply: you cannot search for slideshows, you will get content you don't want, and if you're in search for long enough you'll see family guy clips next to slime.

I'm pretty sure the search system also doesn't have an algorithm.

Let me give an example on how shit TikTok search is: you will search for princess peach and eventually you'll end up on pregnant women. You will search Nine (from that one Sonic movie) and eventually end up on videos calling knuckles... Sigma... (I just wanted nine content because he seemed cool and got hit by that. Never recovered...)

Now the people who play hoyo on TikTok have this thing where they do not realize that everyone watches content within their own time. If you do not follow that games gameplay leaks, kit leaks and story leaks, you WILL get spoilered. So if you don't follow leaks and don't want to, Hoyo TikTok is your worst enemy.

So I get spoilered SOOOOO MUCH it's insane... I've mostly learned to just not open TikTok but I was stupid m'kay. And I got spoilered FOR THE BIG TWIST OF THE FUCKING STORY. THE CREATOR PIT OM THE VIDEO "2.1 SPOILERS" BUT DECIDED TO PUT SPOILERS IN THE CAPTION.

Now that's partially my fault for reading the caption, but I do that instinctively at this point, it's the first thing I read. So I blame instincts.

Anyway, TikTok is shit, people on it are shit (I can say this because I am one of them), and people need to know to NOT SPOIL STUFF FOR EVERYONE ELSE

Thank you.

Now I have some free time, I'm going to continue the story, and hope for dear god that even though I got spoilered, I still enjoy it

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

do you have the rest of the movie plush collection

yep; I actually got Cori the Sonic BAB when the first movie dropped. hold on i have a video still of the shitty snapcube audio

it was actually a really funny story. I was at the mall in early March 2020. Yeah, you all know what that means– but actually, we were there a week BEFORE all the covid shit went down. You see, I knew Covid was a problem, but it hadn't hit the United States yet. This was while I was in college so I was at the mall with my older sister North and my roommate, we'll call her Kay.

The Build-a-Bear in question was actually almost out of Sonics. I saw one stashed in a lower shelf under the Pokémon and I said "I need to get that for Cori." North said, "The lines are so long though. You don't have to do that now, we can come back later" but God must have spoken to me because I was like "No. I need to get it for her NOW." We legit didn't know Covid was gonna be a thing and our college had already said they didn't plan on sending us home for it (which turned out to be a lie) so I guess it was just instinct or Godincidence or something.

So, there was a massive sale on BABs that day so there were a lot of people. It was a buy-one-get-one-half-off so I utilized that to get both Sonic and a Snubbull for myself. While in line I was frantically texting Cori asking which Snapcube Sonic line was her favorite that didnt have swear words, because I was surrounded by children. I had to call my Mom to get her to answer her texts.

In front of me was a little girl who also had a Snubbull. She was scanning the little screen to try and find the Snubbull sound to put in her new best friend. I joined her bc I was also getting a Snubbull and also I like being helpful. An employee finally came over and was like "Oh, you can only put Snubbull sounds in the Snubbull. You gotta scan the tag like this" and she did that and we hear the WORST fucking noise we've ever heard in our lives. The little girl's eyes widen and she says, "That's awful. I NEED IT." So I had to get one too.

While the little girl was getting her silly little guy stuffed, I finally got my shitty audio into the Sonic and was waiting in line for my turn. Behind me was another little girl who went up to the screen and found "Sally's Song." Kept pressing it over and over to hear the same ten seconds of audio until her Mother begged her to stop.

anyway then the next weekend we got sent home for covid and I actually got to watch the Sonic movie and fell headfirst into the Sonic fandom and now I'm here.

Tails is a slightly less funny story. We went to the mall actually right before seeing the second movie. We were desperately trying to find a good Snapcube line until we remembered seeing Tails Clones in the trailer and decided to put in "This Wall Tastes Like Dirt." Which actually turned out to be way clearer audio for some reason. Anyway what was funny was that while we were there, I saw a little girl make a BEELINE for the Sonic plushie. Like, walked into the store, ZOOMED her way over to the Sonic and yanked it from the container, immediately hugging that thing to her chest. We then saw her older brother (maybe 1-2 years older), very calmly and slowly, walk up next to her and grab himself a matching Tails.

and then I ordered Knuckles online because he was online only which meant I could not put any audio into his paw bc they record that shit over voicemail and I'm not playing a YouTube clip over voicemail that's gonna sound even more like the Spirit Box than Cori's Sonic does. If I had a choice I would've put "how the fuck did we get to egypt" but

[viacursecasting]

Sonadow Scenario #65

Hate.

Shadow could feel the hedgehog's burning gaze upon him as they waited at the lunch table for their comrades. He swore he could feel two holes singe his ebony fur.

Finally he sighed in frustration. "If you have something to say, spit it out already."

Sonic blinked, but then he swallowed. "Do you hate me?"

Shadow was slightly taken aback. "What?"

Sonic pursed his lips, mustering up his resolve. He said with a little more conviction, "Do you hate me?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "You really want to know?" After receiving a nod, he stated bluntly, "Yes, I do."

The hero felt a pang in his chest.

But before he could say anything, Shadow continued, "I hate how stupidly confident you are with your talents. I hate how cocky you get before charging headfirst into battle. I hate how you always put others' needs above your own. I hate how you always play the hero, sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. I hate how you constantly put yourself in the line of danger. I hate how you still stand despite taking a beating. I hate how you smile as if that will numb the pain."

His features softened ever so slightly. "I hate... how my heart races when I'm around you. I hate how I admire you even though I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform. I hate how my thoughts always lead back to you. But most of all..."

He moved so that their noses were an inch apart. His tone was low, like a lover sharing a secret:

"I hate how inviting your stupid lips look."

Sonic burned red to his shoulders. For once he was at a loss for words. "You... I—!"

Suddenly Amy appeared, tray full of Meh Burgers in tow, Tails and Knuckles at her heels with various drinks and condiments. "Hey boys, we're ba—"

The hedgehogs quickly put a mile between them, but not before Amy took note of how close they just were, and she grew giddy with excitement. "Oooh, what have we here?? A sultry exchange between two lovebirds, perhaps?"

Shadow sneered, "There's a bird indeed." He then flipped her off.

Amy gasped. "Not in front of Tails!" But the kit only laughed.

Knuckles regarded the sky. "What bird?"

~

That evening, Sonic wordlessly escorted Shadow back to his cave. The tension between them was palpable.

They stopped at the mouth of the abode. Shadow addressed the hero, though he didn't meet his gaze. "You needn't have accompanied me."

"I know..." Sonic replied, regarding him with shining emeralds. "But I wanted to."

Ugh. Shadow's stupid heart...!

"Listen," Sonic continued. "All those things you said... Did you really mean it?"

Shadow kept his gaze averted, giving an almost imperceptible nod.

Sonic smirked, moving daringly close. "All of it?"

Shadow instinctively stepped back, finding his back pressed against a rock wall. Still, he nodded once more.

Sonic put his palm against the wall, trapping him. He teasingly cocked his head, their muzzles perfectly positioned for a kiss. He asked under his breath, "Do they still look inviting?"

Shadow stole a glance, regretting everything. He uttered, "Achingly so."

Sonic rested a finger under that tan chin, a tantalizing touch. Their lips brushed when he spoke. "Shall I ease your pain?"

Shadow could no longer take the pounding in his ears. "Just get on with it you foo—mphm!"

Sonic did just that, diving in for a harsh lip-lock. He was pleased to hear that the lifeform was still vocal, and it prompted Sonic to taste his whines and sighs.

A delicacy.

Shadow melted, held upright by the hero's tongue and firm grip around his waist. He thought the ache of longing would cease, and while it did, now he ached for more of Sonic. More of his citrusy scent, of his satisfied moans, of his warm caress. He craned his neck to let the hero explore him deeper, and trembled when Sonic read his mind.

Sonic treated the lifeform like his last gulp of air. He couldn't explain why he wanted—needed this. Needed him. He knew he should have run as soon as he laid eyes on the lifeform, a bright neon sign of danger. But that only made him more enticing. Anyone who chased after such a threat had to be crazy.

And Sonic was booked into an asylum.

Shadow finally gave the hero's chest a gentle push, catching his breath.

Sonic wore a stupid grin, admiring the flush across the lifeform's muzzle, tracing his thumb along those swollen, abused lips. "You're cute, you know that?"

Shadow clutched his bandana to bring him in once more. "I hate you," he muttered.

Before resuming their kiss, Sonic chuckled, a melodious sound. "I hate you, too."

[026cas]

might as well dump whatever i have about my scrapped exe fc. this is a long one.

This is The Stranger.

► set in-universe, specifically during or at the aftermath of Sonic Forces.

devastation hit harder than what the tinted reassurance of salvation portrayed. the Resistance tried their absolute hardest, but they weren't the golden hand of any god. now, we focus on a certain unfortunate civilian.

if no one was coming to save them, they'll have to save themselves. such is their feeble grasp on the straw towards survival. body all soiled and stomach caved in, their eyes were blurred for anything that will dull the ache. never have they experienced delirium to this extent; teeth grinded in their sleep as the hunger pulled onto their intestines and clawed their brain, then nothing was left but pure instinct.

sustenance. just a little fill. just a little further onto that luscious open scab.

sustenance.

what follows that decision was a blur, but they do remember a sliver of regret, then an infestation of awe. it was meat they never knew, like a forbidden fruit they'll never find themselves sharing. since then, the stranger stirred more and more towards this new diet. conveniently enough, under debri were lots and lots of supply.

and wouldn't you know, an ability that they initially viewed as a curse, finally came in handy.

► side note. that Tails-looking corpse? i wrote back then that Stranger had at some point made that abomination out of corpses while under the influence of lemon sundrop dandelion (if you know, you know)—one of their "meals" being laced with it. but it's clear i'm not the slightest bit educated about the effects of said fictional substance. you could say this was just a spur-of-the-moment idea.

► their hunting grounds was at a made-up zone i called the Grayscale Zone. it looks exactly like it sounds. a thick monochromatic foresty area, with a quaint closed town just a trek away.

the Stranger knew each and every faces in that little town, they should know how to recognize outsiders, which they decided will be their only targets. attacking the town was practically painting a target on their face.

they were mostly known by the title Stranger by the locals of the zone. a friendly and amiable wanderer from the depths of the foliage guiding visitors safely towards the only known sign of society in the gloomy area.

the inhabitants of Grayscale Zone are oddly in the dark when it comes to the happenings out in the world, and the world knew barely about the zone just as much. hence why they aren't suspicious of the Stranger's face.

► i daydreamed back then of introducing Stranger through a type of novel game, with puzzles and multiple branching routes relying heavily on every decision you make.

there, you play as a green cat named Fluke. the cat had met the Stranger by one fateful day, and he actually recognized them. Sonic the Hedgehog... but not so Sonic the Hedgehog...? wasn't he dead? Fluke is already suspicious throughout their first interaction, but he knew nothing but to be quiet.

Fluke eventually learns of the Stranger's macabre practices, and the not-so-Sonic was too calm about it when they picked up on his discovery in return. however, he always found himself coming back towards the lair of the cannibal, and every time, they talked a little too normally about anything and everything as if they were neighbors. with the stranger's carefree attitude and almost simple lifestyle, you'd think they're really just a normal person. that is if they weren't the reason for the multiple missing individual cases recently.

the novel game will never come to fruition though, i'm too inadequate for that.

► i've come up with four major ending routes when i still had them around.

the first was the "Tattle route". the Stranger used to find it amusing whenever the two mulled over Fluke's ideas about tattling, which the latter hadn't done immediately if he weren't so piqued with the cannibal. but eventually, he did.

it actually wasn't the first time Stranger was hunted down, their missing right pinky finger is the reminder of that. but this time, it's like the entire town was out for their head. Stranger had always recognized how Fluke teetered that threat, but they believed he won't do it because they both knew what the fake hedgehog was capable of.

Stranger actually never expected him to grow a pair and tell about their transgressions, and the sudden switch in power irked them. if they survived this, rest assured they're now out for Fluke's head. curiosity kills the cat, and that cat will certainly be a special treat.

second is the "Molotov route". Fluke finds a way to deal with the cannibal himself. and that's by flaming them up. what drove Fluke to this decision was his accumulated fear and a wobbly sense of heroism, believing this time, he could at least do something right (as right as fighting violence with violence gets).

this might be the worst of the worst routes. because here, Stranger survives, though not without a couple patches of peeling and blistering skin that their shapeshifting ability could barely cover up. the seething pain fuels their newfound hunger for retribution. Fluke's fate is unfortunately left unclear.

the third was a rather neutral one, the "Rock Bottom route". here, more insight about Fluke will be given. what i've conjured up then was that Fluke wasn't holding up mentally. (keep in mind that this is set in the circumstances of Sonic Forces)

the place they met was by a cliff, and the Stranger could immediately tell the context as to why he was standing there. hence why they were the first one to speak out and catch his attention. from there, Fluke has become more focused onto the interesting subject that is the person whom in a way both ruined and saved him.

as per usual, Fluke always comes back despite the dread that lingers. it was mixed with excitement, doubt, shame, until it all settled to confusion, which then drove his next irrational moves.

the two got along here i think, even if the Stranger knew what a mess could be happening inside the cat's head. the Stranger, despite their obviously disgusting lifestyle, is pretty aware of their wrongdoings yet simply chose to be ignorant. Fluke's case wasn't gonna be anything special.

i don't think i've explored this enough, but the gist of it is that Fluke gives in to the tempting thrill, in hopes it'll pull him out of his previous inner turmoils (in turn, entering another). he followed the Stranger's complicated conduct, slowly but surely beginning to aid them in their spree. Stranger on the other hand didn't mind it.

last is perhaps the good ending out of all the routes, the "Cordial route", where Fluke actually befriends the cannibal and makes the effort on grounding them down, to convince them to finally abandon their harmful ways.

my ideas skipped the process, but i do remember the last bits - the novel was gonna take a more lighthearted tone in this route with the two genuinely getting along. the Stranger even actually introduced something about them - their flair in cooking. here, Fluke also managed to convince them to cook and try real and healthier food, to see if they could get the old appetite back.

at the end of the run, Stranger was to insist to start over and introduced themselves as "Sham" (though you can't be sure if they were being honest). Fluke would be the first to know the impersonator to such extent after a long, long while.

the two are still yet to deal with the lingering consequences of the Stranger's visceral history. it was still gonna end on an untied note as to how the cannibal will make up for all of that. gonna have to take whatever you can get from it.

► miscellaneous stuff

Fluke wasn't a local of Grayscale Zone, so why haven't Stranger gutted him yet? Fluke bugged them about it too at some point, the cannibal begrudgingly reasoning: "they didn't kill him because they weren't hungry" and that they don't necessarily needed to kill on sight. Fluke just happened to be lucky every time he comes back.

they have terrible memory and terrible eyesight, hence the failed imitation of Sonic. speaking of imitating Sonic, Stranger only did so to (take a guess) lure outsider prey, and to live in the skin of a young, wild and free individual. yes, they had at some point admired the blue blur.

only has 5 bundles of quills on their head, 1 bundle of quills on their back, and no tail.

Stranger hates winter, especially when they didn't stock up enough. due to the cold, there would be very little to hunt and the town is an alternative they don't wish to resort to. hunger was one of the things that really drive them mad.

they're a bit ironic and snarky.

are they actually wearing anything?

Stranger's burnt injuries were actually inspired by a certain frame from the animation "LEGACY, Sonic.EXE" by youtube@/kishinpain

during Stranger's earliest days when Exe/Faker influence was still there, they had a beast form. which i eventually scrapped because i opted on making them a little more unique than just being a copycat. well in the end, i just scrapped Stranger as a whole so eh i guess. remants of this scrapped concept is evident in the body contortions latest-Stranger makes.

uh huh. that's about all the things i've developed for this "exe" (or sonic horror au, however the terms here go), however i've grown dissatisfied with them especially with the design. i still wanted to share it though.

that's all now. have a blue gang :^)

04-23

[biggreenneatbox]

Tagged by @sadiemacoy -- list a favourite character from 10 favourite fandoms.

Now, do I even have 10 fandoms in ma brain *to* pick from.....

(Turns out, answer is "No". So I will be listing my favourite characters from what seems to be my brain's current fixations)

Critical Role - Caduceus Clay / Grog Strongjaw / Laudna

I couldn't pick individual people, so I've listed, in order, my favourites from each of the 3 main campaigns. We've got out of place asexual loner with a heart of gold and a penchant for reason in a world of chaos in Cad; No Thought, Only Heart and Instinct for Grog; and misunderstood weirdo with a love of both the arts and a strong independant woman what don't need no man (but wouldn't say no to a woman if she were to try and fill that void) in Laudna

RWBY - Neopolitan

I love this little shit so much! And now that I fully identify as Non-Binary, having my favourite character be someone who can alter their appearance at the literal drop of a hat makes so much sense. Also, Ice Cream Aesthetic

God of War - Kratos (Norse era)

I liked the overarcing spectacle of the Greek era, and TC Carson was a fantastic Greek Kratos, but Norse era Kratos is just a whole other man and I am here for his growth. Christopher Judge conveys so much with so little; he's like the father I never had

Star Wars - Anakin Skywalker (Clone Wars era) / Darth Vader

If you think about it, he's a Gifted & Talented Kid that got pushed to the point of breaking. Especially when we got Season 7 of The Clone Wars and we saw the overlap of it and Ep.III. And then there's Vader. I have never really seen someone command a presence in everything he's in just by being there. He literally needs to *breathe* and that's most people done. He just shows up in Jedi: Fallen Order and everyone *knew* that we were fucked

Sly Cooper - Bentley

(I have to pick Bentley because apparently "The track 'Paris Rooftops' from the Sly 2 OST" can't be a character)

Joking aside, Bentley overcame his nerdy social anxiety and thrived when he had to face the world alone. And then when Clock-la happens and he becomes paralysed, he didn't stop. He adapted. I thrive to be like that eventually. But also, turtle: things going bad? Just jump into your shell

The Last of Us - Ellie Williams

Ah, my little Les-bean. Reminds me of a close friend, what with the arting and the guitar and the singing and the gayness

Sonic the Hedgehog - Shadow

An even darker and edgier speedy hedgehog? Yes please! But also, Shadow (especially in the games I played as a wee lad - Sonic Heroes & Shadow the Hedgehog) had a whole lot of uncertainty in his life and had to discover and forge his own path. Being told he's so many different things and having to decide whether that's what he wants to do and listen to one of their stories, or become his own individual person away from the pressures of everyone else

Dragon Ball - Future Trunks

What's that? My favourite Dragon Ball character has a hero complex, wherein he tries to prevent any ill-fate before it happens by going back in time to change the past, hopefully making his future a better place, only to find out that protecting them did nothing for him and he ended up sad and depressed anyway? .........nope, can't relate ......to the time travelling part

DBZ Abridged also helped by constantly drawing Doctor Who parallels with him, and that was one of my many childhood / teenage hyperfixations soo.....

Dead by Daylight - The Dredge

Got to give thanks to HighKingMargo on AO3 for delving into some lore of DBD that I wasn't aware of in their amazing fic "This Hunger, It Isn't You", but when I looked and really paid attention to everything, I kind dug the vibe of The Dredge. Long story short - it's a SUPER fucked up amalgamation of cultish despair that manifested as a shadowy mass of limbs and general ick. I'm not much of a horror fan, but of all the (non-license) Killers in the game, I adore this disgusting thing

Marvel - The Hulk

A man with a curse to be the worst version of themselves when pushed, so decides to live a life of relative solitude and ease for fear that the less people are around them, the better? And with that, the absolute power fantasy of having almost free reign to be as strong as I need to be in any given moment. Hmm, I guess I'll focus on that one. Also, they're literally part of the reason my blog is named BIGGREENneatbox

BONUS 11th: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Uncle Iroh

It's Uncle Iroh.

Well, now that fustercluck and self-realisation journey is out of the way... @dvdson @geekg1rl3 @calxiyn you try