#bring her back sega? for me?

[melly-artes]

Miss her so fucking bad man.

[tollsoftheclockwerkbelle]

sega please do not save maria please do not save maria PLEASE do not save mariaaaaaaa sega PLEASE

[powderpinkwitch]

what do you meaaaan we could have had sticks x amy in official sonic art 😭😭

(art by deegeemin on twitter)

im so fucking upset I love Sticks, and I love her and Amy together. I'm so sad we never see her anymore :(

[thankskenpenders]

Help me out here: Why is there so much Ian Flynn hate going around lately? I thought everyone loved that he was contributing to the games. Now suddenly they aren't. I guess that's par for the course for this series but I don't get it. He isn't perfect but I like what he's done. Am I a weirdo?

Ian Flynn has always had a lot of fans, but any creator putting their work out there is going to have detractors as well. That's just the nature of being an artist. To some extent, it's no big deal. He's not a perfect writer. Nobody is! I consider myself a fan of his work, but I've criticized plenty of individual writing decisions from him on here.

But Ian doesn't just have critics. He has his own obsessive hatedom. And the specific nature of Ian's hatedom is... interesting.

A decade ago, Ian was only the guy writing for Archie Sonic, meaning any debates over his work were quarantined within that tiny niche of the larger Sonic fandom. Only people who kept up with the comics month to month had any real reason to have an opinion on the guy, which means we're talking about merely thousands of fans as opposed to millions.

Within that group, he had some haters. You had the people who were mad about story changes made during his run, particularly things like ancillary characters getting killed off (although over the years we've learned that most of those were editorial mandates from Mike Pellerito). You had the people mad that Ian didn't push their favorite ship, with feuding SonAmy and Sonally fans claiming that he was CLEARLY biased towards one or the other. You had the people who just really, really liked one of the previous writers way more - usually Penders, as hard as that may be to believe today. That sort of thing. Pretty normal comic fandom type stuff. Again, it comes with the territory.

Unfortunately, many of those haters only got worse over time, morphing into reactionaries who constantly try to incite Comicsgate type culture war bullshit.

There are people still mad at Ian for making Sally bi and pairing her with Nicole instead of Sonic in the later Archie comics. There have been elaborate MS Paint red string conspiracy boards explaining how people like Ian and Jon Gray have apparently been destroying the franchise from the inside for years by Making Sonic Woke. (Jon gets dragged into this because people are still mad about him drawing The Slap 20 years later. Yes, really!!) There was an unhinged change.org petition trying to get Ian fired, specifically from people who were mad that the Freedom Fighters aren't in the IDW comics. There was even a very sad little fan campaign from these people trying to get Sega to move the Sonic comic license away from IDW and over to Udon, because they thought Udon would bring Sally and Bunnie back and also make them sexy again. There's a lot of this.

(Unfortunately, Penders has also exacerbated this by gossiping about Ian on Twitter and giving these fans ammo, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.)

The thing is, for years, people who only played the games or watched the cartoons had no reason to pay attention to any of this. Now, though, Ian isn't just writing for some weird spinoff comics that only the super nerds read. Now he's writing comics that are canon to the games, and ALSO some of the games themselves, and ALSO consulting on other tie-in media like Sonic Prime, and ALSO writing the official Sonic encyclopedia, and ALSO serving as part of the new Sonic Lore Team at Sega. And on top of all this, he's got an increasingly popular podcast where he fields questions about his work on all of these things, which serves as one of the fandom's main windows into creative decisions being made behind the scenes.

As a fan of Ian's work, it's been really cool to see him rise in prominence. But the dark side of this is that his obsessive haters from the Archie days now have WAY more of a potential audience of their own. Now, every Sonic fan has to have an opinion on Ian. What this frequently means is that you'll have the Comicsgate types taking things Ian writes or says out of context, attempting to get more of the general fandom to yell at the guy.

Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of Sonic fans who take the bait:

You've got hardcore fans who disliked basically any recent piece of Sonic media and are looking for someone to blame.

You've got the people who are concerned about the sanctity of Sonic's canon, who shoot the messenger any time Ian mentions a new retcon from Sonic Team on the podcast - or any time he even mentions the THOUGHT of changing anything about the canon, as we saw recently with the Sol Dimension nonsense.

You've got people who romanticize some sort of mythical artistic vision that Sega of Japan supposedly has (or had) for the franchise. To many of these fans, American contributors like Ian just don't "get" the heart of the series and are trying to turn Sonic into something different. (This "heart of the series" tends to be some mix of Japanese instruction manual lore, the cinematics from Sonic CD, the OVA, and/or the games written by Shiro Maekawa, depending on what Sonic media the fan in question grew up with.)

You've got fans of specific characters or ships who pin the blame for how their faves are depicted entirely on Ian - most vocally fans of Shadow, even though the root problem is that Sonic Team hasn't known what to do with Shadow since 2006. At best this stops at regular old criticism, but at its worst this devolves into claims that Ian has an agenda against certain characters.

You've got fans annoyed by a perceived over-emphasis on comic-original characters in the IDW comics, ignoring the obvious facts that these characters exist because the game cast is so tightly controlled by Sega, and also, you know, that people just like the IDW characters and want more stories about them.

You've got a LOT of discourse over IDW's Sonic being a hero who tries to give his enemies second chances, as if half of Sonic's closest friends aren't already former villains and rivals. Honestly this is very transparently just reheated Steven Universe discourse lmao

You'll also see people who just think they could do Ian's job better. They can't believe that THIS GUY is the American fan working on all these Sonic projects, when clearly THEY understand the characters and lore and themes SO much better than this charlatan.

All it takes is for someone in one of these categories to be unhappy about some recent piece of Sonic media, and for them to come across an out of context quote or comic panel that rubs them the wrong way, and suddenly the leftist Zoomer Sonic fans will join the latest dogpile on Ian alongside the reactionary Comicsgate types who are mad at him for Making Sonic Woke.

In general, when fandoms get upset, they tend to want a scapegoat. A person or two to point a finger at and go "THAT's who ruined the thing I love!" This tends to be based less on reality and more on which contributors are the most visible online. You'll sometimes see teenage and adult fans of children's cartoons single out a storyboarder who's particularly vocal on Twitter, blame them for every story decision they don't like, and harass them off the platform out of a sense of retribution for their favorite ship or whatever. Failing that, fans might choose to blame every nitpick, down to individual lines of dialogue and frames of animation, on a showrunner, just because that's the name they associate with the show. And unfortunately, when it comes to Sonic, Ian is now arguably the most prolific and outspoken contributor on the English speaking internet, and therefore a common scapegoat.

Some of the things I've seen Ian blamed for are truly wild. A lot of people have claimed for YEARS that he's just lying about the existence of creative guidelines and restrictions from Sega - or, as fans call them, The Mandates - even though they're just an inherent aspect of working on a licensed property. Others claim that The Mandates are real, but somehow Ian's fault. A vocal minority of fans have convinced themselves that Ian is the sole reason the Freedom Fighters don't exist in the IDW comics, even though Ian says he's been pushing to bring them back since day one.

Sometimes you'll see people say he ruined shit he didn't even work on. A few weeks ago on Twitter I saw someone claim that Ian had written a rejected script for Sonic Forces in which Tails died. I could not find a source for this for the life of me. As far as I can tell, the rumor seems to have been born from an alleged leaked script for Forces with margin notes from Aaron Webber that criticized the way Tails was written, and also an old tweet where Aaron joked that Tails would die in an upcoming episode of Sonic Mania Adventures. These merged into "Aaron Webber criticized a draft of the Forces script in which Tails died." How'd Ian get dragged into this? Who fucking knows!

It's all just a big game of telephone. All it takes is some asshole to make something up about Ian on Twitter or YouTube or a DeviantArt journal or some forum, and at least a couple people will believe it, and then it gets repeated as fact. Again, this used to be contained by the niche nature of the Archie Sonic fandom, but now there are WAY more people who are receptive to this shit.

It's just sad to me that Ian tries to be so open and honest about his work, to try to explain the rationale for certain things, to keep fans looped in on the direction the franchise is headed, and this just gives the Flynnspiracy types more quotes to take out of context and try to paint him as the devil. If it sounds like I'm being overly defensive and dismissing his critics, man... some of the things I've seen people say directly to him are just unbelievable. People will send paragraphs-long angry screeds in to his podcast that completely tear him apart, and he has to sit there and be like "Well, that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it." People literally pay for special guest interview episodes where they just rapid fire complaints about his writing at him directly to his face. I don't know how he does it. I would snap.

All of this over Sonic the fucking Hedgehog of all things.

I don't know how to wrap this up. Engaging with fandoms online is very tiring, which is why I tend not to do it. Things like this are too common. I guess, just... remember that making art collaboratively is a complicated thing. The people involved are generally trying their best given the circumstances, but they're only human. They make mistakes. But please treat them like humans. Criticism and dogpiling are not the same thing.

[miimo96]

Things I Do and DON'T wanna see for Sonic 4

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SONIC 3⚠️ DO NOT READ yet

With the introduction to Sonic 4 being Announced, here something's I wanna see happen in the 4th Sonic movie, now keep in mind these are just things I wanna SEE happen in the 4th movie and not that I know they're GOING to happen, it's just something I think Paramount/ SEGA should decide to do if Sonic 4 is going to be PEAK

1 thing I would absolutely love to see adapted into the Sonic films is the inclusion of rail grinding, Since it's obvious that we're going to be getting a metal Sonic storyline and therefore possibly a time travel one, I think seeing Rail grinding in probably an Apocalyptic future setting would be absolutely an amazing thing to see in live action, especially since it's pretty much a staple in Sonic games and hasn't really been adapted yet. Another thing I would love to see is the inclusion of the iconic Soap shoes, since this movie was basically taking inspiration from Sonic A2, not including the soap shoes was surprisingly a shock to me, especially since they're so iconic in that game, However I understood their reasoning probably being that they're just not in style anymore and therefore wouldn't really be serving a purpose, other than just being fan service, HOWEVER, if they were to include them in the 4th movie being that we're probably going to be seeing a possible Apocalyptic setting, then seeing Rail grinding and Soap shoes would definitely be a possible thing, especially since the Soap shoes would Definitely fit in with the overall futuristic vibe

Next up is Sonic and Amy's relationship, tbh I HONESTLY do not want her to just be solely obsessed with Sonic, I get that's her character and all but there are so many different ways you can go about it, With how she's been characterized recently, I think she'll be more than just that but I really hope they actually go that route and change her, as much as I hate the show, I really love how she's depicted in Sonic Boom, her design is beautiful, her voice is on point, and her relationship with Sonic is just so damn cute because she's not just a damsel and is actually an effing fighter and leader, Also 1 more thing I whole heartily want to see, is Sonic to just be awkward around amy and actually have him experience/ fall in love for once, most Sonic games and shows like to keep him closed off from amy and kinda deny his feelings for her, i think it would be cool if they would break away from that trope and actually have him acknowledge his feelings for her instead, Maybe that's just because I'm such a huge Sonamy shipper and have been since the beginning but it's whatever lol

Finally one thing I DON'T want to see them do again for this film is bring back Dr eggman, I feel like This will be the absolute perfect opportunity to determine weather or not the Sonic movies are ONLY Successful because of Jim Carey. if they decide to not bring back robotnik and actually decide to focus on a whole New villain and are still able to succeed in the box office, then this will undoubtedly PROVE that the Sonic films are the BEST way to do a video game adaptation and were meant to be successful with or without Jim Carey, because let's be real, if it wasn't for Jim Carey's performance then the Sonic movies wouldn't be doing as nearly as good as they are now, that isn't to say they're BAD cuz they're NOT, it's just to say that they wouldn't do as good or as well if it wasn't for robotnik. Going forward without Robotnik I think would be a Great way to test the franchise and not only give a New Villain a chance to shine, but would also prove to Paramount, that they can still COOK with or without Carey, in my opinion, having Metal Sonic be the Main Villain of the next movie would not only give you the chance to adapt other Sonic villains in a unique way, but I think probably make THIS ONE the SCARIEST villain of all time, especially with Metal/NEO Sonic.

A Villain with No emotion, No alternate motive, no remorse, No DEEPER meaning other than simply having the "I Want to KILL YOU" mindset and is just STRAIGHT UP Evil is something I haven't seen done in a Long time, tbh you can probably make him the Ultron of the Sonic universe and have him JUST be evil and it wouldn't bother us at all as long as you write him well, Plus robotnik LITERALLY had the greatest character arc in this film, from wanting to take over the world, to ending up being the one who saves it, yeah it doesn't get better than that. I Guarantee you that if Robotnik DOESN'T come back and we Actually get a new Villain that will be the BEST move for the Sonic films as a whole and I think will have the chance to ACTUALLY expand on more of his cast from here out, anyway those are just my thoughts but whaddya think?

[piko-rose]

Being a Sonamy fan is hard (and just being an Amy Rose fan in general)

*quick note, I have only seen a few leaks regarding Sonic X Shadow Generations so take this post with a grain of salt and please add in some stuff about the game that I should be aware of because I have a feeling that this post might be incorrect about a lot of things*

*contains possible Sonic X Shadow Generations spoilers*

Being in love with Sonic isn't Amy's only trait. She is something more. She's a baker, a tarot card user, she's got a strong heart of gold, and is just a passionate and cheerful cute little weird girl.

As a Sonamy fan, these "changes" are nothing special or big, it's still just Amy being Amy, but this time more than just wanting to be with Sonic. I am aware of that one edit where Amy was trying to give Sonic cupcakes. It's really cute, but it's not the same without the hand over her face. Am I complaining? Yes, and no, it's hard to describe. (I don't have the image with me atm but in the future I'll edited in on this post)

I'm not complaining because we are seeing Amy just doing more than just, loving over Sonic. She still is in that cutscene, and most of the game as far as I'm concerned (I haven't seen all of the leaks), but in a more calmer fashion.

But at the same time, I am complaining because, and I highly doubt SEGA is doing this, at least on purpose, but Amy's crush on Sonic feels like is getting buried in a way.

I kind of worry that a newer generation of Sonic fans will never find out about Amy's crush for Sonic, or just how wonderful their dynamic in general is if this keeps going on.

I know it won't, but still, we haven't been seeing that a lot. But at least if you want to introduce new fans Sonic and Amy's dynamic, platonically or romantically, make sure to not bring up Heroes or a couple of X episodes please LMAO

(But that one episode where Amy and Sam talk about her relationship with Sonic, yeah, bring that one up. OH. and the last episode of Season 2, don't forget about that one.)

Look, we're all high on Son/adow right now, and it feels good, but what about Sonamy? Sonamy and Son/adow have a lot in common and are both really good with angst potential and lots of great character interactions. At least in my opinion anyway. (Topic for another day, if I'm brave enough)

I love them both equally, so I want to see an equal amount of hedgehog dorks being together. Or better yet, Sonamyshad. 😎

But I'm getting slight off-topic...

I don't want Amy's crush to be forgotten. You don't even have to like Sonamy to understand why and how Amy's feelings for him is actually really important for her character. (Again, topic for another day)

I mean, of course, some reasons as of why relate to my personal headcanons, but there are other good in-canon reasons, too!

Hell, even Sonic and Amy's friendship is just as important. They don't have to be a couple, but that doesn't mean we have to pretend that Amy never fell in love with the hedgehog who saved her life in more ways than one.

I also don't want how much Sonic and Amy's relationship improved throughout the years to be forgotten, either. This is why I'd rather have the shot of Sonic's covering her face with his hand, because he wouldn't do this today, and that's the point of all this...

They both started off as goofy, little kids, one wanting to share her love like wildfire, and the other always running off, not understanding the concept of love, and, of course, not loving her back.

Amy was much more loud and expressive about her love, and Sonic, while he knows there is good in Amy, does not want to be part of a relationship, and doesn't know how to talk things out about it, even with Amy not taking "no" for an answer. The solution? Just run away lol

Yeah, there are times where he called her a "pain" and thought of her as "annoying," but those times he was either in a hurry, or in a bad mood. Remember: They were both younger at the time, so it's in-character for Sonic at that age.

Sonic and Amy don't have a lot of moments where they're just, together. And not just for a "date." Sonic doesn't know a lot about Amy other than her love for him. ...Okay, some things he does know, but not a lot.

Their relationship was beginning to shift after the events of Lost World and especially after Forces, which I would explain, but I'm gonna put a link here because I don't want this post to be too long.

But if you have read it, then the next couple of texts would have some context lol

Anyways, after all that, Sonic and Amy's relationship was a lot different now. Amy was more calm but still cheerful, just not showing a lot of her love for Sonic because she's fully aware that none of that is important, and Sonic was more gentle around her because he wanted to be better than how he acted towards her for a while.

They both just want to hang out and start over as proper friends, but eventually, Sonic would find out what Amy was going through mentally, and how long she kept this from him.

Perhaps after that, Sonic wouldn't mind being closer to Amy, but he still has a world to look after. But hey, maybe slowing down and letting Amy catch up with him won't be so bad. Besides, he's finally seeing her happy with just him for the first time in a while, and he never realized just how much he missed it until now.

Buuuuut, those are just my headcanons, like I mentioned earlier. We all have our reasons why we love or dislike a ship (as long as it's not gross), and I have my own.

These two, just like son/adow, hold a special place in my heart because of what I went through myself, and how much they both have grown, and I truly hope that their relationship and friendship won't be forgotten.

I know it won't happen, but I still have that feeling... Probably because no body cares about their dynamic as much anymore.

Because of the past and people misinterpreting the ship, and Amy's character as a whole, the fandom seemed to care less about it. I mean, I don't blame them, but... it's still pretty messed up.

It's fine if you don't like sonamy, but I really hope you dislike it for a genuine reason, and not just because of some fans getting some things, or worse, everything about Amy and/or the ship wrong.

Amy's character arcs through the games, and her and Sonic's dynamic through the years have been overlooked as far as I'm concerned. Not like heavily overlooked, it's just that it's been a while since I've seen people give a damn about Amy Rose, especially SEGA.

I know we got The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but I feel like that's not enough.

What's going on with Sonic X Shadow Generations is pretty strange, but first of all, it's not Ian's fault god dammit, and second, I don't see it as a big deal. I haven't seen most of the leaks, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not that bad.

(But I have heard about that one cutscene with Knuckles and Classic Sonic and I couldn't help but laugh my ass off over it XD)

But with how the game is handling Amy, please be aware that this isn't the first time this happened, and it's not even that bad either. I mean, yeah I did mention how I'm worried about it, but I was over it once, I'll get over it again lol

There have been discussions about this since the Fast Friends Forever bio thing that happened last year, and I'm getting kind of tired of the arguments by now.

Amy stopped chasing Sonic not because she doesn't love him anymore, but because she doesn't need too. She is part of the team and has been closer with Sonic for a long time now. She doesn't need to follow them around when she already have proven herself to be useful and a fighter.

I'm really happy Amy is being recognized as something more than having a crush on Sonic, but having a crush is the heart of Amy's character.

Looking up to Sonic and wanting to be like him is what made Amy Rose... well, Amy Rose. She pushed herself and fought hard to be the person she wanted to be, and it's all thanks to Sonic.

He inspired a lot of people around him, especially Amy, so it's no wonder why she loves him so much. Plus, her tarot cards told her that he would be the love of her life, but I feel like even if the cards are wrong (not saying they are lol), she still loves him.

I want Amy's feelings for Sonic, and their friendship and their potential relationship to be remembered for a long time. I don't want them to be pushed to the side forever.

I don't want people to believe that her crush is her only trait, even though it's so important to her character.

I don't want Amy to change too much. Friends or not, I don't want her to give up on Sonic entirely.

I don't want this fandom to forget about Amy Rose.

[project-sekai-facts]

Pre-broadcast station commentary

The next Broadcast Station will be on the 29th, featuring Yukki, Yuichan, and Furirin! No VOCALOID Music SEKAI segment was announced, so it looks like the main stream will be starting half an hour earlier than usual. There is a reason for this, which we will get to.

Next month will be the Virtual Singer WLE! It will be held towards the end of the month, with chapters being 2 days long instead of 3 this time around.

There's room for one unit event next month, which is looking very likely to be Airi's 5th event. Due to its proximity to the vsinger WLE, the lineup will be entirely MCs. I reckon Shizuku for one of the other rateups, since she's behind on 4*s, and got spammed with lims last year so deserves some perm cards as a break. I reckon Minori could be the other 4*, since her only rateup on an Airi event was back in 2020.

This month's mixed lim event is likely to be either kamikou fes 2, or emu mixed 2. If it's the first one, I reckon the lineup could be Mizuki/Toya (maybe with An, Ena, or Rui as the other card), and serve as the 2-B mixed event. If it's Emu, Haruka/Nene seems like the most likely rateup. Next month's lim is hard to call, but will likely have a Rui lim unless he ends up on this month's event. If he isn't July or August, he's fes.

Now onto why the stream's starting earlier. I'm sure everyone has heard about the teaser for a new project already, and this is scheduled to be announced at 8pm JST, aka halfway through the stream. Given the heavy use of Miku in the promo, as well as this being retweeted by the official Miku account, it's pretty likely this will be vocaloid/piapro related. CFM has already said they'll be announcing vocaloid 20th anniversary stuff soon. PJDiva also turned 15 recently, and while that series is, let's be honest, dead, a PC/console game in the same vein but under the project sekai franchise wouldn't exactly surprise me? It's still a franchise beloved by many, so a rebrand of sorts wouldn't hurt.

A lot of people on twitter have been bringing up colopale's job listings, but imo it's not pointing to anything. Clpl has been vagueing about working on more mobile games for years, job listings confirm some sort of RPG, and there's some listing that suggest it could have a gacha. kinda like genshin? Based on images from their blog posts and job applications for a costume and armour designer, we're talking medieval-ish which. doesn't seem in-line with this teaser at all. though some of their job listings seem to be for multiple different projects, so i might be talking about two different games here. it's worth noting that colorful palette is not bound to CFM and Sega and they are free to work on their own projects outside of prsk, and very likely already are. feel free to laugh at me later if we do get miku rpg or miscellaneous other game that could be either a platformer or open world or something else entirely.

[bed-buggier]

Game Theory About Who Professor Victoria is

This evening, we just recieved one final TailsTube to close out the year, and within this episode was a cameo from a character many have speculated on for over a year now, and I believe this piece of the puzzle will help us solve SEGA's game of Where's Waldo

Professor Victoria

Or just Tori, has been a thorn in the community's side since 2022, where she first appeared in the official social media series, Tailstube, alongside various humans from Sonic Unleashed. Since then, she's made a cameo in the 3rd Sonic Movie and tonights episode. Many were quick to believe she had ties to the then upcoming Sonic Frontiers and its new addition to the cast, Sage, but this wouldn't be the case.

Her Many Appearances

Examining her first appearance, she's depicted not in the Sonic Unleashed style, but rather Yuji Uekawa's artstyle (note her smaller head and overall lack of western stylization). This style is so rarely used nowadays, instead Sonic Team opting to use their 3D models and on this rare occassion, it's only in merchandise. Why would SEGA randomly revive it for a random addition like this?

Her next appearance would be in the 3rd Sonic movie, showing up during Team Sonic's initial encounter with Shadow. This would both be the first time we saw the name Victoria associated with her, and act as a teaser for tonights TailsTube.

What's also worth noting is this is the 2nd time the films have acknowledged TailsTube, with movie Tails' desktop being pulled straight from the series. Clearly whatever they have planned for her expands outside the Sonic games.

and then there's today with the release of TailsTube #10, solidifying her as Prof. Tori: Historian and author, 2 aspects of her character that combined with the nugget of lore Shadow Generations gave us, has lead to me forming my crack theory of the evening.

Taped on the back of the cover to Gerald's Journal is a note left by someone simply known as T. Who is T? A new character? A returning Topaz from Sonic X? No.

It's Tori.

The Actual Theories

so, we now know Professor Victoria is a historian/author who may have or had connections to GUN, collecting material for past projects such as the Space Colony Ark and Project Shadow, depicted both in a artstyle SEGA doesn't often use and within the Sonic Movies, having some notoriaty to be on billboards. From my findings, I've boiled it down to three possibilities of when we could see her finally debut.

1. GUN member/Team Dark's Coordinators/Robotnik(?)

This seems like the most logical, with GUN having a resurgance in Sonic 3 and Shadow Gens. We also don't know what's up with GUN after the Eggman wars in Sonic Forces, where they went under following the doctors takeover.

Perhaps with Sonic Frontiers' successor, we'll see the remains of GUN researching the Starfall Islands with Team Dark leading a exhibition. It could be a way to explain what ties the Black Arms could have to the ancients that led to Shadow visiting Chaos Island, AND many have speculated that she just might be a Robotnik, particularly, Maria's little sister alluded to in Gerald's Journal, bringing it all full circle.

That said, we have yet to see much of any continuity in the games, and it's a element in Sonic's greater storytelling I'm not sure SEGA would integrate now when isolated adventures have been the series' bread and butter for years, give or take a small nod to the fans. Why mess with success knowing any game could be someone's first?

2. Remake/Remaster Side Campaign

This one I have little faith in, but there's a slim chance. We now know SEGA isn't against adding new story content to re-releases of Sonic games with Shadow Gens, so perhaps Tori will get her start in a new campaign?

Perhaps she was a author studying the mythology of Sonic's world before GUN, residing at Spagonia University with Professor Pickle, someone we saw in that TailsTube art collection. That then raises the question though: Why go through this much trouble for a simple port of a Xbox360 game? Putting her in movies and setting expectations this high? It doesn't make sense, but that's where my main theory comes into play.

3. Sonic Lorebook

Call me crazy, a schizo, desparate for answers, whatever, but I'm fairly confident SEGA's apology for the Sonic Encylcospeedia may come very soon.

For those unfamiliar, in 2021, SEGA released a encyclopedia for the Sonic series. What many hoped would be a answer to all the continuity errors over the years and a clear outline of the SEGASonic universe turned out to be just a booklet of game facts, modded screencaps of Sonic 06, and offhand lore tidbits like Infinite being dead and Marine possibly having hydrokinesis, something I'm sure we'll see explored soon big trust.

The release of this book left many with more questions than answers, but I think it and Sonic Frontiers are the first in a major domino effect.

With Frontiers, we saw its writer, Ian Flynn, go a little wild with callbacks to previous Sonic games. While one may see this as leaniance on SEGA's end with the game initially set to launch that same year for the series' 30th anniversary or Ian Flynn being Ian Flynn, I see both as the early groundwork for reinstating of the Sonic continuity. Combine that with what we know of Tori, the establishment of a lore management team in 2022 (who just recieved a artist with Evan Stanley), alongside relaunching Sonic Gens which explored the series' history with DLC that gives us the most overt crossover of the game universe to the movies, and you have a recipe for a broader audiences entry to one hell of a history.

I believe within the game universe, Professor Victoria will be a well known historian, researching gods and anomolies within throughout the galaxy and multiverset. Meanwhile for us, she'll be the mascot of the IRL Sonic the Hedgehog Lore Management Team, and will be our guide for the long awaited true encyclopedia of the Sonic the Hedgehog series; Every character, every historical event, every world. All explained and outlined for a general audience and fans consumption.

or I've gone mad because I still don't have a snug placement in my timeline for Team Sonic Racing idk

[bumblekastclips]

KYLE CROUSE: Here's one from Nenemyun! "Uh oh, Ian. SEGA's asked for a special romcom Valentine's issue called "Everybody Loves Shadow!" Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze and Metal Sonic are all fighting for Shadow's affection and its up to YOU to bring some sense to this awful premise! So how would each of our cast members try to rizz up the ultimate lifeform? What would be Shadow's reaction to the strange amount of attention he's suddenly getting from them?"

IAN FLYNN: I think it would be funniest if Shadow is exiting each encounter thinking he's coming into a regular relationship, and then it's almost like a horror movie surprise that no, they're actually interested in him, and he reacts to that. KYLE: [laughs] IAN: So you start off, y'know, gently enough with Amy being open in her affections, and Shadow's like, [Shadow voice] "Is the sun in your eyes again? Do you think I'm Sonic?" and she's like, "No, no, no! It's you! It's totally you! It's always been you." And he's like, [Shadow voice] "No! Ew! Weird!" and he runs off. KYLE: [chuckles] IAN: Y'know, gets sidelined by Metal Sonic. [Shadow voice] "Oh, the Doctor sent you to kill me!" Until it goes on down on one knee and grabs his hand, like... [Shadow voice] "Ew! No! Weird!" and he runs off. KYLE: [wheezing laughter] IAN: He gets up to Angel Island just to get some distance. He needs some time alone, and there's Knuckles, and he's like, [Shadow voice] "Don't worry, I'll leave your island in just a minute." [Knuckles voice] "No, it's okay... you can stay." [Shadow voice] "Ew, no! Weird!" And he's running off again. KYLE: [laughs] IAN: Manages to beam himself straight over to Blaze's dimension to get away from it all. She's very happy to see him over here. They don't get too many visitors. He can, uh, stay as long as he wants. [Shadow voice] "Ew, no! Weird!" And he goes right back to Sonic's world! KYLE: [laughing] It's all so weird! Everybody's acting so weird! IAN: He's on the run, and Sonic comes in line with him, he's like, [Shadow voice] "Don't you even start with me!" [Sonic voice] "Dude, relax! We're just going for a run! Why are you always on edge?!" [Shadow voice] "I've had the weirdest day!" And they go running around, and y'know, fighting robots. It's completely casual and platonic, and he's finally relaxed about it all, and Sonic goes, "I'm glad you've had this time to just... chill out. It's been a good date." [Shadow voice] "I beg your pardon?!" KYLE: [wheezing laughter] Oh no! Where's he gonna go next? Does he launch himself into space? IAN: He finds his way back into the ARK and just seals the capsule again. KYLE: Yeah! [laughing] I was gonna say, he just launches himself back into space, onto the ARK! Like, [Shadow voice] "Oh god... I don't wanna be here anymore." [laughs] Oh, boy.

----- TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Please remember that nothing that is said on BumbleKast is canon! It's just some guys and their opinions occasionally spitballing ideas. If you don't like an answer, you don't have to take it as Word of God or anything like that. It's all just for fun! ----- This question was requested by @funeepapyrus! Do you want a specific question transcribed and posted? Send the question, the episode date, and time stamp to my ask box! Or if you just want questions about a certain character, send me their name and I will see what I can do!

[ponett]

while its tempting to ask you about the latest sonic twitter drama involving the opinions of teenagers ill instead ask if youve seen the "Sonic The Hedgehog from my persective"thing Ken put up on his blog? its mostly just details from her personal life and otherwise pretty well known stuff about how the production of the comic went as a product alongside SatAM but one thing he brings up is apparently there was a bunch of support from SEGA on the Sally Miniseries because according to him a SALLY GAME in Development they were promoting at an NYC Toyfare show.

which as someone who considered himself pretty knowledgeable about obscure Sonic stuff is news to me. the only thing close if that SatAM based game that got at most a proof of concept animation.

(link to the blog post)

"This was probably because Archie kept pushing back the release of the mini-series. as they never wanted to do it in the first place, but SEGA pushed for it. What SEGA probably never told Archie was that they were entertaining releasing a PRINCESS SALLY video game, which they were promoting at the 1995 Toyfare in New York City."

There's a LOT of great info in this (that I will absolutely be citing in my big video lmao), but yeah, that Sally game stuff... It's fascinating to hear about this from him, but I think this is something we knew about? There had long been the rumor that the Princess Sally comic miniseries existed in part because Sega wanted to gauge interest in the character, with the potential for a Sally game. I said as much when I covered that miniseries on TKP a decade ago. But it's nice to have a definitive quote about it from Penders that isn't on a long-dead forum or something, so I know that isn't just a rumor fans made up

Granted, I have no idea how serious Sega actually was about the idea of a Sally game. This is coming from Penders, the same guy who overstates how possible it was that his Sonic movie pitch would ever get made. It's entirely possible that one of the Sega licensing guys was floating the idea at Toy Fair just to gauge interest, but nothing was ever seriously in development. I also wouldn't be at all surprised if this was purely a Sega of America idea that SoJ had nothing to do with

Still, crazy to think how differently things could have gone

[kittydoremi]

Rambling a bit here.

I am happy that Mephiles is returning. Don't get me wrong. But another part of me is worried that Elise won't make a return, and it makes me feel sad.

It wouldn't be fair for Silver and Mephiles to be able to come back and not Princess Elise. She was both important to the story of 06 and Sonic himself, forming a close bond with him. She shouldn't be forgotten about and she deserves to return in the games. Please bring her back Sega. Complete the 06 trio 😭

[heartofsol]

Elise's themes & leitmotifs

Hellooo, I haven't posted in a while. Thought I'd do an analysis of Elise's themes, just because. This was also partly an excuse to compile all of her themes in a single post.

"Running Through the Plains" is the first time we hear the leitmotif of Elise's main theme, "My Destiny". It plays briefly when Elise touches a butterfly that landed on Sonic's nose, then builds up again when Sonic and Elise run together ~ 😊 With the way the leitmotif starts off quiet, but becomes bold near the end, I feel like this song symbolizes the start of Elise's growth.

"In the Forest" is the second time we hear this leitmotif, but now it's more prominent throughout the whole song. One thing I like about this song is that it starts off bold and magical, but ends on a more quiet and sad note. The exact opposite of Running Through the Plains. In the Forest plays during the cutscene where Sonic takes Elise to see blossoming flowers. There, Elise reflects on her adventure with Sonic and how much fun she's had despite her initial fear. However, she knows that Sonic must leave after he defeats Eggman. It's something that Elise accepts, but the thought of losing her only friend almost brings her to tears.

"Elise Goes Alone" mostly has Eggman's leitmotif, with Elise's leitmotif only coming in at the halfway point. I believe this signifies Elise becoming more confident. Eggman doesn't kidnap Elise here, but she sacrifices herself to protect her kingdom. Other than that, I don't have much to say about this song (it's good though).

Near the end of the game, we have "Just Smile". To save the world, Elise just has to blow out Solaris' flame. However, this would erase the timeline, meaning her and Sonic will never meet. She understandably agonizes over this before regaining her composure shortly after and blowing out the flame once she remembered Sonic's words. The song does a wonderful job of conveying this: Starting soft as Elise prepares to blow out the flame, getting louder when she realizes that they won't remember each other once it's over, reaching the climax when she breaks down, and ending on the same soft note as she comes to terms with it.

Lastly, we have Elise's main theme, "My Destiny". I couldn't upload the audio file because it was too big, so I'll have to insert a video here. My Destiny is the culmination of Elise's character arc. It's a song about love, hope, and remembrance. One line I like in particular is "You've taught me that life can be revived". This obviously refers to how Elise revived Sonic with her love, but I think it goes deeper than that. Before her adventure with Sonic, Elise led a rather lonely life. She wasn't truly experiencing the world, instead being restricted by her role as the Ruler of Soleanna. Then Sonic came along and made her feel more alive and free than she'd had in years. In a way, Sonic revived Elise's life with his love.

I think Elise has the best themes in the Sonic series. Not only are the orchestral instruments of her themes unique for the series, they also contain a lot of leitmotifs, which is something I absolutely love. When I listen to her themes, I'm filled with a sense of nostalgic melancholy. I'm reminded of happy memories from my childhood, but I also feel sadness because those days have long since passed. I did a little searching and found that this feeling is called saudade. Here is the definition:

This perfectly encapsulates Sonic and Elise's relationship. They were happy, but eventually they had to say goodbye. And even though they forgot about each other in the end, the happiness they shared remains in their hearts.

Well, now I'm kinda bummed out.

..Sega, please bring Elise back. I need new content. I'm starving...

[sonelise]

i still wish they gave her more skills in the game to be less “useless”. though her character is not to be disregarded for its personality and depth, i think she does still fall into the damsel in distress type which is unfortunate considering they could’ve done more with the concept of iblis being trapped within her body. i guess i just wish she could stand on equal ground with all the other cast members in terms of strength and power, because it felt like her helplessness was used for romantic points which i believed frustrated people. maybe it was less of “she should’ve done something” and more of “i wish they would let her do something”?

augh me too!! i love Elise and i genuinely think people overlook her in many ways but this is definitely not one of them. they could've done so much more with her to make her more on par with the rest of the cast because as it stands, she definitely feels underpowered and maybe even underused. i mean, Eggman mentions her power when he first kidnaps her and yet they never elaborate on it! with the way that first interaction between Eggman and Elise goes when she's kidnapped, it seems they're setting her up to do something bigger, her powers are one of the main reasons he kidnaps her but they just... never elaborate on it. it's such a shame.

she creates shields (with Sonic's help😒(she should be able to make them on her own imo)) in the Princess Stages but that's about it. this girl has a whole ass half of a god inside of her and they don't do anything with it!! it's such a missed oportunity.

while i can appreciate the classic fairytale vibe they were going for see (with the romance between a princess and a knight, the hero defeating an egg-cerberus and an egg-wyvern, etc) but they were clearly trying to subvert it slightly with the kiss bringing the knight back to life instead of the princess. i don't understand why they couldn't subvert it more!! have the princess do some more! yes, Elise saves Sonic in the end, but she could've saved him more!!

i know there's that theory where Iblis=space and Mephiles=time to Solaris' time-space being, but that's never been made really official afaik so i think that they could've had Elise save Sonic. idk. maybe she could go to the future. idk. can you imagine if we saw some Elise trying to control her powers with Sonic there????? i'd be dead.

anyway, all this to say, I agree! Sega!!!!! bring Elise back and this time let her do stuff!!!!!!! please!!!!! i'm begging you!!!!!!

[cursed-sonic-opinions]

back in September of 2023, just a few months into my Sonic hyperfixation, i had finally run out of Silver's appearances and lore to dive into. i missed him terribly (even back then i considered him a son to me) so i started listening to Ian Flynn's podcast, the BumbleKast. it was so much fun! i was having such a great time listening that i decided to make a Tumblr blog where i could share clips and transcripts with Sonicblr. i created bumblekastclips and began posting the funniest moments from the show i could find, doing my best to emphasize that none of the show was canon in any way and it was just two dudes having fun goofing around.

i really enjoyed running that blog and sharing my favorite answers with the tumblr community. i was hopeful that people would see that Flynn is a fan just like they are and that even if we have disagreements on the quality of his writing, he absolutely doesn't deserve the death threats, multiple doxxing efforts, and misinformation spread about him. he really is just a completely normal guy with a great sense of humor, and so is Kyle. not long after i created BKC, i joined the official Bumblekast Discord, and to this day, that is the single best move i have ever made. it is a small, intensely friendly, personal community where i have made some of the closest friends of my life. i am active in there every day, and many of its members feel like family to me now. hell, i have even met one of them in person twice (last night he came over to my grandma's house where we've been staying during her hospice care and we chatted, had pizza, and both lost playing Team Sonic Racing. it was incredible fun!)

through the BKDS, i have also gotten to know Kyle, the Bumblekast's co-host. he is an incredibly nice, super funny guy who is an absolute blast to talk to in VC and play games with. i am fortunate to now also be able to call him a personal friend as well as the host of my favorite podcast. he is so kind and when i am feeling down and struggling, he always makes an effort to tell me that he appreciates the energy i bring to the community and that i'm wanted there, and i believe him.

it's because of this community i have grown a lot as a person. my friends there have helped me through what, so far, has been the worst year of my life. my anxiety has gotten easier to manage. or at least, it had. as many people know, the show has swarms of people who hate it, and those people started creating problems online by posting clips out of context and trying to get Ian in trouble with SEGA. sadly their efforts worked, and Ian had to make the decision to ban Sonic questions from the show entirely.

it broke my heart, but i completely understand why he made that choice, and given the circumstances, i think it was the right call. SEGA also insisted they change their policy on people who post unauthorized clips, which means that SEGA indirectly killed my transcript & highlights fan blog... but honestly, i don't really care. that blog had its run and i am happy to leave it in the dust. i care so much more about the show's future and the well-being of my favorite podcast boys. some silly blog is nothing to me in the grand scheme of things.

however, a day or two after Ian announced this change, i received an anonymous ask from one of Flynn's countless haters. bumblekastclips always received metric shitloads of hate and harassment, which i always just deleted and moved on from. i intended to do the same with this particular ask, but with time, it's really started to bother me. i can't remember the specifics because this was weeks ago now, but it went something like this:

"I just wanted to say 'Thank You' for running the Bumblekastclips blog! Because of you, now everyone on Tumblr knows how much of a god awful writer Ian Flynn is. You brought so much attention to his stupid little podcast that not even SEGA could ignore it anymore. Because of you, Ian Flynn might even lose work from them in the future! That would be so great, he would never be able to damage Sonic's writing and reputation ever again! I'm so happy. Thank you! Because of you, more people than ever before are figuring out that he doesn't deserve to work at all. I hope you know that when he stops getting hired, it'll be all your fault. Their stupid little show will never make money ever again. Kyle and Ian will go hungry and we have you to thank for it. You're my hero!"

like, that's comically evil, right? bumblekastclips only had like 330 followers, max. the average transcript got maybe 20 notes. it seems like a stretch to claim that SEGA came down on the boys like that because of shitty little a tumblr blog that posted only a few clips each month and had long stretches of inactivity. when i received this ask i just rolled my eyes, blocked the person, and deleted the ask... but as time has gone on, what they said has really been eating at me. i started BKC to share my appreciation for the show. i wanted people to laugh because so many of the questions had gotten me to laugh to the point of tears. the absolute last thing i ever wanted was to disrupt the show. the idea that the boys have lost a significant portion of their income because of me has been bothering me so, so much. Kyle is my friend, and so are a lot of the other members of the BumbleKrew. as unlikely as it may be, the idea that this all happened because of me makes me sick to my stomach. sure, it's a stretch, but far more unlikely things have happened. oh, god, what if i'm a burden on the community i love so much?

🦔‧₊˚✩彡

[alterchaos]

RESCUE MISSION

Sonic, Tails, and Amy track down their kidnapped friend in the far reaches of Mazuri...

PREVIOUS CHAPTER: ANXIETY'S TUNE

NEXT CHAPTER: THE SEVEN SPIRITS

It was only a short flight for the team of heroes to make it to their current destination, maybe an hour or two, though Sonic didn’t care. Why should he? After all, what difference would it make? It’s not like he could delay the inevitable, day in and day out…

“Sonic?”

Crap! He may have been hidden from his little brother’s sight as they neared the fortress before them, but that didn’t stop the tall, dry grass from rustling quite a bit due to his trembling figure. He couldn’t let them see him like this, not when he was the one leading the charge to rescue their captured friend. He had to pull it together! He had to be strong! Fearless! Like a true hero! He knew that!

So why couldn’t he just act like it!?

“I-I’m fine, Tails…Just getting used to moving around in this new form is all heh heh…heh…”

Tails sighed, rubbing his arm a bit as he looked to his transformed brother ahead of him, who blended in almost seamlessly with the darkness of the night. 

“Sonic…I-I’m sorry…a-about the scan a-and the flight to Spagonia…”

Sonic paused, not turning to face him, “That isn’t your fault, Lil’ Bro. And don’t worry about me, okay? I-I’m…”

Again…the trembling…why…why couldn’t he just reassure him he was fine and get over it?

“Sonic…if you need to talk-”

“I’m fine, Tails…”

BA-BUMP

“Look, I know what happened back in the professor’s study was really intense and I-”

“I SAID I’M FINE TAILS, OKAY!? JUST DROP IT!!”

He wished he hadn’t yelled at him, but what good would talking about it do? It wasn’t like he could just halt the movement of the sun and have all the time in the world to process everything he’d just been through. No. He had to look ahead and focus on bringing their gravely injured friend home safely. There was no other option. This wasn’t about him and he wasn’t about to make it be.

Sonic picked up on a small sigh escaping the young fox and turned his head slightly, catching sight of pinned back ears and a downcast, guilt-ridden expression with his glowing emerald eyes. He sighed and turned back to look at the base ahead of him. 

“I’m sorry for yelling, Tails. Just…not right now, okay? We have to focus on saving Eve first. We can always talk later if you need to.”

“I know you didn’t mean to, Sonic. Anyone would break under the stress you’ve been through. I just want you to know that I’m here for you…whenever you’re ready.”

Like he would ever be ready for what awaited him each night, but he nodded in response anyway, wanting to reassure his little brother he loved so dearly.

There was a slight rustle to Sonic’s right as their other friend came into obstructed view with a scary grin. 

A yellow aura surrounded her as she summoned her giant hammer, ready for action. She tapped it into her open hand almost like a fist preparing to strike.

“So, you ready to smash some badniks?”

“Heh…With you, Amy? I’m always ready to smash that egg!”

“You two are really scary together, you know that?”

The pair of hedgehogs turned around a bit flustered, having forgotten all about Tails in the moment. 

They spoke in perfect unison, “W-WHAT!!? T-TOGETHER!?!? N-NO WAY!! W-WE WERE JUST-” They paused, blinking at each other a couple times before Sonic cleared his throat, “A-Anyway…We have to get moving and stay low. Eggman probably expects us so we’ll have to be extra careful to not alert him as we break in and look for her. Got that?”

Amy and Tails nodded, “Roger.”

“Good. Then let’s do it to it.”

After the sun had set in Spagonia, the group immediately went to work determining the location of Eggman’s base. Given his target being this specific planet, there was a high possibility he built one to monitor the progress of his success. A quick news search on Tails’s Miles Electric yielded exactly what they were looking for: sightings of a strange fortress in the savannahs of Mazuri just south of their position. They wasted no time closing in on their target, even if it meant Sonic had to fight in a form he hadn’t adjusted to yet. Every second spent was a second closer to whatever twisted fate awaited their weak and injured friend. If Eggman had wanted her so badly in the first place, who knew what kinds of horrifying experiments he could be running on her, if she was even okay. There was no time to waste!

The trio closed in on the pristine, white wall that stuck out against the sea of tall and wild grass they waded through. Above them by about 100 feet was an emergency door with a small ledge and a ladder that could be pushed down towards the ground in case of escape. 

That wouldn’t be necessary.

The three friends nodded at each other before Tails grabbed a hand each from Sonic and Amy. With a few flicks of his Tails he began to propel himself off the ground with Amy in tow. Sonic on the other hand…

“Hrrrrngh!!!”

“Come on, Tails! We’ve gotta hurry or we’ll be spotted!”

“I’m trying Sonic! huff huff You’re just huff really heavy!”

Well that was embarrassing…

“Hrrrngh! Come on, tails! Work with me!”

His Tails spun faster, yet the transformed hedgehog remained firmly on the ground, offering his second hand in aid.

“Ow! Tails you’re gonna pull my arms off! Just come back down and we’ll find another-!”

MUSIC END

SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP

The fox suddenly skyrocketed upward with Amy in tow, stopping and hovering about fifty feet in the air. Everyone’s eyes flew wide in shock as they all took in the surprising sight before them. Sonic was still holding Tails’s hand in his and the rest of him…was still on the ground…

And in between the two of them was a solid 50 feet of stretched arms.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Sonic went to scream but quickly stopped himself before he could be heard by the bots behind them. Unfortunately though, his instinctual reaction to cover his mouth with his hands resulted in letting go of Tails as well as pulling in his arms with excessive force. In less than a moment, his muzzle met the full force of his massive hands, knocking him flat on his back in an instant. The rest of his loose arms followed soon after, piling on top of him like rope. He laid there in stillness as his two friends joined him back on the ground to make sure he was okay.

A gruff sigh could be heard beneath the mass of limbs and fur, followed by his muffled voice.

“I hate this form…”

It took a few minutes to untangle him from…himself, but Amy and Tails managed by using her hammer’s hilt as a way to help loosen any knots. How he had knotted his arms in certain places, Tails had no idea. By all of his calculations, it defied all logic. When the untangling was said and done, Sonic was left lying on his back with his somewhat stretched arms still hanging loosely by his sides. He had a completely incredulous look on his face, which blushed a bright green in total embarrassment.

He was already so done with this shit.

“Sonic? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Of course I am. I just found out my arms can stretch for miles. How long you may ask? I don’t even know. It’s just another mystery of my body I have to deal with now on top of everything else. Other than that and my pride, I’m just peachy. Thanks for asking.”

Yep. Still the same old Sonic.

Amy decided to change the subject, “Okay so what about now? Do you think you can get your arms back to normal?”

“Which normal again?” Sonic pointed a finger in the air, “Ooooooooh you mean the normal I now have to turn INTO every night!” He growled slightly under his breath, “Yeah! NOW I remember!”

Amy sighed, kneeling down near his head, “Look, clearly you have some overwhelming emotions surrounding this whole situation. Anyone would in your shoes. It’s okay to have them and it doesn’t make you any less, but it isn’t healthy to repress those emotions and try to shut out the pain.”

“snrk Yeah, as if I even have a choice in that last part.”

“The point is, you have to let those emotions out. Release them. We’re here for you, so while it may not solve everything right now, why don’t we take a minute to just sit and talk-”

“And what about Eve, huh? She’s the reason we came here. So what? We’re just going to leave here in there with Eggman over my stupid feelings?” He clenched his fists in frustration.

“That’s not what I’m saying. I just don’t think rushing in without a clear head will help anyone, especially you.”

“...”

“Tails and I came not just to help you save Eve. We’re also worried about you. You’re our friend. You matter to us just as much as she does and we’re not leaving you or your needs behind. We would never save her at your expense. This doesn’t work like that.”

“...”

“So be honest to yourself. Do you need to talk?”

Sonic’s ears pinned back against his sprawled quills. He felt exposed, especially flat on his back with his friends surrounding him. He hated it. He just wanted to curl up and shut everything out, all the noise, all the pressure, the pain, everything that happened last night and today…

But most of all, he hated how selfish he was being. What right did he have, after everything he had put her through…and through her, to just sit and talk about his feelings like this was some kind of vacation all while she suffered whatever tests Eggman had in mind for that energy within. It was wrong. It was all so wrong it made him feel sick. 

The Hero of Mobius? What a complete joke.

He had to force every muscle in his face to give off his famous, confident smile followed by a thumbs up from one of his distant hands, “I’m okay, Ames! Guess I just lost my cool for a sec! Heh heh I appreciate you thinking of me though! It means a lot!”

Amy sighed sadly, knowing better than to push the issue, “Alright, I understand…” She stood up, “So now that it’s settled…” She put her hands on her hips in an annoyed manner, “Get your sassy, sarcastic butt off that ground and let’s find a way in!”

Sonic sweated a bit, “Uuuh that’s great and all but how about fixing my arms first? I can’t exactly walk or move fast with them dragging behind me and I don’t think I can really move them well in this state, at least not well enough to get myself up heh heh heh…”

Tails thought for a second, “Hmm yeah…with how long they are still, I guess you can’t exactly get enough leverage or bend to prop yourself up, huh? They seem to work more like some sort of rubber or rope…”

“Tails. Focus.”

“Right! Right…hmm…” He pulled out his Miles Electric and conducted another bioscan. A frustrated look crossed his face, however. As the scan came back the screen started to glitch, rendering the information unreadable, “What the-ugh Are you serious!? This again!?” He smacked the side of the tablet in frustration and began running the debug program, “Great! Now I’ll have to hack back into the system again to perform another reboot using the university’s mainframe again.” He grumbled in frustration.

“Again?” Amy looked to Sonic.

“Yeah, Tails’s new portable computer keeps glitching out.”

“Well, it is only the alpha build and I didn’t have enough time to test it properly before we came here to rescue you two.” He put the tablet away in his pack, “I’ll just have to keep working on improving its UI while we stay at the university. They have extra resources I can use while the rest of you get some rest.”

“Great! But for now, got any bright ideas, Lil’ Bro?”

“Hmm…well when I fly with my tails, I picture them moving like a helicopter and consciously move them in that motion until I hit a rhythm. Maybe try imagining pulling your arms in like a sort of slingshot? Shrugging your shoulders a little may help too.”

“Cool, let me try…” Sonic closed his eyes, doing as Tails suggested. After a moment of struggle, his arms began to move inwards towards his body and gradually shrunk back to their regular size. Sonic, having felt the weird sensation cease, opened his eyes only to see he could now move them freely again. He propped himself up and back to his feet, stumbling a bit on his new legs before regaining his balance. He smiled a bit, his bushy tail wagging slightly in response.

“Sonic, you did it!”

“Good job, Sonic!”

Amy and Tails offered as much encouragement as they could, including a couple of well-deserved high-fives. Sonic even rubbed Tails’s head playfully in a genuine moment of joy, though the accidental force caused his brother’s hair to stick out in wild directions. He didn’t care though. He was just happy to see Sonic happy. That was enough. 

“Alright, Sonic! Ready to try again?” He offered his hand with a determined smile.

Sonic looked to his brother’s hand before his gaze shifted upward to the platform above. He smirked, a chaotic glint entering his eye. Tails began to sweat nervously.

“Heh heh heh…I think I have a better idea…”

“No. No. Sonic I know what you’re thinking-”

Too late. Sonic scooped up Amy and Tails in one of his arms and readied himself, taking aim at the platform above. 

“Sonic…”

“Relax! I’ve got this!” He popped a thumbs up, “After all, you’ve got The Hero of Mobius here to protect you!”

“Yeah but still this is a bad ideaaaaaAAAA-”

With one swift motion, he reeled his free arm back behind him and shot it up to the platform, grabbing it tightly with his claws. He then used the ground as a springboard and launched the three of them together into the air. He shut his eyes for a moment, imagining the sensation of running as the wind brushed gently against his fur. 

For the first time in what felt like forever, he really felt like his old self. 

“Whoo hoo!”

“Of course you’re enjoying this…” Though Tails couldn’t help but smile at his brother’s dorkiness.

“Why am I not surprised…” Amy couldn’t help herself either.

As Sonic pulled in his arm close enough to the ledge, he made sure to help Tails and Amy to the safety of the platform before joining them quickly after. The emergency door was easy. Though Sonic didn’t like it, he wasted no time digging his claws into the metal and ripping it apart as silently as possible, making an opening for them into the base.

Once inside, the trio was met with a circular room with various branching corridors, all decorated in perfect, pristine white like the outside. It almost reminded Sonic of the laboratory Chris aided them in back aboard the Blue Typhoon, except for one crucial detail: the air of cold, calculative malice surrounding him. This base wasn’t meant for healing injured friends or finding ways to help slow the enemy. This was a death trap, and Sonic was standing exposed in the center of it.

Just…like…

“Sonic?”

He flinched at the sound of his little brother’s voice, not even realizing he’d been growling with his fists clenched tight. 

“I-I’m okay…Come on…l-let’s go…”

He tried to force down the memory of last night’s mishap into the furthest pits of his psyche. Now was not the time to think about this! Not about how he’d nearly failed to save his friend! Not about how he’d managed to hit that machine at the exact worst possible moment…Or how it felt to have his body ripped apart and remolded from the inside…out…

“Sonic? Are you coming?”

He couldn’t respond to Tails’s question. He could only manage to stare ahead blankly and tremble as his heart began to race. He tried to take a step forward and join them but…

BA-BUMP

Why…

BA-BUMP

He’d beaten Eggman dozens of times so why did he feel so…

BA-BUMP

So…scared…

BA-BUMP

His rampant emotions were quickly interrupted by the sensation of his hands being held. Sonic looked down with shaky eyes to see Amy looking up at him with concern. Before he even had the chance to feel ashamed, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, prompting him to follow suit. They did this a few times together until Sonic could feel his heart slow and some of the tension leave his body. Their eyes met once more.

“Better?”

Sonic nodded, ears still pinned back.

“Good. I’m not letting go of you, okay? Just follow my lead and we’ll take these next steps together. Just one foot after another. Focus on that.”

The fear didn’t leave him, but having Amy with him in that moment gave him all the bravery he needed to continue. 

He took a step.

Then another.

It soon seemed almost effortless, just as it had been outside the base. Amy never once let go of his hands, leading him slowly down the corridor behind Tails, who was attempting to make out a scan of the area on his Miles Electric. It took a bit, but he soon found an area of note: a circular room with only one entrance deep within the maze of halls. 

“I bet he’s keeping her there. The rest of these look like the usual layout for his badnik manufacturing. Still, we should remain on our guard. I don’t see any alternate entrances so no doubt it’s a trap. He knows we’re coming and we should be ready for a fight when we reach her.”

“Right.” Sonic took another deep breath, finally letting go of Amy’s hands as a wave of determination washed over him, “I’ll take the lead and act as the defense with Eve safe in my arms. Amy, you take the offensive and smash any bots that get too close to us. Tails, you stick behind us and focus on long-range support as well as getting us out of here. Sound good to everyone?”

They both nodded.

“Then let’s do it to it.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

bzzzzzt

“Come ooon….aaaalmost-”

click

“Got it!”

Amy and Sonic stood guard, hammer and claws at the ready, as their genius friend finished hacking into the door’s lock system to disarm any alarms or traps. It was significantly more difficult and time-consuming thanks to the corrupted UI on his Miles Electric, but he managed. The odd part in all of this was the lack of noise and badniks throughout the base. It was quiet, too quiet, and that could only mean one thing.

Eggman knew of their presence. 

There was no doubt in Sonic’s mind. Still, he didn’t want to take any chances, not with Eve’s life on the line and Eggman’s surprise attack last night. He didn’t trust that there wouldn’t be more resistance or secret plans. That was one mistake he would NOT make again.

“Okay. I’m opening the doors now.” Tails placed a gentle hand on his brother’s and smiled, “You ready to see her again?”

“I just hope she’s okay…”

Amy put a reassuring hand on his opposite arm, “She will be. Whatever state she’s in now, we’ll make sure of it. We won’t let you face this alone, Sonic.”

“Yeah. We’re here for you, whatever comes next.”

“Thanks, guys.” Sonic took a deep breath, “Okay…Eve, here we come…”

The pristine door slid open in near silence, revealing a small, circular room beyond. The trio’s eyes widened in shock as they fell on a glass chamber in its center. Inside was their friend, asleep and submerged in water. She donned an oxygen mask, which released a few tiny bubbles with each exhale. Sticking out of her arms and legs were vials connected to large tubes, which contained a thick, crimson liquid similar to the blood bag hung outside the tank. Crowning her head was a strange device that seemed to be scanning her vitals, such as energy levels and heart rate, which communicated these findings to a computer outside the pod. A simple, white gown covered her torso, thighs, and shoulders, hanging loose enough however to allow for easy prodding. Her golden hair flowed gracefully behind her somewhat less-gaunt figure, similar to the locket sitting neatly upon her folded pajamas on the nearby operating table. 

The sight nearly made Sonic sick. 

“H-He’s…He’s helping her heal just enough so he can run experiments on her without her…” The young fox trembled, not daring to finish that thought.

“What a sicko!” Amy reared her hammer back, ready to strike, “Come on! What are we waiting for!? Let’s get her out of here!”

“WAIT AMY!!!” Tails jumped between her hammer and the glass, “You might only hurt her even more!” Amy lowered her hammer, “I need to run a bio scan and make sure there aren’t any special considerations we need to make to ensure…”

Sonic wasn’t listening. He simply stared at the sleeping girl floating helplessly in the tank. She looked so weak…so frail…

He looked down at his claws. They were the opposite: strong…capable of great destruction…

With just one strike…he could…

He…could…

…

One strike…

It’d be so easy…to…just…

He heard it.

A low rumble…

A silent laugh…

And then…

“Release her.”

Sonic took a step forward. 

Then anoth-

“Sonic?”

“!!?” With a few blinks, his slitted eyes rounded back out to their normal shape and met Amy’s beneath him. What had just happened? What was that…that feeling?

But before he had a chance to answer, the moment faded from his mind as quickly as it had come.

Sonic rubbed his head sheepishly, “Sorry, Ames. Guess I zoned out a bit is all heh heh heh.”

“WOAH!!!”

“What!? What is it, Tails!?”

The young fox had to squint slightly against the bright, blue glow coming from his Miles Electric. When the glow subsided, he looked closer at his readings and his eyes widened in shock.

“The UI! It fixed itself!”

“Wait what!? How is that possible!?”

“I don’t know!” He tapped on the screen and pressed a few buttons before continuing, “Whatever that was, it not only debugged the whole system but enhanced it! Her readings are perfectly clear and even yield a plethora of supporting details. I-I don’t understand-!”

Sonic’s ear flicked with a slight twinge of jealousy, but ultimately his relief won him over.

“Worry about your crazy, suped-up system later, Lil’ Bro! What does it say?”

“Hmmm…Well, there are the injuries we know of like her stomach and the energy now flowing through her. As far as this scan shows, she’s only sustained one additional injury.”

“What kind of injury, Tails?”

“It looks like she sustained a serious blow to the side of her head, resulting in a concussion as well as some whiplash down through her neck.”

No…

Amy prepped her hammer, “So you mean to tell me Eggman hurt her just so he could throw her in this crazy lab without a fight!?”

“No.” Everyone turned to look at the transformed hero, who now looked at his trembling hands in horror, “I-I…I didn’t have time to think a-and…and I had to get her away from that machine and-” He teared up, taking a shaky breath, “I-I wasn’t thinking about anything else in that moment and I-I…I didn’t hold back my strength I-I just…”

Amy put a hand on his arm, “Sonic…you did what you could. She’s alive because of you, injury or not. She’ll heal. We’ll make sure of it.”

“But like you said, I practically handed her over to Eggman without her ever having a chance to fight back! I-I didn’t mean to-”

“We know you didn’t. I’m sorry for making you think that. I’m only angry with Eggman, NOT you. Okay?”

Sonic nodded.

“Good. Then let’s figure out how to get her out of here and all of us back to Spagonia in one piece-”

MUSIC END

“I don’t believe that will be necessary.”

The trio jolted at the sudden loudspeaker announcement, turning to find a hoard of robots outside, blocking their only exit. Sonic growled, extending a protective arm in front of the tank as Amy readied her hammer for attack. 

“Now, we can either all step away from the lab unharmed or your weakened friend can get caught in all the excitement. Your choice.” 

Sonic growled again, baring his fangs in a threatening gesture. As much as he hated to admit it, Eggman had a point. With all of his raw, destructive power, could he really ensure her safety in his arms? What if he only hurt her more or worse…what if he accidentally ki-

“SONIC!!! NOW!!!”

With one click of a button, the Miles Electric beeped, hacking into the Eggnet and overriding the lock mechanisms on the tank. Without the water ever having the chance to properly drain, the hatch opened, releasing a small flood that short-circuited the robots at the door and left their unconscious friend hanging limp from her cords. Sonic quickly turned and ripped each cord from the machine to prevent the weight of her body from tearing open her veins. She then fell softly into his chest fur as his arms wrapped protectively around her sides. He fit her head into the palm of his hand and secured her close, wrapping each finger gently around the sides as a sort of brace. 

Safe…at last…

The flood of relief was enough to make him drop to his knees a moment and hold her in silence. Tails took this opportunity to jump in and quickly remove each vial, careful not to hurt her further. Amy grabbed her pajamas and locket from the operating table, handing the latter to Sonic.

“Here, you can put it on for her.”

Eyes watery, Sonic took the locket with his free hand and gently slid it over her head, back to where it belonged. He remembered her words at the party a few weeks back.

“I’ll never take it off for as long as I live!”

Here she was, safe, alive, just as Sonic had hoped. He couldn’t stop neither the tears nor the small wag of his tail as he hugged her tight once more.

He would never let go of her again. 

More badniks appeared in the doorway, ready to strike. Sonic peered at them over his shoulder, growling with malice. No. He would not let him have her again. He refused to give up now.

“Quick, you two! Climb on my back!”

Tails and Amy didn’t argue as they gripped the fur on his back tightly. He didn’t have time to worry about feeling self-conscious as he took position on all fours, or threes as he maintained a tight, protective, grip on their injured friend against his torso. Thankfully, his large chest provided a decent level of cover for her from any frontal attacks and his massive yet malleable arms provided her a soft yet sturdy cradle to remain safely tucked away beneath, braced for any impact. 

Baring his fangs at the threat ahead of him, Sonic released a piercing, animalistic roar and raced on, charging through the barricade of robots as if they were simply plastic. He skidded to the side a bit before pressing on as fast as he could, looking frantically for a quick and easy escape.

“RRRRRGGHHHH!!!! GET THAT BEASTLY HEDGEHOG AT ALL COSTS!!!! EGGBATTALION 8, GOOOOO!!!!”

But they were no use.

Sonic was simply too strong. 

With a few charges and slashes from his free hand, the badniks were no more than scrap metal.

The transformed hero raced on, unstoppable by any and all forces in his way. 

“Tails!! Which way to that escape door!?”

The young fox glanced to the Miles Electric on his hip, being careful to not lose his grip on his brother’s back.

“Tails!!! Running out of time here!!!”

“I’m trying Sonic!!!” His eyes widened in confusion as the system began eratically fighting between its glitched and enhanced states, the screen itself flashing a wild dance of red and blue, rendering all information unreadable, “It’s no use, Sonic!!! The UI is all screwed up!!! I can’t get any readings with it in this state!!!”

Great. Now how were they supposed to escape? To make matters worse, the trio was now completely surrounded, backed against a large window at least a couple hundred feet high. 

“There is no escape. Give up, hedgehog, and I’ll make your deaths quick and painless…”

Sonic quickly grabbed Tails and Amy from his back and hugged them against his chest alongside Eve.

“Hang on!!!”

Using the full force of his stance, Sonic barreled into the window, shattering it entirely. He tucked himself into as much of a protective ball around his friends as possible as they quickly descended into the night below.

Unseen by Eggman and his forces, Sonic managed to shoot out his free arm and take hold of the building’s side, using his massive claws to slow their descent until, at last, they managed to safely land in the cover of the savannah grass, hiding from any badniks in sight before making their way back to the Tornado in the distance. 

Back on the base, Eggman smiled menacingly, clapping his hands slowly.

“Well played, hedgehog…While I may no longer possess the most direct means of data…” He pulled up footage of their escape on his screen, zooming in on the girl tucked against Sonic’s chest, “I have other means of getting the information I desire…hehehehehehHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHOHOHOOOO!!!!”

CHAPTER END

[skynights2]

Shadow awake in Silver timeline!? Gerald created silver hint!??

Since 2006 got erased, means shadows not trapped.

But Dr Gerald mention it takes two to open chaos portal/chaos control, sonic got retcon he can't do that in a recent interview.

So that leaves shadow and silver who can do chaos control...

Chaos control-power to manipulate time. As Shadow is shown to freeze time. While Silver shown to be a amped up version of this power as he can travel through time. imo i don't see him being born with those powers, unless he was engineered like Shadow. And Gerald already has experience working on Shadow creation.

Also time paradox Gerald if he had his memories... after seeing timeline messed with.... made me think did he create Silver!? Maria words there always a way for shadow and her to meet again.. but that would be time travel.....As shadow is destine to outlive everyone and watch them die due to his immortality which is sad.

Gerald dialogue in generations hinted he realized shadow would be alone and no family who long lived like him. plus the timeline being messed with. I don't see him sit back and let bad forced get away with it. thus Silver creation or set up. As silver could been in deep sleep after creation waking 200 years in the future. etc

This stood out to me for years on design traits between silver and black doom and shadow. and now with the reveal of black doom looking at shadow as perfect host...... but then noticed this.

1.black doom small head spikes on head, similar pattern on silver quills but longer . and the long side spikes on the side of the head......

2.black doom third eye,/the third eye is linked with psychic powers which silver has, as he can fly. Just as black doom does same as he levitates. so it is psychic powers.

3.The name Silver has meaning purity/protection also the meaning of Silver was used to fight curse/evil in myths with warewolves etc, and we got black doom race which looks like immortality/evil.

4. Silver concept had him as alien from a ancient race, Black doom is ancient alien race.

5. Silver eyeline color match with shadow markings, super form the black eyeliner turn red from his aura of super.. which found interesting.

6. Both shadow and Silver share chaos power manipulation of time, the portal hint it takes two. I think our shadow survive in silver timeline and is helping him travel back maybe??

7. Both shadow and silver have inhibiter rings, in project 2006 it is restored where original sonic 2006 it never activated, because game was bugged/unfinished. You can see silver restored inhibiter activate and close when his power switched on/off

I've noticed black doom chains have Silver theme color and some cyan...

I think Gerald if he did engineer Silver based of shadow dna but went full cleaning removing mutation genes. Making Silver immune to black doom mutation as seen with Doom shadow powers. Also silver psychic powers show he has strong mental focus, immune to hive mind manipulation that black doom holds over the race.

Basically gerald could made silver as protection for shadow beside family. (a fail safe backup) A way to fight black doom trying to control shadow or make connection to shadow. Since Silver would be immune from black doom mind control, and could help shadow stay focused.

We did not see much of silver in sonic x shadow generations, So am curious what going on. since this would been perfect to bring him into the story plot with the time eater, unless sega saving it for later.

Also side mention mephiles to back up shadow and silver connection possibility, he took on shadow form. his shadow correct. But here the problem. mephiles does not have black doom dna or red markings, instead he is silver/black color. So i do wonder if shadow would have had silver/black without black doom dna influence in his dna for red coloring, it might been silver original in the hedgehog dna make up.

Honestly could be maybe, plus Shadow would have family now who long lived liked him thx to gerald, A son. for the chaos control theory to open time portal.