#but he's gotten to know sonic's friends over the course of the story

[fleetsonourgecentral]

What If the Royal Au IS like Sonic underground but without the Silblings find their mom part?

Ok it's just I LOVE that Au and I want to help you with It by giving ideas, draws, whatever you NEED <:c

It would probably be difficult for the royalty au to be much like sonic underground considering in sonic underground the royal family has essentially already fallen and gone into hiding, while in the royalty au Scourge's family is still firmly in power and honestly probably doesn't even realise there's a rebellion brewing. Not a lot of places for parallels from what I can see. Although I guess it's similar in that Sonic is trying to take down the people in power lmao, but alas there isn't really a destiny aspect involved in the royalty au. Sonic is just an angry scruffy lil hedgehog commoner that thinks the royal family suck and is actually willing to do something about it, and Scourge just happens to run into him and fully support his cause because "my family fucking sucks and I don't care about any of this royalty shit so sure I'll help you take it down"

Omg aaaaaaa if you ever draw anything for this au (or this ship in general) I am begging you to tag me fhkdsakfkjl no pressure of course but... if you ever decide you wanna... I will certainly not complain about having more art of the bois

[brainworms-all-night-long]

Hey does anyone remember Running from a Nightmare? I just did and um, finished the first half of it in the hopes it'll get me to finish the second some day soon already

I guess one can read this without any context and as a standalone brother's story but just in case

[Words 3,096]

———

Sonic has been feeling on edge for a couple of days now.

At first, he chalked it up to his sixth sense on the lookout for Eggman cooking something up again since the doctor was uncharacteristically quiet which meant the hatching of a new plot. But after his latest scheme was successfully trampled by yours truly and the steady build of anxiety in his gut didn't stop, he began to suspect something else was amiss.

Soon enough it felt like he was being watched.

Now don't get him wrong, he knows the amount of enemies and, uh, "fans" alike that like to keep a not-so-discreet eye on him, this didn't feel like he was seconds away from being jumped though, it felt like he was being, studied?

The feeling faintly lessened when he was among people, on the back burner but still stewing in there. It was alone where he kept his quills bristled and legs ready to either bolt or kick in any direction necessary.

This caused him to prefer crowds or at least one or two of his friends by him at all times. Obviously Tails noticed it as a weird behavior, Sonic wasn't exactly the overly clingy type, but the hedgehog dismissed him easily at first.

Still, knowing that someone or something had its sights trained on him wasn't the most comforting feeling. He assumed that maybe Eggy had sent one of his bots to spy on him, but then couldn't come up with a sensible enough explanation as to why. They had known each other since he was a hoglet, and Sonic kept no secrets that he was aware of, not to mention subtlety was never Eggman's thing. So what could this observation be for?

It was getting harder and harder to suppress his paranoia, especially after a couple of not-so-peaceful naps that left him sleepless. And others aside from Tails began to notice his odd behavior too.

Not that he didn't appreciate the concern but so far it really seemed to be on him alone. No matter what would come of it Sonic would deal with it swiftly and with no sweat. He was sure of it.

If the perpetrator's goal was just to offset him until they could strike, fat chance.

In the end, Sonic's friends knew not to pry because he'd just shut off further, so the subject dropped for some time again.

Unfortunately in that 'some time', Sonic's state gradually slipped into worse.

Tails complained over blue fur and quills messing up his furniture, nightmares that hadn't gotten to Sonic since he was a little guy running around a giant world with no start or destination began to haunt him, and things that no longer bothered him evoked unpleasant memories and sensations. Eventually, it landed him trapped on a picnic where Amy, Knuckles and Tails were determined to get him to talk.

Except there was nothing to talk about. It was all just a minor inconvenience that cost him a few minutes of sleep here and there and made him just a bit sloppier when dealing with the Doctor's usual badnik swarms. Minor inconvenience one too many maybe, but even if he wanted to, he didn't know where he'd start complaining about nothing.

He just needs to run. That's usually what solves his problems and what he felt the itch forever since this whole wrongness gripped him.

He crashed the picnic that they had been planning to have for a few months now. Feeling sorry for it of course, but he hoped they understood. It wasn't a big deal, he was just tired and needed to go take a nap somewhere.

That is what he told them anyway, but the stop wasn't at Tails' workshop, a comfortable tree or warm patch of moss he passed while trying to run away from an invisible presence.

So he ran.

—

Sonic came back hours into midnight, his legs brought him home by pure muscle memory.

Once he entered Tails' workshop, he wordlessly collapsed onto the nearest couch. His presence didn't go unnoticed though, as soon as he crashed, a little fox stood above him with a worried look.

"Hm, 'sup bud. Isn't it past your bedtime?" Sonic forced a lighthearted tone, which the fox definitely wasn't buying, seeing as he deadpanned.

"Is that really the first and only thing that bothers you."

"You bet it is, I care about the health of my dear little bro." Even if tired, he couldn't pass up an opportunity at a loving jab, but instead of the pout he expected, Tails' face was overtaken by a genuine annoyed expression.

"I do too, you know."

And Tails glared, crossing his arms patronizingly.

Oh come on, Sonic thought he made it clear this wasn't a big deal! He just spent the past seven hours dealing with it, safely calling the case closed. "Bud, I'm fine, you can drop it."

"Like hell I can! When was the last time your ugly mug has seen a mirror?"

The younger's voice was gaining a dangerous edge, but Sonic wasn't up to dealing with a cranky fox in his state. It was none of his business.

Still, even if pestering, Tails did it because he cared. So the hedgehog could do the least by responding. Dramatically of course, trying to break the other's offense by widening his eyes and clutching his chest as if he was physicallh hurt by the comment on his appearance.

Tails didn't seem entertained by that at all.

"You look like you haven't slept for a full week Sonic. Something's up and you refuse to tell me. You refuse to tell anyone. Why."

Ok fine, he'll bite.

The last few days have kind of blurred together which usually doesn't happen, but even the great hero of Mobius has his off days alright.

But now that it's mentioned, he hasn't seen his own face in a while, too focused on looking behind his back just to be safe. He doubts it's as bad as Tails makes it out to be, but he elects to, if anything, at least hear his brother out before making another convenient excuse out of here.

"I don't feel like dragging you out of a fight in case you collapse in the middle of it y'know."

"Why do I always have to play mind games with you."

Tails sighed and plopped onto the couch next to him. Seems that he's strategizing at blocking out the exits huh.

Sonic wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to hear that since the other just mumbled it under his nose with a sigh.

Mind games, as if. There are no mind games, simply things that are inconsequential and that he can take on his own so he doesn't see the reason in sharing them. Yes talk about your feelings and reach out if you need a hand or whatver, but what was there to talk about.

Confess that at best he was being paranoid and brushed off or at worst get his friends dragged into a mess he could've solved alone and feeling the same way? Hard pass.

Still biting back his irritation the hedgehog tried to reach out a comforting hand. He didn't feel like messing anything up between him and Tails when it in a pointless midnight argument and Chaos knew just how annoying the kit could get once he got an idea in his head.

"You guys are making a big deal out of nothing, really–"

"Because even the mildest inconvenience you have is too sacred for me to know apparently!" Tails suddenly swatted at his hand and glared at him,

"But Gaia forbid I go to bed five minutes after your arbitrary bedtime!"

Sonic, too shocked to respond and Tails finally over with his patience, wordlessly stared at each other. Tension seemigly materialized in the physical form between them with something more sinister seeping underneath it.

Neither of them spoke up. Instead, Tails' scowl dropped and went back to just a mildly annoyed yet very serious pout.

Now Sonic would just classify this as a symptom of lack-of-sleep-crankiness his little bro suffered from quite often, but it always took a bit more than two deflection attacks to get him to snap like this (was he really wearing everyone's patience so much?) Not to mention he wasn't a big fan of how annoyed he felt at his little bro either. Something about this was off. Again.

Seven hours of trying to get his mind off things wasted apparently.

"No. You'll try to hightail it out before morning and avoid everyone until you think we've all forgotten about how miserable and tired you look. Again."

"Hey, look I get that you're upset with me and all that, but if you keep this up I feel like I'll say something I shouldn't and regret it once I get some sleep in my system, so I'd call it a night and–"

Tails rudely interrupted him. And while Sonic appreciated the concern, he truly did, he.. well yea fine Tails' got a point. Now Sonic won't say that was exactly his plan but he would most likely end up doing that.

"You'll tell me what's up now or- or I won't sleep. Ever."

God fucking damn this kid.

Sonic pressed his lips into a thin like stared at him, just as Tails did the same. Neither of them dared to blink either, and usually, that would lead to the brothers letting go of the argument and dissolving into giggles and snorts, but not this time. Something made it feel like laughing in this situation was impossible.

It was obvious Tails waited for him to crack but this was an immovable object against a more persistent, immovable object. Yet between stubbornness and little brother pettiness, versus impatience of a tired hedgehog was an obvious winner and Sonic ended up breaking the eye contact and throwing it down towards the striped yellow and blue rug that sat under the couch.

Good, ok fine. But don't you dare blame him for fearing that someone is gonna shank you out of nowhere anytime and no matter where you are almost for full twenty-four hours.

He could see the snarky victorious glee in Tails' eye and Sonic bitterly accepted defeat, trying to gather his words.

He guessed that another way to avoid an argument was to just spill it, but at this point, it was an actual hit to his pride. Whatever. Tails asked for this.

"Do...Do you have a feeling that someone has been watching you?"

"Not really? No." Tails tilted his head slightly after the initial shock of him actually managing to break through to Sonic.

"Is that what's got you so on edge?"

The hedgehog nodded, partially regretting to finally confess about something so trivial.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't think t'was that important." Sonic shrugged. The cat was out of the bag so might as well. He could brush the feeling of being an unreasonable asshole about it under the rug though, you just can't win in some situations.

Tails merely facepalmed in defeat and mumbled "Of course you didn't" under it.

"What? if someone has a problem with me, they better take it up to my face no?" Sonic managed to put up some semblance of a fake cheerful attitude into his tone to levitate the suffocating heaviness the workshop fell under ever since he got in. He landed a gentle elbow into the fox's arm which consequently shook the other one off his face.

"If you truly feel like you've been stalked this whole time, at this point, whoever it is most likely has more than enough information about you to be just as confident about taking it 'up to your face' you idiot."

Tails didn't return his attitude in the slightest if the exasperated voice and tired eyes were a lure to anything. Sonic could only manage a nervous chuckle in response

"Yea, I guess, I guess you're right."

"Guess? C'mon, I'm always right!" Finally, some light returned to Tails' eyes at that "Though I'm not sure if I want to be this time." It went out just as fast.

Sonic sighed as words came to him easier than he thought they would

"I really just didn't say anything because I worried it might be nothing." Tails gave him a condescending side eye "And in hindsight, that was a really stupid way to think." And then he scoffed with the same sarcastic energy.

"It's not like you ever not think stupid."

Tails grumbled and leaned into the armrest away from Sonic.

"You hate it when I go on analysis spires and here you are, doing the same thing except in the opposite direction and with no evidence to back things up."

The hedgehog snorted

"Really? 'Analisys spires'? Is that what you call 'catastrophizing everything' now?"

"Well hey at least I take into account the potential risks always." Tails playfully jabbed his finger into Sonic's shoulder "Unlike someone!"

Playfully. That unnerving edge in his voice was gone. Even if Sonic still felt like any smile or laugh had to be disingenuous and forced, it lifted some of the burden off his chest.

After that, they sunk into a bit more peaceful form of silence. It still felt just a few shades off but hey, Sonic will take what he's given.

He looked over at Tails sitting practically on the opposite side of the couch, tired blue eyes stared forward onto nothing particular and he sat hunched over the couch's armrest, his double tails serving as a blanket.

Sure now he can confidently say this whole ordeal was behind them but it still didn't feel quite right.

Sonic reached a hand over to the kit, but stopped himself halfway. Should he?

"Hey." Stupid question of course he should, that's his little brother sulking about.

"We'll get to the bottom of this eventually."

Sonic leaned closer to the kit and ruffled his already messy bangs. The quiet, barely suppressed giggles that followed smothered over any doubts showing their ugly heads. Sonic scooted all the way to the fox, and then took it one step over and squished the other between his body and the armrest.

"He-hey get your big butt away from me, you're crushing me!"

"No can do little grumpy sir!"

Tails tried his mightiest to push the hedgehog away while he was uselessly locked in a side hug. Suddenly his legs were swiped from underneath him and a horrifying realization followed. His attempts to kick himself free were futile as within seconds he was held trapped in his big bro's arms.

What followed was pure horror and torture.

Sonic rocked the younger from side to side, who periodically got his head hit against the couch, Sonic's mouth that planted an annoying kiss on his forehead and then his knees in his face from how over-exaggerated the movement was.

"Not fair!" Tails cried and then bit a bluff strike into the air, too close to Sonic's nose for his liking, but that didn't deter him one bit.

It was all but adorable actually.

Sonic's shit-eating grin didn't falter in the slightest and he finally felt like it was genuine.

"One day you'll be strong enough to break free I'm sure of it." Nothing but pure, unchallenged smugness radiated off of the hedgehog as he squeezed the ball of golden fluff in his arms. He tried to sneak in yet another kiss when he was stopped dead in his tracks by a paw slapped over his mouth.

When has that sly fox managed to free his arm from his inescapable grasp!? Sonic couldn't let that act of rebellion stay for long, so he poked the younger's side with his thumb. Tails then immediately recoiled with an involuntary giggle escaping his mouth while he was easily subdued again.

"Nah-not fair! Cheater! You're cheating!"

"Using my enemy's weaknesses against them in battle is not cheating!" Sonic proudly proclaimed and drilled his thumb into his brother's side one more time which rewarded him with a couple of strained snorts and giggles from the other. Chaos Tails was trying to stay angry so badly that it was comical.

"Stah'aap!!" Tails cried and perhaps Sonic did feel a pang of sympathy for the poor fox. Dare he even say, have mercy.

"Let go-!" Completely desperate, the other now tried to swat at Sonic with his namesakes. All it succeeded at was shove a face full of fur into the hedgehog's face and maybe that was the goal all along.

After splattering the hair out of his mouth Sonic grinned when seeing the obvious fake pout Tails was putting on.

"Only after you smile." Sonic teased and planted yet another kiss on his whining brother's forehead, who then promptly slapped his face with his tails yet again.

"Oh c'mon smile a little?"

Tails frowned.

"Itty-bitty smirk?"

Tails frowned even harder.

"Pleaseee, just for a split second?"

Somehow, Tails' frown deepened even further and he ended up looking like the picture definition of a "comically grumpy baby." Sonic paid it no mind tho, he'd rather have a grumpy baby brother than a genuinely angry one. Whatever it takes to get a smile on that little muzzle of his, even if it meant he had to be a little bit annoying to get there. He could see it won't be long before the little guy breaks.

He gradually laxed his hold and Tails either didn't notice, or was hoping Sonic would lower his guard so he could escape.

Either way, the veil of dread and unease was all but gone and forgotten as he held his little bro in his arms, now just gently swaying back and forth with his chin rested atop the other's head.

Chaos when was the last time he just held him like this? Hmm gotta be pretty long ago now that he's wondering, better savor the moment before Tails ruins it by "being too big for hugs and cuddles now" which was pure nonsense in Sonic's correct opinion.

But as seconds ticked by and Tails did not move or make a sound, the hedgehog couldn't sit still in anticipation any longer and finally leaned back to look over.

What he found was his lill' bro fast asleep, with the most peaceful expression on his face. A fond smile made its way across Sonic's muzzle.

Perhaps there was nothing stopping him from following suit. This was a long day after all and maybe, just maybe, now that some things were settled and he wasn't sleeping alone, he'd get some proper rest at last.

[blveblvrr]

SWEET ; OC LORE

smg6 lore for u guys lmaooo

tw: death

_____________________

“i’m not leaving you. you can’t fight him alone!” SMG7 held onto her best friend tightly.

“seven, i have to. Puzzles may be strong, but i know him. i can do this. if i don’t, well.. you know.” SMG6 finally hugged back, he and SMG7 knew she could die if she stayed on land any longer.

Mr. Puzzles had seeked revenge on SMG6 for banishing him to a different dimension years ago. now, he was back and what better way to get your revenge by taking away your enemy’s best friend’s powers with a little device that can’t get wet?

as the two meme guardians hugged on the docks beside the lake, a loud voice boomed above them.

“FINALLY.” the giant Mr. Puzzles echoed through the sky. he had taken the SMG4 crew hostage, except for Mario. He had gotten away and ran to find help. Mr. Puzzles then targeted SMG6 and 7.

“AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, I HAVE YOU. MY FAVORITE STAR. DROP THESE LOSERS AND COME BACK WITH ME. I CAN MAKE YOU SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER BEFORE, WE’LL BE UNSTOPPABLE!” he cackled and and reached out his hand.

“whaddya say, Star? join me!”

SMG6 looked at Mr. Puzzles with rage. really? he really thinks he can crawl back to the person he caused so much pain? really?

“i am not your star. i will never forgive you for what you did to me. my friends and i will end you! YOU ARE NOTHING!” the blue haired meme guardian screamed, tears falling from his face rapidly. he reached up to his headphones and pulled out his axe.

he ran straight for Puzzles, swinging right for the head. of course, he missed and only cut his suspender. the two enemies swung at each other for a while before SMG6 used his siren-like screech to open a portal, causing Mr. Puzzles to stumble and cover his ears.

SMG6 swooped down and gave a strong kick to the huge TV head, knocking Mr. Puzzles back into the portal. but, not before he pointed his finger-gun to SMG6 and shot a large amount of electricity into his back.

SMG6 grunted loudly and fell to the ground, the electricity was too much.

“JEREMY!” the 7th guardian cried, running to his side. she helped him up, putting his arm over her shoulder.

“seven, you need to get in the water. that device will explode when the portal is gone.” SMG6 coughed out.

they both looked up at the portal. Mr. Puzzles was trying his best to keep it open and struggle out of it, but the magic was too strong. suddenly the portal snapped shut.

SMG6’s eyes widened as he instinctively wrapped his arms around SMG7’s waist and ran as fast as sonic off the docks.

“six- what are you doing?! YOU CAN’T SWIM-” SMG7 was cut off as her body slammed into the water by SMG6.

the device poofed away once the water hit it and SMG7’s powers came back, causing her to adapt to the water and breathe. she gasped and tried to push her friend back.

“SIX, YOU NEED TO LET GO!! YOU CAN’T BREATHE, PLEASE!” she panicked, beating her fists against his chest. SMG6 just held on tighter.

he didn’t have the strength to even try to swim back up. the electricity shot made him go limp, except for his arms. he decided that he was fine with dying, if it meant he was saving his best friend.

as he could feel himself becoming heavy, he looked at SMG7 one more time.

“i love you, fiona.” the water muffled him a bit, but she heard him.

tears poured from SMG7’s face as she held onto the now lifeless body of her best friend.

smg7 belongs to @urrfavvfiona

story by blveblvrr (me!)

[another-sonic-blog]

The Fanfictioner Ch.8: Story

The Fanfictioner Ch.8: Story

.

.

.

"It's me! Hello! I am the problem it's I!

At coffee time everybody agrees!

I look directly at the moon but never in the mirror, it most be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero!"

"NEW RISING POP-STAR TYLER SWEET IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD WITH HER NEW ALBUM!"

Shadow is eating his daily coffee beans as he softly sings his favorite song. He is not one to listen to gossip news but he just had to whenever Tyler Sweet drops a new album. He just hopes she succeeds in the music charts. Shadow has secretly been following him since she started uploading her songs on MusicCloud and he is glad she has finally had her breakthrough.

"Shadow."

The actor recognizes Omega's robotic voice as he enters the kitchen.

"Hey Omega, did you sleep well?" Shadow asks as he looks inside one of his kitchen cabinets. There he finds car oil. For Omega of course. Omega doesn't need sleep. However, Tails took the liberty to program a 'sleep' software on the robot. And he seems to have enjoyed it."

"Yes. I am 'rested."

After a few seconds, Omega makes a pause and Shadow looks at him.

"I have two notices," Omega says. "Rouge says she will come to visit soon."

"Alright, gonna have to break a leg so she doesn't force me to go shopping with her," Shadow puts a few coffee beans in his mouth and chews them. "What is the other news?"

"... Your ShadAmy Comic has gotten over 100k reads on Weebtun"

.

.

.

Shadow's phone has not stopped ringing with notifications. Comments, likes, and shares. He had spent many days drawing that comic and even thought his art was not good enough to get praised.

As much as he wants to get excited, he knows he can't. Especially when he is a famous actor and he can't risk being exposed as a crazy fanfic fanatic in real life.

He quietly rubs and puts pressure on the middle of his palm to alleviate his anxiety. Shadow was definitely not expecting that many people to read his comic and somehow that's making him sweat.

"Shadow!"

Shadow snaps and completely forget that he is on set.

"Your lines? We don't have all day."

But Shadow stays quiet. Looking side to side, confused.

"Nevermind. Let's all take five. Shadow, either learn your lines or improvise!"

He sighs heavily and goes to his black chair. Next time there is a table with coffee beans as snacks. But right now he is not interested in that. Shadow sits and pulls out his phone. He should be studying his lines but he knows them already. He needs a different kind of support.

TheFanfictioner#0619: "I am starting to think I suck at my job."

Shadow texts his online best friend and eats some of the coffee beans. He had muted his notifications from Weebtun but he can't help and constantly check the app. The reads are growing and so is his anxiety.

ARoseWithoutTorns#0923: "You have a job? I thought you were too busy being a fanfic fanatic to have one."

TheFanfictioner#0619: "If that was my job, I wouldn't complain. But sadly, I entertain people for a living and I hate people most of the time."

From afar he sees Sonic Team gathering together and talking. While they are distracted Shadow looks around him and next to his chair finds his backpack. He usually brings things with him, a charger, laptop, sketchbook and pencils so he doesn't have to go back to his dressing room.

ARoseWithoutTorns#0923: "Do you hate me?"

TheFanfictioner#0619: "I tolerate you. Consider yourself lucky."

Shadow takes out his sketchbook and a pencil he looks at Amy from afar and starts sketching her. It might be strange but he needs to have as many references as possible. He can probably get pictures of her online but nothing is better than having the real person in front of you.

His phone rings, and he responds.

ARoseWithoutTorns#0923: "Oh, I am happy I am not on your naughty list."

TheFanfictioner#0619: "Only because you write my favorite fanfic."

He goes back to sketching and looks at Amy who has picked up her phone and is typing.

Not even a second passes and Shadow's phone rings.

ARoseWithoutTorns#0923: "Fair. But tell me what is bothering you?"

TheFanfictioner#0619: "The fan-comic I did for you fic ... It's getting too many reads and I was not expecting that. It's giving me anxiety for some reason."

He puts his phone aside on the table and sketches Amy again who is on her phone again. Typing.

Then his phone rings again.

ARoseWithoutTorns#0923: "You know, if it's too much to handle, you can always delete it. I won't mind."

TheFanfictioner#0619: "I don't know. I do enjoy the nice comments and it's motivating me to draw more but I am not used to so much attention."

The actor is able to draw Amy's eyes. She is moving a bit too much, smiling and giggling with Sonic and her friends. Then she takes out her phone again and types.

And then his phone rings again.

Interesting. But whatever.

ARoseWithoutTorns#0923: "You said you were an entertainer? Are you not used to people giving you attention?"

And before he could respond, the director speaks up.

"Alright change of plans! We are recording the last scene of the last episode for this season."

Amy Rose feels shivers run down her spine because she knows what that means. Heck, she was the one who wrote the ending for this season. Still, she is not mentally prepared to do this. But the time has come and she can't run away.

They were recording in the forest and they need to hurry up before sunset.

"Let's just record the kiss as the sun goes down and let's call it a day," Mr. Johnson says and he picks up a camera. He is going to be the one to record the kiss.

Shadow and Amy get on the scene and Shadow places Amy against a tree trunk. Just like in the script.

"Now Shadow, I need emotion," Mr. Johnson starts to record and gets extremely close to their faces. "Remember your character desires Amy but secretly feels that he has some genuine feelings for her. To prove that, you need to kiss her ... Slowly. First-"

"Please, just keep quiet and let me do my job," Shadow interrupts him and at that, the director just sighs and nods.

"Ok .. Lights, camera ... Action!"

As Shadow gets into character, Amy's knees go weak. She looks him in the eyes. Vermillion and beautiful. He caresses her cheeks and pulls a string of her hair on the back of her ear.

Shadow slowly closes his eyes and gets closer and closer to her and

Amy pushes him away.

Completely red and shaking, she looks at everyone in the room. Flabbergasted and speechless. Except for Sonic who is smiling.

She doesn't know what to say. Should she apologize to Shadow who is looking at her in disbelief? At everyone for wasting their time and money?

She could only look at the director.

"Please just give me two days to prepare!"

.

.

.

Continue reading on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23815324/chapters/116371165

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/229947691-the-fanfictioner

[eway]

Ok I'm in a Sonic mood right now. So I'm gonna tell ya'll my thoughts on each of the Sonic shows in the order they came out. However, I haven't seen two of them, and will tell you why. Now let's begin!

The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog

This show is hilarious. And honestly, the way it depicts Sonic and Tails' brotherly bond is not only heartwarming, it's held up in the games. And modern, goofy Eggman reminds me a lot of Dr. Robotnik from this show. So honestly, it's characterization of characters holds up pretty well. It's funny, charming, and at times surprisingly heartwarming. 8/10

Sonic The Hedgehog Saturday Morning Cartoon

I'ma be honest, I haven't seen this show, and I never will. Thank Toxic fans. Sonally shippers getting mad at Sonamy shippers like me. People telling you that all the other shows are inferior and you NEED to watch SatAM or your not a real Sonic Fan, etc. The fanbase is keeping me away, and I know I will not be able to enjoy it because of this. Toxic Fandom/10

Sonic Underground

This show... so back in the day, my parents bought DVDs of the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, The Adventures Of Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World. On each of these, there were previews for other DiC cartoons. On all three were ads for Sonic Underground. And me and bro wanted that, so we rented some DVDs. And I LOVED it. First of all, yeah I know people think Tails was replaced by Sonia and Manic, but being honest, Sonic's dynamic with those two, while still a sibling dynamic, is not the same as his dynamic with Tails. And Tails could have been written in with the sibs adopting him as a younger brother. Sonia and Manic are also fun characters and I really like them. And even haters of this show have to admit the theme song is good, or at least the singer is having fun. I also like that, unlike the other 90s shows which were nature vs. Technology type things, Underground had this and some magic and Super natural elements. Honestly, concepts like this show up in the games, with ancient being sealed away like Chaos, Iblis, Dark Gaia etc. And of course the Storybook Series itself has stuff like this I have been working on a Sonic Underground Season 2 which would loosely adapt modern Sonic Stories and bring in characters from those games. I know the show is far from perfect, but this is my thoughts, not an objective review, which is why it's a 9/10 score. This is NOT objective!

Sonic X

I watched the show in Japanese with subs and I gotta say...why do people hate Chris? He's a kid, a fanboy, and I find his interactions with the cast adorable. The music in the show is also amazing, though I hear it's different in the dub. Also there are Sonamy moments which YEEEEESSSS. I also love how the show managed to pretty faithfully adapt the plots of some of the games. The Meterex Saga was something of a departure, but I still enjoyed it. 9/10

Sonic Boom

I was born in the 2000s. So I was in middle school when this show came out. And I was a Sonic fan. I had played Colors and I think I had gotten Secret Rings pretty recently, though I may have only had Colors. When I watched the first episode, I loved it. And then hated the rest of the show. Because the first episode has a pretty different tone from the rest of the show. I got over this as I got older and started rewatching the show, catching jokes that flew over my head. And while some episodes are like "why are you friends again?" Some, and most in season 2, show these guys are pretty good friends. The Shadow episodes are highlights for me. 7/10

Sonic Prime

I haven't seen this show because I don't have Netflix. I want to see it tho. Netflix is expensive/10

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic Prime (”Season 2”) Speculation

So, having only gotten a few screenshots of the next “season” (personally, I don’t think 8 episodes of a 24 episode show can be really called a season, with arc or volume making more sense, but hey, what do I know) and there being no new information regarding Sonic Prime, I had figured I might as well analyze the information we got.

The first image shows Sonic and Shadow inside the Void that exists within the Shatterverse, with Sonic still wearing the gear from No Place. Considering how Episode 08: There's No ARRGH in “Team” ended with Shadow punching Sonic, I assume that this takes place after their fight. They’re probably having a conversation regarding what is going on or coming up with a plan to find the Paradox Prism Shards, considering how we know that Sonic and Shadow are supposed to work together to save reality. Note also that the Shard behind them is blue, which is associated with No Place. This leads us into the next image.

Yeah, I know this looks like Shadow’s trying to drown Sonic (or taking a selfie), I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. First of all, considering how they’re underwater, I’m certain they’re back in No Place (which also confirms that Shadow can get out of the Void, so rest assured, he won’t be side-lined during the story). Next, Shadow is holding up one of the regulators Nine gave to Sonic, with another being on his other hand.

Now, here’s where the speculation comes. It is very possible that Sonic and Shadow had figured out how to travel between the Shatterspaces within the Shatterverse, which is how they landed in No Place. However, for some reason, Shadow wants the regulators Sonic has, but for what purpose, I honestly have no clue. It is possible Shadow believes that he can use the regulators for traveling through the Shatterspace (and don’t forget, he still has the green Chaos Emerald), and with the way Sonic is reaching out for it, he doesn’t look like he wants Shadow take them away from him, since he cannot control the Prism Energy. My friend had also suggested that Shadow may have tried to teach Sonic to control the Prism Energy, hence removing the regulators; which makes sense considering Shadow is usually considered to be better at using Chaos Control, so he might also have figured out how to help Sonic with the Prism Energy.

Of course, I might be wrong here, but hey, this is just me speculating.

The third screenshot shows Sonic at... okay, I don’t really know where this is, but it looks like Green Hill Zone with a filter put over it. In any case, Sonic actually looks pumped up and excited, seemingly able to control the Prism Energy. It is possible that after the tussle with Shadow, he had figured out how to properly control it, possibly learning how to properly travel between the Shatterspaces.

So, yeah, this is all I got. I’m really excited for the next part of Sonic Prime and I’m curious how things are going to end up.

[ninjapotatohead]

What Ruined Shadow: The Downfall of an Amazing Character

I will be analyzing Shadow's peak characterization in the Adventure/Dark Era and the steady decline in the Meta Era.

During this analysis, I will explain how Shadow went from being a likeable, well written and relatable character in the 2000's, to a truly detestable character in the 2010's.

I will focus mainly on Shadow's characterization in the games, since I haven't watched the cartoons in a long time (I will make it a point to rewatch them all eventually though), and my knowledge of the comics is limited at best, but from what I've read of the comics, Pre-Reboot Archie Shadow's characterization is really good, Reboot Archie Shadow is just as much of a piece of shit as the Boom/Pontaff version of the character is, and IDW Shadow, while he's not exactly as bad as he is in Reboot-Archie/Meta Era/Boom, I still hate how stupid he can be sometimes, and that really showed in the Zombot arc.

I haven't watched Sonic X in a long time, but from what I remember, Shadow's portrayal in the show was similar to that of his game counterpart. As for Boom Shadow... I'll explain my stance on him later.

Shadow's Four Game Arc

Shadow is the only character in the Sonic series I know of whose character arc happened over the course of four games, starting with SA2 and ending in 06.

In SA2, Shadow believes he is destined to exact revenge on humanity for killing his best friend, Maria, but then the memory of Maria's true wish (to protect humanity) made him realize the error of his ways, so he sacrifices himself to save humanity from the ARK falling towards Earth.

He wasn't the villain of this story, he was the misunderstood hero. He wasn't edgy, he was just traumatized, depressed, and didn't really know how to make friends. Shadow has been through A LOT of trauma, such as losing his best friend Maria, and nearly dying when he fell from the Space Colony ARK. His backstory and redemption arc in SA2 remain one of the powerful, well-written and emotional narratives in the entire Sonic franchise in my opinion.

Due to fan demand, SEGA brought Shadow back in Sonic Heroes, albeit with amnesia. He teams up with Rouge and Omega in hopes of learning the truth about his past. This isn't really an arc, but the setup for an arc in the next game. His close friendship with Rouge and Omega is definitely a highlight though.

Shadow's characterization in his solo game is overhated and greatly misunderstood in my opinion. Sure, he did act out of character at times, but in this case, it was understandable, since he had amnesia and his mental health worsened after he left Team Dark at the end of Heroes. In the canon ending of the game, Shadow regains his memories and saves the planet from the Black Arms, then he comes to terms with his past and decides to start a new future.

Contrary to popular belief, The Meta Era Shadow isn't based off of this game, but rather a flanderized version on the Internet that came from this game. In the actual game however, Shadow is nothing like his Meta Era counterpart. His characterization in ShTH is so greatly misunderstood, that it spawned the worst version of the character we could have possibly gotten. I wish more people could understand Shadow's characterization in his solo game as well as I do.

Shadow's characterization in 06 is widely regarded as one of his best portrayals in the entire series, and it's not hard to see why. They absolutely perfected him in this game. At one point, Mephiles taunts Shadow with his future, telling him that humanity will one day turn on him, but Shadow doesn't care because he had already reconciled with his past in the previous game, and he has since chosen to move forward and stay focused on the present, thus reinforcing the theme of 06's narrative. And the ending is just perfect, showing us how much Shadow has grown and changed and it shows us the one thing that will never change about him is his will to fight.

In conclusion, I absolutely love Shadow's characterization in 06 because of how much it's really helped to develop Shadow's character more, and it truly ended his amazing four game arc on a high note.

Shadow's Characterization In Other Adventure/Dark Era Games

Before we discuss the downfall of Shadow's character in the 2010's, here are a few honorable mentions:

I don't remember Sonic Battle's story all that well to be honest, but from I do remember, Shadow was written similar to how he was in SA2.

His characterization in the Sonic Rivals duology was fairly decent for the most part, and I liked his relationship with Metal Sonic in Rivals 2.

Sir Lancelot in Black Knight is a well written character, and he certainly acted more like Shadow than any of the recent portrayals did, but I count him as an AU counterpart of Shadow, not Shadow himself.

Shadow's Character Assassination

Shadow's character derailment began in Sonic Free Riders when Kirk Thornton started voicing him, and it only got worse when Pontaff started writing him in every game from Colors onwards. At this point, Shadow became EXACTLY what the Internet thought he was: an edgy, arrogant prick who likes to call Sonic "faker", thinks he's better than everyone else, and hates friendship.

He didn't really do much in Colors DS and Generations, so I don't have much to say about his characterization in those games. However, his line in Generations really makes me cringe, because it just demonstrates how much Kirk Thornton sucked as Shadow:

The Sonic Boom games, as well as the cartoon of the same name, basically took all of Meta Era Shadow's worst traits and cranked them up to eleven, to the point of making him an outright villain. Boom Shadow is a one dimensional high school bully who straight-up INSULTS Sonic and his loyalty to his friends, even though the Shadow I know values friendship and is a hero with a dark, tragic past.

This bastardized version of Shadow is the ANTITHESIS of Shadow's character, and one of the many reasons why I hate the Sonic Boom universe as a whole. My anger at how badly they fucked up his character still persists to this day. I know Sonic Boom is meant to be an alternate universe separate from the main series, but that's not a valid excuse to turn Shadow into an one dimensional edgelord for literally NO reason. If you're going to drastically alter a character's personality for a different universe, at least give them a good reason to be that way. Can Shadow be an evil asshole in an alternate universe? Yes, but only if he is given a good reason to be, but Boom Shadow is just a high school bully without a reason to be that way.

Out of all of Shadow's portrayals in the mainline games, Sonic Forces is the easily the worst. He basically murdered Infinite's entire squad, and then he proceeds to beat up Infinite and make fun of him, calling him "worthless", which Infinite somehow interprets as Shadow calling him "weak".

This is VERY out of character for Shadow. You would think that Shadow of all people would know that killing the only people you have a close relationship with will not end well. And because of what happened to Maria, I don't believe he would ever do such a thing. Overall, I see Shadow killing Infinite's squad and then making fun of Infinite as character assassination. Infinite suffering trauma from that makes sense, but Shadow being the cause... No.

Shadow's portrayal in Team Sonic Racing wasn't any better, as he only cared about winning against Sonic in a race to prove he's better than him.

Also, there's this petty argument between Sonic and Shadow that drags on for far too long (ten levels to be precise!). Basically, the argument was: Sonic suspects Shadow is working for Eggman (even though he hasn't done that since SA2, but ok), Shadow says he's just here to race (fair), Sonic taunts him, then they race (seems somewhat normal so far), but then they just argue over it afterwards? WTF?

In another cutscene, Silver was like, "Oh no, Eggman's working with Dodon Pa" and Tails goes, "Oh no! Can't do anything right now though, Sonic and Shadow are having a petty argument. Maybe later". Like, what?

They even yell at Rouge at one point too for interrupting them, that's how petty it is. I mean, what the hell? Aren't Shadow and Rouge supposed to be friends? What happened to their close relationship in the Adventure/Dark Era titles?

Well, according to SEGA, Shadow, Rouge and Omega are no longer friends; now they're just co-workers who, as a team, are semi functional at best. What the hell, SEGA?

A big part of what made Team Dark great in the first place was their close friendship with one another, and how much they love and care for each other despite their hard pasts. Team Dark without their close-knit friendship and introvert bonding doesn't feel right to me, and it really sucks that Ian Flynn won't allow Shadow to have friends because of SEGA's BS mandates.

My Final Thoughts

Overall, I believe Shadow is one of the most misunderstood Sonic characters ever. He was a hero at best in Heroes and 06, and an anti-hero in misguided situations like his solo game and SA2. He was never a full on villain until Kirk Thornton started voicing him and Pontaff started writing him. It's as if SEGA just looked at the memes made by people who don't even like Shadow (or the Sonic franchise in general), took them at face value, and made that his entire character. Honestly, I feel sorry for newer fans who were only exposed to the Boom/Pontaff version of Shadow and never got to see the real Shadow. He was once a great, deep character with a beautiful four game arc (SA2, Heroes, ShTH and 06) and an amazing personality and motive, now he's just a brooding, friendless edgelord with little to no personality beyond "fuck all of you, I wanna win, friendship is stupid". I wish newer fans could have access to the older games, so they can experience all these great, powerful and emotional storylines and to see Shadow for what he really is: a selfless hero who protects humanity and cares about his friends and people who side with him. He stands thoroughly by his own beliefs and goals, he does what’s right, and he’s arguably one of the most sympathetic characters in the franchise if you really think about it.

SEGA really needs to get Shadow's character right in the next game. Otherwise, pop culture will continue to believe those memes, which will result in more people failing to understand Shadow as a character. Shadow is a good person deep down, which is why it always annoys me to see him portrayed as that stereotypical edgy persona that some people see him as. The Shadow I know speaks and acts with reason and defends what he holds dear. I really hope that Shadow will go back to the way he was in the 2000's, even if the possibility of that happening is pretty much slim to none. Is there hope that Shadow will ever go back to how he used to be before Pontaff ruined him? Maybe. Only time will tell.

Way to conveniently leave out a wealth of Shadow's scenes from the same games you yourself listed because acknowledging them would go against your narrative.

• Shadow was basically a cocky bastard in both the Rivals games and towards the end of his own episode in Sonic Battle. Plus, if his lines in the Riders games are any indication, he's still just as arrogant as ever.

• Heroes has Shadow literally talking down to Team Sonic, and (in true Sonic Heroes fashion) starts a fight with them when they're both after what they believe is Eggman.

• Shadow's self-titled game has a number of moments where it really seems the dude's lost his sense of self-preservation along with his memory. Need I mention...

• Any good scenes in 06 are massively undercut by Sonic 06... being Sonic 06. A few "good" scenes doesn't absolve that game's plot from being terrible (especially when every character is an idiot).

• The Rivals games had pretty much everyone (Shadow included) being as competitive with each other as possible, just like in Heroes. Rivals 2 has Shadow barking orders at Metal just to stop N'Eggman from waking up Totally-Not-Iblis. Also, there's the scene where where all Sonic does is ask Shadow for more information about what's going on. Shadow's response? To beat the shit out of him, of course.

Even when the stakes are rising, Shadow and Sonic are still butting heads; trying to outdo the other.

• Literally, the only Sonic game Pontaff actually wrote themselves was Lost World... a game where Shadow is literally nowhere to be seen. Stop capping.

• Free Riders, much like a lot of Sonic racing games, is a very lighthearted low-stakes affair. Shadow's not a villain in that game either. Again, stop capping.

• Kirk's voice has absolutely nothing to do with Shadow's characterization. At all. Your obvious hard-on for the previous voice actors is obvious.

• SEGA themselves have been portraying Shadow as an arrogant dickhead ever since his inception, really. Hell, even Ian Flynn intended to have Shadow be characterized as such from the very beginning (contrary to what Sonic News Network would have you believe).

• Shadow, contrary to what the hive-mind has deluded itself into believing, is an introvert for all intents and purposes. He doesn't show his emotions in a conventional manner, nor is he a chatterbox (see also Colors DS and Sonic Forces).

• Like I've said numerous times, TSR is no different from a LOT of racing games in the franchise. Hell, in Rivals 2, Shadow tells Rouge that N'Eggman is after the Chaos Emeralds, but then Rouge goes back on Sjadow trusting her with said information and refuses to disclose who exactly hired Rouge to collect the things to begin with. Your obvious tunnel-vision is obvious.

• For the last time...

In conclusion, you're full of shit, just like everyone else who unironically misuses the "Meta Era" terminology.

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Cast: Wacky the Hedgehog

Owned by: DJ Awesome

(art by SEKittenTail2008 on Deviantart)

"I may not be A Sonic, but I do know I was made with the same passion and care as one, and that, alongside my adventures and friends, are what keep me speeding ahead!"

Wacky is, as her name suggests, a very wacky bootleg hedgehog made back in 1997, by the now-missing Junio Collymore. She was created purely out of Ms. Collymore's love for the Sonic franchise, but her game came out unfinished, due to Junio going missing and the game being cancelled.

Of course, Wacky's AI still remained active, which built its own world out of what was there. Most of these were yet to develop their own personalities, but they could still live in this new land built from the ground up.

Naturally, there's two sides to a Sonic world. One with the good guys, including Wacky, Zane the Fox and Starburst the Hedgehog, and one with their arch-nemesis, Dr. Sunnyside. As the days went on, Wacky and her friends spent their time going on adventures and foiling Sunnyside's plans, which changed when one of Sunnyside's tricks sucked most of the world into a newly-formed portal.

The portal led them to an unofficial copy of Sonic Mania, where their designs changed and Wacky and her friends became taller than they were. In this new world, Wacky was set to go on new adventures to learn more about the world used to build her own, to find her friends, and to stop Dr. Sunnyside from destroying this world.

However, an entity that lurked in the code wound up going through the portal too, desperately searching for a vessel. This entity was known as Bizarro, which secretly hunted Wacky while she continued her adventures and meeting new friends.

Then one day, the entity, which was a sludgy being with a melted body, lunged out at her and plunged into her head, seeping through her skin. She woke up a couple of hours later, though when she tried to open her eyes, she felt something trying to get out, so she kept them shut.

The possession hadn't gone as Bizarro had hoped, with Wacky still in full control of her body. The entity wanted revenge on Ms. Collymore for leaving her unfinished, unaware that she's long gone now. Though Wacky no longer has to keep her eyes shut to keep Bizarro in as of this AU's events, she stayed in the heroine's body due to her being an unrotting vessel. And though the two clearly hate one another, they can work together if necessary.

Before she got involved in things, Wacky even started dating Starburst as her girlfriend, and the incident in the OMT universe forced Bizarro to split from Wacky's body, fully decaying away once she realised she could never have gotten her revenge to begin with. Wacky was also curious about the giant screen in her world's sky, and her sentience seemed to scare anyone who played her game away, which concerned her and made her yearn for companionship from another world.

During More than One Universe, Wacky helps out from the sidelines to get the multiversal threats under control, and becomes a member of the Blur Gang in the aftermath, willing to help her new companions protect their worlds alongside her own. During the story, however, Sonath was heartless enough to taunt her about his plans to use HER world as a proxy to get his plans back into high-gear.

Sonath: You seriously think you'd stand any chance? When I'm through with you, your world will be next! Wacky (immediately losing her goofy demeanour): W-What...? Sonath: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's right, child. Your little bootleg world is just the vehicle I'll be needing to kick myself back into high gear and begin my conquest ALL OVER AGAIN. Wacky was panting in horror, knowing JUST what Sonath was planning. Sonath: I'll make it into a NEW world, where who you were before doesn't matter! Soon, that'll be nothing but a burning me-! He suddenly got strangled by Wacky's hands. Wacky (genuinely furious with her teeth clenched): Shut... She tied his body up in her expandable arms, her hands grabbing either side of his head. Wacky: ...the... She began moving them, causing Sonath to gag as his neck joints were getting damaged. Wacky: ...fucking hell... UP!!!!

The resulting neck snap didn't outright kill Sonath, but it did render him horribly immobile, though it thankfully gave the others time to inject a cure into him, curbing his evil acts permanently. For one of the more goofy characters in the Blur Gang, Wacky still inherits sad clown traits, and genuinely sympathises with OMT!Tails when he mentions the loss of his Sonic and Sally.

"Tails, I... The... The hardest thing about being a hero is... you can't always save everybody."

If you're wondering about the ponytail she sports in her sprite in the character chart post, it's because I had a bit of trouble integrating her long hair and tall height in. In-universe, I'd say it's for keeping her hair from getting too dirty when out in messier combat.

She became a close friend to Hog as well, in part due to both of them being fellow bootleg characters, and they both got a laugh out of their villains' silly names, so that's something. While she doesn't mind Mr. Needlemouse all that much, she does take offence to some of his jokes and tries to defend whoever was the target of said joke, as long as they were nice.

[whenlifegivesyousparklingwater]

November 11, 2024

Dear Public Diary,

It's 11/11. Make a wish! I remember this as a middle schooler, seeing distant acquaintances from school upload "11:11" on their stories for the sole reason of it being 11:11. I have never made a wish on this date or time even then because I am far from superstitious and did not and still do not understand the point of it all. However, if a wish can be made, I would wish for a sense of present reality.

Graduation is nearing, and I have almost finalized my schedule for my upcoming and final semester. A few Philosophy classes, a final Sociology course, and a floral arrangement class--just because it seemed fun. I don't know what I will do after graduation. I haven't done anything to prepare for the future but my ruminations on what has yet to occur has convinced my present self that I have already graduated. I have made myself believe that there is a fixed outcome for this semester and next, that it is predestined simply because I have assumed a certain outcome when applying for jobs. It is giving me a sense of unreality. The present does not seem real. My present and tangible problems do not seem real. I don't feel real.

You know what I greatly dislike? Third-wheeling between a couple. I may or may not enjoy the individuals separately, but there will always be something tiring about being different in status from the others while acting under the guise of it being an equal relationship between the three. Our checks are divided in two, shotgun (or lack thereof) is decided in the car. Am I a chauffeur to be driving two people in the back seat, with the front seat folded over because the man decides to sit in the back despite the cramped space? As the term "third-wheel" suggests, I am merely a disposable aspect they can bring along for no real use or discard. If they discard me, it is just a romantic date, not a betrayal of this "mutual understanding" between equal friends.

The fact of the matter is that the guy is my best friend. He constantly criticizes his own friend for being clingy and not being able to hang out with him without his girlfriend there. He does not reflect upon his own situation, which is that we can no longer have a platonic relationship without him bringing his girlfriend with him. Of course, he does not see the irony of the situation. He tiptoes around me, and we have never gotten to finish the TV series that we started watching together when his girlfriend was out of town. It's an artful piece in a foreign language that I helped translate in live time when I found the subtitles to be lacking in nuance. We have been friends for so long, yet we cannot do anything together without his ego and conscience pushing me aside or bringing a third party into our friendship unless there are geographical impossibilities. Is spending time with an old friend something to be ashamed of? Does it bruise his ego to ask for a day to spend time with someone else? Why am I only ever called out to meet him in the middle of the night when his girlfriend is sleeping so that we can catch up and get Sonic?

I can hear everything through the thin walls because we all live together alongside a third roommate. His parents invited him and his girlfriend to a backyard barbeque, and his parents said that he could invite anyone else they would like to bring. My friend and his girlfriend have already apparently had a mutual understanding that they will never bring me around. They knew I wasn't doing anything, but the only name that came up was our other roommate, who was clearly busy at work that day. This couldn't have been the first time.

I see myself clinging to this relationship with him simply because we used to be best friends. He is not just another friend who passed by but a friend who has reached out and been there for me in a time of need. I don't know if I have any other friends I am as close with. It's hard to make a best friend, someone who you automatically call up for everything. I have very close friends, but none of them live near me. Hell, one of them lives in a foreign country.

The problem isn't the girlfriend's behavior. I don't understand it, but I know many do it. I don't understand why one would stay with a partner they had so little faith in being loyal. The problem is with my best friend. He has gotten so used to me being some sort of a secondary option if the primary is unavailable. I think it's about time I make an actionable statement on this matter rather than making empty plans that either end up being a date with me as a third wheel to the plans that I made or falling apart with no word. The real problem is that what I put in is not reciprocated in a way that satisfies me (or reciprocated at all), I am not a backup connection, and I deserve to have someone who can provide me with the relationship I need. It doesn't necessarily mean that I cut off ties. It just means that I need to reciprocate what he is putting into our relationship.

--RCH

[thankskenpenders]

So, about the sequel...

I HAVE SEEN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2.

My boyfriend and I were worried about this little coronavirus thing you might have heard of, so we decided to go to a midday Monday showing. This ended up being perfect. There were like 15-20 people at our showing - a small enough number for everyone to spread out, but enough for crowd reactions. (And boy, did that make that ending special. But we'll get to that.)

The short, spoiler-free version of my thoughts: It was great. It felt like the fully realized version of this take on Sonic. The weird human stuff is still there, but I thought it was more fun this time around, and the Actual Sonic Content is cranked up to 11. Many of the big setpieces in this movie are just pure, unadulterated Genesis and Adventure era fanservice, and I am here for it.

...BUT, at the same time, I get the lukewarm reviews it's gotten from critics. If the words "Master Emerald" and the sight of Tails flying the Tornado mean nothing to you, then you won't get as much out of this. It is, in fact, another blockbuster action movie where fully CGI characters fight over a macguffin of ultimate power (that wasn't mentioned at all in the first film). The script also has some oddities, and the constant one-liners don't always land. This is by no means high art

But goddamn, I had so much fun with it. (And for the record, so did Anthony, despite being an extremely casual fan of Sonic.) If you haven't seen it, go see it! If you have, though, let's dig into the specifics. From here on this beefy post will contain full spoilers for literally everything in the movie.

So let's jump right into the main attractions, shall we?

Tails

I wasn't sure how the movie would handle Tails. It was impossible for his origin story as a kid who followed Sonic around to work with Sonic spending ten years on Earth, and he already seemed to be the confident inventor he would come to be depicted as later.

It turns out, I was pleasantly surprised! Tails does sort of still have his old backstory, in that he grew up looking up to Sonic after hearing all the stories about him being the fastest thing alive. He's also here as a messenger warning Sonic about Knuckles and his search for the Master Emerald, which is on Earth. (Side note: this reveal makes everything about Longclaw sending Sonic to Earth make a hell of a lot more sense.) Because he's only here as a messenger, Tails still gets to have his little arc where he starts out as the timid sidekick in Sonic's shadow and learns to believe in his own strengths. It's really nice. Tails also gets the most heartwarming scene with him and Sonic going to bed. God, what a sweet little moment. Tails is so cute in this. I'm glad they leaned into him being the sweet kid sidekick instead of trying too hard to make him a smartass

Of course, he does end up getting overshadowed by you-know-who for a lot of the movie, but I thought the time Tails is allotted here was mostly used well, and Colleen is good as always. (I was a little worried hearing Regular Tails next to all the other characters with different voices would sound odd, but it felt natural to me.)

That said, what Tails does get to do primarily includes the Siberia segment, which is... odd. As soon as they walked in I felt like the movie had turned into the SpongeBob movie all of a sudden, and the climax of that sequence only added to that. (But it exists to let Sonic and Tails bond as friends, so I definitely wouldn't cut it. It's just kinda odd.) It was also one of several sequences where you can really see the cracks in the script, because like. Sonic is like "oh no, the map!" but he could just... go grab it with his super speed? Moments like this definitely didn't ruin the movie for me, but they're worth mentioning for a fuller picture

Anyway, the real star of the movie...

Knuckles

Knuckles is so good in this y'all

As expected from the trailers, Knuckles is portrayed as an absolute powerhouse who TROUNCES Sonic in their first fight. What surprised me, though, is just how many jokes they gave Knuckles.

I really liked how they handled him, though! He's competent in a fight and a genuine threat to Sonic, but he's still a lovable doofus at heart. Instead of just playing him up as a gullible idiot, though, they focused on him being an honorable warrior from another world who just doesn't get Earth stuff, and who trusts people because he comes from a culture where your word is your bond. (I might compare him to Thor.) It's a tricky needle to thread, but I think they did great. Idris Elba is great as this extremely confident straight man who's so serious at times that it wraps around to being funny, but never to the point that Knuckles comes off as a buffoon

After the scene with the echidnas in the first movie, I was also really curious how they'd handle Sonic and Knuckles' dynamic. What they landed on might honestly be my favorite take on their first meeting? Instead of simply being lied to by Eggman, Knuckles is after Sonic because of the established rivalry between Longclaw's owls and the echidnas over control of the Master Emerald. And, in fact, Robotnik chooses to ally himself with Knuckles (who finds him on the mushroom planet at the start of the film) because they have a common enemy in Sonic. He doesn't even learn about the Emerald until later, at which point betraying Knuckles to take it becomes his goal

We also learn that the rest of Knuckles' clan only died in battle in the modern day (possibly in the fight scene at the start of the first movie? I might've missed them saying that explicitly), explaining how he came to be the last of his kind. And over time, Sonic starts to bond with Knuckles because he realizes that they both lost their families to the war between the owls and the echidnas. It's a small touch, but in a movie with so many nods to Sonic Adventure 1 (even without Tikal or Chaos being part of the story), this definitely echoes its core thesis about breaking those historical cycles of violence

Overall, Tails and Knuckles were spot on to me. After how much Sonic and Robotnik were adjusted in the first movie to squeeze them into a more conventional Hollywood storytelling mold, I was ecstatic with how faithful these two were

Speaking of echidnas, though...

Interlude: The elephant in the room

Let's get this over with quickly. Over the weekend, Penders has begun tweeting about looking into legal action against Paramount. He believes that Enerjak and Locke were included without his permission. I reserved my personal judgment on this until after seeing the movie

I can now officially say he's full of shit

Even as someone who agrees that a big chunk of Sonic Chronicles was based on his Knuckles comics, there's almost nothing here. Like, yeah, I can get Archie readers going "huh, this kinda reminds me of the comics!" Seeing Knuckles have a dad is instantly going to remind me of Locke as well. But they have only the most basic similarities.

The character Penders is calling "Enerjak" is not an echidna scientist who's turned into an ancient Egypt-themed tyrant, he's a nameless typical echidna warrior with the vague Maya aesthetic from Sonic Adventure who's shown harnessing the power of the Master Emerald in a battle. Knuckles' nameless dad is also just another generic echidna warrior, not a mad scientist who experimented on Knuckles, and he looks nothing like Locke. His muzzle fuzz is a little thicker to give him the appearance of facial hair, but it's certainly not Locke's white beard, and he's sure as shit not running around in a lab coat. He gets one brief flashback scene where he tells a young Knuckles to stay home from the fight where the rest of his kind died, and that's it. Both characters appear for maybe fifteen seconds each

I really think Ken should've actually seen the damn movie before running his mouth, because there's basically nothing supporting his claims, and he's going to look like a goddamn idiot if he takes this to court. Now, moving on!

Eggman

I liked Carrey's Robotnik more in this one! The combination of him going full cartoon character and getting the proper makeover really works. (And he's flying around in the Eggmobile for most of the movie, too!) It was much, much, much easier for me to see him as Robotnik this time around, instead of just Jim Carrey

Him absorbing the power of the Master Emerald directly and basically going super for the climax was a fun take on things, too. Carrey's observations about him wanting to be a robot are very clear here. And having him use magic to build a big fucking Death Egg Robot out of the vehicles around him was a clever way to explain the setpiece in a grounded setting where he can't just have a city-sized fortress pumping out giant robots. Him saying that he wants to enslave all of humanity and make them service his machines probably came out of nowhere for general audiences, and is another point in the "this script isn't amazing" column for critics, but as a fan, yep! That sure is Eggman right there!

He also flosses at Knuckles one time and god, it's so good. I know Sonic flossed in the first movie, but it still managed to catch me off guard because he just fucking does it out of nowhere

The other humans

They also felt like a step up from the first film to me! The biggest change: Tom being a cop literally does not come up ever lmao. He's basically just Sonic's dad here. And this normal-ass guy being the adoptive father to the little zinger-spouting Looney Tune that is movie Sonic feels kinda weird, but eh, if he has to be in these movies then this is an improvement to me

This stuff will probably be hit or miss for most people, but the human cast is thankfully a fairly minor part of the film compared to the first, and it just feels like they're having more fun with it, even if it sometimes feels like you're watching a completely different movie. They got more laughs out of me this time. (Although the ring mixup was definitely another bizarre script moment to me. Why did Tom not just say they had the wrong ring, instead of having that little argument and then punching the groom???)

Tom in particular is a very, very minor part of the film compared to the first. For critics who latched onto that as the heart of the first film, I can see why they might get disappointed to see his relationship with Sonic sidelined hard. But also... I hated Tom? Yeah, James Marsden was fine, but I hated the whole premise of Sonic having to go on a road trip with a boring-ass speed trap cop whose greatest aspiration in life is to be a cop in a bigger town. That's the complete polar opposite of what I want out of Sonic. So having less Tom, with no focus on him being a cop, and Tom's scenes being funnier (imo) is a huge improvement to me

There's also an odd stretch of maybe 5-10 minutes towards the end of act two where, out of nowhere, Maddie (Tom's wife) and Rachel (her sister) basically become the heroes? I was like wait, what the fuck is happening. Rachel of all characters gets this whole little character arc in the span of a few consecutive scenes. It's almost like they inserted an unrelated short film into the middle of this Sonic movie. But said segment still got some genuine laughs out of me, so I'll take it. Again, it felt like they were having more fun with it this time

Really, though, it turns out there was exactly one word they had to say to make me like the human stuff more, and that word is "GUN."

Yes, GUN is in this as much more than a background Easter egg! It turns out the division was formed after the events of the first movie, and none other than The Olive Garden Guy himself has been retconned into being the GUN Commander. (And yes, they joke about the name. The Commander's giddy little response that shows he's just so proud of the name made it land.) Literally just making "GUN tries to capture Sonic and Tails" the crux of that human-heavy Hawaii sequence made it work way better for me by turning it into something recognizably Sonic

The climax

After that brief detour in Hawaii, Sonic and Knuckles have their showdown over the Emerald, it's a really good fight, Eggman betrays Knuckles, and then it's off to Green Hills for the final showdown against the Death Egg Robot. Which is really where the whole film comes together. It's a very fun battle where Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all get their moments to shine. Knuckles in particular is so fun as an ally from this point onwards. Him just freefalling backwards off of the Tornado was so funny

And, of course, as the grand finale. It happens.

Super Sonic

Super Sonic was done perfectly. It appropriately feels like this is the moment at which the movie's Sonic comes into his own as the confident hero we know from the games. It's just... it's so cool. There isn't much else to say. I'm so glad they went all the way. And afterwards we get a brief fakeout where Knuckles is like "that's not the same Sonic anymore" due to the power of the Emeralds and I'm like, wait... StC Super Sonic??? They don't actually do this, but I wonder if the thought crossed their minds with that evil Super Sonic fakeout. There's a surprising amount of stuff with StC vibes in these movies. (Regardless, Sonic giving up that power after winning was a very Sonic move.)

Then we get the wrap up and a very cute baseball scene with the boys. I was so glad Knuckles got to stay with his new friends instead of walking off into the sunset to guard the Master Emerald alone. And that's it! Movie over. What a fun time

Oh, except...

The tease

Look. I didn't get spoiled, but people have been freaking out about the tease since it came out. I'd speculated before that the only characters left for a big crowd-pleasing tease would be Amy, Metal, and Shadow, and Shadow is the most popular of those three. People have been hyping themselves up at the thought of the third movie doing SA2 literally since the first set photos came out showing the GUN vehicles. So it didn't exactly surprise me to see Shadow at the end

What did surprise me... was that they're not just including Shadow willy-nilly. It looks like they're going all the way.

It's a short tease where Shadow doesn't even speak (I'm sure they're trying to get someone big to voice him - I want Keanu), but it speaks volumes. I had assumed that Shadow might get tossed in similar to how he was handled in Boom. No backstory, just a dark rival for Sonic. Nope!! Not at all!!! I was fucking delighted. They aren't backing down. I don't know how they'll handle it - lord knows what they'll do with Maria, or if they'll ditch the ARK and keep it on Earth - but Shadow is a test tube baby created by a Robotnik 50 years ago that the government has been covering up. And there he is. In the tube. That's Shadow.

Man, Shadow isn't even my favorite character, but as a fan of that era of Sonic I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo unbelievably down for this. I am so glad they're leaning into even the "cringey" parts of Sonic instead of backing down and only doing the Genesis era stuff. I cannot fucking believe three years out from that heinous first trailer that felt like a Sonic movie in name only, we're getting this. The reveal of a live action Shadow. A major tentpole blockbuster action film is going to come out in the year of our lord 2024 with Shadow the Hedgehog as the marquee character. Critics are going to have to review a film based at least in part on Sonic Adventure 2. (It is simultaneously going to get the worst critic reviews and be the most fun of the three, I'm calling it now.) What a world. The hype is beyond real. And not just for me. Shadow got some big reactions at the tiny midday showing I was at, too, from kids and adults alike. I am so, so happy I was able to make it to the theater to experience that firsthand

(And hey, let's hope Rouge shows up in that Knuckles streaming show next year. Can't have Shadow without his partner in crime. And also I still just have no idea who else they would put in that show lmao, she's the only other real rival Knuckles has)

Stray thoughts

Tails and Knuckles both finding Sonic in the same scene (with the returning Robotnik there as well) felt kinda cramped, and I can see non-fans thinking it's too much too fast when Sonic's new best friend immediately shows up and starts talking about the Master Emerald

There are two jokes in like the first ten minutes where it sounds like someone is going to say "shit" but then they say a different SH word and I was like yep this sure was written by Hollywood screenwriters

Sonic using his super speed to disassemble the stolen bank truck was a fun use of his powers, and I loved the SA1 shot allusions throughout that sequence

People speculated that Longclaw was inspired by the owl imagery in various ancient ruin levels in the Genesis games, and they lean into this! The classic owl face blocks show up

I loved that the Mean Bean coffee shop Stone runs ends up being a secret Robotnik base. (And, yeah, Stone was fun in this. His first scene got a big laugh out of the audience.)

It seems like Tails' catchphrase in this is him going "only SONIC THE HEDGEHOG could [do thing]" in a half-laughing impressed way and like, I get that it's to show that he practically worships the guy but it did feel kinda forced lol

Sonic calls his Super mode the "golden god look" in one joke at the end and I was like oh my god he's Dennis Reynolds

Overall, I loved it. It's far from a perfect movie, absolutely, and I think the low fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes is fair. But god, seeing all that Sonic iconography done right, when paired with genuinely good takes on these characters? It just hit right

This movie is still weird. It still has jokes that whiff. It still has incongruous human subplots (that will probably feel like complete filler if you aren't a Modern!Sonic nerd who lights up at any mention of GUN). It's big and dumb and loud. Its emotional moments rely on broad, cliché statements about what it means to be a hero. But where the first movie felt like a painfully generic family road trip adventure film with Sonic and Eggman tacked on, a film that was only saved by the last minute redesign, this one felt like a Sonic movie. It embraced what I like about the series instead of shying away from it. It's still not my ideal Sonic movie - that would be, you know. A cartoon. With the whole cast. But if we're gonna get these live action ones? This is more like it. Can't wait for the third one and that Knuckles show

[darkqueenofshadows85]

What Ruined Shadow: The Downfall of an Amazing Character

Introduction

Greetings, mortals! Today, I will be analyzing Shadow's peak characterization in the Adventure/Dark Era and the steady decline in the Meta Era.

During this analysis, I will explain how Shadow went from being a likeable, well written and relatable character in the 2000's, to a truly detestable character in the 2010's.

I will focus mainly on Shadow's characterization in the games, since I haven't watched the animated Sonic shows in a long time (I will make it a point to rewatch them all eventually though), and my knowledge of the comics is limited at best, but from what I've read of the comics, Pre-Reboot Archie Shadow's characterization is really good, Reboot Archie Shadow is just as much of a piece of shit as the Boom/Pontaff version of the character is, and IDW Shadow, while he's not exactly as bad as he is in Reboot-Archie/Meta Era/Boom, I still hate how stupid he can be sometimes, and that really showed in the Zombot arc.

I haven't watched Sonic X in a long time, but from what I remember, Shadow's portrayal in the show was similar to that of his game counterpart. As for Boom Shadow... I'll explain my stance on him later.

Anyway, let us begin! ^^

Shadow's Four Game Arc

Shadow is the only character in the Sonic series I know of whose character arc happened over the course of four games, starting with SA2 and ending in 06.

In SA2, Shadow believes he is destined to exact revenge on humanity for killing his best friend, Maria, but then the memory of Maria's true wish (to protect humanity) made him realize the error of his ways, so he sacrifices himself to save humanity from the ARK falling towards Earth.

Shadow wasn't the villain of this story, he was the misunderstood hero. He wasn't edgy, he was just traumatized, depressed, and didn't really know how to make friends. Shadow has been through A LOT of trauma, such as losing his best friend Maria, and nearly dying when he fell from the Space Colony ARK. His backstory and redemption arc in SA2 remain one of the most powerful, well-written and emotional narratives in the entire Sonic franchise in my opinion.

Due to fan demand, SEGA brought Shadow back in Sonic Heroes, albeit with amnesia. He teams up with Rouge and Omega in hopes of learning the truth about his past. This isn't really an arc, but the setup for an arc in the next game. His close friendship with Rouge and Omega is definitely a highlight though.

Shadow's characterization in his solo game is overhated and greatly misunderstood in my opinion. Sure, he did act out of character at times, but in this case, it was understandable, since he had amnesia and his mental health worsened after he left Team Dark at the end of Heroes. In the canon ending of the game, Shadow regains his memories and saves the planet from the Black Arms, then he comes to terms with his past and decides to start a new future.

Contrary to popular belief, The Meta Era Shadow isn't based off of this game, but rather a flanderized version on the Internet that came from this game. In the actual game however, Shadow is nothing like his Meta Era counterpart. His characterization in ShTH is so greatly misunderstood, that it spawned the worst version of the character we could have possibly gotten. I wish more people could understand Shadow's characterization in his solo game as well as I do.

Shadow's characterization in 06 is widely regarded as one of his best portrayals in the entire series, and it's not hard to see why. They absolutely perfected him in this game. At one point, Mephiles taunts Shadow with his future, telling him that humanity will one day turn on him, but Shadow doesn't care because he had already reconciled with his past in the previous game, and he has since chosen to move forward and stay focused on the present, thus reinforcing the theme of 06's narrative. And the ending is just perfect, showing us how much Shadow has grown and changed and it shows us the one thing that will never change about him is his will to fight.

In conclusion, I absolutely love Shadow's characterization in 06 because of how much it's really helped to develop Shadow's character more, and it truly ended his amazing four game arc on a high note.

Shadow's Characterization In Other Adventure/Dark Era Games

Before we discuss the downfall of Shadow's character in the 2010's, here are a few honorable mentions:

I don't remember Sonic Battle's story all that well to be honest, but from I do remember, Shadow was written similar to how he was in SA2.

His characterization in the Sonic Rivals duology was fairly decent for the most part, and I liked his relationship with Metal Sonic in Rivals 2.

Sir Lancelot in Black Knight is a well written character, and he certainly acted more like Shadow than any of the recent portrayals did, but I count him as an AU counterpart of Shadow, not Shadow himself.

Shadow's Character Assassination

Shadow's character derailment began in Sonic Free Riders when Kirk Thornton started voicing him, and it only got worse when Pontaff started writing him in every game from Colors onwards. At this point, Shadow became EXACTLY what the Internet thought he was: an edgy, arrogant prick who likes to call Sonic "faker", thinks he's better than everyone else, and hates friendship.

He didn't really do much in Colors DS and Generations, so I don't have much to say about his characterization in those games. However, this line in Generations really makes me cringe, because it just demonstrates how much Kirk Thornton sucked as Shadow:

The Sonic Boom games, as well as the cartoon of the same name, basically took all of Meta Era Shadow's worst traits and cranked them up to eleven, to the point of making him an outright villain. Boom Shadow is a one dimensional high school bully who straight-up INSULTS Sonic and his loyalty to his friends, even though the Shadow I know values friendship and is a hero with a dark, tragic past.

This bastardized version of Shadow is the ANTITHESIS of Shadow's character, and one of the many reasons why I hate the Sonic Boom universe as a whole. My anger at how badly they fucked up his character still persists to this day. I know Sonic Boom is meant to be an alternate universe separate from the main series, but that's not a valid excuse to turn Shadow into an one dimensional edgelord for literally NO reason. If you're going to drastically alter a character's personality for a different universe, at least give them a good reason to be that way. Can Shadow be an evil asshole in an alternate universe? Yes, but only if he is given a good reason to be, but Boom Shadow is just a high school bully without a reason to be that way.

Out of all of Shadow's portrayals in the mainline games, Sonic Forces is the easily the worst. He basically murdered Infinite's entire squad, and then he proceeds to beat up Infinite and make fun of him, calling him "worthless", which Infinite somehow interprets as Shadow calling him "weak".

This is VERY out of character for Shadow. You would think that Shadow of all people would know that killing the only people you have a close relationship with will not end well. And because of what happened to Maria, I don't believe he would ever do such a thing. Overall, I see Shadow killing Infinite's squad and then making fun of Infinite as character assassination. Infinite suffering trauma from that makes sense, but Shadow being the cause... No.

Shadow's portrayal in Team Sonic Racing wasn't any better, as he only cared about winning against Sonic in a race to prove he's better than him.

Also, there's this petty argument between Sonic and Shadow that drags on for far too long (ten levels to be precise!). Basically, the argument was: Sonic suspects Shadow is working for Eggman (even though he hasn't done that since SA2, but ok), Shadow says he's just here to race (fair), Sonic taunts him, then they race (seems somewhat normal so far), but then they just argue over it afterwards? WTF?

In another cutscene, Silver was like, "Oh no, Eggman's working with Dodon Pa" and Tails goes, "Oh no! Can't do anything right now though, Sonic and Shadow are having a petty argument. Maybe later". Like, what?

They even yell at Rouge at one point too for interrupting them, that's how petty it is. I mean, what the hell? Aren't Shadow and Rouge supposed to be friends? What happened to their close relationship in the Adventure/Dark Era titles?

Well, according to SEGA, Shadow, Rouge and Omega are no longer friends; now they're just co-workers who, as a team, are semi functional at best. What the hell, SEGA?

A big part of what made Team Dark great in the first place was their close friendship with one another, and how much they love and care for each other despite their hard pasts. Team Dark without their close-knit friendship and introvert bonding doesn't feel right to me, and it really sucks that Ian Flynn won't allow Shadow to have friends because of SEGA's BS mandates.

My Final Thoughts

Overall, I believe Shadow is one of the most misunderstood Sonic characters ever. He was a hero at best in Heroes and 06, and an anti-hero in misguided situations like his solo game and SA2. He was never a full on villain until Kirk Thornton started voicing him and Pontaff started writing him. It's as if SEGA just looked at the memes made by people who don't even like Shadow (or the Sonic franchise in general), took them at face value, and made that his entire character. Honestly, I feel sorry for newer fans who were only exposed to the Boom/Pontaff version of Shadow and never got to see the real Shadow. He was once a great, deep character with a beautiful four game arc (SA2, Heroes, ShTH and 06) and an amazing personality and motive, now he's just a brooding, friendless edgelord with little to no personality beyond "fuck all of you, I wanna win, friendship is stupid". I wish newer fans could have access to the older games, so they can experience all these great, powerful and emotional storylines and to see Shadow for what he really is: a selfless hero who protects humanity and cares about his friends and people who side with him. He stands thoroughly by his own beliefs and goals, he does what’s right, and he's arguably one of the most sympathetic characters in the franchise if you really think about it.

SEGA really needs to get Shadow's character right in the next game. Otherwise, pop culture will continue to believe those memes, which will result in more people failing to understand Shadow as a character. Shadow is a good person deep down, which is why it always annoys me to see him portrayed as that stereotypical edgy persona that some people see them as. The Shadow I know speaks and acts with reason and defends what he holds dear. I really hope that Shadow will go back to the way he was in the 2000's, even if the possibility of that happening is pretty much slim to none. Is there hope that Shadow will ever go back to how he used to be before Pontaff ruined him? Maybe. Only time will tell.

[shadamyheadcanons]

Headcanon #264: Valentine’s Day 2

When I read this ask, I immediately thought, “No way. I have SO MANY. I’ll NEVER think of another one in time. I’ll just link the ones I’ve already made, like this one, and this one, or the one I can’t find, or even that story I wrote where Amy’s a cupid...”

And then I thought of this thing two minutes later. Creativity is a limitless resource, kids.

--

Shadow hated Valentine’s Day from the start. It started with the typical reasons: it commercialized and commodified love and excluded a multitude of people by its very nature. Even those in relationships often complained about the “burden” of giving their loved ones gifts, irritating Shadow even further, and the fact that he’d never dated anyone even into adulthood made things worse. His loathing of the holiday was so strong that it prompted others to joke that he simply hated love, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

More than anything, though, he hated what it did to Amy Rose.

This was a consistent observation of his for years, even long before he developed feelings for her. Seeing the very embodiment of love have to hide her pain and tough her way through Valentine’s Day, of all days, felt fundamentally wrong and upsetting to him. The rejection she suffered every year--whether because Sonic was taken or simply because he wasn’t interested and had to gently let her down once more--was easier to see every year, and the more he grew to care for her, the worse it got.

Amy could see just as well as anyone how miserable Shadow always got. She called him one year and offered to “just hang out” on Valentine’s Day, figuring a good day with a friend would be far better than a sad day alone for both of them.

His reaction wasn’t what she was expecting. She’d never heard him sound so happy. It got even weirder when she met him at the restaurant, only to find he’d gotten dressed up. Sure, she was wearing a cute outfit, too, but “Palentine’s Day,” as she’d mentally been calling it, demanded such things. Getting dressed up simply made it more fun, she’d thought. She shrugged and figured he’d had the same idea.

The weirdness didn’t stop there. He’d bought a box of chocolates for her from her favorite bakery. She smiled, confused.

“Shadow, this is so sweet! You really went all out for this, huh?”

He nodded very seriously. “Of course. You’re important to me.”

She held a hand over her heart. “Aww, thank you! You’re important to me, too! But...” His ears perked up, and she smiled sheepishly. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble just because you felt bad for me. I feel bad that I didn't bring anything for you.”

His ears flattened against his head. “Amy, I didn’t do it because I felt bad for you. I did it because I like seeing you happy.”

“It’s okay. I know I’m a wreck this time of year,” she admitted, smiling wryly. She reached out and held his hands over the table. “And you’re a great friend for noticing!”

The elated grin that had started spreading over his cheeks from the contact stopped in its tracks at her words. His face went blank. “What?”

She nodded, grinning brightly. “For sure! And who knows, maybe next year will be different for both of us! Maybe I’ll finally win Sonic’s heart! And you’re a great guy, Shadow. I just know you could get anyone you wanted!” She frowned at his lack of reaction. “Shadow? Are you alright...?”

Shadow wasn’t looking at her. He was shaking and staring down at their hands. His eyes suddenly clenched shut, and he gritted his teeth. “You’re wrong.”

His hands were gripping hers more tightly than before. Her heart flooded with concern. “What do you mean?”

His head snapped back up. His expression was anguished and his eyes were watering, though he wouldn’t let any tears fall. “You’re wrong. I can’t have anyone I want,” he snapped. “I can’t even have the one person I do want!”

Her jaw dropped. Before she could respond, he tore his hands away and placed a bouquet of her favorite flowers on the table. “Chaos control!”

“Shadow wait--!”

He was gone in a flash. Shocked, Amy looked back down at the daffodils and read the tag.

Here’s to a happy Valentine’s Day and hopefully many more to come. Yours, Shadow

Amy covered her mouth and gasped, horrified.

What have I done?

--

Shadow was still a gentleman about the whole ordeal. He’d secretly cornered the waiter before he left to pay the bill, though Amy didn’t feel she deserved that. When she tried to contact him afterward, he didn’t ignore her, just said that he needed a little time.

This, of course, left her with plenty of time to commiserate and berate herself for her mistakes, intentional or not. Friends tried to talk her down about it, but everyone kind of hit a wall in consoling her once “I asked a guy out on Valentine’s Day” came up, particularly when most of her friends thought Shadow’s feelings for her were common knowledge.

Looking back, she should’ve guessed something was up when Cream congratulated her on “finally asking him.”

The incident also forced her to confront a harsh truth about herself: as obsessed as she was about romance, she really didn’t know much about it at all. Before the end of the “not-date,” she’d enjoyed herself in a way she never did with Sonic. There was a grounded, stable feeling she’d always craved deep down, and she couldn’t deny how nice it was to have someone who cared for her, who remembered her favorite bakery, her favorite flowers, and who was nothing but a gentleman even after she’d hurt him.

A few weeks passed. It wasn’t enough for a full about-face, but she knew she was ready to give love--real love--a try.

Shadow eventually showed up on her porch. She opened the door, and he visibly took a deep breath.

“I apologize for my rude departure on the fourteenth. Given your crush on Sonic, I should have clarified my feelings from the beginning to avoid any misunderstandings,” he recited. It was clear he’d rehearsed his apology. “I truly value our friendship, and though I do still harbor romantic feelings for you, I will happily set aside--”

“Will you go out with me?”

Shadow blinked at the interruption and stopped in his tracks. “What?”

“I want to go out with you. Like, romantically. As a date.”

They both just stared at each other, wide-eyed and awkward, until Shadow laughed in disbelief and broke the silence. “Yeah. I mean...yes. Of course.”

A rush of air left Amy’s lungs in relief. She laughed breathlessly and stepped forward to pull Shadow into a hug. “I’m so sorry. I was an idiot, I--”

He held her close and stroked his fingers soothingly through her quills. “It’s fine.”

Amy was right about one thing. The next Valentine’s Day was far better for both of them.

--

((I realize this bears a significant resemblance to a story of mine, Shadow Sensations, but rather than worry about the overlap, I’ll just recommend it if you liked this headcanon. There’s a lot more humor in that one.))

[tacobellabeanburrito]

Welcome To My Blog!

Hey! I’m making another pinned post because the one that I originally did got lost to my reblogging so yeah. 

Aloha! I’m Raina (or Raine) and I draw, sing, dance, write and act! But I don’t really post a lot of the stuff I write or draw, although I have finally gotten around to posting my writings, I don’t think I have the confidence to post my art yet. I’m also 18! (Thought it was about time I put my age in my bio)

Fandoms I’m Into ATM: Gravity Falls, Sonic, Hunter x Hunter, Ducktales, The Three Caballeros, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, Buddy Daddies, The Millionaire Detective: Balance Unlimited, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hazbin Hotel, FNAF, The Umbrella Academy, My Little Pony, Sanders Sides, Clarence, Wander Over Yonder, Craig of the Creek, Mario, Kirby, Hamilton, Dan Vs, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Villainous, Minecraft: Storymode, Ace Attorney, Hazbin Hotel, Sk8 The Infinity, Tomodachi Life, SpongeBob SquarePants, Stardew Valley, Good Omens, Vinesauce, Markiplier, Undertale, Total Drama, Deltarune and many more!

I’m mostly just into books, movies, musicals, cartoons and video games in general!

Most of my posts are reblogs, but sometimes I’ll post random shit that happens to me (especially rants, vents and school related stuff) and some of my drawings and writings, so don’t mind that. (Also, sorry if my reblogging is too much, I reblog ALOT of shit, so sorry if it’s annoying) and if you want someone to talk to or wanna be friends, just hit me up! My blog is also a safe space for everyone (except for the usual gross people like p*dos, incest shippers, the like) I hope you enjoy your stay! (I also don’t usually tag my reblogs, sometimes I will but only for little comments I make)

And in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight! (PS, if you are the IRS or are sent by the IRS just know that I will not be paying taxes)

Oh also, if you ever get on my blog on the computer, tell me what song you got on my playlist! Whatever song you get is you if you were a song.

Oh right, here are a few of my fanfics if you’re interested.

Experiment 47: The Copier Machine: Ford is lonely. Very, very lonely. And as much as he didn’t want to admit it... He missed his twin. So, what’s the most logical way to deal with repressed emotions instead of sucking up your pride and actually trying to make up with your twin? Build a cloning machine, of course. (Basically my theory on how the cloning machine in the Mystery Shack came to be)

The New Look Turnabouts: As time goes on, Miles and Phoenix end up changing their iconic looks (Either by accident or on purpose) and every time they end up falling more in love with each other.

Restless In Los Kyoto: After Phoenix sends his radio message to Miles, he doesn't exactly expect anything to come from it. And he especially doesn't expect to get a response back.

Hijinks & Shenanigans Will Ensue: Little snippets in the lives of our favorite Ace Attorney characters. Some stories will be based on official artworks, others are based on my own ideas. Some will even be Aus. All of them will be drabbles and little ficlets.

Fic requests are always open! It just might take me a while to get to them because of motivation, school, theatre, work and other stuff.

Here’s my sideblog btw, it’s the one I use for my more explicit fanfics and when I have to say explicit stuff that I don’t want on my main: https://www.tumblr.com/cowabungaits-drshrimppuertorico.

Also, here’s some quizzes I made! 

https://uquiz.com/fZWBsK (what do you live for?)

https://uquiz.com/eCH3HW (which member of my family are you?)

https://uquiz.com/v2O6Sp (would i let you introduce me to a new type of media i haven’t seen and that you like)

https://uquiz.com/m1NZOq (you answer stuff and i decide what unknown media i like that i think you’d like)

https://uquiz.com/2ulAQQ (which character from a musical/play that i was in are you)

https://uquiz.com/payRQj (what character are you but it’s my original story characters that will most likely never see the light of day)

Also here’s some of my art (I’ve been posting it recently and it’s been sooo bad I promise I’m good at art guys look)

(It’s a pencil drawing of a photorealistic balloon)

[intheticklecloset]

Some Kind of Way (My Hero Academia)

ShinDeku AU

Summary: Shinsou begins to realize he may have feelings for Deku, and it makes him act so out of the ordinary that his crush decides the best way to help him relax is the very thing that kickstarted his feelings in the first place.

A/N: I am so unbelievably excited to finally share this with you! This one has been waiting in the wings for quite a while! Welcome to the first fic in my official ShinDeku AU! This story takes place after the events of "Say Mercy" and creates an entirely new storyline. While these two remain good friends in the Primary Universe, in this AU, things go a little differently.

I will admit this is pretty self-indulgent, but I know I'll want to keep writing for these boys, and what better excuse than to create an alternate reality in which they get together? Cute boyfriends and lots of tickling - what more could you want? I hope you enjoy! <3 <3

Word Count: 2,275

~~~

Midoriya: Video games at my place! Kaminari and Todoroki are coming – do you wanna join??

Shinsou stared at his phone screen for so long it went dark on him three times. He’d nearly forgotten that at some point he and Deku had exchanged numbers. Their spring break had just started; today was Monday, which meant that Deku’s mom was probably at work right now, as it was just after ten in the morning.

It really shouldn’t have been this hard to reply to a text. Yet here he sat, struggling to do just that.

It’s video games, Shinsou berated himself. You’ve played video games with him before. That’s what you were doing the last time you hung out. Just answer his text!

Shinsou: Yes. I don’t know where you live, though.

Midoriya: I’ll send you the details! Can’t wait!! :D

Shinsou set his phone aside, heart racing. This is ridiculous. What’s happening to me? He rubbed his eyes tiredly, his mind flashing back to the last time he’d hung out with Deku. They’d gotten into a tickle fight, which he’d ultimately won, but there had been a…a moment. When he’d pinned Deku for the last time and ordered him to beg for mercy. The way Deku had screamed the word over and over through hysterical fits of laughter…

He swallowed. It had been so satisfying, but more than that, it had been…cute. No, adorable. Completely, utterly adorable. Deku was adorable. And for the first time, Shinsou was noticing.

He tried not to think about it as he gathered up his things and walked out the door, heading to the destination the green-haired boy had provided him with.

*

Seeing him in person was so much worse.

Deku opened up the door with a bright smile and an invitation to come inside. It was the first time Shinsou had seen him without his school uniform or hero costume on. He wore a bright yellow All Might t-shirt and blue shorts, and he was barefoot. Shinsou awkwardly took his own shoes off in the entryway and followed him into the small living room, where Todoroki was already seated on the floor.

The icy-hot hero raised a hand in greeting. Shinsou nodded at him, then took a seat as well.

“Kaminari should be here any minute,” Deku said, pulling out his phone to check for a text from the blonde. “It’s so cool to finally have friends over at my place! Make yourselves at home. We’ve got juice and soda in the fridge if you want some, and later we can have lunch together, too.” Deku smiled so brightly it lit up the whole block. “Plus I’ll get to introduce you to a racing game that’s not Mario Kart for once!”

Shinsou couldn’t take his eyes off of him. He found himself noticing things more and more. The particular shade of green that his eyes were. The spattering of freckles across his face and arms. How scarred his right arm was. How muscular he was despite his smaller stature. Shinsou noticed all of it, and it made his heart beat faster and faster. Crap, crap, crap, he thought frantically. I…I’ve got a—

Someone knocked on the door, Deku hurried to answer it, and the spell was broken. Shinsou blinked several times. Seriously, what was happening to him?

“Heyyy, it’s my man Shinsou!” Kaminari greeted enthusiastically, slapping him on the back. “And Todoroki, of course. Ready to lose some video games?”

Shinsou let out a sigh of relief, then smirked up at him. “The joke’s on you, Kaminari. Midoriya says we’re not playing Mario Kart.”

“Dude, what?” Kaminari whipped around to face Deku. It was so much easier to look at him with Kaminari in the room as well. “You can’t take my crown away like that!”

Deku grinned. “I’m introducing you to a different racing game. Kacchan and I play it sometimes – Team Sonic Racing!”

“Sonic has a racing game?” Kaminari asked, then hummed. “Well, he is a speedy little guy. I guess it makes sense.”

“Team racing?” Todoroki asked. “What does that mean?”

Deku lit up at the question, then launched into a long, rambling explanation of all the ways it differed from Mario Kart, and why it was superior, as well. After a little while they finally got to the actual playing part of it, and before they knew it, the morning hours were long gone.

*

Getting lost in the world of Team Sonic Racing did wonders for Shinsou’s mind. He was able to focus on something that wasn’t Deku, for once – even if Deku’s character of choice did cause him a lot of trouble during the races. It gave him a chance to calm down, clear his head, and get back to his normal self. At least, until a couple of hours later when it was lunchtime.

Kaminari had announced early on that he had lunch plans with some others from their class, so it was expected that he’d leave after a couple of hours. But it was a surprise to both Shinsou and Deku when Todoroki announced he was also leaving.

“My apologies,” he said, “but I got a text from my sister that asked me to meet her downtown for lunch with her and my brother. I’m…trying to get back in touch with them, as it were. I can’t really do that while I’m at the dorms.”

“That’s okay,” Deku said, sounding sincere. “I understand. Go have fun with your family.” Then he turned to Shinsou. “Do you want to stay, or do you have somewhere to be?”

Shinsou’s heart was racing again. He was about to be alone with Midoriya again.

“I…I can stay,” he said, nodding. “If that’s all right with you.”

“Of course!”

After bidding farewell to their other friends, Deku led Shinsou back into the kitchen and opened up the fridge, pulling out various things they could use to make sandwiches. Shinsou got the bread out of the pantry (after struggling for a few moments to even find the pantry), and soon they were both at work making lunch for themselves.

“How’s your spring break so far?” Deku asked.

“It’s…fine,” Shinsou murmured. He didn’t really have anything exciting to report on. “You?”

“Great! I kind of took it easy this weekend because All Might insisted I actually rest, but we trained together this morning before I invited you over for video games. We’ll train again tomorrow, too.”

Shinsou glanced at him. “It’s spring break.”

“I know, but I don’t want to stop training. I’ve got to work as hard as I can to get even stronger.”

“Rest is important, too, you know.”

Deku smiled. “You sound just like everyone else.”

“Because we’re right.”

“I’m resting more than I’m training this week. Don’t worry, Shinsou. I won’t burn myself out.”

Shinsou nodded. “Good.”

“So,” Deku continued, expertly changing the topic as he finished up his sandwich, “want to play some more after lunch? Or we could watch a movie or something instead. What do you want to do?”

“Um…” Shinsou hesitated. Again that image of Deku laughing and begging entered his mind. He shoved it away. “I…I don’t know. Midoriya,” he added quickly, before he lost his nerve, “why do you want to hang out with me so much?”

Deku went silent for a moment. “Because you’re my friend? And you’re really cool! I think it’s so awesome that you want to join the hero course, and your quirk is so useful, especially with that voice changer thing you have now, and—”

“Useful?” Shinsou turned to look at him, surprised. “No one’s ever called my quirk useful before.”

“Then no one’s really known you before,” Deku replied confidently, taking his first bite of his lunch. “Mmm, this is good! What’d you make?”

Shinsou glanced down at his half-finished sandwich and reached for some lunch meat. “To be determined.”

*

When they’d finished eating and cleaned up the kitchen, Shinsou and Deku went back into the living room, where Team Sonic Racing sat waiting for them on the screen, should they continue to play it.

“Are you okay, Shinsou?” Deku asked, his voice gentler now. “You seem bothered about something.”

Dear god, was he really so easy to read? Shinsou cleared his throat. “No, I’m fine. I’m just…” He searched for the words. How could he explain to Deku that he was pretty sure he had a crush…on Deku? “I’m just…I don’t know. Fine.”

“You know, if you’re not up for video games anymore, we could play a different game,” Deku said. Shinsou glanced up at him, hearing the teasing tone in his voice, and his eyes widened when he saw the green-haired boy wiggling his fingers and smiling wide.

Instant. Blush.

“Uh, I-I mean…I mean, i-if you…want to, then…” Shinsou stammered, hating every word he tripped over. It had never been difficult for him to speak to Midoriya before. Why was it suddenly the hardest thing he’d ever done?

“Actually, maybe we shouldn’t have a tickle fight,” Deku announced even as he lunged for Shinsou and tackled him to the floor. “Maybe I should just tickle you! You really need to relax, Shinsou. You act like I’m about to bite you or something.”

“I d-dohohohohon’t – I cahahahahan’t help it!” he giggled, the light pinches along his sides and ribs enough to help him loosen up a little, but not enough to really make him panic just yet. He fell onto his back on the floor, letting Deku tickle all over his torso, drawing giggle after much-needed giggle out of him.

“You don’t have to be nervous around me,” Deku continued, oblivious to Shinsou’s struggle. “We’re friends! If you want to talk about something, I’m happy to listen.”

Crap, crap, crap! Shinsou brought his hands up to cover his face, growing really, truly flustered now. “I’m sohohohohohohorry, I cahahahahan’t – I cahahahaHAHAHAHAN’T!! NAHAHAHAHAHA!!” The violet-haired boy shot his arms down to try and shove Deku away when he reached his hips, squeezing with a wicked smirk on his face. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHO!! MIDORYA!!”

“Relax, Shinsou~” Deku teased, swinging a leg over to straddle his friend and pin him more firmly in place, still squeezing his hips. “Sometimes it’s best to just laugh it all out, right?”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! GOD, MIHIHIHIHIDORIYA!! NOT THEHEHEHEHERE!!” Shinsou cackled, twisting and writhing on the ground. “YOU KNOHOHOHOHOHOW IT’S BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD THEHEHEHERE!!”

“Why do you think I’m tickling you there?” Deku laughed, too, finding his hip bones and pressing in deeply. “Tickle, tickle, tickle~”

“DOHOHOHOHOHOHOHON’T!!” Shinsou cried, flustered and embarrassed but also having a lot of fun despite himself. He let out a loud shriek and kicked his legs when Deku focused on that one spot that drove him absolutely crazy. “NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! MIDORIYAHAHAHAHA!!”

Deku chuckled. “Feeling better? Feeling relaxed yet, Shinsou?”

Shinsou squealed, prying his eyes open just enough to see Deku’s huge smile, his bright eyes, his looming form over him, and the boy from 1-C simply could not take it anymore. “PLEHEHEHEASE!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP IT!! MIDORIYA, PLEHEHEHEHEASE!! MERCY!! MERCY MERCY MERCYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!”

Deku stopped, but didn’t climb off of him. Shinsou gasped for breath and looked up at him, still giggling, surprised to see a tiny blush on the boy’s freckled cheeks. He blinked a few times. “M-Midoriya?”

“I…I’m s-sorry, I, uh…” Deku stammered, blinking as well. His cheeks got even pinker. “Oh! I’ll let you go—”

Shinsou reached up faster than either of them could think and grabbed onto Deku’s arms, stopping him from climbing off just yet. He forced himself to make eye contact with the smaller boy, and when he did, what he saw there gave him the encouragement he needed to finally get this off of his chest.

“Midoriya,” he said quietly, “I think I need to tell you something.”

Deku swallowed. He suddenly seemed nervous, too. “Y-Yeah?”

Shinsou’s heart was pounding against his ribcage. “I…I kind of…like you. Like…you know. That way.”

Deku let out a little gasp in response, but he never broke eye contact. His cheeks went from pink to red. “I…I t-think I like you, too, Shinsou…”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Shinsou finally moved to sit up, wrapping an arm around Deku’s back to keep him from falling over as he did so, and when he was upright again the two of them were face-to-face. Shinsou’s eyes flicked all over Deku’s blushing features, from his shining eyes down to his lips and back up again. Then he brought his free hand up to scribble against the smaller boy’s side.

Deku immediately smiled wide, giggling slightly, and Shinsou’s suspicions were confirmed. “Ugh, you’re adorable,” he muttered, pulling him into a bear hug and burying his face in his shoulder. “You know that? Adorable, Midoriya.”

“I-I think you’re cute, too,” Deku stammered, sounding incredibly flustered.

“Only cute?” Shinsou teased, digging his fingertips into the boy’s ribs, feeling him jolt in his arms but holding him tightly all the same. “Wow, and after I just poured my heart out to you.”

“Ahahahahaha nohohohohohoho! I’m sohohohohohorry!” Deku squealed, giggling and squirming but unable to go anywhere or protect himself. He tossed his head back and laughed freely. “You’re adohohohohohorable, too! Plehehehehehease, Shinsou!”

“Too late, Midoriya,” Shinsou replied, grinning into his shoulder, feeling more confident now. He slid one tickling hand down to Deku’s hip and laughed with him when he spasmed so hard they both fell to the floor. “You said I was just cute. Now you’ll have to face the wrath of the tickle monster!”

“Nohohohohohohohoho!” Deku cried, giggling hysterically, but it was obvious to both of them that he didn’t really want any of this to stop, and neither did Shinsou.

So it didn’t.

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

fuck I still haven't done the rewrite of the Mutant Town AU that I specifically came off hiatus to write, like the Plant Witch Sam and Pharaoh Tucker posts were written to prep this au and I just got wildly distracted so uhhhh

yeah the concept is in the link but the gist is that the people and town becoming mutated by constant ectoplasmic contamination, we all know and love this concept right but I'm gonna expand on it

this is a direct result of the portal being opened, but they aren't getting infected from the portal, the issue is that creating a permanent opening into the ghost zone has weakened the veil between their worlds and Amity Park and the Ghost Zone sort of slip in and out of each other constantly

and because ectoplasm responds strongly to emotions (poltergeists being made from atmospheric emotions for example) it all tends to converge very heavily at the school full of hormonal teenagers

so Casper High becomes its own god damn cryptid, the teachers get so jaded about opening the door to a classroom and finding just a whole ass ghost zone on the other side that they just put a sign on the door telling kids to go to a different room, lockers swap contents with other lockers so kids have started putting their names on the inside so they know who's stuff they've just found

this also means the kids get super affected, like super affected, literally, they all get ghost powers, some are just physical mutations, some are just super abilities, or a general increase in natural ability, like a member of the track team getting super speed

it takes a while for Danny and co. to figure this out, Sam and Tucker should have been warning signs as they've spent the most time around ghosts and the ghost zone, but that's why the Witch Sam and Pharaoh Tucker posts are important

they have powers, but they thought they came exclusively from outside sources, they had no idea that their abilities were also strengthened and influenced by being highly contaminated by ectoplasm, which is why when one day Mikey sneezes and green acid shoots out of his nose and melts his desk, everyone is a little bit startled

the teachers have long since started using ghost detectors after the time Paulina spent a whole week overshadowed by Kitty, so Mikey gets a check over and other than the usual atmospheric reading Lancer gets nothing especially strong from him

there have been concerns about the gradually increasing ectoplasmic content in the air messing with ghost detector results, the devices have to be recalibrated constantly, so Lancer asks the one and only son of the local ghost hunters in the room if he has some other way to check

Danny's parents make him keep a few protective items in his schoolbag, so he tries some gear on him to see if anything comes flying out, but nothing does, Danny isn't too surprised seeing as he couldn't sense a ghost in the room anyway, but it definitely makes things a little concerning

even if it were a repeat of the Spectra incident and he wasn't being overshadowed, the Fenton's tech would have still gotten rid of whatever was causing this if it were an external influence

Mikey is sent home for the day and his parents are told to keep an eye on him

and then the next week, Star drops a pen off her desk and a strand of her hair whips out to grab it, she's also checked for ghost influence and sent home

a few weeks after that it happens again, a kid on the basketball team makes a leap to the net and stays in the air, they have to call in the cheerleaders to climb on top of each other to reach him and pull him down

Danny has been trying to figure out what's happening from the first moment with Mikey, and his parents have also been getting calls from worried parents who want to know if they can fix whatever's happening to their kids

over the next couple of months, every kid in the school has some kind of ability or mutation, Dash heals whoever he touches, which he discovers after punching Nathan in the face and curing his acne, Paulina turns invisible, which freaks her out at first until she realises it's great for eavesdropping, Wes can conjure fire (because I desperately needed him to have a polarising ability to Danny), Kwan becomes empathic and can feel and influence people's emotions

Valerie also had an early mutation that she didn't know about, when Technus gave her a new suit, her body pretty much just absorbed it as a part of her, Technus had not intended this to happen, and was pretty peeved about it, Valerie found out that she had stolen control over the suit when Technus had a big rant about it during a fight, and she put the pieces together once other kids started developing abilities

this whole thing causes a ton of chaos as kids are struggling to control what they can do, so Danny has to step in and help them out, he often has to run off to change into Phantom in order to protect everyone from an ability that's gone haywire, he ends up pretty much running ghost power training courses after school to help them control themselves

he's also gotten stuck in situations where he's had to step in and help someone without having the time to change forms, meaning he has to make up a cover story about having developed his own powers way before everyone else since he's been living on top of a portal for years, he only tells people about his ice powers

Jazz has always had a tendency to be able to reign in her emotions and keep a cool head, (the only ones who can really push her buttons are Danny and sometimes her parents, at school around other kids who look up to her she's often very in control) meaning she doesn't draw ectoplasm to herself all that much, and though Danny uses the excuse of having lived on top of a ghost portal to explain why he's already so familiar with using his power, it's actually not even remotely true, because the Fentons use specialised air purifiers to keep the atmospheric ectoplasm at a manageable level, the Fenton house ironically has the least atmospheric contamination compared to the rest of the town, that's how Maddie and Jack have had limited mutation to themselves (though they aren't wholly free, they've mostly just gotten physically stronger and tougher)

so even though Jazz develops her power a little earlier than everyone else's, it's not that far ahead, and she actually doesn't even realise she already has one until half the school has developed theirs

Jazz has the power to slow time in a little bubble around herself, she'd been using it without realising while studying, having gotten through hours of work in half that time, she always thought it was just her losing track of time or she was just getting faster at reading, she also spends a lot of time counselling other students and trying to help them sort out their problems, and they'd often comment that they felt like they'd been talking for so much longer than they had, again she just chalked it up to losing track of time

a lot of students had wondered why Danny developed a power early and Jazz hadn't, until someone walked in on Jazz helping a girl through a panic attack in the bathroom, and found them both talking extremely fast, a lot of her friends realised in hindsight that she'd been doing that unwittingly for quite a while, nobody had noticed because she always talked to people privately, so nobody outside her little time bubble had seen it happen

Sam and Tucker come clean about their abilities too, but they also don't give the full rundown, still keeping some things close to the chest to avoid standing out from everyone else

then there's the teachers

adults typically have a better time regulating emotions than teenagers, meaning much like Jazz they aren't drawing as much ectoplasm toward themselves, but this doesn't exempt them from developing something after a while, especially with the heightened stress of managing a school full of volatile super kids

Mr Lancer discovers that he can create shields, after an incident where he jumps in front of some students to protect them from another power gone awry

Tetslaff ends up with a sonic ability, able to project her voice like a megaphone (yes this is a Coach Boomer from Sky High reference don't @ me), Principal Ishiyama develops a physical mutation, growing to twice her size, she likes that she can tower over the students while delivering speeches, but she doesn't like having to stoop through doors all the time, she has the one to her office resized, along with her chair and desk

so as you can imagine, the town ends up erupting into chaos, a lot of kids very much misuse their abilities, Danny does his best as Phantom to teach people to be responsible, but sometimes he has to resort to literally kicking their asses to get them to straighten up

but for the most part, a ton of kids were already looking up to him, and are generally pretty happy to follow his example, especially the more popular kids, it's generally considered not very cool to get your ass kicked by Phantom, so weirdly enough a lot of kids get peer pressured into not causing any real damage or injury with their powers

this doesn't mean they don't absolutely misuse them, they're just more subtle about it

until a ghost shows up, a lot of the kids are more than happy to let loose to protect themselves and their friends, and Phantom for the most part is happy to let them, with some supervision of course, he still has to make sure nobody gets too hurt (including the ghosts)

the entire debacle makes Danny's life simultaneously a whole lot easier AND so much more fucking stressful

[dizzydennis]

Sonic x Cream & Cheese Cover Story - English Translation

Translator note: I am not fluent in Japanese. I did my best to bring these translations for Sonic fans to enjoy. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcomed, but please be kind. I hope you enjoy this sweet little story!

It’s the popping and colorful, “Music Plant.”

Tubes of brass instruments weave and wind around the bouncing path of a piano keyboard. This area is entertaining to anybody who listens to  the music within it and it’s become somewhat of a famous attraction for some animals.

In such a cheerful place like the Music Plant, you can see two energetic shadows chasing after something. The blue hedgehog, "Sonic" was ahead of the other two with a large gap between them.

Just behind was the little rabbit girl, "Cream" and her chao friend, "Cheese.” Due to the Music Plant being full of various musical instruments and gadgets, even if they thought they had caught up, they'd be pulled elsewhere soon again. The race between these characters allowed the scales of music to play beautifully like a duet.

Looking back, Sonic couldn't see Cream. Sonic tried slowing to walk to assess the situation, but... Cream then came down softly from the sky and blocked his way.

“Mr. Sonic! Please let us go on an adventure together!”

Cream can fly through the sky by flopping her big ears. She could never beat Sonic in terms of foot speed, but she was always able to catch up with some clever shortcuts. Sonic smiled and sighed.

“Like I said, ‘that’s no good!’ The place I’m heading towards is pretty dangerous.”

Sonic carefully chose his words. As he continued on forward he gave a wink to express an all-too-simple: “I’m sorry.”

Sonic then slipped and said “...for a kid.”

Upon hearing this, Cream puffed out her cheeks in frustration and clenched her fists.

“Urgh, Mr. Sonic! Don’t treat me like a little kid! Hmph!”

“It’s not like that, Cream! It’s not that at all. It’s just a bit...”

-ZUUUUUUUUUN-

Just as Sonic tried to find the right words, a terrifying rumbling sound was heard from a distance that shook the Earth. Sonic gave a serious look. Apparently he had a bit of an idea of what that sound was.

“I gotta go fast! Cream, you get home safely, OK?”

“Ah, Mr. Sonic! Please wait!”

Sonic, who flew off at full speed this time, disappeared from Cream’s view as he ran towards the horizon.

For a few seconds, Cream stared at where Sonic had ran with a frazzled expression, but she soon got blown forward... or rather, she started walking again with a much more excited expression.

“Teehee, we should probably go check out that loud noise. It’ll surely shock Mr. Sonic!”

“Chao, chao?”

Cheese seemed to be questioning why Cream wants to keep up with Sonic so badly.

“Is it alright, Cheese? Wherever Sonic goes, there’s bound to be lots of fun adventures! Of course, there are times when our adventures get tough, but Sonic is strong, kind, and knows all about how to adventure. Everything will be just fine!”

“Chao! Chao, chao!”

Cheese seemed to agree and the two went off!

-BANG!!!-

The air shook from far away, and suddenly a loud roar broke through the air. A very large clump of iron flew towards them while it emitted a thick black smoke. It quickly slammed downwards.

CRASH! CRASH! The keyboard bridge and instruments around it were totaled and collapsed.

“Th-Thi- This is bad!”

It must have come from that dangerous place Sonic mentioned just before. Cream, who had fallen over due to the first impact had gotten up in the chaos of everything and saw the miserable, destroyed surroundings. She tried to dust herself off.

Crumbling bridges, animals fleeing for their lives... is this what constitutes as an adventure?

Meanwhile... on the other side of the Music Plant.

“You wanna play me a number? Heh, this is just a robot from Eggman’s Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park; I guess he won’t play.”

A mass-produced Death Egg Robot about the size of a small mountain had stopped moving and was leaning against a trumpet-like facility. It stopped with black smoke shooting out all over the place.

Through it all, Sonic was making a fool of himself while gleefully playing the trumpets.

The truth is, Sonic came here to take down this mass-produced Death Egg Robot when he had heard it was attacking here. The owner, Dr. Eggman, was nowhere to be seen as this seemed to be a “stray robot” that rampaged at complete random. Even so, it was still strong and dangerous. Sonic had to be careful getting Cream involved.

The robot was defeated without much trouble. Sonic was in a good mood because he had made sure the collateral damage was minimal. With this, fixing things back to normal would be fairly easy. The beautiful scenery of the Music Plant and the beautiful sounds that people loved would soon be restored.

Suddenly...

Sonic noticed black smoke rising from the overpass which was only a short distance away. It seemed like the last explosion from the destroyed Death Egg Robot may have caused a huge clump of debris to fly off. It must have flown far and struck that bridge.

“Oh no!”

There were probably many tourists there and Sonic felt it was the exact area where he split up from Cream. He ran with all of his might and had an absolutely serious look on his face.

Sonic traveled at the speed of sound as he overcame colorful hills, spin dashed through a tunnel of brass instruments, and more to arrive at the scene.

A group of animals seemed to be relaxing after having safely evacuated the dangerous bridge area. Cream and Cheese flew down as she flapped her ears.

“Cream!”

“Mr. Sonic!?”

Cream made an expression that shined brightly as she flew to Sonic. But in the shadows of her shining smile, she was tired... but still happy. She went to rescue the many animals and others who were too slow and left behind on the bridge. She took care of the children who had been separated from their parents.

Sonic talked for a while and noticed that Cream was safe, the damage to the surroundings was not as catastrophic as it first seemed, and there were no major injuries. Cream felt relieved and put her hand to her chest. However, Cream’s expression seemed off.

She then said, “I’m so glad that everybody is safe.”

Cream looked downward and continued to speak in a sweet voice.

“I really wanted to defeat that bad robot and go on an adventure with Sonic.”

Just then, Cream stomped on some pebbles at her feet and turned away from Sonic. She continued to look down at the ground. Sonic spoke softly to Cream with a gentle smile.

“That’s not it at all, Cream.”

Sonic stroke the back of Cream’s head and she slowly looked up. Sonic then took to one knee to be at Cream’s eye level.

“An adventure like today... well, it requires both ‘strength’ and ‘kindness.’ We gotta make sure we have both of them.”

“...?”

“Today, you helped me out entirely with your kindness. It was honestly a huge help if I do say so myself!”

“!?”

“Sure! I defeated the robot that was attacking the Music Plant, but half of this adventure was entirely you, Cream!”

“!!”

Like a soft breeze floating by, Cream’s heart shined.

There are times when things get really tough, but if you have strength and kindness, it will be okay. Isn't that the ideal form of an "adventure" for Cream? Today she had an adventure with Sonic!

For Cream, today’s excitement, her hard work, and the way things turned out are all a shining part of her adventures.

Happiness and pride filled Cream’s heart.

“I... really had an adventure?”

“Yeah!”

“I really used my kindness well?”

“Sure!”

“So... will you... take me on more adventures?”

Of course! Sonic gave a thumbs up as a promise, but as the sun started setting, he thought for a moment and answered:

“That’s fine by me, but... it’s getting late. Isn’t it time to go home? Your Mom must be worried. So, how’s tomorrow sound?”

“Hmph! Please don’t treat me like a kid again.”

Sonic ran off with an expression that showed he knew he hit a nerve. Cream and Cheese gave chase.

Music scales filled the air as they ran through the Music Plant; their performance echoing through the sky.