#guess sonadow will starve

[singforbloodau]

Hey guys, hello!! I'm a big fan of your manager, he's so cool and awesome and cute and doing his best. I'm your number one fan, manager!!!✨ You guys are cool too I guess

OC belongs to @lm-tomatito

[suna1suna1]

Hello, Tumblr! It's WIP Wednesday!

I think I'm gonna switch some stuff up because I haven't been getting much interaction with my WIP Wednesday game for a while, which is understandable. After a while of the same things, it isn't as exciting anymore and just gets boring.

So for this week, I'm gonna start a (no pressure) tag game! If you don't like participating in these, you don't have to, and if I tag you and you don't want to, PLEASE feel free to let me know. I don't want to be that annoying moot in your activity every week.

That said, here are the rules.

If I tag you, you can send 500-1000 words if your current WIP if you're a writer, your current WIP or WIPs if you're an artist, or both if you're both!

Then, once you're done, you can tag as many or as few people you want! Once again, NO PRESSURE! You can do or not do this as you please! ^^

Gonna get the tags out of the way first

@deadrabbithq @killingthecringe @nodulemodule

Starting with the art WIP, I have Silver's ref that I'm working on for To Catch a Hedgehog (as requested by the poll I put out)

And underneath the cut, here's about 500 words from To Catch a Hedgehog (if you don't like sonadow, no need to look under this cut. Ik at least one of the people I tagged isn't too big on it so yeah, no need to read if you're not into it lol)

"Informant. Now, why haven't you moved yet?" 

Sonic: "SO YOU WERE STALKING ME! GO AWAY!" 

Shadow: "I told you, it's not stalking. And I'm trying to save your ass."

Sonic: "After trying to take me out? Nah. I'm good." 

Shadow: "Look, I get it. But if you don't get out of the city, Robotnik is going to fire me and sick somebody else on you, and I doubt they'd be as merciful as I have been." 

Sonic: "Huh... 'have been'... interesting word choice. Okay, I'll bite. Why do you want to save me so bad when it's obviously putting your job at risk? I'm literally the person trying to wake people up and get Butt-nik out of power. Why are you turning on your boss?" 

Shadow didn't respond for a while. Why was he doing this? Sonic was right. He was putting his job, hell, maybe even his life on the line for a random guy. But this random guy was the only person stubborn enough to pull the kind of stunt he did. But if Robotnik wanted him dead so bad, then maybe it was because it was working. 

Besides, while Shadow had a job, it wasn't pleasant. It had never been something he wanted. He remembered wanting to help people, help Maria. He remembered saving up for medical school... before Ivo took out the council. Now he'd ended too many lives with his own hands.

Maria would have hated the person he'd become. He sure did. 

Her face flashed in his mind's eye. Her smile, encouraging. 

He swallowed. Then he typed out his reply.

Shadow: "You're not the only one who's lost people you loved to that monster." 

Sonic didn't reply for a bit. Shadow wasn't sure if he was going to, if that was a good enough reason to listen to him. 

Several minutes later, there was a new reply. 

Sonic: "I guess everyone has. But then why have you gone along with it for so long?" 

Shadow: "In the moment, I guess it beats starving." 

Sonic: "...Yeah, I still don't trust you. How do I know you're not gonna come here and murder me in my sleep anyway?" 

Shadow: "If I were going to do that, I already would have."

Sonic: "Sure... Anyway, is that all? Because I'm hungry and I can smell my roommate making chili." 

Shadow: "No. I want to know how you got those paintings up so fast. And you said you'd seen it when people become completely cybernetic. How?" 

Sonic: "Question numero uno, trade secret. Question numero dos, you don't want to know." 

Shadow: "I work for the government and even I don't know. I didn't even know that could happen." 

Sonic: "Oh, it does. All the time. Not pretty." 

Shadow: "How do you know?"

Sonic: "...Alright, look. I'm gonna set up a more secure account (and probably burn this one). I'll message you on the one condition that you don't tell anyone who I am. We can go from there after I've eaten." 

Shadow: "Fair enough."

[beevean]

What I furthermore find annoying about the current shipping mentality is that characters are not even allowed to stand near each other's vicinity without it immediately being taken as them being shipped and thus the ship being Totally Canon. God forbid they talk. Even more if they do anything the franchise is known for, like shaking/holding hands, bridal carries, stuff like that. Even more if it is a queer ship but again, it's Tumblr, so. Like, I fully understand that seeing your two favourite characters interact is amazing if you ship them!! But I personally always keep in mind that Sega will never let anything be truly canon except maybe some Sonamy here and there, so the two characters interacting in a positive way legit only means they are friends in the comic and nothing more. It'll never go anywhere ship-wise, and honestly? I greatly prefer it that way. The fandom is already tearing itself apart every other day, if one ship got actually canon with Sega's clear approval I think the carnage might just make the internet implode.

Sometimes posts cross my dash that boil down to "you should learn to stop expecting your ships to be canon, stop harassing writers to force your ships in canon, it's okay to simply ship for fun"

and i'm here like

you guys actually expect the game you play with your dolls to become official? Written by someone else?? But why???

I don't even speak from a "canon is stupid and I can do so much better" perspective, but no, I want to have my fun! (then again I mostly engage with dead/finished media so I don't have many expectations anyway...)

Incidentally it's why I don't understand the criticism against Boom Sonamy that "it was never going to become canon anyway". Yeah, I know. I didn't really care personally lmao. I never expected them to kiss or anything, I sort of... imagined that those two were dating off screen, and that was enough for me. Dunno, it's just how I see it.

Anyway, you're right. Sonic is not the kind of series that focuses on romantic love. Look, they tried with Sonelise, and we all know what the reception was. Archie was a completely different beast, and that may have shaped the mentality of some fans :P

Personally I'm like... going apeshit over two characters holding hands depends on the context and also on how popular the ship is. I doubt Sonadow fans are so starved that they'd cling onto "bedroom eyes" that are actually Sonic being the smuggest piece of shit :V hell Sonamy has plenty, plenty of canonical food to eat, you don't need to be like "holy shit Sonic carried her!!". You're also right that Sonic as a character seems to be comfortable with hand touching, so coming from him it doesn't immediately mean he has a crush or anything.

I guess my point is, shipping is supposed to be a fun pasttime. You're smacking dolls together, and it's undeniably a very entertaining game considering its wide appeal, but that's it. It's not representation, canon doesn't automatically elevate it, and you're allowed to dislike a ship for any reason but for god's sake do not judge other people for it.

[pajulammas]

🎶, 😭, ✏️, 🤔, ❓️ for the ask game?

🎶 What music do you listen to when you write? - Video game music, the most common choices being the OSTs of The Legend of Spyro trilogy, the first three Skylanders games, and Kirby music (especially Mass Attack). Basically instrumental music. Funnily enough I rarely listen to Sonic music even though I write Sonic fics and listen to Sonic music a LOT XDD (Except when I was writing Would You Love a Werehog? I was listening to the Spagonia music, the day version while writing the day scenes and the night version while writing the night scenes. I needed the correct mood.)

😭 Have you ever made yourself cry writing a fic? - Oh yeah, writing chapter 3 of Prophecy of Chaos made me tear up. It's a little funny considering that chapter 4 made the readers cry more, but I had no trouble writing that chapter XD But I think it's because chapter 4 had been planned from the very beginning, but the ideas for 3 came a little later (even though they were planned from the beginning as well but. You know.)

✏️ What is your fave fic from another writer? - If I have to name just one fic as my fave I think it would be But Next Time, On My Terms, I just love the idea of Shadow accidentally developing a habit of kissing Sonic during their fights. The angst of it hits so hard too, and I also love how Amy is written, like this is how I think she should be in Sonadow fics: upset at first, but eventually she'll make SURE Shadow treats Sonic right KJFHSJKFHKJ. Another fave of mine is Second Nature and I have to mention what you see is what you get (just a guy who loves adventure!) because MAN do I love aroace Sonic and queerplatonic Sonadow, and that one made me tear up.

🤔 What’s one genre you’ve never written that you’d like to try? - I know it's more like a trope or a structure, but 5+1. I really enjoy those, and I wanna try one if I get a good enough idea jhgdsjgfds. I'd also love to write a character study fic and a canon divergence fic!

❓ Write an alternate summary for a published fic without using names. (Points if your followers can guess the fic.) - Oh man I'm the WORST with summaries, usually my beta reader helps me with them but uh. I guess "without using names" means not using character names either? Uhh... A very touch starved boy gets a visit from his favorite bro and is very confused about his feelings towards him. Idk don't look at me I'm bad at describing things- (And yes I am a writer shhh)

fanfic ask game

[findyourflame]

okay nobody cares about my opinions specifically but im going to go into them anyways. warning, im going to critique Sonic Prime bc its a piece of media by a huge company. this is going to be a biiiiig post too, under the cut.

TL;DR: Sonic Prime was a disappointing experience, but not the worst. It was enjoyable enough, mostly the first two seasons, rather than the last one. I have many thoughts and feelings on the characterization of the gang, some good, some bad, but overall it was a middling experience, just like most Sonic media is. and the kicker, it was not a sonadow show, I'm sorry sonadow shippers but you're just starved for Sonic and Shadow interacting, it's okay to ship them but some of the things y'all are saying is just silly.

okay now for the real post

For the sake of understanding, I will call each 'season' a season, even tho we all know that Netflix fucked with those episodes and when they were released even though some of them should have been bundled together.

So season one? I looooved it. Setting up the premise, the comedy, the flashy graphics and camera work, it was very fun! Overall, the characters and plot lines of each shatterspace were great....but.

Big and Rouge were shafted extremely hard. Both were given very little variety in their alternate versions archetypes. Big just felt like they went 'he's big and dumb and scared.' And with Rouge it felt like all of them had to be mature and in control and pretty. Boscage Rouge was a little teensy bit feral but overall still more similar to the others rather than different. Big just felt very...inconsequential? Which sucks! I adore Big! But in Prime he just wasn't given enough justice, and what was up with No Place Big just?? Turning British??? What was up with that. Never addressed again, purely existed for comedic value to try and keep your attention during over an hour of fighting the same robots.

Season two was pretty fun, applying more stakes by the urge to collect the prism shards, hinting that with them all back together, the rest of the shatterverses may cease to exist. The beginning conflict of interests and miscommunication between Sonic and Tails (which I'm going to talk about more later)

My main gripe with S2 was that Prismatic Sonic wasn't...interesting enough design wise. Giving a guy some chromatic aberration is always going to make my eyes go wide, but just airbrushing pink on and making his eyes pink doesn't make me think he's Prismatic. Especially considering the lore we know that Sonic has the remaining Prism energy? Like he should be more fucked up looking. More gems, more sparkle. What happened to the days of Sonic getting new insane looking forms just for funsies, which happened even back during the classic era because of Hyper Sonic. Prismatic Sonic deserved to look cooler even if it was a fight against an extremely silly looking Eggman, it would have felt right for Sonic the Hedgehog. Yes this gripe got a lot of explanation I'm an artist I'm not sorry

Season three. Good lord where do I begin. I guess with the things I liked like how I did the others. Once again most of the characters were on point, I liked seeing a reality where Tails is a villain (I know Nine isn't Tails, but lbr it's an exploration on what if Tails was alone, what if he had nobody, and the world was just awful). I liked the very ending sequence where Sonic changes his actions, even if it's in a sentimental manner, so that he avoids breaking the crystal again, he avoids restarting the whole process. I liked Sonic and Shadow's interactions through the entire show, it's nice to see them interacting again after so long of just...not, due to Sega ignoring anyone who wasn't Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Eggman.

The dislikes however are very egregious. The pacing was horrendous, why was there over an hour of near constant fighting with cycles of Sonic just stopping petty arguments between the Chaos Council and the shatterverse counterparts. The visuals became less flashy and interesting, it definitely looked rushed and it really shouldn't have been for something overseen by Sega. That sprite sequence was literally the most affronting thing to my eyes as a former Sonic sprite artist, they didn't even try to make it make sense to anything and again, the quality was horrible for something overseen by Sega. The layoffs, the strikes, the direction Netflix has been taking, the direction Man of Action has been taking, it was very clear that the final season was rushed and just shoveled out to us.

Overall, I was disappointed with how they finished off Sonic Prime.

Now onto something very specific about Sonic Prime that I wanna talk about: The characterization of Sonic in specific in this show.

For the most part, he's played pretty well, the voice acting is phenomenal, he's animated with so much expression, he's goofy, he's casual, he's affectionate which is something I believe is an inherent trait of Sonic based on many things in past media...and he's manipulative.

Let me explain what I mean by that

Sonic has always had a very good way of using words to sway people's thoughts and feelings. He's very good at getting under his enemy's skin, at making them pause, at making opportunities to strike as a result or to shift the fight into them just...not fighting anymore. I like this aspect of Sonic's personality because it's an extremely interesting thing to have a heroic character be able to do, and helps with banter, with teaching people.

Because he's a hero, this way of using his words isn't best described as manipulative, because of the connotations of that word being very negative. An exploration of Sonic where he's not a hero, not even an antihero, would be very interesting because of this skill of his.

Sonic Prime doesn't make Sonic evil. But he's certainly not a hero. He's very wishy washy, very stand offish....which is very unlike Sonic compared to most iterations of him where he will fight someone physically even if he doesn't want to, simply because he knows it will at the very least stop them from doing something more dangerous. The worst part of this wishy washy attitude from Prime Sonic is with regards to Nine in specific.

Now I mention the manipulative tactics Sonic uses in other media because he uses them with Nine too. To the point of consistently talking to Nine as if he is Tails, ignoring that Nine is his own person, that he's a real person, and it hurts Sonic to hear Nine defy him because of how much of an individual he is and how he's NOT Tails. He chased the kid into his home, which he broke into, yelled at him, got him arrested by the Chaos Council, and over and over ignored what Nine wanted in favor of what Sonic himself wants. And then when faced with a power hungry Nine he stood back and fought robots instead of rushing up there, with his super sonic speed, to stop the kid. He didn't let Shadow do anything either. Renegade Knuckles punching Nine in the face literally was the best thing that happened on that damn tower bc it showed that at least SOMEONE was willing to try to put a stop to this by any means necessary.

Nine was allowed to keep pushing the prism over and over, further breaking realities, and what did Sonic do?

Continue to try to reason with him.

Just spin dash the fox instead of gaslighting him, Sonic.

Someone probably drew the "I think we're going to have to kill this guy" meme with Sonic and Shadow but it's actually painful how real that shitpost is for the show, and how annoying it is that it's what the show is.

[appendingfic]

reblogging this because i'm still proud of it and I'm guessing people are a little starved for SCU Sonadow rn

It had never occurred to Wade that the hedgehogs and aliens might experience growing up the same way most humans did, so when the subject of romance and sex come up, some surprises are in store. Or, conversations with, around, or about Shadow and the boyfriend his father had no idea about.

[chaosbcrne]

✮  : ━  ROMANCE HEADCANONS ! ❫

tagged by: @team-phantom​ thank you ! tagging: @blunderbots​, @bunniedrabbot​, @infinite-unleashed​, @gadgte​, @dextined​

NAME: Shadow the Hedgehog NICKNAME: Terios, Shad, Shads, Stripes, faker, hedgehog, bastard (the Ultimate Lifeform is his main alias, along with Black Wind and Lancelot in particular verses) GENDER: nonbinary, presents as male ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: pansexual demiromantic (but he just identifies as gay) PREFERRED PET NAMES: He doesn’t really have any, unless you count Shads. He only lets Sonic call him that; the nickname means a lot to him as it obviously involves Sonic no longer calling him Faker

FAVOURITE CANON SHIP(S): He doesn’t have any FAVOURITE NON-CANON SHIP(S): i try to keep an open mind because i think most ships can be good if written right but hngghn sonadow’s my fave

OPINION ON TRUE LOVE: well, he’s a cynic, so that stuff’s never been something he put too much stock in, if he ever even thought about it. i think some part of him wants to believe that good people with a bit of luck can experience it, though. maybe not the whole ‘there’s only one person that’s your soulmate and that you belong to and they’re the one you should spend your whole life with and if you don’t find them you failed at life’ deal, but, well. let’s just say by now he’s aware that one single person can make you very happy OPINION ON LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: technically if hate at first sight is a thing (which it definitely is), then love at first sight can be too, not that he’s ever come close to experiencing that. much like hate at first sight, though, it really doesn’t say much about what your opinion of this person you’re seeing for the first time will become after a while HOW ‘ROMANTIC’ ARE THEY?: he has just about zero instinct when it comes to romance. any romantic gesture on his part is either a result of rouge’s influence or a total coincidence. he displays certain manners at all time such as holding doors and paying the bill because he was raised to be old-fashioned polite, not because he’s trying to be romantic. he might bring flowers because he thinks they’re pretty, not because he’s trying to be romantic. he’ll get real affectionate once he’s comfortable enough simply because he’s hella touch-starved - not because he’s trying to be romantic. you get the gist.

IDEAL PHYSICAL TRAITS: don’t eat garlic stuff right before getting all up in his face. no but seriously there isn’t any in particular to be honest, he’s not really shallow in that sense. of course he’ll be more physically drawn to typically attractive people, people who stand out in some way like from having really nice green eyes or a good smile or for being in good shape. i realize after typing these examples that it probably sounds like im describing someone in particular but that was completely unintentional- the point is that anyone can be attractive for one trait or another. it doesn’t really matter romance-wise because shadow is super demi anyway so he won’t be interested in anyone he doesn’t have a deep emotional connection with, after which someone’s apparence becomes trivial IDEAL PERSONALITY TRAITS:  being able to put up with him would be a good start ? he’s not exactly the friendly kind, anyone who gets a little too chummy will get pushed away eventually and it takes a lot of patience and determination to get through to him past that stage. and if you do then you have to deal with his odd attachment behavior and trust issues and force of habit all of which usually translate in misplaced hostility on his part. shadow is no picnic UNATTRACTIVE PHYSICAL TRAITS: oh is this where i bring up the garlic stuff again. yeah once more there’s nothing inherently bad here, if anything he might be put off by people who share traits with other people he knows (or knew) and doesn’t want to be reminded of ? but it’s nothing all that extreme UNATTRACTIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS: laziness, probably. people who actively avoid doing their part, who are unreliable and never take responsibility will always get under his skin

IDEAL DATE: it happens. no really, he’ll take what he can get. if he can go on a date with someone he likes it’s plenty good enough for him and he’ll likely enjoy it regardless DO THEY HAVE A TYPE?: g...good people i guess. like, morally good. whether the help everyone everywhere good or steal from the rich give to the poor good. so long as there’s good in you, you’re susceptible to be his type AVERAGE RELATIONSHIP LENGTH: there’s no real answer to that question. i want to say that so long as it’s working out it could last indefinitely, but shadow’s got a lot of work to do on himself still. he’s got some serious personal issues with tying himself to people due to past trauma and honestly ? any bad episode he goes through mentally has a certain amount of chance of resulting in him ending things because he doesn’t feel he’s meant for this PREFERRED NON-SEXUAL INTIMACY: sleeping together.... he’s a little weird about sleeping in that he doesn’t need it the same way normal people do, so he can easily put it off whenever it’s convenient for him which overtime translated into him never letting himself fall asleep with people around. so sleeping intimacy feels really special once he’s comfortable with it and really helps him ground himself, never mind all the comfort and cuddling it can also involve

COMMITMENT LEVEL: loyalty is one of shadow’s most prominent character traits so, considering that on top of everything else that has to happen before he even agrees to a relationship, it’s safe to say his commitment level is off the charts. once you’re his, he’s yours and no one else’s. PAST RELATIONSHIPS?: none that were romantic

[heroquills-a]

✮  : ━  ROMANCE HEADCANONS ! ❫

tagged by: nvm @babylonbrains tagged me and i didn’t see bc tumblr is a BITCH ASS MOTHER F tagging: if you haven’t been tagged yet, i tag you if you wanna do it

NAME: Sonic 

NICKNAME: Sonny, Blue / Big Blue, Blue Blur, Faker, and an assortment of insulting nicknames from various enemies

GENDER: Cis Male

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Demi-panromantic demi-pansexual

PREFERRED PET NAMES: i dunno if he really prefers any of the ones he has ? unless it’s from someone special to him then he’ll probably lean more into favoring it so uhh i guess faker...

FAVOURITE CANON SHIP(S): i don’t believe there are any canon ships for sonic ? besides... sonamy maybe, since it’s kinda implied here and there, and i do like the ship but i’m not a huge fan of how canon typically portrays them anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

FAVOURITE NON-CANON SHIP(S): i think most sonic ships can be enjoyable if written well but...if it wasn’t glaringly obvious already i’m very biased towards sonadow

OPINION ON TRUE LOVE: it probably exists ? sonic’s been all over the world and has seen plenty of examples of true love. he just never experienced it himself but he’s fine with that but ofc in recent times he’s fallen quite hard in love and he can say its a messy, difficult experience but the pay off is turning out to be quite lovely after all

OPINION ON LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: pffft, yeah right. crushes and attraction at first sight, sure. but love at first sight ? to put it in the words of garnet steven universe, ‘love takes time, and love takes work. you have to at least know the other person. and you literally have no idea who or what i am.’

HOW ‘ROMANTIC’ ARE THEY?: sonic... doesn’t usually have the intention to be romantic, he’s just got a natural charm to him and enjoys flirting only because... he just thinks it’s fun. but i don’t think he actually realizes or intends to come off as romantic when he does so lmao. he just likes being a charmer bc it’s exciting and he likes exciting things. although it’s a completely different story when he’s actually in a relationship with someone. i say sappyness isn’t his style but it turns out sonic’s the biggest sap out there when it comes to who he’s in love with. ‘cause when he’s in love, that person tends to occupy his thoughts a lot and he’ll end up showering them in non-verbal affection via doing nice things for them, being physically affectionate if they’re comfortable with each other, and inviting them to ‘go out’ (aka go out on some crazy adventure that’ll likely result in death defying stunts) he’s not very good at expressing his feelings verbally, and when he does it usually ends up coming out really sappy and cheesy (which he’ll embarrass himself over)

IDEAL PHYSICAL TRAITS: i don’t think he has a preference really? because what really wins sonic over is personality and that’s what matters. but uhhhh,, anyone who can keep up with him or beat him in a fight/put up a good fight he’s sure to find attractive... 

IDEAL PERSONALITY TRAITS: patience definitely, sonic’s very spontaneous and has little patience himself for most things, so anyone who’s willing to put up with that along with the many adversities he has towards relationships & everything that comes with is a plus. having a good heart w good morals is good too. he also likes banter and playfulness and just having a general sense of ‘this is someone i can have fun with’. 

UNATTRACTIVE PHYSICAL TRAITS: ehhh... i guess lack of hygiene upkeep ? even sonic who runs all the time and tends to work up a sweat a lot and has nomadic living tendencies still values hygiene maintenance so like. there really is no excuse

UNATTRACTIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS: excessively annoying or pushy people who don’t mind his personal boundaries, overly boastful, mean spirited attitudes that put other ppl down, boring/no fun allowed types

IDEAL DATE: you know that one scene in sonic x where theyre on prison island and amy busts sonic out and she’s like ‘so will you finally take me to go do something fun?�� and sonic’s like “whats more fun than this?”? yeah anyway sonic’s ideal date is as stated earlier, going on some kind of death defying heart racing high intensity adventure that probably involves lots of running and fighting robots. but honestly anything that gets the blood pumping and the heart racing is sure to be ideal in sonic’s mind. he also doesnt mind sharing a good meal. but honestly, all it comes down to is getting to spend quality time with his partner. thats what he loves about it the most

DO THEY HAVE A TYPE?: uh... red......strong.......temper..........sharp teeth..... can keep up with him.................. can kick his ass,

AVERAGE RELATIONSHIP LENGTH: assuming sonic actually agrees to a relationship it’d probably be long-term ? if he really loved them and they were willing to stay that committed

PREFERRED NON-SEXUAL INTIMACY: just sharing physical contact in general. while it’s a scary thing for sonic considering he’s touch repulsed over pushy fans/ppl invading his personal space he’s also simultaneously very touch starved and craves physical contact that he can consent to, so chances are if he’s that comfortable w someone he’ll likely just initiate cuddles or physical contact all on his own bc he wants to be closer to them

COMMITMENT LEVEL: when sonic falls he falls hard, and he’ll stay fully committed to his partner so long as they remain the same. if sonic isn’t committed to something, he was never in love with them to begin with

PAST RELATIONSHIPS?: i wouldn’t really say he had any past relationships besides a brief one that was lowkey forced on him back when he was still with his band mates. it wasn’t really much of a relationship anymore than it was sb who was manipulative and pushy and tried to get sonic to do things w them,, and sonic almost let himself go down a dangerous path bc of it but thankfully left before it got too bad

[sky-blaze]

Fic: Nor Iron Bars A Cage

Title: Nor Iron Bars A Cage Pairing: Sonadow. Notes: Inspired by the Sonic Forces trailer. I am a terrible person. Hashtag sorrynotsorry.

“I just wanted you to know,” The blond woman said as she unlocked the gate, the GUN emblem on her shoulder glinting faintly in the sullen yellow light, “I never agreed with any of this.”

“I know, Topaz,” Rouge replied gently, “It’s ok. Thank you for this.”

Topaz looked at her, then at the silent, grim-faced black hedgehog who stood behind her. “You realise that this is the point of no return, right? They’ll chase you to the ends of the planet after this.”

“There’s no other choice.” Shadow said suddenly, his voice surprisingly soft, “GUN have gone too far with this. It has to stop. Now.”

“Shadow’s right.” Rouge shook her head, “Effectively declaring war on Robotnik was ridiculous even by GUN’s standards, but this...” she trailed off with another shake of her head. She sighed and looked at Topaz, “They’ll know you helped us. You’ll be in almost as much danger as we will.”

Topaz nodded wearily, “I know. It’s ok, I’ve got some bolt-holes, and contacts even GUN command don’t know about,” she forced a smile, “I guess all that conniving and sneaking of yours did rub off on me after all, Rouge.”

Topaz handed Rouge a keycard and laid a gentle hand on the bat’s shoulder, “Good luck.” she said before she vanished off down the dimly-lit corridor.

Rouge opened the door and the both slipped inside. Rows of heavily barred metal doors stretched out in front of them. A computer terminal sat beside the door they had just entered. Rouge promptly swiped the keycard on the pad beside it and the screen lit up.

“Do we know which cell he’s in?” Shadow asked. His eyes were carefully scanning the area, restless and wary.

“Not yet,” She replied, tapping away at the keyboard, “But I’m willing to bet he isn’t in a standard cell.”

“Hm.” Shadow grunted and shifted, tensing. Something felt… off about this place in a way he couldn’t quite pin down. Perhaps it was memories of his own incarceration, or of Professor Gerald’s cell on Prison Island. Either way, it made him feel distinctly uneasy.

“Got it.” Rouge said, rising from the terminal, “Cell 12A. Back corner.”

“Lets go.” Shadow said, moving to follow as Rouge moved through the corridors. Most of the cells were empty – what GUN currently classed as ‘enemy’ these days tended to end up in a recycling centre instead of a prison cell. With some… notable… exceptions.

The door to Cell 12A looked different to the others. It was a slightly different colour, for one thing, a darker, duller grey compared to the burnished steel of the other doors. For another, it seemed to be thicker and heavier. Then again, it figured that GUN would have placed this particular prisoner in a reinforced cell.

Rouge used the keycard again and typed a code. A green LED next to the keypad lit up and there was a hiss of air. Shadow frowned at the sound, it was almost like the hiss of air as an airlock was opened. Had GUN gone so far as to make this cell airtight? Why?

The moment shadow stepped inside the gloomy cell, he knew something was horribly, dreadfully wrong. The reason for his uneasiness became blindingly clear. This cell was Chaos-proof. Dread crawled up his spine as he moved through the cell towards the figure laying on the bed in the corner.

Rouge gasped when she saw it. Shadow stiffened in horror. “Sonic...” Shadow breathed.

Sonic the Hedgehog lay slumped on the bed, quills limp and in disarray. But that wasn’t what had wrung the gasp from Rouge. Sonic had always been lean, constant running would do that, but now he looked emaciated. His cheeks sunken, eyes dull and glazed, the blue of his quills faded. He moved, sluggishly, far removed from his usual speed and grace.

“Hey, Shadow,” He croaked in a parody of his usual carefree tone, “Don’t suppose you brought chilli dogs, huh?”

The woeful attempt at a joke fell flat as everything clicked into place in Shadow’s mind. Sonic’s metabolism – like his own – moved far too swiftly for anything like a normal diet to satisfy it normally. Sonic needed to absorb the ambient Chaos energy around him to supplement his food intake. With that supply of Chaos energy cut off by this damnable cell, and only standard prisoners rations to live on… he’d been literally starving.

Shadow’s hands curled into fists as a sudden hot ball of rage swelled in his chest. It was only the sudden sensation of Rouge’s hand on his arm that broke him out of his furious thoughts of levelling the entire complex right down to its very foundations.

“We need to get out of here.” she said urgently. Sonic stirred again, trying to push himself upright on limbs that were too shaky and weak to support him.

Shadow moved without thinking, his rage banked into smouldering embers as it took a back seat for the moment to Shadow’s sudden need to help. He gathered Sonic up in his arms, ignoring the other hedgehog’s weak protests.

“You better call Tails and get the plane in,” Shadow said grimly, “Our original plan isn’t going to work now.”

“Right.” Rouge said, having apparently regathered her wits after the shock of seeing Sonic. She took out a small communicator. “We should probably head up to the roof. It’ll be easiest to pick us up, there.”

“Tails?” Sonic said as he processed what was going on, almost slurring his words, “Where we goin’?”

“Angel Island.” Shadow replied as he carried Sonic towards the cell door.

As soon as they stepped out of the cell, Sonic suddenly went stiff in his arms and Shadow could feel the sudden rush of returning Chaos energy. It was too much for Sonic’s exhausted body, though, and his green eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out cold.