#i also think knuckles and sonic have tension

[nearisqueer]

I don't have the strongest opinions about any sonic ships really but also shadonic was meant to be

[sheepslaps]

are any of your human sonic characters in a relationship or have any crushes (can be now or in the past)? Have you thought about any of their sexual/romantic orientations?

oh i have had thoughts about some past relationships, and a few current ones; here we go-

in the past:

sonic/amy - dated in high school, broke up in senior year. amy fell first, sonic fell harder but it didn't work out - he still has some feelings for her though

shadow/rouge - it never got that far with them, it was ultimately FWB. rouge still thinks shadow is attractive and teases him just to fuck with him and knuckles

sonic/blaze - slight rebound from sonic's end after amy, they never went that far but blaze broke it off since sonic having no prospects was a turn off for her

rouge/vector - it was ONE night okay, both of them deny it

plus amy being flirty, has done it to; shadow, silver, blaze, jet

currently:

metal/amy - it's mainly a platonic flirty relationship bc amy is like that, metal likes the attention from her and her only

silver/blaze - he makes her laugh, she motivates him to keep improving. nobody believes silver and blaze are dating bc of how awkward he is, and blaze stays private about it (she's not a gossip). plus, silver actually has goals for himself and that's attractive to her

sonic/shadow - sonic flirts with shadow a lot bc it pisses him off. shadow is irritated by it but doesn't stop it. so much tension between these two (rouge: if you two don't just fuck each other already)

rouge/knuckles - rouge stays over at knuckles place so often that she might as well live there. every time these two are seen together, they're either fighting or making out. both just head over heels for each other. rouge will flirt with other guys to piss knuckles off, but there is NOTHING she wouldn't do for that man.

vector/vanilla - it started as vector coming over for food. then the flirting started. then the fixing up around her house started. a dependable young man with a heart of gold that never hesitates to help her? oh, vanilla is crazy in love like she's in college again. and vector gets a milf who shows him affection all for doing his job, it's great

assume all characters are pansexual unless otherwise stated

espio is the otherwise, he's aroace, thank you

edit; metal and amy are queer platonic (me only now remembering the name for it)

also it's kinda funny that amy and blaze both are into sonic but both metal and silver have that little extra that sonic doesn't

[whisker-biscuit]

Sonic Big Bang 2024

Close Encounters of the Grim Kind

Rating: Gen

Summary: Sonic did end up telling his friends about the Shatterverse, but it’s clear to Tails that he's still hiding something. In an effort to find answers and with Shadow’s reluctant help, he uses the Paradox Prism to create a device capable of jumping dimensions. When he sends it out, however, what was meant to be a one-way trip returns to him with a cryptic greeting from a stranger who seems interested in researching the dimensions with him.

Now, Tails finds himself trying to solve two mysteries - why Sonic is acting so weird around him, and who this unorthodox, anonymous cross-dimensional pen pal really is.

It's a lot harder than it looks.

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

Chapter 1

The day Sonic finally told his friends about the Shatterverse and all that entailed within it, Tails had no idea how significant it would truly end up being.

He, his brother, Amy, and Knuckles were gathered together at the beach. The fox was in the pilot seat of the plane, adjusting some of the inner controls, while everyone else lounged about. They all listened with rapt attention as Sonic described the disaster that would have happened had he smashed into the Paradox Prism – the disaster that had already happened, if events were to be believed.

Frankly, it wasn’t very hard to go along with the idea. Weirder stuff went on in their lives at least twice a year; dimensional and/or timeline shenanigans sounded like par for the course.

“A bunch of miniature dimensions, huh?” Tails drummed his fingers against his screwdriver, thinking about the logistics of such a thing. Alternate universes were an aspect of quantum physics that he’d never delved very deep in.

“Yep! There was a pirate dimension, a jungle dimension, and even a dimension with five Eggmans!” Sonic shuddered and stuck out his tongue. “I always thought ours was bad enough, but then I met an Eggman baby. That’s one memory I’ll never be able to get rid of.”

“Did you kick the Eggman baby’s butt?”

“Knuckles!” Amy scolded.

“What?” The echidna asked defensively. “It’s a valid question! If that version of Eggman was still evil, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t also teach him a lesson.”

“Oh, trust me, he was definitely evil. Kicking his butt was extremely satisfying.”

Knuckles folded his arms with a self-satisfied smirk he tossed Amy’s way. She huffed and rolled her eyes, gesturing for Sonic to continue his story.

“There weren’t just other versions of Eggman, though,” he said with an excited gleam in his eye. “Every dimension I visited had new versions of you guys! Even Rouge and Big and Froggy!”

“Ooh, really?” Amy clasped her hands together. “What were we all like?”

“Well, the pirate versions of you all talked with these funny accents and were on a ship’s crew together. Knuckles was your captain but he was a big bonehead.”

“Hey!”

Tails smiled, going back to the wiring in the Tornado as he listened to the hedgehog tell them all about this strange new adventure that he’d found himself in. One eye he kept on his work, the other he kept on Sonic to show he was still paying attention, tuned into the rhythm of his brother’s storytelling just as much as the words themselves – and that was the only reason he caught the stumble.

Sonic was in the process of telling them how the Chaos Council had put the entire Shatterverse in jeopardy by punching holes between dimensions using shards of the Paradox Prism, and that he, Shadow, and an alternate version of Tails had stolen the shards back and were planning to put the prism back together. Then he paused, very briefly, and sheepishly admitted that they were unsuccessful before the Council had caught up.

That pause had been barely half a second long, but for the hedgehog it might as well have been a full minute. Tails stopped working as Knuckles began teasing Sonic for letting any version of Eggman be faster than him. He watched his brother carefully, noting the tension in his quills that the fox could only see from his place in the cockpit above. To the others, it seemed like Sonic was embarrassed about his failure, but Tails knew that wasn’t what it was.

Embarrassment was fidgeting in place and wanting to change the subject immediately. It was not standing rigidly with fingers twitching like they wanted to curl into fists, nor was it too-loud laughter at the ribbing his friends were giving him.

The fox quietly placed his tools in his lap and turned his full attention onto his brother.

When the teasing finally stopped and Sonic got back to the rest of his story, it felt different than before. More pauses, shorter descriptions of events, and vague answers to questions about how the Shatterverse was saved from ripping itself apart. The hedgehog’s expression was tight with sadness as he told them of the goodbyes he’d shared with all the different versions of his friends before he and Shadow found their way back to Green Hill.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was so excited to see you guys again – the real yous instead of those weird ghost holograms – but I also knew it was a permanent goodbye for them. All those different versions of you…they were still their own people, with their own goals and dreams and lives. I got to know each of them, and it was hard to walk away knowing I’d never see any of them again.”

“It’s not like you to dwell on goodbyes,” Amy said gently.

“I know. I just…” Sonic glanced up at Tails, then looked away immediately before their gazes could properly meet. The fox narrowed his eyes in confusion. “It was really bittersweet, in the end. I wish you all could have met each other.”

As Amy pondered over what her “sisters” might have been like and Knuckles pointedly declared that the other hims would have probably just gotten on his nerves, Tails’ namesakes curled around each other in a slow mimic of his flying movements. It seemed like the hedgehog was simply melancholy over the loss of his new friends, but it still felt…off. Like there was something he hadn’t told them, or even something that Tails had missed, that was obscuring the whole picture of his experience.

He briefly considered asking Sonic outright when they were alone later, then immediately nixed the idea. His brother was open about nearly everything right up until he suddenly wasn’t, and then pulling information from him was just as hard as convincing Knuckles to part with the Master Emerald for more than a week.

“Do you think the other dimensions are still out there even though you put the Paradox Prism back together?”

Everyone fell silent as they all looked up at the fox. Sonic’s mouth pulled sideways like he wasn’t sure how to answer.

“I mean, I assumed they are. Don’t really like thinking of the alternative.”

“I’m sure they are!” Amy was quick to reassure. “You can’t just unmake a bunch of worlds once they exist, right? And you said it yourself, Sonic – the Shatterverse collapsing only happened because the Eggmen misused the Prism Shards. All you did was make them whole again.”

Tails tapped the end of his screwdriver twice against the Tornado’s steering wheel. An idea was starting to develop in his mind, formed from a swirl of thoughts and his admittedly shallow knowledge of Quantum Physics. He kept it to himself, however, as he continued to study his brother’s body language and the tension still present there.

Just a few days later, that particular tension was gone from Sonic but the idea was still firmly in the fox’s head. He took every physics book he had that touched the subject, plus several that were “liberated” from one of Eggman’s laboratory libraries, and began researching. It didn’t take very long for him to conclude that no matter what theories he read about, or potential blueprints he began to draw up, he wasn’t going to make it very far on speculation alone.

If this idea was to become tangible, then he needed the Paradox Prism. And achieving that, Tails remembered with a grimace, would be more difficult than any mathematics he puzzled through.

He could only hope that its keeper would be in a good mood.

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

Contrary to popular belief, Shadow was not particularly difficult to find. He was a creature of habit, much like Sonic. The real issue was that those habits tended to seem erratic at best and completely nonsensical at worst to anyone who didn’t know them well. To the average person, Sonic was flighty and never settled down in one place for long, and Shadow just couldn’t be found to begin with.

But Tails was not an average person, and he had a lot of experience in tracking down speedy hedgehogs.

There was a large waterfall in Green Hill that overlooked an even larger lake. It cascaded constantly down from a giant cliffside that was difficult to climb and get down from. Sonic avoided the area entirely unless absolutely necessary, but Tails loved to practice his aerial maneuvers there. It was for those three reasons – his many visits, the general seclusion, and the consistent lack of Sonic – that the fox knew how much Shadow preferred the place, too.

It was here that he looked for the black hedgehog first. He started at the base of the cliff, shielding his eyes against the sun as he peered up past the waterfall while lake water lapped just a few inches short of his shoes. After a minute or so of squinting and scanning, Tails caught sight of a dark figure standing at the very top of the cliff, arms folded and looking out at the scenery.

Excited, the fox began to fly up towards him, making his presence known as obviously as possible so Shadow knew he wanted to talk. He felt the moment those piercing red eyes snapped over to him. The fur on the back of his neck prickled by instincts honed from years of Eggman battles before settling down immediately afterward, recognizing the gaze as non-threatening.

That didn’t mean the hedgehog was happy to see him, though. Irritation was visible in every line of his face when Tails touched down a few feet away from him.

“Is Sonic with you?” Shadow asked, in a tone of voice that suggested he was going to teleport at the first syllable of a ‘yes.’

“No, he doesn’t know I’m here. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

One black-furred eyebrow rose in mild surprise. He tilted his head the tiniest bit forward to acknowledge he was listening.

Tails took a deep breath and took the plunge without wasting another second. “I know you have the Paradox Prism. I was hoping to run some tests –”

“No.”

The answer came so strong and curt that it made Tails’ mouth click shut before he even registered what was said. He blinked, caught off guard by both the reaction and the way Shadow’s entire body seemed to tense. It almost looked like he thought the fox was going to attack him, which was as bizarre an assessment to make as the realization that Shadow saw him as a viable threat.

“Why not?” He asked, thoroughly confused. “I didn’t even tell you what kind of tests I’d be conducting.”

“It doesn’t matter what kind; the answer remains the same. The Paradox Prism isn’t something to be tampered with.”

Tails resisted the urge to let out a huff. “I’m not going to tamper with it. I just want to learn more about those other dimensions Sonic was talking about.”

“Then ask him about them and stop wasting my time.”

The hedgehog turned on his heel and began walking away. The hum of his hover shoes coming to life threatened only a few seconds left before he disappeared entirely. Tails knew his one and only chance was slipping out of his grasp.

He didn’t think; what came out of his mouth next was pure panic.

“I think something’s wrong with Sonic!”

Shadow froze mid-step. The fox blinked and then suddenly they were an inch apart. That unreadable glare seemed twice as potent now as it searched his face for any kind of deception.

“…Elaborate,” the hedgehog finally said in a quiet yet uncompromising demand.

“W-Well, he told us about the Shatterverse, and you guys trying to get home, but I feel like he’s…omitting things?” Tails paused, thinking over the last week or so. “He’s been clingier, too. He wants to hang out with everyone more than usual. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him plan so many get-togethers before now.”

Bringing everyone together had usually been Amy’s or Tails’ idea, and Sonic always popped in at the last minute or stumbled into the group in the middle of a run. Now, he was asking them all to hang out so often that Knuckles had threatened to slug him if he didn’t leave him alone for at least a day.

“And then, yesterday…he got really upset when he couldn’t find me.”

Tails remembered it vividly. He’d made an impromptu trip to the nearest junkyard in search of parts for his idea, forgetting to leave a note for potential visitors because of how short the excursion was, and had come back to his workshop in disarray and one agitated hedgehog looking ready to tear down the walls in search of him. His brother had grabbed him in a tight hug without any words, visibly shaking, and had stayed with him in the workshop for hours afterward. There hadn’t been any explanation; Sonic had remained tight-lipped in embarrassment and so Tails had assumed it had to do with the brief loss of his friends during his Shatterverse adventure.

But putting that odd encounter alongside the clinginess and simultaneous avoidance now, it was starting to paint a much more concerning picture. The fox wanted to kick himself for not connecting the dots sooner. Hyper-fixating on a new invention was no excuse.

Shadow was still watching him. Tails took a deep breath and spread his hands out in an honest, pleading gesture.

“I’m just really worried about him. I think there’s stuff he’s not telling me, and I don’t know how to approach him about it.”

“What makes you think studying the Paradox Prism will help with that?” The hedgehog’s voice was flat but no longer as harsh. He had a funny look in his eye that was impossible to place.

“I want to figure out whether those other dimensions are still out there. If they are, I think it will perk Sonic up. But the only way I’ll know for sure is with the Prism’s help.”

Silence floated between them for a long time. Tails swallowed the urge to continue making his case, and instead waited as patiently as he could for Shadow to come to a decision. A myriad of emotions flitted across the other’s face, all small and fleeting and unreadable.

“…Fine. I’ll let you look at it.”

“Really?” The fox gasped, excited, but Shadow held up a hand before he could say anything else.

“On three conditions. One: that I’m present the entire time you’re with it. Two: that you do exactly what you told me you want to do and nothing more. No using it to power machines unless it’s explicitly for finding other dimensions, no tampering with it or trying to break it apart, and no additional investigations. I don’t care how fascinated you are with it.”

“Okay, I can do all of that. What’s the third condition?”

“That you don’t involve Sonic in your studies.”

Tails frowned. “Why would I involve –”

“Agree to all the terms, Fox, or you’re not seeing a hint of that crystal.”

“I agree!” He replied, quick as he could before the hedgehog changed his mind. “You’ll be with me the whole time, I won’t mess with it, and Sonic stays out of the process.”

“Good.”

With the deal struck, Shadow nodded once before walking off again. The fox watched him, uncertain, until he threw a glance over his shoulder.

“Are you coming or not?”

Tails didn’t need to be asked twice.

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

And so, two hours later, they were both back in Tails’ workshop with the Paradox Prism floating innocently in the middle of a containment chamber. Shadow leaned against the closed garage door – which he had demanded stay locked while they were working – eating out of the can of raw coffee beans he’d requested when Tails had offered food. It would have been quite the sight if he wasn’t already used to the bizarre black hole of a stomach that belonged to his brother.

Maybe liking weird food was just a hedgehog thing.

The fox, meanwhile, was in the middle of making complex calculations as he studied the Prism, adjusting for energy levels and power output with every spike that appeared on his scanner. He was quickly realizing that developing technology that could reliably run on this energy was going to be a careful balancing act; it fluctuated sporadically in seemingly indecipherable patterns, and every sudden jump was volatile at best, downright dangerous at worst.

If not for all his research into chaos energy, handling the Prism would’ve been infinitely harder. Their properties weren’t all too dissimilar, now that the thought crossed his mind, and it took a lot of willpower not to get sidetracked by that line of theorizing. The promise he’d made to Shadow was one he intended to keep no matter how painful it was for his scientific mind to ignore every other possibility.

“What are you doing now?”

The hedgehog’s question broke the melody of furious pencil scribbling. It was a common occurrence while Tails worked; he barely even glanced up when he answered.

“I think I’ve finally isolated the most benign wavelengths of energy the Paradox Prism is giving off. Using that, I can power the interdimensional device without risk of it exploding.”

“What is this interdimensional device for?” Shadow asked, suddenly right behind him.

Tails absolutely did not jump, but the grip on his pencil went tight as he pulled back from his blueprints a bit to blink owlishly at his suspicious companion. “I told you already – it’s to determine whether those miniature dimensions still exist.”

“How is it going to do that, exactly?”

The fox resisted a great urge to sigh. “It’s just going to be a probe. If prism energy is capable of making things jump between dimensions like Sonic said, then even a tiny amount will make my invention cross the theoretical inter-dimensional barrier and hopefully tell me what’s out there.”

“Hmph.” Shadow’s eyes darted across the schematics laid out on the table. It was hard to tell how much of it he understood, but Tails had a feeling it was more than most people usually could. “Remember: only for this function.”

“Loud and clear, sir,” he mumbled with a roll of his eyes before he could stop himself. The hedgehog’s glare sharpened considerably, but he went back to his place against the door to finish off his coffee beans without another word.

Now that Tails had successfully found a safe power source from the Prism, it was time to actually build the device that would make use of it. He wasted no time getting to work – grabbing scrap metal and wiring and as many tools as he could carry, then starting the process of putting together his newest invention piece by piece. Just like with anything powered by the chaos emeralds, the probe couldn’t simply be built and then pumped full of Prism energy. Every aspect and every addition had to be tested for durability. If it could channel its power source without issue, then he moved onto the next section and repeated the testing process. If it couldn’t, then he had to rework his calculations completely until it wasn’t at risk of frying from a single jolt of energy.

A tedious endeavor, but one he enjoyed wholeheartedly just for the way it occupied his mind. The fact that success meant a new, fully-functional invention was just the icing on the cake.

When at long last the fox was satisfied that his interdimensional probe wouldn’t blow up the moment he turned it on, he swiveled in his chair to hold it up triumphantly. Shadow, to his credit, had not made another sound nor moved a single inch through the hours it had taken to complete the device. He peered at it with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

“Are you going to send it out, now?”

“Yeah, but first…”

Tails turned it around in his hands to reveal a tiny screen and keyboard on one side, pulled straight from Knuckles’ most recently-busted flip phone. He typed in a string of code and watched with a satisfied snicker as a message appeared on the screen in response.

– Hello Worlds! –

“What is the purpose of that?”

“Tech joke.” He placed a solid metal cover over the keyboard, but left the screen visible. “I doubt anyone is going to find this, because it’s supposed to only travel through the space between dimensions, not actually visit them, but it’s funny to think about.”

“Hm.”

If Sonic were here, he probably would have told Shadow to lighten up. Tails, on the other hand, was much more aware of the precarious state of their arrangement, so he didn’t do that.

Was definitely thinking it, though.

Before turning the device on, the fox double checked that its connection to the Miles Electric was strong and secure. Sending it out without a way to relay information back would have been a silly mistake to make. Confident that there was nothing else to be done, he flipped the single switch on its underside, and they both watched as it hovered out of his hands for a few seconds before disappearing in a flash of rainbow light.

Shadow eyed the spot where it had just been, expression tight, then lifted the Paradox Prism’s container with ease. “Keep me informed on what you find. I’m…curious, as well.”

“Okay.”

Their gazes locked for one brief moment before the hedgehog also disappeared with his charge – in a green flash instead. Tails let out a long exhale. He was exhausted but in a good way, like running a marathon and beating your best time.

He checked the Miles Electric. Nothing yet. That was to be expected; interdimensional travel was probably not as instantaneous as Sonic made it out to be. All he had to do was wait.

So, he waited. And waited.

And waited.

A week passed with no signal. Not a single, shallow blip on his radar to show that the probe had survived its attempt at escaping the barriers between their dimension and whatever lay beyond. Disappointed but not entirely surprised over the possible failure, the fox stopped checking for it as often. Every hour dropped to a few times a day; a few times a day dropped to only once per day. As yet another week began creeping by with nothing to show for it, he finally took the Miles Electric off his desk and put it away to make room for other, more pressing projects.

The device might have ended up a bust, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways to confirm the existence of the Shatterverse. Tails began sketching up tentative ideas for his continued research. He didn’t have any Prism energy left to work with, though, and Shadow probably wasn’t going to be as generous if he asked for help again. The power to cross dimensions was going to be the biggest hurdle.

Just as he was debating whether chaos energy would work as a potential substitute, there was a sudden flash of rainbow light to his left. The fox startled, whirled around with his hands up in preparation for a fight – and stopped.

Stared.

There was his device, hovering in the air. Tails’ ears twitched as the Miles Electric suddenly let loose a muffled cacophony of sounds from within the desk drawer; the familiar, loud pings that meant a probe had been successfully connected to. Stunned and unable to think of doing anything else, he slowly reached out to stop its hovering and hold it instead.

From the way he had grabbed it, the little digital screen was visible. Tails looked down at the message and felt his heart skip a beat.

[ hello stranger ]

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

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A/N: Several months ago I joined the Sonic Big Bang event, and today is the culmination of that event where we flood the fandom with fics and art! We are Sonic Fans and we cannot be stopped lol. Expect a chapter release every day until the fic is finished!

The fantastic artists paired with my fic are @currantlee, @phantom-howl, and @dewdropdraws. I'll link their artwork when it's all posted, please please check them out cause they're all wonderful! Thanks so much to @sthbigbang for hosting this and letting me participate! I had a blast!

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

Random prediction time:

I realized that even though everyone was saying that the end credit appearance of Metal Sonic was done due to Agent Stone creating him (unless that time travel theory has something to do with it, but that's another theory for another time)

But what if it was actually GUN that actually created the multiple Metals? I mean, think about it.

Things weren't resolved with those guys and team Sonic, after Tom was injured, we didn't hear anything about them again, not even anything a throwaway line that said they were on good terms again, to which idk why they would consider on doing that with the reveal of Project Shadow, but also somehow getting hold of their own stash of portal rings for their agents to use (in the Knuckles spin off) and having the former lead scientist of the failed project create the Eclipse Cannon to be used as a power flex for 50 years and did a surprise Pikachu face when the damn thing turned out to be a major laser piss cannon and almost destroyed a planet.

I don't know what they were expecting but cmon, Gerald wasn't making a fucking satellite or something. Not to mention, they may have done something that caused Ivo to possibly be an orphan since he is Gerald's kin and sort of worked for the government for many years....

Not only that, but the current director Rockwell hates those kids guts and thinks of them as evil meddling children, leading her and the team to create them to Metals to try and take them out in a way that doesn't get their hands dirty, and knowing how powerful one of them is when he gets ahold of those 7 handheld rock candies that makes him go blonde. They will definitely see them as a threat since they're now working independently.

Basically, GUN definitely should be a major threat in Sonic 4. The initial trust for them is broken, and its gonna cause some major tension.

[lightninghikaru]

Do Sonic and Shadow still have troubles accepting Maria’s death? Is it something that only they can talk about with each other because they’re the only two who understand? Or do Rogue, Omega, Tails and Knuckles also attempt to make them feel better when they’re down about it?

Ah! Yes a great question! Like all grieving, Sonic and Shadow have good days and bad ones.

Id say for Shadow, he would confide in Sonic the most. At first he didn't want to burden his adopted brother or Knuckles with his grieving. But Sonic wasn't always available to talk.

Tails figured it out first but was afraid to ask Shadow what was wrong, thinking he might run off for an extended period of time similar to what happened after Sonic fell from the ARK. So he went to Knuckles for advice.

Ho boy Knuckles wasn't having mopy Shadow again. Instead of using words as he is one to do he goes to Shadow swinging. Letting Shadow release any tension through sparing. Once they are done, Knuckles asks if that helped or if he needs to talk to him or Tails about it.

Shadow apologizes for worrying then and explains why he's upset. Knuckles offers to be a willing punching bag when he needs to grieve but can't do it through words. And Tails would be there to talk and help where he can. It takes some getting used to but they find a balance.

Sonic on the other hand has no issues going to Rouge or Omega for comfort. He knows Shadow has a harder time because he saw Maria die. Sonic was only told after the fact.

But when the sadness hits he goes to whomever is closer. Cuddling close to Rouge watching silly romcoms and talk his feelings out. Climbing up on top of Omega's shoulder and curling into a ball while Omega plays calming audios as they chill.

Did I mention how much I love Team Dark? They take such good care of my boi!

After some time when they are both available they spend the day either on the ARK or at either home being in the comfort of the other's company.

Sonic and Shadow lost someone very dear to them. But they both have amazing support systems that help them when they need it.

[silent-partner-412]

a 3 hour video explaining the iceberg of sonadow (sonic x shadow) was recommended to me yesterday and for some reason i decided to give it a watch and i actually have thoughts.

my main takeaway was that my god an iceberg format was NOT the way to present this topic because the deeper it got the more i was like okay jesus christ i get it. it was actually the earlier stuff that was more compelling to me, like homoerotic official art, random stills from the shows and comics that had me raising eyebrows, and the comparisons to pairings like knuckles and rouge that, even as a more or less outsider to the sonic lore (my experience with the series has been 99% the 2d games), i’m aware are accepted to have a lot of sexual tension. as we got deeper and deeper and it became very specific lines from the more infamous games, that’s where they lost me. by that point we’d reached terminal shipper brain and i just had to stop watching lol.

it was still sort of interesting on a more meta level though. it felt like a microcosm of passionate shipping culture, and to be honest, there’s a level of authenticity there that yeah, is a little cringe, but it was earnest, which i appreciate. the internet can act like being cringe is the worst possible sin one can commit, when in reality i think the reason i found it cringe was cuz i was just not the target audience. also, some of the points made regarding the sonic fanbase’s poor treatment of fans of sonadow felt pretty resonant, mostly because you see stuff like that in almost every fanbase that has popular gay ships. the whole video was an act of pure fandom, and i always find stuff like that interesting.

[theocddiaries]

Knuckles: We have to do something. The tension between Sonic and Shadow is disrupting the harmony of our tribe. Tails: I know… Hey, have you seen that TV commercial? The one for Christmas? It's about a father and his son who are angry at each other, and then the rest of the family steps in and says that the other said nice things, so they eventually reconcile. Knuckles: Hm… I don't know, little brother… Sonic's mother is dead; maybe reminding him of that now won’t help his mood… Tails: No. I mean we do the same thing as in the commercial, but with Sonic and Shadow. For example, if Sonic said he's going to party harder than New Year's Eve when Shadow leaves the house, then when we’re in front of Shadow, we tell him… [Later, in the living room] Shadow [surprised]: …that he's going to miss me a lot? Tails: You heard me. He cares a lot about you, he just loves teasing you. We know a lot about that love language of his, right, Knuckles? Knuckles: Yeah, yeah. And that thing he said about you being an unbearable grump was just a joke! Shadow: He called me what? Knuckles: Ah, wait, he said that when you weren't around… Shadow: Well, maybe I’m grumpy because he’s a-- [In their shared room] Sonic: …an overactive drill in his skull? Is that what he said?! Tails: Eeeeh… He did say that, yes… But not about you! He said it about Knuckles. Knuckles: What!? How can someone be so mean!? He says that about me and then, about Sonic, that he's worth less than Eggman's word-- Sonic: What!? That guy is the last one who should be talking about anyone's word! He’s going to win the Guinness for-- [Back in the living room] Tails: …the guy with the most determination and willpower. Knuckles: Yep… Is that the smart way of saying what Sonic said about Shadow winning a backstabbing competition even if he competed with a spoon??? Tails [slams his hand on the table]: Damn it, Knuckles! How many times do I have to explain this?! If Sonic says that Shadow is a mistake of nature-- Shadow: Pardon!? Tails: …we tell him that he thinks Shadow is more adorable than Flubber. [Back in their shared room] Tails: And if Shadow says you can tell Sonic is fast because intelligence has spent his whole life trying to catch up and hasn’t managed to even graze him? Sonic: Excuse me!? Tails: Then, we tell him Shadow also thinks he's the fastest thing alive. Isn't that right, Sonic? Isn't this year’s Christmas ad like that? Sonic: Well, that’s enough! Tell that monster that I only want to hear from him when he’s finally useful and can fit in an ashtray!!!! [Back in the living room] Shadow: I don’t care if he wants to give me an ashtray for Christmas. Tell that buffoon he can stop worrying about me because I’m not going to speak to him for the rest of his life [stands up and leaves, slamming the door]. [Knuckles and Tails slump onto the couch, discouraged] Knuckles: …And that’s how the Christmas commercial ended? Well, that’s some useless advertising. Tails: …

[neoclassic-sonic]

Fang the Hunter Miniseries Thoughts

I really like these panels from Fang the Hunter #1, it's a neat callback to their appearances related to Fighters Megamix.

Referencing Bean, a 15 year old duck who's into sports (particularly soccer! which in itself is a reference to his cameo in Virtua Striker 2) and Bark who has had a history of cooling problems as shown in his Fighters Megamix comic

In general I really like how the Fang the Hunter mini-series works as a soft-reboot for the Hooligans (or a return to form). Seeing as the Hooligans as a unit was an Archie-original thing, I /did/ felt kinda off seeing them as a unit in Mania and subsequently Seasons of Chaos. While Bean was written moreso morally gray with a penchant for chaos and Bark was written as ''hanging with a bad crowd'', (imo) it didn't really honor (admittedly what little) they had with their original StF appearances and Fighters Megamix profiles as non-villains.

Don't get me wrong I loved the hooligans, Fang and his mooks worked really well cohesively as a design and as a unit. I just really welcome their return to form, especially in preparation for Fang's Big Break and Sonic Superstars where Fang is back more than ever as a villain for Classic Sonic.

And I felt that the energies and dynamics they established in Fang the Hunter adds more depth to them as characters. Re-establishing the unique bond Bark and Bean have with each other.

There's always been this underlying question of ''why does Bark hangout with the Hooligans when he's not really inclined for misdeeds?'' and it's nice to know the answer is ''to keep Bean in check.'' Bark is there for a reason. (btw I don't mean to imply Bark only sticks around for Bean, he also loves to fight and use his fists as shown in Seasons of Chaos when he squares off against Knuckles and Mighty (Which I think is nice, out of everyone from StF, I like that the fighting aspect is carried through with Bark.) and when he was about to use his fist on Eggman's doors.)

''What about Bean then?'' also answered in the same panel, ''because it's been fun!'' which is authentic to this chaotic streak they've got for Bean which I love! But their involvement with Fang is called into question when... it's not fun anymore. As Bean said ''you need us more for backup than we do you for inspiration.''

Bean says he likes the wacky jobs, which come to him via Fang who is a merc for hire, but he calls in to complaint the fact Fang keeps getting jobs from Eggman. Ergo his (and Bark's) companionship to Fang is dependent on whether Fang can keep Bean entertained.

(I know this is a gag panel but I want to bring attention to Bark's expressions here, we've consistently seen since Seasons of Chaos and Amy's 30th Anni, Bark holds Amy's opinion of him in high regard, and is visibly ashamed when he has to do her wrong. Fang also regrets it but that's more of having to deal with Amy's hammer I think.)

It leads into this interesting balance they have this tension and are knowingly... well I don't want to say ''fake'' but they have their reservations about each other. Bean outright calls out that Fang is ''pretending to like them'' and there is sarcasm dripping from ''So Happy you're sticking with me''. This relationship is business!

I don't mean to say Fang doesn't care about Bean and Bark, while they're under his leadership he sees them as ''his'', teammates he's responsible for.

It's a consistent trait he's had since Amy's 30th.

And I do want to point out that Bean and Bark /do/ like Fang as well, it's just the history of being let down over and over again that's burnt them out from partnering with him.

These panels also shed some insight on how Fang values his relationships. He's a ''you scratch my back I'll scratch yours'' kinda guy. He HATES being crossed and is willing to turn his back on something that will bite him in the ass and he's shown this off before.

He doesn't have loyalty with Eggman necessarily, it's moreso a loyalty to himself, his bike, money and people he's contracted with (Bean and Bark, Eggman). He's loyal to you as long as you don't stab him in the back. The slightest hint that you're a burden to him? He'll cut you off. Which I think really works for him as a selfish mercenary character.

This selfishness is what ultimately rubs Bean and Bark the wrong way.

Bean cares about Bark and Bark cares about Bean, Bean is especially disappointed when Fang implies leaving without Bark.

After seeing that their search amounted to nothing? Especially after almost getting KILLED? Bean cuts thins off with Fang and takes Bark with him.

And as for Fang?

After losing Bean and Bark, things lead to Fang's Big Break and he appreciates not having to share his rewards anymore.

Overall I felt this was a very natural way of explaining why Bean and Bark are no longer with him and also allowing Fang to be more villainous in Superstars. Especially his treatment/apathy towards Trip the Sungazer.

[samobservessonic]

“Knuckles the Echidna is up to his neck in it again” as a caption combined with this opening shot. Just another day for that wacky echidna Knuckles

So basically, it was her or him. Not exactly the most noble character, but I can’t pretend I don’t see why she made the choice she did. Assuming she still has her free will at all

He’s figuring it out!

The rolling of the flaming wooden egg containing an echidna down the hill is yet another rural tradition. Made all the more difficult by echidnas not being native to Mobian Britain and understandably Mobian Australia won’t lend them any

Knuckles breaks free of his prison and breaks the curse of Mesmer’s staff! But if you think that means he’s out of the woods, then there’s more to come

The kindly tavern-owner from the first issue?

Surprise, it was Robotnik wearing another fursuit! I did remember this plot-twist all along, but I kept quiet for anyone following these who might not have known

That’s the ending flex! Robotnik knows that the heroes won’t kill him and the comic state plainly that as long as he rules the planet, what is anyone going to do about him? No justice system can stop him, because he is the justice system. I’m sure I don’t need to make any grim comparisons to modern times here :( 

We get an ending that we don’t see very often in the Sonic franchise in general, but the kind that Kitching doesn’t shy away from - the hero doesn’t win. We are gearing up to Robotnik’s big defeat, so this is essentially building more tension until his inevitable downfall, but for now, Knuckles has no choice but to walk away and leave this situation as it is. God, StC Mobius is so messy and I love that

I also like that Robotnik just does this stuff when he’s not busy hunting the Freedom Fighters. Whenever Robotnik and Grimer meet up again after their days off, Grimer is like “I made missile-seeking shoes and tried to kill Tails with them” and Robotnik is like “Well, I dressed as a Mobian again to test out the new hypnotist on some village in a forest somewhere”

One last thing is that I've had a couple of people mention that this story is a homage to "The Wicker Man", which I've shamefully not seen and hope to one day plug that gap in my British pop culture knowledge. So I wanted to mention it here, so it wouldn't seem like I'm ignoring the references, I just didn't have the source material to pull from to make jokes about this time

[yaolovesart]

EASE MY TENSION

⚜️ crescendo au

pairing: wave / espio

678 words

To say she was stressed was an understatement. She was tense. She always is, with the shop growing in reputation and popularity, more requests spilling in and Jet’s constant needs and wants and whatnot.

She’s swamped, to say the least, tenuous hours spent hunched over half-drawn blueprints of extreme gear and half-done projects. 36, to be exact. Hasn’t left her workshop in that time, living on only because of all the water Storm had made her stock up on and door dash.

Lots and lots of door dash. It can’t be healthy for her, it isn’t. But if she wants to get these orders done on time, it’s what she has to do.

Would it be easier to get an assistant? Most definitely.

But.

They wouldn’t be able to understand her ways of thinking, on an intellectual level, at least. They wouldn’t be able to understand that yes those piles have to be there, that everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be. Where she can remember it being. Even if it looks like pig’s sty. And that no they can’t stop just because they stink a little.

Either she gets these fucking orders done one time or her ratings fucking sink. And she can’t have that, when she’s the main source of income for the house. When Storm and Jet rely on her paycheck to pay for the things they want. When she doesn’t—when she can’t let them struggle for anything.

So, yeah. Finding an assistant that can understand all that is a bit hard these days.

But that’s fine. Because she’s halfway done anyways! If she stays another night, she’s sure she can have the rest of the order done and shipped out by Thursday.

…she’s hungry.

But most places are closed by now. And the ones that are open she doesn’t want. She could ask someone to bring something to her but then she’d have to wake them up at two in the morning just to bring her something. Jet has classes and Storm has work in the morning, so they’re out. Rouge was with Knuckles, doing god knows what, so they aren’t an option. Surge had her competition coming up, also out. And she’d rather die than ask Sonic or any of his knuckleheaded friends for help of any kind.

So…who—

A knock on the storefront door knocked her out of her thoughts, nearly spooking her consciousness out of her body.

She only realizes how tired she is when she goes to answer, her legs nearly buckling beneath her. But, she steels herself and makes her way towards the door. She twists, click, and opens it, eyes widening when her eyes meet familiar gold.

“..Espio?” She says quietly, bewildered.

The chameleon’s cheeks flush brightly, a nervous smile painting his lips, as if he wasn’t expecting his knocks to actually be answered, “Uh..Hello, Miss Wave.”

But that’s not what Wave sees, no. The first thing she zeros in on is the plastic container in his hand, the lip white with steam.

As soon as she’s certain she isn’t drooling all over herself, she speaks, “This is…unexpected.”

“Yeah..” he responds, then goes quiet, just..staring at her.

She blinks, and very slowly, points at the container, “uh..are you—“

“Yes!” He said suddenly, snapping to attention, “Yes, yes, yes, right. Right, um, this…i-is for you.” He thrusts the container into her arms, furthering her confusion.

“Um, how did you..know I was here?” She asks, and she’s almost scared of the answer.

Espio seems to freeze for a second, staring at her while she stares back. Wave feels her heart starting to race and her beak parts, “Es—“

“You’re brother told me. Storm, I think?” He said, interrupting whatever she might’ve thought.

Wave nods, “Right..right.”

Because that’s an acceptable answer, right? To the mobian’s sleep-addled mind, it is.

(Her brain doesn’t quite catch that that wouldn’t make much sense. Storm never stays up this late, always going to sleep before 10, at the most. He wouldn’t be able to contact anyone, much less the cashier at the record shop she occasionally visits.)

Wave meets his eyes again, “Goodnight, Espio.”

The chameleon smiles at her. “Goodnight, Miss Wave.”

And Wave thinks nothing else of it, making a mental reminder to pay the chameleon back for such a kind gesture.

[skimmingmilk]

loved your newest work and can definitely see Tails anxiety skyrocketing from Maddies look alone. In the second movie, he was genuinely shocked Sonic considered him a friend, let alone a little brother. Even looking at some of the spin-off shorts like Sonic: Drone Home, Tails isn't as confident as he was in movie 2. When they enter the junkyard, he kind of hides behind Sonics' legs, to which Sonic rolls his eyes and seems just happy to be included. In the third movie I assume whatever insecurities he'd had about being accepted had been worked through but with one look it's like he's back at square one. This is piled on top of the fact that Sonic was ready and willing to go off on his own with the Master Emerald. And them being a team isn't just for tactical reasons, but Tails believes it's what makes them special. For his idol to not only want to split up, but fight to go too right after his mother figure just disowned him with his eyes probably threw Tails through a big emotional loop.

Thank you so much! It was my first attempt at something set in the movie universe, and it just instantly inspired me from the moment I saw that scene. I wish we had a little more insight into movie Tails's past, but it's also nice to have free reign to play with all the possibilities of his backstory and how he views his role in the family. I would love another spin-off short like Drone Home, just a small something that shows off more of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles's dynamic in Green Hills.

I think the third movie put them in such a new, unfamiliar set of circumstances that whatever routine or patterns they've fallen into during their downtime were just turned on their heads. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles have clearly been practicing fighting together and their flying formation, but they've also been safe and acting like regular kids instead of being sent on a GUN mission. They're not constantly in danger or fighting for the sake of the world in this universe. It's all fun and games at first, but the stakes and tension just keep ramping up the further they're drawn into Shadow and Gerald's plot.

Seeing their family and team dynamic fracture around them, their parental figures put at risk, Sonic falling back on his old habits of not thinking about the consequences of his actions and going solo, would definitely take away some of the security Tails had previously felt. Little guy finally belonged somewhere, but now they're all going separate ways and leaving him behind </3

[welcome-to-green-hills]

A list of predictions I have for the Sonic movie I think are at least likely to happen

- opening shot is with either Stone or Robotnik (or both) breaking into the facility holding shadow

- definitely more homoerotic tension between Sone and Robotnik

- tails has built his own workshop/treehouse he likes hanging out in

- knuckles similarly has built his own shrine for the master emerald (just for fun)

- sibling and family shenanigans

- Sonic gets arrested after Shadow goes around stealing shit, also GUN knows that its Shadow and not him, but they arrest Sonic as a cover up, the public is decided because half of them are like “that’s clearly not Sonic”, but the other half is like “what are the odds of there being two alien hedgehogs that just so happen to be on earth?”

- prison break scene

- flashbacks of shadow and Maria living on the ark

- what exactly happened to Maria isn’t revealed right away, similarly to sa2

- the death scene plays after Shadow remembers the real promise he made to her. His memories were repressed rather than altered, so remembering her death is a big character moment when he realizes he needs to accept her death and honor her memory rather than seek revenge

- Maria’s death definitely won’t be on screen. My guess is they’ll take the Sonic x route (the original, not the dub) and cut away to just show Shadows reaction (pretty much like in project shadow)

- if Amy isn’t in the movie, then Sonic will be the one to give Shadow the big speech to convince him to help save the world

- shadows origins will be a bit different. I think Gerald Robotnik studied and somehow traveled to the gangs home planet, and he found DNA from a creature capable of harnessing the power of the emeralds (the same alien race as sonic, tying into the reason Longclaw was afraid of someone taking Sonic for his power)

- eggman has the broadcasted speech while he shows off the capabilities of the Space Colony Ark (by blowing up the moon) and it shows the residents of green hills all watching and reacting (if it starts with Robotnik saying the words “I’ve come to make an announcement” I will be very happy)

- if Tom and Maddie don’t get to go with them to the Ark, they’re given the sacred task of looking after the master emerald for them. If they do get to go to the Ark, then Knuckles will go to Wade and count on him to protect the Master emerald (Wade will probably become more responsible and aware during the knuckles series, so much so that Knuckles puts his trust in him)

- alternate plot for Tom and Maddie, they investigate the cover up of Project Shadow and discover the truth about what happened (essentially everyone was killed except for Gerald and Shadow). Bonus points if they find out a Wachowski was involved (or even the one responsible for killing Maria, but that’s a stretch)

- also if Tom and Maddie go to Space Colony Ark, emotional moment where they have to see Sonic get ejected via the space capsule (he’s fine, don’t worry)

- Tails, Knuckles, Tom, and Maddie all going absolutely ham on fighting Robotnik afterwards because they think Sonic couldn’t have survived

- Sonic and Shadow team up (potentially a begrudging truce with eggman because he realizes he can’t take over the world if it’s destroyed along with him)

- Knuckles is the least enthusiastic about a team up considering Eggman used him before, and everyone is of course like “we really don’t like it either, but the world is literally going to end if we don’t”

- Super Shadow and Sonic pushing back the Space Colony Ark (I don’t think the prototype will be in the movie just for simplicity sake) while a rendition of Live and Learn plays

- Shadow inevitably sacrifices himself, all while thinking of his promise to Maria

- Sonic trying to save Shadow (and doesn’t)

- Tom and Maddie being so happy to see Sonic alive and well but then their faces drop as they see the distraught look on his face and notice he’s holding Shadows inhibitor

- Group hug where they all comfort him

- Post credit scene hinting Shadow survived

I have many more predictions involving Amy and Rouge, but I don’t know if they’ll for sure be in it. I have a feeling if they do pick at least one character to introduce it will be Amy.

Oh! Oh, these are some very excellent suggestions, my dear! I love them a lot. It looks to be that you and I share some of the same thoughts! Great minds think alike you know😎

I do agree with Shadow losing Maria: we won’t see it on screen, but it could be familiar to how it was done with Sonic X.

I’ve been cackling over the idea of Stone and Robotnik carrying a ragdoll-sized Shadow. He’s quite eepy.

[metal-harbor]

Aghhh I want to hear everything about it!! Sonic and Amy's friendship is so important to me in this au, especially when his former friendship with Knuckles (and even Shadow) is so fractured, and his one with Tails now so different (if still positive). His place with Amy hasn't been replaced!

Do you see things coming to a head in any way wrt the dynamic between Shadow, Tails, and Sonic now? It has to be rough walking on eggshells around Shadow in this situation.

I think he definitely appreciates it more than he’s able to show, in return I think she finds his smile and upbeat attitude refreshing (especially since living with team dark…)

I think Sonic actually feels a little jealous - something he really isn’t used to feeling. At this point Shadow has actually been in Tails’ life for longer than Sonic had before his disappearance, and he knows that means that the two have inevitably grown closer.

The weirdest thing is the three of them trying to navigate being in the same house. Shadow is frequently away on excursions which makes things easier, but it also just makes it feel so much stranger when he is around. Sonic doesn’t really know what to say to him when he comes downstairs in the morning to see Shadow sat at the table. Usually, Shadow will immediately just get up and leave whatever room Sonic is in which leads to some tension between Shadow and Tails. Tails thinks Shadow isn’t making enough of an effort to be civil, and if he could just get past this attitude then everything would be a lot smoother. Shadow thinks he is already asking too much in asking him not to beat Sonic to a pulp, and that he should understand that is only because he has come to respect Tails. While their closeness is strange, Sonic still feels bad coming between them.

Sonic also has the uncomfortable feeling of being indebted to Shadow; he saved Tails life at the sacrifice of his own anatomy, he has given up his voyaging lifestyle to stay in once place to keep his brother safe, and he comforted him when Tails accepted Sonic wasn’t coming back. He can’t even thank the guy because Shadow won’t talk to him.

The realisation that Shadow and Tails have similar interests is also unfamiliar; he had never really imagined Shadow as a guy with hobbies. They have a truck they’re fixing up together in their free time or when they need time away from a project. They talk about quantum physics, the mathematical probabilities of time travel, theoretical chaos energy studies - things Sonic had no idea Shadow knew anything about. Tails stands in Shadow’s personal space and no one seems to notice; he’s allowed to grab Shadow’s robotic arm with no reaction, Shadow will take Tails’ goggles straight off of his head when he needs to borrow them, Tails is the only other person allowed to work on the dark rider. I think it makes Sonic feel a little replaced in Tails’ life, as he will now go to Shadow with any problem he’s having instead of Sonic. In turn he feels guilty for disrupting the peace that Shadow has come to feel - he feels like an intruder in what was once his home.

There will come a point in the story where Shadow has to rely on Sonic, and it becomes clear Shadow still acknowledges and respects Sonic’s abilities. There also may or may not be a point where, after a particularly long day, an exhausted Shadow opens up to Sonic about how tired he really is. Maybe he’s even a little glad Sonic has returned, it means that in the disturbingly realistic scenario that Shadow can no longer fight, at least there will be someone around to keep the safe.

[sonicstorybook]

The King's Champion

A SatBK AU where Shadow is the one sent to Camelot and Sonic is the doppelgänger- the one and only King Arthur!

Part: 4/4

Summary: Arthur the Hedgehog pulled the legendary sword Caliburn from the stone, and he became King Arthur, the ruler of Camelot. Shadow the Hedgehog appears in a flash of magic in the middle of his banquet hall, and he becomes Arthur’s problem. As the sun rises over the kingdom, a pre-dawn conversation between both hedgehogs also helps them reach... well, not quite a mutual understanding, but progress is progress!

(Shadow doesn’t know where he is, what’s going on, or why he’s there- but it doesn’t matter. He’s Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form, and he’s going to play this weird game by his rules.)

Contains: Pre-relationship/platonic Arthadow (Arthur the Hedgehog x Shadow the Hedgehog)! Lamorak (Jet the Hawk) and Percival (Blaze the Cat) are siblings! Gawain (Knuckles the Echidna) and Gareth (Mighty the Armadillo) are siblings! Gawain and Gareth are Yvain’s (Ray the Flying Squirrel) cousins! Kay (Scourge the Hedgehog) is Arthur’s adopted brother!

Rating: G

Word count: 2,252

Note: The close of the first chapter of Shadow’s stay in Camelot! C: Will there be more? Yes, because I have no self-control. C,:

Reminder of characters: Sir Kay is Scourge the Hedgehog! Sir Gareth is Mighty the Armadillo!  Sir Yvain is Ray the (Flying?) Squirrel! Percy is Percival the Squire, aka Blaze the Cat! 

All chatter ends and the courtyard is deathly quiet as everyone collectively holds their breath, certain they must have misheard Shadow just now… but the black hedgehog doubles down.

“You heard me,” Shadow repeats, turning to face Gawain with a challenging arch of his brow, “Lancelot can keep his Queen- I’ll take the King.”

“What!?“ Half a dozen voices cry out at once. Arthur barely manages to contain his own surprise, whipping his head to look at Shadow so quickly he almost flings the circlet off his head. 

Shadow does not flinch under the heavy weight of the stares, cool and determined with a haughty hand on his hip.

“Shadow,” Arthur wishes he had a moment with Shadow alone to explain what the black hedgehog was getting himself into, tenting his hands in front of his face thoughtfully, “Once again, I am asking you to reconsider this request. That is no light commitment or task. Are you sure this is what you truly want?”

“I’m going to prove that I am superior to this Lancelot in every possible way,” Although Shadow says Lancelot’s name, the challenging glare he levels in Arthur’s direction indicates that Camelot’s king is included as well, “By the end of it, all of you will be comparing Lancelot to me.”

“You are completely mad if you think the king will accept such outlandish demands!” Gawain is so worked up he throws his hand out, hitting the unfortunate Sir Yvain in the chest with his barbed knuckles. The yellow squirrel is knocked off his feet and into Sir Gareth behind him, who barely manages to keep them both upright, “Who are you?! What are your designs on our king?! Are you a spy or assassin?!”

“I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the world’s ultimate life form,” Shadow is arrogantly self-assured as he literally turns his nose up at Gawain, “Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t care about you or this kingdom. And if I wanted your King dead, there’s nothing you could do to stop me!”

“You churl-!”

It’s very clear that Shadow and Gawain are about to start slinging hotheaded boasts, vicious insults, and blows again. But before Arthur can try to restore order, aid comes from an unexpected source.

“Hah! You are a saucy one!” Sir Lamorak’s squawk of laughter shatters the tension like ice, pushing past Gawain to stand directly in front of Shadow. 

“Brother!” A small purple cat darts out from the crowd, grabbing onto the hawk’s hand and giving him a stern shake, “Do not be foolish!”

“I know what I’m doing, squire,” Lamorak hisses at her, low enough only those nearby can hear him, shaking himself free and pushing the child behind him, “Watch and learn, Percy!”

‘Percy’ gives a loud, annoyed groan as she stomps her foot irritably, sulkily crossing her arms and watching her brother with an incredibly unimpressed expression. Who was this girl, again? Lamorak had asked if he could bring his sister in as his squire, but that had been only a few days ago and she wouldn’t have been able to make the journey so quickly, could she? She also seemed a little too young to be a squire… 

Lamorak flips his visor up with one hand as he looks down on Shadow with a condescending grin, “Do you have any idea what you are asking for? Do you really think an untried knave without any weapon or armor of his own has a chance?”

Shadow is coolly defiant, eyes boring into Lamorak ferociously, “I don’t need anything but my bare hands to beat you.“

Lamorak’s grin falls immediately, and his hand reaches to the scabbards where his twin swords are sheathed on his back-

“Enough!” Arthur steps in before Shadow manages to make more enemies, putting himself between his combative guest and his strongest knights, “Shadow is new to the realm and not familiar with its customs, and yet you treat him with great hostility! Where is your courtesy? Your patience? This is a most inhospitable way to treat my personal guest!”

Arthur hates having to use his authority like this, he really does, but Shadow is going to wind up as unpopular as Kay at this rate. 

The stunned silence lasts only a moment. 

“Your guest!” Gawain sputters indignantly, gesturing at Shadow like he doesn’t know what else to say, “Your guest!!”

“My lord,” Gareth puts his hand on Gawain’s shoulder, choosing his words carefully, “It is most unusual to have someone enter the kingdom with the visage of one of the round table’s most illustrious and well-regarded knights-”

Kay blows a dismissive raspberry, smiling when the armadillo gives him an annoyed side eye. Gawain leans over his brother’s shoulder to give the green hedgehog a full on glare.

“And it would be imprudent to rush into something like this without considering all potential factors and viewpoints,” Gareth finishes primly, bowing his head respectfully as he meets Shadow’s eyes, “While still giving Sir Shadow the same opportunities we would extend to every other child of Camelot.”

“You cannot be serious!” Gawain turns to his brother incredulously, “He disguised himself as Lancelot!”

“I have no need to disguise myself as anyone!” Shadow’s eyes narrow as he takes a step toward Gawain.

“Enough, enough!” Arthur massages his forehead as he glances up at the sky, knowing that this argument will cost him the rest of the morning. He will be struggling to meet all his daily obligations at this rate, and will likely be working late into the night... “I will hear your arguments in the great hall at the round table- after we break our fast.”

Before anyone can say anything else, Arthur turns to his guest, “Come, Shadow the Hedgehog, bringer of chaos! Before you end up creating blood feuds with the entire round table!”

Shadow doesn’t look the least bit chastised, incredulous and amused as he gives a flippant shrug, “Fine by me.”

“With these jests, it sounds like you’re better suited to the role of court jester!” Lamorak laughs boisterously, arms crossed over his chest as he grins mockingly. His squire stands behind him, less than enthused at her knight’s actions, but doesn’t say anything. She simply grips onto his tail feathers and digs her feet into the ground below, trying to physically keep him out of the range of Shadow’s fists. 

“Have you any more?” Lamorak jeers, obviously trying to get back at Shadow for that earlier insult. (Even though the brash hawk brought it on himself. Again.)

The air around Shadow turns positively murderous, and he flexes the fingers of his right hand as he brings it up mid-chest, “How about a magic trick?

Sparks crackle around his fingertips as he looks at Lamorak over his shoulder, eyes narrowing like he’s honing in on a target.

“I can make you disappear-“ Shadow starts to say, bringing his hand down in a vicious arc-

That Arthur jumps in to stop with his hands. The strange energy spreads through Shadow’s fingers and into his own, leaving behind a tingling sensation that seems to seep into his skin and to his very bones. Arthur lets go quickly, but it travels up the length of his arm and into his shoulder before radiating through his entire body.

“My Lord!” Half a dozen voices cry out at the same time in dismay.

“It’s nothing!” Arthur doesn’t have any time to dwell on any of this, even as his body seems to buzz with the energy. He wants to shake his hand out, but he knows that will just worry his knights, “I said this will wait until after breakfast! Be still, all of you!” 

He grabs Shadow’s hand tightly as he ushers his taciturn companion forward, as if afraid the black hedgehog is going to run off and punch someone else in the face. (Which seems very likely at this point.)

 “Come along!” Arthur’s hand buzzes where it touches Shadow, even through the fabric of his glove. He half expects the dark hedgehog to push him away, and is surprised when Shadow’s hand squeezes him. But painfully so, like this is a challenge he can win while making sure Arthur doesn’t let go. The king glances back as Shadow, curious to see why the prickly hedgehog would touch him without a clear purpose- when it becomes clear this is a calculated power play.

Shadow is staring Gawain down, using this simple gesture to establish himself in the king’s entourage, annoy the echidna and the other knights who regard him with suspicion, and show his clear disregard for hierarchy of the court. For some reason, Arthur is disappointed… but he pushes that feeling aside immediately. Shadow would be a fool if he did not use the king’s political and social position to his advantage.

Arthur pulls Shadow towards the now doorless archway, whispering as he discreetly elbows the black hedgehog, “What are you doing? I don’t know how it works in your world, but you’ll accomplish more with friends in Camelot’s walls rather than enemies!”

“I don’t need friends,” Shadow gives Arthur a flat look, answering loudly as he glowers back at Lamorak, “And if you want to keep yours in one piece, they shouldn’t start what they can’t finish. I don’t like leaving loose ends.”

Arthur rolls his eyes in exasperation as he hurries through the corridor, ear swiveling backwards to pick up on the disgruntled chatter that is naturally amplified by the stone hallways. Shadow’s combative attitude and abrasive demeanor are certainly not doing much to endear him to anyone.

“You don’t seem to like casual conversation or friendly advice either,” Arthur quips back, shaking his head, “And certainly not comfortable beds. What of mead and bread? Do you like that?”

“You're starting to irritate me, hedgehog-” Shadow answers back automatically, annoyed, before blinking rapidly. He gives Arthur that look again, like he’s seeing him in a completely different light, “You are going to drink mead for breakfast?”

Arthur finds Shadow’s baffled confusion amusing, quietly chuckling to himself, “Would my new champion prefer wine instead?”

“Sure, why not,” Shadow lets Arthur open the door to the chamber himself, purposefully ignoring Gawain’s outrage and rubbing it in by refusing to let go of the king’s hand the entire time, making Arthur do it one handed. Arthur can’t remember the last time he’s opened a door for himself, let alone another person. It’s strangely thrilling, “Where does the echidna sit?”

“I sit in the red velvet siege,” Arthur nods at the plush seat with the crown carved into the wood above it, “And ‘Wain sits to my left-”

“Good,” Shadow doesn’t wait for Arthur to finish explaining or sit down, plopping himself in the seat to Arthur’s right like it belongs to him. It belongs to Sir Kay, who seems less than amused- but, in a rare move of self preservation, also doesn’t seem very keen to attract Shadow’s ire on himself directly. Arthur shrugs to his brother apologetically, making motions to an attendant by the door to bring another chair.

In fact, Shadow goes out of his way to make himself look as comfortable as possible, throwing his crossed legs over one arm rest and propping his elbow on the other, resting his chin on his fist. Incredibly bold… Arthur sits down quickly himself, hiding a smile behind a sip of his cup.

“MY KING!” Gawain yanks his chair out from the table so violently the wood cracks under his grip, splinters falling to the floor as he sits in it heavily and unhappily, “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!”

Shadow stares at Gawain with a bored expression as he filches a piece of cheese from Arthur’s plate, popping it into his mouth as the echidna slams his hands back down on the table. 

Well, this is certainly turning out to be a very different and complicated day! When Arthur first rose this morning, he didn’t think he’d end up having breakfast with Shadow the Hedgehog sitting on his right hand side after causing a feud with almost half the round table. Or to have Gawain, one of his most powerful and influential knights, squabbling with the black hedgehog like a petulant child.

One of the many large and small problems he needs to solve... Arthur nibbles on a roll absentmindedly as he listens to Gareth’s argument from the other side of the table, pretending he doesn’t notice Shadow flick a piece of apple at the side of Gawain’s head.

He needs to nip the budding tension between Lamorak and Shadow before it leads to bloodshed… Lamorak is very pointedly glaring daggers at the hedgehog until his sister kicks him in the shin when he doesn’t pass her the jam quickly enough, and that quickly devolves to the hawk arguing with a literal child. 

Arthur needs to make Shadow’s self-appointed position as his champion palatable to the majority of his knights and advisors, many of whom are regarding Shadow with guarded suspicion over the rim of their mugs. 

He needs to find and check on Lancelot, whose absence in the siege at Gawain’s right is painfully obvious. And Arthur needs to soothe Kay’s wounded pride before his brother does something reckless and foolish that causes them all unnecessary grief. (Especially Kay himself.)

It was exactly as Sir Ector had warned- the secret wish of excitement in his heart had been answered in the most unexpected way. But Arthur has no regrets. 

Despite it all, he is eager to see how this new adventure unfolds.

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

The Time has come, I shall speak now about my one true pairing, the couple I love the most in Sonic's universe: Knuckles×Rouge

Knouge is a relationship trope that simply works sooooo fucking well!!😖😖 It's fresh juice of the finest quality👌👌, I have seen this kind of relationship a lot: Scrooge x Goldie, Carmelita x Sly, Puss x kitty and of course Batman x Catwoman... 😏😏 (by the way all this couples already kissed, what the fuck are you waiting for SEGA? 😒😒) Is basically the kind of relationship that has losts of banter and tension and honestly they give a lot of material for good juicy stories.

This was the first relationship that could be considered canon in the games regarding having mutual feelings for each other (because at that time Sonic didn't have the relationship with Amy that he has now). When Rouge was introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, she was created to be Knuckles' rival in skills but not only that, she was intended to be also his love interest in a more specific way but in the end they decided to keep things more subtle and not as completely obvious as Amy's display of feelings for Sonic, also she was going to be named Nails the bat, so Nails 💅 and Knuckles 👊 rhymes with Tails but they named her ROUGE which means RED in French a ROMANCE language, red like Knuckles I'm just saying.

SA2 in fact has the very first "romantic" scene between two sonic characters, because absolutely no one will convince me ever that the moment when he saves her and they look into each other's eyes holding hands wasn't a romantic scene, like seriously 😤😏👇

and look what I found, this is an official sonic book from SEGA:

Do we need more proof than this? Ok 👌 let's continue then:

So the best words to describe them are: "Polar opposites attraction" "Pure vs flirtatious" "Honor vs dirty play" "Guardian vs Thief" "Endless banter" "Arguing married couple" And of course: "SEXUAL TENSION" 😂😂 even in the damn soundtrack!! Have you listened to Knuckles theme? "Kick the rock (Wild Canyon)" SEGA approved that song! 😂 Here let me show the best part of the lyrics:

"I gotta chase a bat, uh" "Yeah Rouge she is sexy and smooth, a double cross spy thief that's out for my jewels, uh! I'm feeling her in mysterious ways" Boy... Knuckles suddenly got hit by puberty or something 😂😂 he was unknowingly horny for her already...

"Who could'a did this? That snitch named Rouge! When I catch her I'm gonna get her with these tools" There you are, come here little thief! Think you going to fly and get away quick? Uh, uh! Give up the Emerald or die! I don't love you!! " And now he becomes a tsundere denying feelings nobody asked him if he has 😂 and we all know he wouldn't let her die.

Also the most important thing that makes them absolutely canon is that Sonic ships them, Sonic's shipping mind is indisputable, he did it a few times already: in Sonic Rivals he asks them if they are on a date, in one of Sonic's phone games they start arguing because Knuckles was salty that Rouge was so nice wishing Sonic happy birthday and that she wasn't that nice to him in HIS birthday (jealous much?) and Sonic says to tails that that is true love and then Rouge goes full tsundere denying it 😂😂😂, precious 👌👌.

Let's also mention what happened in sonic X specifically with the original Japanese dub, Rouge just wouldn't stop flirting (+backstabbing let's be honest😛) and knuckles wouldn't stop reacting to it 😂

In this scene ☝ in Japanese she purposely asked him if he was "active" At night too 🤣🤣🤣 she just meant she is active at night because she is a bat... But the way she said that 😆, she was known for making lots of dirty jokes in the Japanese version... Ok but leaving that aside I want to mention only one specific moment because in general the dynamic was the same: she flirts and jokes, he falls for it ect... But this scene was my favorite because this was literally a date.

Don't fight me. THIS WAS A DATE.👇👇

So many things to say about this scene, first the romantic full moon night background, in Japan when someone says the "moon is beautiful tonight" Means "I like/love you", unfortunately none of them said anything like that but with all this is just plain obvious this was a romantic setting, Rouge was trying to get Knuckles to be emotional because she knows he misses Sonic and wanted him to think she is so caring and compassionate and give her jewels 😂 but he ends up being stubborn breaking the mood and accuses her to be the one who misses him making her angry and start a fight but after a while they see Sonic in the sky and Rouge says they look dumb and wonders why were they fighting for in the first place, Knuckles laughs at her messy face and THEN she playfully jumps on him and he says she is tickling him??????? Of course this part is conveniently out of camera and we can only hear whatever the hell they are doing 😂😏 but now think about it... What were they doing? She was on top of him on the floor under the moonlight tickling him.... AND NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED?? Yeah come on! I don't believe that 😏, we know Rouge doesn't waste time:

Boy that's an ugly ugly comic and speaking of comics, remembering the old Archie comics too... After that dark era where Rouge was a unfairly represented as a villainous cruel bitch 😤🤬 there was a reboot before the IDW reboot and finally my waifu got at least some justice! I just love this particular comic where she shows how she actually respects Knuckles and cares about him, she is someone who never gets attached too much to big responsibilities if that cuts her freedom, she values her freedom (something in common with Sonic) and she wanted Knuckles to have that kind of freedom too:

Look at her being a peacemaker between her boyfriend and brother 😆. Well anyway I hope Ian Flynn gets more freedom eventually because it's clear he is holding back in the current Sonic comics😭😭😭 (even made a joke with the love triangle 😂😂)

Let's give it time... They managed to put some furry lesbians in the comic so anything is possible... I'll just wait forever ��🥲🥲🥲

And well we also got some good stuff in Sonic Prime!! 😍😍😍 we finally saw him carrying her bridal style in a angst situation 🤩🤩🤩 for a brief moment and from long distance camera shot but is still something 🥲🥲 just zoom it.

Well, that's it. Enough evidence IT'S CANON. Caso Cerrado😂😂😂

[sonikkublue]

Do you have a master post of all the mafia au info? I've been scrolling through the tags and I fear I'm missing info

Tysm for lookin thru my au i rly appreciate that, but also plz excuse my secretive behavior, as I trouble myself with sharing barely any info on my projects🧎 specifically AND especially this AU of mine

I’ve been thinking of making one whole archive of it alone for the art, as well as a page that just explains the characters and a little of the story, just so ppl know a bit of what’s goin on, and who they are. Since I know illustrating this whole story as a comic/manga will take a while, especially just getting one vol out with only 2 ppl workin on it together- I want to keep my audience busy, informed and happy with, until the first vol comes out

To make up for not havin a proper explanation of ANYTHING yet, I will list some characters in brief for u. Mostly the ones u need to know. Others will show up over time:

Mr. H (he is the Sonic in this au. 30 yrs old and has been running his Uncle Chuck’s company, as well as the family mafia. He’s greedy and only cares for what’s in it for him, and money. He has no interest in relationships or love, but would make u pay to date/marry him)

Miles (he is the Tails in this au. Plays the role of Mr. H’s son, being adopted since day 1. He also hates Shadow. He looks up to his dad and wants to be just like him someday. He just doesn’t know abt the mafia…yet)

Shadow (he’s Mr. H’s right hand man, his consigliere, his lackey. Him and Mr. H have a little romantic connection, even tho H is not the romantic type)

Amy (she is one out of a krillion of Mr. H’s exes. They had a married life together at one point, but that only last abt a year. She has been there for all his troubles n struggles. They’re friends now, but when they bump into each other, they’re bumping heads. Amy does it out of fun, as she still cares for H somewhat. Mr. H always means it, bein a bit oblivious to Amy’s care for him nowadays)

Knuckles (he’s a detective in this au, currently on a secret case that has Mr. H involved as a suspect of a crime. Someone could be framing him, but honestly who knows. Knuckles has a bit of dumb in him, but when he finally puts the pieces together, he can close that case faster than H makin easy money in his free time. H n Knux have a little tension between em, w/ H flirting with Knux most of the time when he walks into his office. H doesn’t even know he’s flirting with Knux, he just thinks he’s messing with him)

Robotnik (he’s like a toy maker in my au, but also a tech genius. Mr. H and Robotnik still have that ‘Sonic vs Eggman’ relationship, but also like a ‘Mr Krabs vs Plankton’ one too. They’ve been at each other since childhood. Mr. H always bein better and succeeding, than Robotnik LMAO)

Oh ya Metal H is also exist HSKDKFKF