#i know in sonic 2 their way of getting around this was like. putting the characters into groups and pairs

[sonknuxadow]

i think i do want amy and rouge to be in the next sonic movie, especially if its gonna be an sa2 adaptation, but i cant help but worry that if they try to introduce shadow AND rouge AND amy in the same movie then at least one of those characters (most likely amy. tbh.) isnt gonna get the amount of screentime and development that they deserve. especially considering in the game timeline amy was introduced much earlier and by sa2 was already an established character while rouge and shadow were the newcomers. and then theres also the human characters who are gonna be making the cast a lot bigger than it was in the game so more people to divide the screentime among. like what if amy is in sonic 3 and she gets like 5 minutes of screentime and her big moment with shadow is given to another character again

[sonicboomseason3]

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

paramount has come out in public support of israel

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

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

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

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

this is a complete and utter joke.

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

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

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

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

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

[choochooboss]

Sketch dump! Vol. 5

September 2022 (Part 1/2)

The first piece on top summarised my cosplay rush for Tracon 2022! The second is an old idea for a charm.

"SURPRISE!!"

Back in 2022 I hosted an art raffle for reaching 777 followers on Twitter! The winner would get their submas themed idea realised (which was their friends throwing a surprise party for the twins!). I wanted to make a little comic and have the bosses walk in their office where depot agents, Elesa, Drayden, Skyla, Clay etc. would be waiting with decorations and treats and games.

Emmet is all smiles of course while Ingo gets so emotional he could only whisper a "super bravo".

Not really headcanons anymore but still funny ideas.

1. Emmet gets clumsy when off-rhythm! He starts walking in curves if there is nobody else around to match his rhythm with.

2. Emmet spaces out/forgets to say things aloud when someone speaks too long or when things go off-script! His thinking gets interrupted easily.

3. Ingo sometimes bumps into doors because he is too used to automatic doors!

4. When things go off-script Ingo speaks too much and rushes in straight lines"

Also my little inexpensive sketchbook & my trusty tools! Mechanical pencil and eraser pen are life when scribbling my skrimblos smaller than a postage stamp!

More Ingo~ I utilise a wide range of sources for references, including CSP's poseable 3D models, they can come really handy with perspectives and proportions!

The second piece is my very first attempt at cosplay in Tracon 2022: Blingo! I walked in with a sequin hat, leather jacket, leather pants and high heel patent leather boots.

The hardest part of cosplaying Ingo is remembering NOT to smile ahaha!

Some hairstyle tests

I drew these for a huge submas art collaboration over Twitter hosted by @/mimizukeii!! It was technically my first art collab before I started arranging them myself with Aggie/Magma.

While looking for train related songs I found this cute nursery rhyme to go with the marching:

"Over the mountains,

Over the plains,

Over the rivers,

Here come the trains.

Carrying passengers,

Carrying mail,

Bringing their precious loads In without fail"

I wanted to compare these silly twins, planning to do something more silly with them later. Also a sketch of @/fukurow's butler designs I never finished.. The capes compliment them so well, I love them!!

Prequel to this piece! Emmet is so confident in himself he thinks Pierce wants to learn from him but is invited for a duet on the stage instead!!

Emmet has really great voice actors in Pokemas! I especially love how his english VA gives him that bri'ish/posh/sophisticated vibe while also soft and melodic! I know for SURE this VA/Emmet can sing, I can show you later!

One of my favourite sketches!! I wanted to add a bunch of characters in the BG reacting to this sonic blast of emotion over a performance!

Heyyy it's the smile buddies comic!! I really hope Ingo gets to interact with Marnie in Pokemas one day!!

I feel Ingo's eyes in the mirror panel is a little off in the final comic, I meant to keep it softer like in the sketch!

It's Nimbasa trio!! Idea inspired by submas EX uniform colors. Might continue this later!

Some BG tests for this piece! Compositing is hard but absolutely worth the effort, it can make a huge difference in the appeal of your piece!!

Practise piece drawing over a photo I thought was cool! I want to get more experimental with lighting and perspective!

'How's it hanging bro?' Who hung him up there anyway??

Sketch for this arguing scene! Something REALLY BAD needs to happen for them to end up that tense! Even if I want to present them close to the canon material I still want to put them in really challenging situations to see how far I can push their emotions!

Thank you so much for coming all the way down here!! This set was pretty loaded, I hope you enjoyed scrolling through all this ahah!

Previous posts:

Sketch dump Vol. 1: April-June 2022

Sketch dump Vol. 2: July 2022

Sketch dump Vol. 3: August 2022

Sketch dump Vol. 4: July 2022 Part 2

[pwnyta]

Noble- lol kinda want an AU where that pink haired guy is Stones ex and Robotnik fucking hates him.

Me- LOL

Also me for the next few weeks-

--

I call this AU ''The Lost Prince (of Wendimoor)'' right? sketchy cover page concept-

If I had a nickle for every time I locked on on a doe-eyed, yearner played by Lee Majdoub in love(allegedly) with a 6'2'', red-tinted man who is a master at his craft from a series with world warping technology, a fucked up moon, and a child hero...

I would have 2 nickles etc.

ANYWAYS. The story is about Agent Stone who is secretly Silas Dengdamor. Somehow he got warped/trapped on Earth and had to rebuild his life since Earth is a far less forgiving place than the planet of Wendimoor and he had to accept that Panto might not be able to help him. BUT he finally managed to apply all the fighting skills taught to him by Wygar and eventually ended up in GUN which lands him in Robotnik's circle.

Little did he know Panto has been trying to find Silas this entire time, using warp rings to traverse the galaxy when the search for him on Wendimoor resulted in nothing. (Hes left the defense and care for the kingdoms to Litzi and Wygar)

Panto finally makes it to Earth after escaping some shenanigans on some other planet and in the chaos lost his warp rings somewhere. SO he too has been stuck on Earth which is fine for him because he was gonna be searching for Silas anyways. (He actually loses his rings on Earth and Sonic finds them and is a little concerned/excited for another alien to meet... I didnt draw any of that LMAO) ANYWAYS after nearly a decade Pantos search finally comes to an end.

(V Im putting the rest under the cut cuz theres a lot of doodles V)

Ivo doesnt share food, of course.

Panto can only tolerate so much.

A rock stuck between a hard and harder place bout to be ground into a fine DUST.

BETRAYAL!! (?)

SO ANYWAYS. something something Sonic shenanigans but before the final battle somehow Sonic and Panto meet... maybe like Panto sees the little pouch he kept his rings in and gets them back. Something... Panto returns to Silas (& Ivo) and tells them he has a way back home for them (he and Silas) but Silas hesitates and then cant bring himself to go... not when Ivo is watching them (TOTALLY NOT BOTHERED AT ALL. HES NEVER BEEN BOTHERED EVER IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE IN FACT). Panto understands and says he has 2 warp rings left (Sonic used a few to fuck around maybe IDK) and should at least visit Wendimoor because Wygar and Farson (and even his mother) miss him and he should get a proper good bye. Stone invites Ivo to Wendimoor... whether or not he goes to check it out IDK... I feel like might be curious enough but also maybe he'd think itd be too awkward IDK I DIDNT DRAW THIS PART BECAUSE I DONT KNOW.

When they get back shenanigans, Sonic v Ivo fight and Ivo ends up on the Mushroom planet. Stone insists on waiting for Ivo at Mean Bean and Panto stays with him and they reconnect nice and proper! Panto accepts his life of villainy as long as he can please Silas.

something something... S3 where Ivo is injured and is being taken care by mostly Stone... and Stone is being helped by Panto (Ivo rejects Pantos help at any given moment but also kinda feels bad about it because Stone has been running himself ragged.)

Some misc Stobotnik and Pantlas! doodles-

Panto doesnt understand SIlas' affection for Ivo but then after sorta getting to know the guy he starts seeing Ivos dumb way of kinda returning affection (something that Silas is a little blind to himself). BUT if Ivo is SO important to Silas, Panto will keep him safe.

Eventually Panto brings up the stuff between Ivo and Silas as well as Silas' love for the other man and Silas feels bad but Panto WILL share food... if it means so much to Silas. And frankly Ivo is a jackass and maybe wont even do anything so he wont have to bother worrying.

IVO STILL DOESNT SHARE FOOD.... (The food wasnt his to begin with BUT IT DOESNT MATTER.)

The only thing that keeps them from killing each other is the fact the person they care most about would be upset by it.

I thought WAY too hard about this and yet...

NOT HARD ENOUGH.

[essycogany]

Sonic And Amy Are A Unique Couple

This is a quick Sonamy rant /ramble session. With a few added clarifications too. Enjoy!

This couple is more unique than you’d think. It’s cool if anyone disagrees. I'm all for a polite debate and respect your opinion. But if you're willing to hear me out, I'll be willing to explain myself as clearly as possible. Great? Awesome! Let’s get started!

Amy doesn't want to change Sonic. I will scream this until I'm not able to speak any more that Amy loves Sonic for who he is. She always has but it wasn't until IDW that she expressed it out loud. Still one of my favorite moments between them.

Does that make their relationship unique? Not really. What makes their relationship unique is what Amy loves about Sonic is kind of the reason they're not a couple yet. Sonic is an ongoing force that can’t be stopped or changed. Of course, he’ll allow someone to join him on a race, but he still keeps going. Not to say Sonic won’t stop to smell the roses (pun not intended) but he’ll do it on his own time. Amy always likes to take advantage of those moments and best of all, Sonic doesn’t mind. Even during their old chases, he’d slow down for her. Says a lot about the connection they have but there’s more

Their chemistry is…something for lack of a better term. Their back and forth is so interesting to me. Sonic does like Amy back. Notable examples here but to put it shortly, Sonic doesn’t know what he’s doing when it comes to romance. Sometimes he’s not into it and other times he’s chill. Sometimes Amy is ecstatic and other times she's bashful. I'm looking at you Sonic X.

Every time Amy’s occupied, is when Sonic wants her the most. Amy on the other hand wants Sonic to enjoy his freedom. Neither of them stops to think about how maybe they can have it both ways.

I'll also mention romance isn’t about “being tied down.” That paints romance as if it’s some kind of chain being rapt around your neck or being forced to be with the person. That is not romance. It’s keeping someone hostage. Something Amy would not do. Every time she’d joke around about marrying him Sonic didn’t take it seriously. Heroes included.

Sonic’s line in Heros: “Amy, knock it off. There's no time to play!” Dude knows Amy was messing with him. She was written to be girly, childish, adventurous, and cartoony. No, it wasn’t always executed well. Hello, Sonic Freeriders Amy! But I think this scene summons it up the best.

Important thing to mention as well is Sonic is an outspoken and honest character who rarely lies. It’s either you get the truth or you get nothing. He’s not the type to spare people’s feelings either, so if he had a problem with Amy in the past, he’d tell her directly. I do think she'd also stop if he genuinely told her to. The last thing Amy would want is to tarnish their friendship because of her actions. This loyal girl is so sweet.

Not to mention this is a popular trope in Japan too. The trope was what their relationship was based on.

Back to my original point Sonic and Amy aren’t a traditional couple. That’s a good thing. If they became canon their relationship wouldn’t change if they got together, but also they don’t need labels either. Romance isn’t or shouldn’t be a burden on you. That’s not how love works and that’s not what Sonic believes Amy to be. If that’s the case he wouldn’t be friends with her. Whether you ship Sonic with Amy, someone else, or no one, there should be no doubt Sonic values her friendship.

I’ll also add that Amy is just as up for an adventure as Sonic is. It’s why she loves him so much. They’re a power couple and love going out to travel, so there’s no staying in one place for these two.

In Sonic Adventure 2 you can tell Amy’s intuition when it comes to Sonic. Close to the end, she saw him looking a bit down and noticed his mood shifting a bit. “What’s the matter, Sonic?” ���Oh, it’s nothing.” She knows him so well. I don't know what connection they run on but it’s inspiring.

These two don’t have a typical girl/boy relationship. I know some people say, “Well, why can't Sonic and Amy stay friends? Not every male and female relationship needs to be romantic.” You're 100% correct. Here are some examples.

The difference between other relationships is that Amy was created to be a Minnie to Sonic’s Mickey. Which is why these two are treated differently compared to others. Including in merch. There are more examples but I digress. The point is this specific pair is always going to have nuance even if they’re only friends. It doesn’t stop until Amy doesn’t love Sonic and even if it shouldn’t define her, it should still be a part of her. She might work without romance, but we already have other amazing female characters for that.

No one’s obligated to ship them because of this of course. Again, your opinion is still valid, and I will always stick to that point.

Last but not least is their friendship (or situationship) as a whole.

The funny thing is their friendship is what makes their romance the most compelling. The appeal to Sonic and Amy’s dynamic is how much platonic energy they have. Romance doesn’t always mean you need to be lovey-dovey. With Sonamy it’s their powerful friendship that makes the (somewhat not platonic) interactions memorable. You don’t have to choose romantic or platonic. It can be both. I wouldn't be a Sonamy fan if I thought their relationship was plain. I'm here because of how different they are.

And I love them to bits. Look at this panel and tell me it isn't running with situationship fuel.

Another fun detail is in recent years despite knowing Amy still loves him, Sonic hugs her back. Even the moments in Sonic X he carries her are moments he offers to. Even when it wasn't necessary.

Can’t forget about the recent asking Amy out to a dinner panel in IDW. He's never done that before. There's a familiarity between the two of them however you look at it. I LOVE them for it.

His moments of genuinely being excited to see her are not due to some development but because Sonic’s passion for Amy has noticeably increased. Why am I bringing these up? It’s because one thing that hasn’t been talked about when it comes to romance is actions. Sure, Sonic doesn't fully confess his feelings to her outwardly. But why do you have to be obvious and in people’s face when it comes to loving someone? In Japan, love is mostly shown through what you do more than what you say. That stuff can happen there but it doesn't always have to. The “Sharing an Umbrella, Amy,” line in Frontiers carries a lot more weight when you think about the implications.

Please read this post by @egalitarian-tomboy if you're interested in the implications of Sonamy in Frontiers.

The up-to-interpretation view of whatever they have together is the main reason I and so many people ship them. It’s not the fact that they are close, but the progression of their closeness. To make a long story short, the appeal of Sonamy is the fact that they don’t have to be traditionally romantic to be an interesting couple. Amy represents expressive love and Sonic represents emotional love.

Stay creative! 💜

[burgerrat]

"No one gets me like you do."

Harley Sawyer x Reader

NOTE: gender-neutral reader, mentions of gore, threats of violence & light angst.

(I'm gonna be honest the positive feedback with my headcanons made me wanna make s'more Harley stuff. Praying that I kept his personality as close to I think he'd act canonically. Ough

My main inspiration behind this was dovewingkinnie's art piece mixed with that scene in Sonic 2 where Dr. Robotnik's grabbing Agent Stone's face

Aaaaandddd the prompt that makes the title comes from melamemea's prompt list here!

Hope you enjoy!)

It felt like you had been watching the procedure for years, when only 30 minutes had passed by as the Doctor poked and prodded at some unfortunate, sedated Smiling Critter's insides.

Sprawled on an operating table as a robotic, three-fingered limb attached to the ceiling of the room, worked away with a scalpel; a mechanic vessel bent over the operating table, a singular, wide eye displayed on it's screen as it observed the process, also lending its pair of hands, when they were of need. 

He was gruesome in his work, yet his hand was gentle in the most skilled of ways, in however form it came.

A professional in his field, until the very end.

"Do I really have to sit through this?" You huffed, resting your head in your palm.

You were spooned into another of Harley's vessels, sitting cross legged as the metal giant behind you remained still, like a protective shell.

"Squeamish, are we?" The Doctor casually asked, not bothering to actually acknowledge you with one of his physical forms.

"No! I just- ugh, how do you sit through this without falling asleep? It's not like taking a walk around inside here will be the death of me."

Soon as you responded, the scrap robot behind you hummed to life, the operation before your eyes coming to a pause quickly, and now... the screen of the vessel behind you turned on, displaying that oh so familiar eye.

"Your blathering is distracting enough." The Doctor hissed, his anger thinly boiling over.

"I might as well put you on that table instead. Perhaps you'll find my work more 'interesting' once it's skin-deep?" He chuckled.

This was Dr. Sawyer's attempt at humor, only his sadistic side could see the amusement about his threats.

But you knew better, you knew he bluffed each time, because he'd never acted upon it. Not when he was furious, not when you were asleep and vulnerable.

You glared at the vessel behind you, as if to say:

'do it, I dare you.'

The eye on the screen squinted, a quiet confrontation.

Then, dropping all hints of sadism, his voice returned, gentle and monotone.

"I cannot, and will not allow you out of my sight. Set one foot outside of my laboratories, and you'll be just another lamb to the slaughter, I can guarantee the probabilities." 

He'd told you this a million times before, each time more frustrated than the last that he had to deal with such a thick headed person.

His apathetic logic brought him once more to question why, why he kept you. Why did this type of recognition mean so much to him, when it came not only unprofessionally, but brought him objectively nothing?

"I know, I know, Harl. Look, I'm sorry-"

Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts. His eye, once zoned out, focusing back on you.

Harl.

He liked the ring of that.

Only you bothered to give him nicknames like that.

He liked whatever this was that he was feeling, it... helped him relax.

"I just can't do it like you do- the patience. And at least you're doing something. Maybe I can be your assistan-?"

"Absolutely not." He interrupted before you had even completed your question.

"It's my work and my work alone. You may take notes if you wish, but I will not allow any interference. Especially from an unqualified hand." He sternly said.

You sighed in defeat, you knew how much his work meant to him, you happily engaged- but watching it actually happen? Much less intriguing (or violent, really) than you'd imagined at first.

"However..."

His sing-songy tone as he continued caught your attention. His metallic hands gently took hold of yours briefly, before they snaked up to cup your face, the vessel's head lowering slightly so his eye could analyze your expression. Your entire face, really.

You could feel your cheeks heating up slightly against the cold touch of the machine's fingers as they smushed your face gingerly, his fingers slowly moving in small, smooth circles.

"Mmm, yes... I think we can build a little enrichment area for this little mouse."

He purred, his eye squinting playfully.

He knew what he was doing.

For a moment, a brief moment, he indulged exactly what you wished for: more of his attention, his touch. His hands did not come off of your face at any point, one moved to knead your head as the other continued to study your physiognomy, observing your behaviour, taking mental notes.

But all good things must come to an end, regrettably. And, much as he cherished you, his work was more important, you (or anything else) weren’t above it.

"I do wish to study your reactions upon being presented with certain... situations." The Doctor trailed off as he readjusted his position around you, his consciousness switching back to the other vessel and the robotic arm hovering over the operating table, casually going back to digging his scalpel around the Smiling Critter’s guts mixed with stuffing. His tone became fully professional, as if he were discussing business with you.

"E-excuse me??" You babbled out, face still red from his probing.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I won't place you in any hostile environment. Since my surgeries are so boring to you, I might just have to leave you with some homework to do instead, mm?"

Once his response was met with silence, he continued.

"I'll just place a few seeds around a labyrinth for you to find and collect, and see how well your cognitive abilities are. After that? Who knows! I might reward you with some cheese." He mocked.

You raised an eyebrow, unamused.

"Fine. So long as I'm doing something." You huffed, earning a contented chuckle for a response from the Doctor as he worked.

You were tempted to ask him to elaborate instead of speaking about his metaphorical 'lab mouse', to satisfy your curiosity, but you didn't want him to think you doubted your safety around him... he'd kept you alive this far, was ever-so vigilant to make sure you were well and alive.

You trust him.

You care.

~

"Most would come to think I'd be laying some sort of trap. The logical outcome." Harley observed once he concluded his procedure on the Critter, the robotic arm once more going still, the vessel remaining active and now... focusing on you.

"Oh, to be so blissfully void of paranoia."

"Yes." You agreed, then shaking your head, "but I know you, Harley. You word it like we're strangers." You added. "I should be able to trust you."

Silence.

"Do you know why?" The Doctor vaguely asked, his monotone voice sounded like he was miles away, yet he was so close to you. The automaton had begun approaching, the one behind you had turned on again. Yet he seemed... disconnected.

Not in the technological sense of his vessels.

"Why won't you lay a trap for me...?" You tried to clarify, "or why I should be able to trust..?"

"Neither." He scoffed.

"Why it is human nature to seek pointless connections, such as this. Nothing of value is extracted, there are no means to an end. What's the value of a life, when it can mean so much more? When it can be so much more?"

You tilted your head slightly, raising to your feet.

"Why does it have to mean anything?" Your answer was another question.

"It has to mean something to me." He barked.

That hurt a little. No… maybe not his intention, but your expression changed, and it didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Don't I?" Your voice softened.

He made a noise, like he was about to respond, yet held himself back the moment the words were going to leave his speakers. The main vessel he was using to express himself retracted a little.

You'd caught him off guard enough to remain speechless.

Because you were right.

You meant something to him.

You, who interacted with him even when you had no need for him, unlike the company who'd betrayed him twice.

You, who listened, who liked him even through his irritable, sadistic nature.

You, the one person that came back to find him, even if there wasn't much left.

And it wasn't because of his research.

You came back, for him.

"Harl...?" Your voice quivered a little, concerned with what his reply would be. Now, you were starting to doubt your safety through the hurt.

"You do." 

His response came out quick but monotone, void of emotion.

He wasn't sure what to make of himself. He hated it when others displayed sympathy towards his experiments, but he was telling the truth: you meant something to him, and, much as he hated to come to terms with it, it wasn't for his research.

You sighed in relief, your expression softening as you looked to the ground.

"I apologize, I was merely... pondering." His tone now took on its usual, eloquent speech. Or at least he tried to keep it that way, like how he'd word a presentation.

"Wondering why humans need to seek... connections... what drives this.. urge. This feeling." He rasped that last bit with spite. He couldn't understand himself, this counterproductive hypocrisy, and oh how he hated it.

This was his indirect attempt of saying 'I'm sorry that I hurt you', having taken notice that his selfishness had actually caused damage to the one person who gave a damn to even look for him. It wasn't good by any stretch, but it was an attempt to mend things up with clarifications. 

"I don't think... you need to know specifically the why of it...we're social creatures, it's, uhm.. normal, to want connections.." you tried to explain, approaching the automaton, reaching to hold his hand.

Were he in his human body, he would've noticeably tensed at the contact.

"Why still bother, when you have been betrayed over, and over again? And the funniest part: there is no prize for it. It has no meaning." He spat, once again void of emotion. He was subtly venting at this point, really, not even trying to hide that he was talking about himself.

In this moment, his complete detachment from humanity matched with his current body.

"Must have some meaning, if our relationship is an indicator of it." You played with his hand, intertwining your fingers.

Even when he had little regard for how you felt, you gave him compassion. You cherish him.

"I don't understand what drives you to it. What compels me." The Doctor's grip tightened around your hand for a moment, frustrated.

Then, he relaxed, his other hand tenderly taking hold of yours. Even though he was machine, it was his gentle handling that reminded one that he was still a man, despite the sharp metal.

"But.. one thing I do know, is that no one gets me... like you do. There is something there... and I intend to study it, why you, and nobody else."

Part of you knew that you both knew what it was.

Perhaps he was in denial of it, or maybe this was another indirect attempt of his, to say 'I love you' in his own way.

[thankskenpenders]

At long last, the trailer for Sonic movie 3 is here, giving us our first look at Shadow! It looks like a fun time, though my excitement is probably more tempered than a lot of peoples' due to a few things I have mixed feelings on. Here are my off-the-cuff thoughts about it.

Shadow

Yes, it does seem like they've really nailed Shadow here. Fowler's attachment to the character clearly shows. The action looks cool and really sells Shadow as a serious threat. He's got his bike, he's doing Chaos Control all over the place, it's great. Keanu is very much just doing his regular voice, but it fits well enough. The backstory from SA2 seems to mostly be there, though I'm sure some details will be adjusted. Mostly I'm still just amazed that we're getting a major tentpole blockbuster movie this Christmas starring Shadow the fucking Hedgehog that treats him as a serious character worthy of respect. We've come such a long way...

I mean, just... what an image to see on the big screen.

I also really like the way they're setting Shadow up as a foil for movie Sonic, kind of his dark mirror image as a Mobian hedgehog whose family life on Earth ended in tragedy and turned him into a vengeful antagonist. It's pretty straightforward, but it works well.

Robotnik(s)

Welp. They put Jim Carrey in a fat suit. I suppose we knew this day would come eventually.

I guess a small part of me is glad that movie Eggman finally actually looks like Eggman in every way that matter, but they're completely playing it as a joke at his expense here. And, yeah, the Sonic franchise isn't immune to fat jokes, the early years of the franchise (particularly Western adaptations) gave Sonic tons and tons and tons of jabs about Eggman's weight. But I thought we'd moved past that. But here we are with a depressed movie Robotnik binge eating and gaining a lot of weight like Fat Thor and the other characters think he's so GROSS and look his clothes don't even fit him anymore, haha! There's so much of this crammed into the trailer. I can only pray they don't do this in every fucking scene he's in in the movie.

I do like the plot of Sonic reluctantly teaming up with Robotnik to try and stop Shadow, though. It's very different from SA2, but we knew it would be, and I think that gives the movie some potential for Sonic to have kind of a dark turn of his own that mirror's Shadow's. I have a feeling that Sonic will try to get back at Shadow for something he does - maybe hurting Tom or something like that - and in the end Sonic sympathizes with Shadow and decides they have to stop their cycle of revenge, teaming up to stop some final threat.

Oh, and, of course... Jim Carrey is also playing Professor Gerald. Who might still be alive? Or maybe it's a hallucination on Ivo's part? I don't know, but either way, I'm here for it. Everyone joked about them doing it and then they went and did it. Yes, it risks playing him as a joke character, but the shot of him and Shadow mourning Maria while surrounded by GUN soldiers makes me believe he won't be a total joke. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the true final antagonist of the film, which would diverge a lot from the games but would work as its own version of the story.

And again, WHAT an image to see on the big screen lmao

Everyone else

The human cast is VERY downplayed in this trailer, but let's not forget that they're still going to get a lot of screentime one way or another. The Sonic 2 trailer barely showed anything from Hawaii. Where oh where is my best friend Wade?

Speaking of the Wade show, Knuckles... frankly still seems to be mostly a comic relief character heavily influenced by MCU Thor here, getting some jokes in the trailer but immediately getting Worfed by Shadow when it comes time to fight. Tails seems to be flying the gang around in a real-ass helicopter, and his big pilot's helmet is funny, but otherwise he doesn't really do anything here aside from getting stomped by Shadow. I really hope they don't get sidelined too hard, but frankly I fully expect them to, Tails especially.

And, of course... I can't help but think about who isn't here. Namely: the girls. Yes, three movies and one streaming miniseries into this film franchise, exactly zero of the female (animal) characters from the games have made the jump to live action. Please allow me to bitch about this.

Despite her being both 1) a main character in the game this movie is loosely adapting and 2) my fave, I suppose I can understand why Rouge isn't here. Paramount took one look at that bat cleavage and went "nope," cowards that they are. There was some speculation that Kristen Ritter could be playing Rouge, but we now know she's just playing someone at GUN. But, again, I at least get why they'd be hesitant to include her.

But Amy... Amy is such a glaring omission at this point. There's no excuse. She's the female lead of the franchise. She's one of Sonic's closest friends. (Honestly, these days it's more accurate to say Team Sonic is Sonic, Tails, and Amy, not Knuckles, especially in the comics.) And she's also a key player in Shadow's arc in the game. Shadow has his change of heart because Amy reminds him of Maria! And yet, she's nowhere to be seen. It sucks.

(I know some fans are still holding out hope for Amy, but the toys for the movie already leaked and she didn't get anything, so I have to assume she's not in it.)

It's not like I really expected either of them to be in this movie, but that doesn't make it less disappointing that they set up the film franchise in a way that makes it logistically difficult to include 90% of the characters and conveniently managed to leave all of the girls in the "low priority" pile. Yes, I know everyone points to how much Tails was downplayed in the third act of Sonic 2 as evidence that it's just so impossible to introduce more than one new Mobian character in each movie and give them the focus they deserve. Yes, I know having to come up with a story excuse to bring more characters over to Earth is an obstacle, especially when they're gonna have to devote time to Shadow's backstory. But these are excuses. It's a writer's job to figure out solutions to problems like this. They could make it work if they really wanted to. I'd take Amy having a suboptimal amount of screentime over her not being in it at all. It's just not a priority for them. That's what disappoints me. You can justify these absences from a logical perspective, but I just care way more about Amy and Rouge as characters than I do about Shadow, so there's no way for this to not sting.

But, at the end of the day, for what the movie is actually trying to do, it seems to be pulling it off well. Aside from the fat jokes. I don't like the fat jokes. But the Shadow stuff is good. As always, this live action version of the franchise is never going to be my ideal version of Sonic, but it's turned out far better than it had any right to, and I'll probably have fun when I go see this in theaters and hear Live and Learn.

[marstar13]

More things I have noticed being repeated in Stobotnik fanfics that I like, (This is Part 2, here is Part 1) :

- The badniks sees Stone as their second father, is either Ivo had changed their coding, or they just love him so much it changed on its own, and Stone just loves them as much cuz they are like cats actually, always flying around him and bumping his shoulder so he pets them, as they make happy noises, he also gave them names and they have their own personalities.

- Stone is so light on his feet, thanks for being a highly trained agent, he is so light on his feet he always sneaks on Ivo without him noticing he is there with lattes in hand, poor Ivo always gets close to a heart attack because of that, and threatens Stone to put a bell on him.

- Ivo not eating anything nor sleeping, that man thinks he is a robot, and it's left for Stone to remind him to eat and sleep, in many occasions Stone found Ivo passed out on the floor or on his workbench so it's up to him to pick him up bridal style to bed.

- Ivo always having Stone in mind by his side as they rule the world, he won't want to rule the world if his man not by his side, extra point if Stone thinks Ivo doesn't want him in the whole world domination plan, and Stone thinks once Ivo gets what he wants he will forget about him and throw him away (Ivo would never tho).

- Them being PAIN IN THE ASS for Walters, G.U.N, government, etc especially Ivo who has ZERO respect for anyone that isn't Stone, he lashes out in meetings, yells and insults the other people in there, and they can't do anything about it even if they are superior than him in rank.

- Truth serum fics/truth device to wear, these two idiots can not for the life of them talk to each other like normal people, they need to be forced chemically or technology by a machine to confesse to the other with their feelings.

- Stone is G.U.N's best agent, he is their top agent and is a legend to some agents for being the perfect weapon, he seems nice from the outside and that he likes people, but he in reality hates humanity just as much as Ivo, he is just better socially, and being nice get people to talk to you and it's kinda a tactic to earn trust.

- Ivo's ginormous, massive, absolutely GIGANTIC abandonment issues, if Stone is late for work (in this case he is kidnapped cuz he is NEVER late), Ivo would lose his mind and thinks Stone left him, and he is always paranoid Stone might leave at some point, that he had enough of the abuse or gets scared away if he finds out Ivo has feelings for him (that's why he is bad at feelings), but Stone would go to the end of the world with him.

- Ivo is SOOO possessive over Stone, he sees him as his and only his, he always reminds Stone he belongs to him, how he is one of his machines, and he hates when someone takes his machines or touche them, Stone can be also possessive of Ivo but not as much as Ivo is over him.

- If one of them gets kidnapped, there is no way you could predict what the other is welling to do to get him back, the length they would go for each other, Ivo would be mad cuz someone stole something of his, Stone would be mad cuz someone took HIS doctor, and fears he failed in his job, the kidnappers never stands a chance to make it out alive, these two cant be separated, do that, and it will be the last thing you'd do.

- In the case of post Sonic 3 and they have adopted Shadow, Stone is immediately Shadow's favorite, these two get along fast, it takes Shadow more time to warm up for Ivo, mostly cuz Ivo would end up being an asshole towards him so no wonder he would prefer Stone, but they eventually get Along.

- Stone is a 5 fucking stars cheif, that man knows his way around the kitchen and don't you ever dare to disturb him while he is cooking, Ivo is literally banned from the kitchen so it's all up for Stone to make the best food ever.

- Ivo is Stone's emergency contact, it always surprises Ivo to why, but doesn't question it any further cuz Stone would be in the hospital or injured at the moment.

- Stone is very fit, he is way more physically stronger than Ivo, he is the brawns while Ivo is the brains (Stone can be both but let's not hurt Ivo's ego), Stone is muscular and his biceps always get a gasp out of Ivo, as he stars at them to memories every small detail about them.

- Some 🔞 stuff: They finish inside of one another, Nick kisses, It is the most heavenly experience for both of them that they get close to death as they arrive climax, Dirty talking, So hungry for one another's touch as if the other will disappear if they loss contact for more than 1 second.

BIIIGG shout out to @apoli-meow some of these were ones they pointed out for me, and they have made a Stobotnik fanfic Bingo, some of these are in there (go and check it out)

[writingtraumaforever]

Courtship: Chapter 3 (Finale)

Notes: AAAAAAAAAND DONE. This was such a joy to write, guys. I love the movie-verse so, so much, and I'm glad I was motivated enough to write a little fic about our two favorite boys. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did, and who know! Maybe if the demand is there, I'll write a little epilogue for our two cuties~

Summary: Shadow meets the Wachowski's. Again.

Chapter Select: Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Mini-Sequel: Home Alone

Link to my AO3!

Start:

Sonic is nothing but nervous energy.

He’s been rushing about the entire morning. He took a bubble bath. He bathed Ozzie in the same bath after. He tidied his room. He put on the coolest pictures of him in the living room and the dopey ones in his dresser drawer to not be found. He combed his quills and brushed his fur. He has prepared in every possible way and still feels like things aren’t near good enough for Shadow to be impressed.

Maddie climbs up the ladder to the attic, gently lifting the door to find Sonic moving his action figures around on his shelf as if to try and find some sort of specifically aesthetic organization.

“No..,” he moves them all around again, “nuh uh,” again, “not it,” again with a frustrated groan, “You know what?? He’ll probably think they’re lame anyway.” And then he’s dumping them all in the upper drawer of his nightstand.

Maddie can’t help but smile at her spazzing son, a sympathetic knit to her brow as she knocks gently on his bedroom floor, “Knock knock?”

Sonic’s attention instantly shift to his peeping mom’s head peering through the attic door, “oh- hey, mom.”

“Hey, kiddo,” she smiles, entering now that he’s granted his approval. She looks at the neat room with raised brows, “Wow.. don’t think I’ve ever seen it so clean in here.”

“Yeah, well. I can’t have a guest thinking I’m a slob.”

“Right. Because that would be misleading,” Maddie says with a playful wink and a hint of sarcasm. Sonic just smiles at this, rolling his eyes before dashing over to his comic books that are stacked next to his bean bag. He begins looking through them, trying to decide which should go on top for viewing.

“You think Batman is cooler or the Flash??”

“Hm.. I think the Flash is pretty cool,” the mother answers as she approaches the hedgehog with a knowing look in her eyes.

“Mm… yeah, but..,” he looks at the Batman comic again before stacking the Flash and then the Batman one on top, “Shadow would probably like Batman more.”

“You’re probably right,” Maddie agrees with a nod, Sonic nodding in return as he turns to his mom again.

“Did you get the hot dogs?”

“Yup,” she assures, “Three whole packs. And the chili is currently in the slow cooker.”

“Sweet,” Sonic grins approvingly, “Shadow is gonna die when he tries your chili dogs. He’ll finally understand that they’re the best thing humans have ever invented.”

“Right,” Maddie snorts with a giggle before she crouches down to eye level with the blue blur, watching how Sonic’s eyes skim around the room looking for something else to perfect. Nerves. Anxious. Excited. Scared..

She knows.

She knows.

“Hey..,” she says softly, catching Sonic’s attention then as she takes his gloved hands into her own, “He already likes you. He wouldn’t be coming here if he didn’t.”

Sonic sighs, some of the tension leaving his shoulders as he squeezes Maddie’s hands, “I know. I know. I just-.. I really want him to think I’m cool.”

“Sonic Wachowski?? Not cool?? That’s an impossible conclusion to come to,” she smirks, Sonic giggling a bit in return.

“I know, but-.. I don’t know..”

Sonic’s ears flatten just slightly, his gaze shifting away sheepishly. And nervously..

Maddie’s smile softens again, squeezing his hands again as she speaks, “Try and relax. If you’re a nervous ball of energy, he likely will feed off that and be one too. Being cool is a nice thing to be, but being welcoming is the more important bit.. You want him to feel safe here.”

“Yeah..,” Sonic breathes with a small smile, looking at his mother earnestly, “..I just want him to want to come back.”

“I’m sure he will,” she assures with a nod, moving to kiss her boy’s spiky forehead before resting hers against it to look him in the eye, “It’ll all go just fine, Sonic. You’re a great kid.”

“I’m seventeen,” Sonic groans with a little eyeroll, but it’s harmless and he’s smiling. He knows good and well no matter how old he is, he’ll always be her baby.

“I’m sorry, you’re a great man,” she corrects with pure confidence, “And you have a big heart. I’m sure he sees that too, and finds comfort in that…”

Sonic’s eyes shut with a sigh, leaning his forehead against his mom’s a bit more before simply moving to slide his arms around her shoulders and give her a big hedgehog hug. 

“Thanks mom..”

She pets her hand along his head and rubs his ear with a smile, hugging him in return tight and warm, “Anytime.”

Sonic stays like that until he feels most of his nerves melt away, pulling back then to look her in the eye with all seriousness, “Dad’s gonna behave, right???”

Maddie hums and looks away as if unsure, “I think so,” she immediately laughs when Sonic’s face shifts to horror and gives his shoulders a playful shake, “Calm down, I’m kidding. We had a talk. And he absolutely is going to behave. As are the other boys.”

Sonic deflates with a breath of relief, “Oh thank God—“

Maddie giggles and stands up again, lightly thumping Sonic’s ear and making it twitch in the process as she turns to exit the attic, “Try and relax a bit. You’re gonna run a hole in the ceiling if you keep at it up here.”

Sonic just scoffs in playful offense, “Is that a fat joke?!”

“It’s a warning,” Maddie says with a pointed look his way as she climbs down the ladder, slowly closing the door on her way down. She playfully points at him in mock threat just before it shuts, leaving Sonic chuckling before moving to his bed.

He sits down carefully on the edge, not wanting to have to make it again. Laying back with a heavy sigh, he stares at his ceiling and tries to ignore the very aggressive butterflies that are multiplying in his stomach..

•••

Shadow has prepared himself appropriately according to his research. 

He anointed himself in his favorite scent: lavender and coffee. He combed his quills neatly. He brushed his chest fur to get any knots out. He’s even wearing an extra article of clothing: a black leather jacket. And to impress Sonic’s parents, he bought two motorcycle helmets to show he cares about safety, wearing one when he shows up at their driveway. 

He read motorcycles are often an alarming sign to most guardians for their children to be associated with, but Sonic once told him that Mr. Wachowski thought they were ‘way past cool’. So he opted to try and impress the man by catering to his interests.

Parking the bike on the street at the end of the driveway, Shadow removes his helmet and rests it on the seat. His crimson eyes stare at the Wachowski residence for a long time. A sick feeling in his stomach.

Maybe he’s ill.

No.. no, lying to himself is pointless. He’s terrified. 

He doesn’t get the luxury of domineering first impressions. He’s already made them long ago, and they weren’t exactly ideal. None of this situation is, honestly. But he has to play the cards he was dealt, and he’s determined to try his damn hardest to win this family over.

He’s watched YouTube tutorials on how to hold conversation, dinner etiquette, appropriate movie watching commentary, manners when meeting parents, common humans topics of conversation..

He’s done his research. Theoretically, this should be a walk in the park.

So why the hell couldn’t he get his feet to move???

He stares at the home. Can see the lights on, humans silhouetted and moving about through the sheer curtains of the windows.. and one blue blur flashing by now and then.

Shadow’s lips purse, his fists tightening at his sides as his stomach aches a bit more uneasily.

Sonic is inside.. Sonic is depending on him to make a good impression. Sonic has done his part in this ritual, now it’s time for Shadow to do his and-…

Nope. No, what is he thinking?? Shadow can’t do this. He doesn’t deserve this. He’s a fraud. He doesn’t deserve redemption or forgiveness. He doesn’t get to just waltz into their home and act as though he’s just some random hedgehog their son brought home. 

He nearly destroyed them.

Picking his helmet back off his motorcycle’s seat, he starts to put it back on with one last glance to the Wachowski home.

The home untouched by a monster. The home he hasn’t destroyed yet. The home that doesn’t need him involved in it..

And ruby finds emerald.

Sonic’s wide, eager eyes are looking out the window in search of his guest’s arrival and find Shadow standing there.

Damnit.

The front door opens in an instant, the blue blur standing there grinning wide and excited and happy. Shadow can see his tail wagging from here.

“Shadow!”

Shadow slowly puts his helmet back on the seat of his bike.

Welp.

No going back now.

Walking around the bike, Shadow offers a small smile to Sonic despite his current need to vomit. Or run. Running sounds more convenient.

”You’re here!” Sonic beams, and Shadow swears he’s never seen the hero so damn giddy.

“I am,” he confirms with a small nod, approaching the steps to the doorway now and stopping right outside the door.

Sonic just stares at him all sunshine and giggles for a long moment, Shadow feeling increasingly weary under his starstruck gaze.

This hedgehog expects far too much of Shadow.. he’s going to end up crushed when he sees him for what he really is eventually. But Shadow will selfishly take whatever attention Sonic will give him for now.

There’s something powerful about it.. a pure-hearted hero like Sonic wanting to court Shadow. The monstrosity. The creature. The thing.

Shadow wonders if Sonic even realizes how much of an impact the way he looks at Shadow has on him..

Sonic’s eyes linger and then look down at Shadow’s attire, “You’re wearing a jacket!”

Shadow shifts a bit on his feet, looking down at his jacket with slight embarrassment now.. maybe it wasn’t the appropriate choice?

“I.. am..?”

“It looks great!” Sonic beams, bouncing on his toes as he bites his lower lip.

“Oh..,” Shadow looks back to Sonic, a shy smile curling on his muzzle, “Thank you.”

“Sure thing,” Sonic replies immediately, going back to just staring at Shadow as if he isn’t real. Like he’s a dream. A vision.

Shadow doesn’t know what to do with that..

“May I—“

“Oh! Yeah, man, sorry—“ Sonic chuckles with a pink tint growing on his cheeks, moving out of the way to allow Shadow inside the home. Shadow steps inside and is immediately met with the smell of peppers and mahogany. He’s guessing it’s the dinner mixed with the natural Wachowski home scent. It’s not unpleasant.

Sonic closes the door behind him, and Shadow looks up to find the Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady themselves looking right back at him.

Oh sweet chaos kill him—

”Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Wachowski,” Shadow greets immediately, nerves making his hands feel a bit shaky but he steels them into hard fists at his sides.

The missus of the home speaks first, “Hello, Shadow.” Her voice is soft and sweet, and her smile looks genuine and welcoming. “We’re so happy to have you here. Welcome to our home!”

“Thank you for allowing my attendance,” Shadow politely nods, swallowing hard as his eyes shift to the man. The father. The leader. The Donut Lord. 

He doesn’t look nearly as genuine as the woman when he smiles. But he is smiling, which is something, at least.

Last Shadow saw this man, he had a foot placed firmly on his neck with a gun pressed to his temple.

Shadow will gladly and gratefully take a damn disingenuous smile.

“Of course,” the man assures, seeming a bit reluctant in his words but Shadow recognizes the effort regardless, “Any friend of Sonic’s is always welcome.”

Even if they blew up half the moon???

Shadow refrains from saying this.

“You have a lovely home, Mrs. Wachowski,” Shadow compliments, trying for some of the training he received from the Internet, “It’s very well decorated.”

“Oh- that’s so sweet,” she smiles, a hand over her heart as if it’s been touched. Shadow is glad this seems to have been the right thing to say.

“Why don’t you let Sonic give you a tour, and I’ll the table set for us to eat out back?”

“Sounds great!” Sonic approves, Shadow looking back to the hedgehog that’s been standing behind him watching the interaction with pins and needles this whole time, “C’mon! We’ll start with the living room.”

Shadow follows Sonic throughout the home, feeling Mr. Wachowski’s lingering gaze now and then when in sight. But Shadow tries not to focus on this and instead on the words Sonic is saying.

“These are our bean bags,” the blue hedgehog points to the line of three large bags, blue, yellow and red, stored against the wall of the living room behind the couch, “We pull them out in front of the tv when we watch a movie or a show. Mine is the blue one— duh. Knuckles’ is red and Tails’ is yellow. Mom and Dad take the couch.”

Shadow nods with a small hum to show he’s paying attention, not having much commentary on the matter. Sonic doesn’t seem to mind this. He makes up by talking enough for the both of them. Always has. This is their dynamic. And the familiarity of it helps Shadow feel a bit more at ease as he continues on with Sonic’s tour.

“This is the dining room where we eat— except we never eat here. We usually just sit in the living room or at the table in the kitchen to eat. We only eat here on special occasions like birthdays or holidays.”

“This is the downstairs bathroom. Always use this bathroom. Knuckles uses it the least.”

“That’s the kitchen, but we’ll stay outta there right now so we don’t get in the way.”

“This is the downstairs office where Dad will do paperwork or Mom will do some vet stuff. Sometimes she brings home animals to foster, and they sleep in here. It’s super cool! Once, she brought home an earth hedgehog. It was super slow.”

“This is the backyard—“

He’s interrupted by instant barking when he opens the door, the family dog having been outside and seemingly waiting at the door for them to join him. Shadow doesn’t like the loud noise, instantly feeling a bit overwhelmed as he takes a small step back with a frown and watches Sonic wrangle the dog by his collar.

“Ozzie! Easy! I know you’re excited we have a guest, but you gotta chill, dawg,” Sonic scolds affectionately, grinning as he tugs the pup away from the door to allow Shadow to step out without being tackled.

Shadow does, eyeing the dog and keeping his distance the entire time.

The dog— Ozzie eventually seems to calm, his barking stopping and being replaced with little whines as he eyes Shadow. His tail is wagging like Sonic’s was when he first got here.

Actually, Sonic’s tail hasn’t stopped wagging, Shadow notes.

His ears perk up from their folded back position once the barking stops, observing the dog silently with an unsure gaze..

Sonic picks up on this, offering a hand out to Shadow as he stays crouched at the dog’s side holding its collar with his opposing hand, “It’s cool. He don’t bite.”

Shadow frowns a bit, looking at Sonic’s hand a bit unsure before looking to the dog again.. then he hesitantly reaches and lets Sonic’s hand guide his own to the dog’s fur. It’s thick. He imagines it’s probably soft without his gloves on, as most well-kept fur is.. 

The dog’s head seems to tilt up into his palm when it touches between his ears, Shadow lightly curling his fingers to scratch there as Ozzie’s tongue hangs happily to the side of his muzzle. Panting and no longer whining now that he’s getting his wanted attention and affection.

Shadow’s frown dissipates slowly, replaced with a content sort of expression. He.. likes petting it. It’s comforting.

Shadow smells the distinct scent of grass on his palm when he retracts it from the dog.

“He’s a good boy,” Sonic smiles, petting the dog under its chin and behind its collar, “He likes you, too! That’s a good sign.”

Shadow’s eyes glint with pride at that, eased that he has passed yet another Wachowski test. 

They go back inside after Sonic shows Shadow the firepit and then picnic table in the back, walking in to find Tom carrying some plates towards the backdoor..

“Dinner is ready to serve,” the sheriff informs with a small smile at the two, seeming a bit more at ease now that “introductions” have been made, “Go get your brothers, huh?”

“On it,” Sonic nods, waving his hand for Shadow to follow— which he does once he’s done holding the door open for Mr. Wachowski.

“Tails’ room is the basement, “Sonic informs as they approach what Shadow had assumed was a coat closet. Instead, he finds there’s a staircase down when Sonic opens it.

“He was in the guest room, but Dad moved him when he kept waking him up at night tinkering. Said he needed more room to work.”

“That was generous of him,” Shadow replies, following Sonic down the stairs.

“Yeah. Dad is pretty supportive of our hobbies,” Sonic shrugs with a little smile, though he seems to hold a new nervousness now..

Once downstairs, Shadow is a bit taken aback by the sight.

The walls are lined with all sorts of tools and gadgets and gizmos, some he recognizes and some he’s never seen before. The room is very much divided by a workspace and an actual bedroom. The workspace being what Shadow would only describe as organized chaos while the bedroom portion is neat and tidy. Clean and almost looking untouched.

It’s intriguing, the contrast.

A personality for each tail, he supposes.

Speaking of— the young kit himself was found seated at a workbench, headphones over pointed ears and fluffy tails winding together then unwinding again behind him repetitively. He seems locked in on whatever he’s fiddling with, his tongue sticking out and his brows furrowed in concentration. Shadow almost hates to interrupt him, but Sonic approaches without a thought.

“Hey Tails,” the hero lightly nudges his shoulder causing the fox to flinch before quickly removing his headphones to turn to Sonic, “dinner’s ready.”

“Oh sweet! I’m starved!” the smaller one grins, “Just let me—“ his smile drops, eyes widening and body stiffening when he sees Shadow.

Shadow swallows, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and trying not to seem too intimidating nor too intimidated.

“Oh,” Tails says, his voice small and his ears drooping back just slightly. His body shifts as if to be a bit more behind Sonic, “hey, Shadow. L-long time no see!.. heh..”

He’s scared. Shadow hates that..

Hates he’s given the kit more than enough reason to be..

He’s actually quite good with kids, contrary to popular belief. He was made to comfort and tend to one after all.. 

His heart would’ve broken to bits had his sister ever looked at him like that..

He clears his throat, glancing around before trying to break the ice with a compliment, “Your.. workspace is impressive,” he looks back at the fox to show he’s earnest, “I haven’t seen many of these tools before.”

“Oh,” Tails’ ears perk up, though a bit hesitantly, “I uh-.. I made most of them myself.”

“You build these things??”

“Yeah! Um.. I can show you some if you want??”

“I’d like that,” Shadow nods.

Sonic listens with a growing smile, watching as Tails stands and slowly begins to show Shadow some of his creations lining the walls and tabletops. He seems pleased this is going well thus far. More than pleased. This is important to him, of course, that much is obvious. But this fox is special to Sonic. He’s protective of him, a guardian of him. He wouldn’t want Shadow to be an object of fear for him.. nor would he want to bring Shadow around if it caused Tails distress, the hybrid is sure.

There’s a soft look in Sonic’s eyes as Tails laughs at something Shadow says, though. It makes Shadow’s stomach do flips. He pretends not to notice.

“I’m actually working on a design for a plane,” Tails explains as he approaches his workbench again, showing Shadow the blueprints, “I kind of got addicted this one time I flew one while fighting Eggman. Wanna make one bigger and better.”

Shadow looks over the blueprints with intrigue, finding the knowledge of this child absolutely baffling as well as simply endearing. His thirst for knowledge is familiar to Shadow..

“The engine design is formidable,” the hybrid observes, “have you considered replacing the transonic truss-braced wings with elliptical ones??”

“I… haven’t..,” Tails hums thoughtfully, tapping his chin as he eyes his blueprints, “that would make it far more aerodynamically efficient—“

“—and produce less drag,” Shadow finishes with a nod, watching as the fox quickly picks up his pencil and makes adjustments to the blueprints

“That’s brilliant! Team Heroes definitely needs this to be fast—“

“Okay you two! Before you start nerding out, we have chili dogs-a-waitin’,” Sonic interrupts, gesturing dramatically to the stairs with a bow.

Shadow and Tails look to him, the fox chuckling sheepishly and putting his pencil back down as he rubs the back of his neck and approaches his older brother, “Sorry. Got carried away.”

“It’s cool, lil’ bro,” Sonic assures with a shrug, waiting for Shadow to walk up the stairs before following behind, “I know you’re a big dork.”

“At least I’m not a big dumb,” Tails retorts with a grin.

“Zing!” Sonic chuckles proudly. Shadow is fairly certain he could’ve thought of a comeback and simply chose to allow the fox the win. It’s cute.

“Alright, let’s go get Knucks because the dawgs are callin’ and I’m staaaarviiiiing~” Sonic sings the last word in a nonsensical way that Shadow has grown accustom to from the hedgehog, smirking slightly as he follows him towards the side door.

Once outside, Shadow notes a large, white shed to the side of the house with its lights on, putting together that that must be where the echidna stays.

As if reading his mind, Sonic narrates, “Knuckles’ room is in the shed. Him and Mom had a lot of fights when he first moved in because he was a bit destructive. After a while, though, we realized this was just because he wasn’t use to sharing his space. He was pretty much a loner before all us, and he likes his independence and to be his own boss. So Mom renovated the shed for him and surprised him with it. I think that’s the first time he hugged her. It was pretty cool,” Sonic reminisces, walking backwards towards the shed so he can keep his eye on Shadow as he speaks.

“She sounds like a very perceptive mother,” Shadow analyzes.

“Oh, she is,” Sonic nods with wide eyes, “It’s scary sometimes how she knows things. It’s like she can read minds or something.”

Shadow’s ears fold back slightly at that, glancing towards the house again and wondering if his mind is currently being invaded..

To his knowledge, humans don’t have this ability, though.

Sonic knocks on the shed door once before opening it right on up. They’re instantly met with loud rap music playing over a speaker, Shadow’s ears once again folding back at the unwelcomed noise.

Sonic seems to notice this, rushing in a dash to switch the music off. This immediately disturbs the echidna who is sitting on a weight bench with a large spear in hand, sharpening the tip with a rock of some sort.

“Hey! Who dares to interrupt my bops?!” the red echidna barks, purple eyes turning to lock on crimson ones.

Oh boy.

The fox was one thing. He feared Shadow, which is something Shadow felt he could change relatively simply with time and trust. But the echidna???

He challenged Shadow.

“Ah! The Utmost Living Being!”

“The Ultimate Lifeform..,” Shadow mumbles the correction with a small frown, trying not to seem annoyed by the guardian’s incompetence. He’s had a lot of practice with Sonic.

“Whatever. You have arrived!” Knuckles continues, standing to approach the two now. Shadow is wary of the spear still in his hand, not even flinching when Knuckles points it directly at him, nearly grazing his chin. The echidna’s voice is deathly serious, gaze firm and menacing like a predator, “What are your intentions with my brother?”

Sonic’s eyes widen with a loud and awkward, “OH-KAY! That’s enough of that, ha-ha!” He’s quickly between the two, shoving the spear away from Shadow’s face with a little glare to his brother. Knuckles ignores it, keeping his eyes locked daringly on Shadow over Sonic’s shoulder. Shadow just looks back unphased before looking back to the nervously laughing Sonic.

“Don’t be weird, Knuckles,” the hedgehog growls under his breath, the echidna scoffing at this as if offended.

“Weird?! I am not being weird! I am merely engaging in conversation with our guest.”

“A weird conversation. And an unnecessarily aggressive one!”

“All aggression is necessary,” Knuckles corrects, finally looking from Shadow to Sonic, “Besides, I am the eldest brother. It is my duty to protect the tribe from newcomers!”

“Dude. Mom and Dad already have it covered. Just— be cool,” Sonic groans, crossing his arms at his brother. 

“The Lady of Pretzels and Lord of Donuts are easily persuaded. I am not,” Knuckles shrugs, looking back to Shadow, “You are welcome to our home! But I will be watching you..”

Shadow just nods at this, “Understandable.”

Sonic groans more at this, seeming annoyed with Knuckles’ typical dramatic antics before he just rubs a hand down his face and shrugs it off, “Whatever. Just— dinner’s ready.”

“Oo sustenance! Is there grapes???” Knuckles’ demeanor shifts from intimidating to giddy like a dime, his eyes wide with hope.

“Yes. She made fruit salad and included grapes. Just for you,” Sonic huffs, turning towards the door to which Shadow promptly follows.

“Superb. She is absolutely a wonderful mother,” Knuckles hums pleased as he follows behind the two, “I am very glad I picked her.”

“Right,” Sonic rolls his eyes, leading the trio across the yard, picking his battles and not arguing with Knuckles on that one.

Shadow can’t help but find the entire interaction amusing. Their dynamic is so different than Sonic and Tails’, but it’s still laced with affection. It’s also endearing. 

Once back inside, the three find that the house is empty and assume the others are already out back waiting in the yard.

Joining them outside, Shadow is immediately met with the appetizing aroma of chili as well as assorted fruits and some sort of meat.

He doesn’t have to eat as much as normal people do, but he certainly doesn’t mind it if it’s a good enough meal.

Tails is sitting with Mrs. Wachowski at the table, fixing his plate with a hot dog and a simple topping of ketchup with a bowl of chili separate on the side. He’s already digging in, not realizing how hungry he was since he had been caught up in his work. 

Mr. Wachowski is squatted by a cooler, filling his cup with ice along with three others that Shadow assumes is for the three who just came outside. Sonic dashes right up to the family, obviously quite eager for their dinner if his wagging tail is anything to go off of. Knuckles follows behind, grabbing himself a paper plate and beginning to stack it up quite messily with anything that seems to be appetizing to his eyes. Topped with a concerning amount of grapes, Shadow notes.

“This food palette looks very balanced and appetizing, Mrs. Wachowski,” Shadow comments, looking at the full picnic table. The vet smiles wide at this, “Thank you, Shadow. That’s very sweet.”

Sonic turns to Shadow, handing him a paper plate with a little smile, “Here ya go.” Shadow looks at the plate a moment and then Sonic, “Thank you.” “Yup! Fix yourself some sides. We got beans, salad, chips– but your dawg?? It’s mine.” Shadow blinks. “I don’t have a dog.”

He notices the way the mother bites her lips together with an amused smile behind Sonic’s shoulder, exchanging knowing glances with the fox who giggles quietly.

“I meant your chili dog,” Sonic clarifies with a head tilt, “I’m gonna fix your first ever chili dog for you.”

“Oh..,” Shadow mumbles, cheeks turning a bit rosy with embarrassment at his incessant habit to take things a bit too literally and not quickly catch onto slang.

“Yeah, so fill your plate and let the master do his thing,” Sonic winks before turning around to get started on building Shadow’s chili dog. And my isn’t it a concoction..

Upon closer examination once placed in front of him, he takes in the ingredients he can curiously, his nose overwhelmed with the complexity of spices he senses.

A hot dog. Chili. Shredded lettuce. Cheese. Ketchup. Mayo. Onion. Tomato. Peppers. And to Shadow’s slight surprise, brown sugar mixed with hot sauce sprinkled on top of it all. 

Interesting.

Shadow’s mouth forms a sideways line as he looks at the intimidating beast of a feast placed before him, looking at Sonic whose chili dog looks identical and is already being devoured by the blue menace. 

Taking a breath, Shadow looks back to his chili dog. He can feel the others watching him. The Wachowskis, Tails, Knuckles.. Sonic even pauses to look at him expectantly, waiting to see his reaction to the ultimate food.

Shadow slowly picks up the chili dog, having to be extra careful not to make a mess of his gloves from all the sloppy contents of the item. He examines it only a moment longer before he opens his mouth and takes a big enough bite to get at least a little of everything.

And as he expected, he’s overwhelmed. There’s too much going on in his mouth for him to properly process it. The flavors are strong, the textures varying with each chew. It makes his spine shiver a bit, slowly chewing it as he keeps his tongue in the back of his mouth like it’ll calm his senses a bit. 

But courting etiquette for humans is to always compliment your host for their meal.

So swallowing his disgust and the bite, Shadow offers a small smile and lies, “It’s delicious.” Sonic snorts at this, immediately bursting into laughter as Knuckles snickers as well. Tails is giggling with the mother and Mr. Wachowski is smiling as if amused.

Shadow just blushes a bit more, shrinking slightly in fear he may have said something wrong. “Oh you poor thing,” Maddie tuts sympathetically, standing to grab another plate and begin fixing a new chili dog, “You don’t have to eat all that. The Sonic Special is very much coded for Sonic.” “Yeah, man,” Sonic snickers, lightly shaking Shadow by his shoulder and then moving his plate from in front of him, sneaking it onto the ground for the dog to devour, “It’s cool. Not everyone can handle so much in one bite.”

Shadow looks at him and then glances up to watch Mrs. Wachowski place a new plate before him. This one looking more like the fox’s. Simple. A hot dog, nothing on it.

“You can add any toppings you like, sweetie,” Maddie smiles, taking her seat again.

“Or you can just have it plain! I only like ketchup on mine,” Tails encourages with a little grin.

“Mine is a mighty volcano,” Knuckles brags, forking another large scarf of the conglomeration down. 

“See? It’s alright to like different stuff,” Sonic winks, nudging Shadow’s side with his elbow before looking back to his own food to continue eating.

Shadow looks around at the others a moment, watching as they all get on with their meals now and not paying him as much mind. Mr. Wachowski’s gaze catches his, though, still watching him with an expression Shadow doesn’t know how to translate. But the officer offers a little smile and nod, to which Shadow returns. He then looks down, and after a moment of hesitation, he tries his simple hot dog.

The rest of dinner goes smoothly. Shadow finishes his plate with ease, quite enjoying the more traditional forms of the food rather than the exaggerated versions his counterparts ate. They all share conversations, the subject often shifting and leaving Shadow a bit lost now and then. But he does his best to keep up, even adding a small input here and there but nothing more.

It’s intriguing.. watching a family. He remembers his time on the ARK with Maria.. How they’d share meals in the cafeteria but often would sneak away to sit on the floor in front of the large window viewing earth to eat together instead. They didn’t have a large family, but they had each other. And that was plenty..

He sees that in these people. Their bond is strong. They’re comfortable with one another. Open and honest and accepting of their differences. It’s..refreshing.

The only time he’s directly addressed is by Mr. Wachowski. “So Shadow,” he starts, swallowing his bite before continuing, “What are you doing these days?”

Shadow pauses. He read about this. The parents of one’s partner will often feel out how successful or motivated one is to see if they’re worthy of taking care of their offspring. 

“Shadow??? He’s doing his own thing, you know. Being cool and–”

“I believe I was talking to Shadow,” Tom cuts Sonic off, though his voice holds no spite and he’s smiling knowingly at Sonic.

Sonic just smiles a bit sheepishly with a quiet “right” before looking to Shadow, not speaking for him this time. Though, Sonic looks a bit nervous, now. Perhaps he fears his father won’t approve of Shadow’s answer.

“I have recently began working with GUN,” Shadow says, looking at Tom now who seems a bit taken aback by this answer if his raised brows are anything to go off of. Next to him, Shadow sees Sonic’s face shift to one of surprise as well.

“You didn’t tell me that..” “It was confidential up until recently,” he explains, looking from Sonic to Tom again, “Nothing is official, but we’re getting close to some sort of work agreement..” “Sounds serious,” Tom replies with an intrigued look, “Didn’t really expect you to want anything to do with GUN..” After my grandfather who was an agent shot your sister goes unsaid, but Shadow hears it nonetheless.

He replies, “I didn’t. Not for some time, at least.” “What changed your mind?”

“Sonic,” Shadow answers bluntly, feeling everyone’s eyes land on him at once, including the said blue hedgehog next to him. 

“..He’s not from here. He’s different. Powerful. And in terms of this planet’s mentality, he’s a threat. That’s what I was seen as,” Shadow explains, eyes staying on Tom’s as to not be intimidated by the many others peering at him, “He was hunted by humanity at first, not seen as a hero but rather a mystery. And humans never take to things they don’t understand well.. But Sonic didn’t let this discourage him. He continued to fight for his freedom and for the freedom of this world from evil-doers like Ivo Robotnik. And with time, he earned their trust. Proved himself. They stopped seeing him as different and saw him as an ally and a hero.. I don’t want to be a hero, but an ally is a good place to start. And while GUN has been corrupted before, I’d say they have good intentions in the long run to protect this world even if often misguided. I plan to be there to help guide them. Make sure what happened on the ARK never happens again..”

He looks to Sonic now, quoting something the blue hero once told him, “I can’t expect change if I just stand still.. I gotta make a move.”

Sonic’s eyes stare back at Shadow, a slow and wide smile forming on his muzzle along with rose tinted cheeks. A look of pride glistening in his eyes.

“That..,” Tom speaks, gaining Shadow’s attention again, “.. is a pretty damn good answer.”

Tom smiles at him. Shadow smiles back.

Dinner ends, and Mrs. Wachowski stands to start gathering up plates to trash, “Okay, Knuckles and Tails. Dishes.”

“What about Sonic?” Knuckles asks, looking distraught that he has to do more work than his brother. Tails is unbothered and already working on gathering up the serving dishes and leftovers to carry inside. 

“He has a guest over,” Tom answers with a pointed look at Knuckles, “So he has to host.”

“So having a guest means you don’t have to do these silly tasks??” Knuckles scoffs as if scandalized by this information, as though he’s been personally targeted.

“Yup. ‘Fraid so, buddy.”

Knuckles huffs at this, snatching a few dishes as he begins making his way back to the house with something along the lines of ‘I must make more friends’ being grumbled from him.

Sonic sticks his tongue out mockingly at the red echidna when he walks by, earning the blue hedgehog a hard punch to the gut. 

“Sonic? Have you shown Shadow your room?” Maddie asks, earning a pointed glare from Mr. Wachowski. Sonic immediately grins and, “Oh! I haven’t! Wanna see??”

Shadow nods at him with a small smile, “Yes, please.”

“Sweet, it’s this way,” he nods his head for Shadow to follow him back inside.

“What the hell was that??” Tom hisses to Maddie once they’re gone, “They don’t need to be alone in his room together–”

“Oh stop,” Maddie rolls her eyes at him with a little grin, “They’ll be fine. Sonic gets antsy just making eye contact with Shadow for too long, and Shadow-... well, I don’t even think Shadow knows how to flirt, let alone make a move.”

Tom groans a little but lets it go, figuring she’s probably right..

Plus, he trusts his boy to make good decisions.

“Here it is!” Sonic announces, climbing up a ladder into the attic, Shadow following behind. It.. isn’t exactly what Shadow was expecting. He was honestly expecting an absolute trainwreck. Clothes everywhere, weird smells, the whole shebang. Instead, he finds a room that so painfully screams Sonic. It’s enchanting in a charismatic sort of way. There’s charming lights lined along the ceilings, multiple road signs that allude to Sonic’s speed. The bed itself resembles a racecar, Shadow finding this immature but endearing. The shelves are lined with trinkets and random objects that must hold enough meaning for Sonic to keep them despite seeming unimportant. A beanbag is sat in the corner with a stack of comic books next to it. Sonic has lended some to Shadow before, and he respects the hero’s infatuation with them. Definitely sees where he gets his heroic antics from.

Shadow looks around the room in wonder. It’s a stark contrast to his own current sleeping arrangements.. Up until a few weeks ago, Shadow had honestly sort of just skipped around from rooftops to caves to trees to sleep. GUN offered him a more permanent place in an apartment in Central City..

It’s very empty. And very unlived in. Sonic’s room?? It’s warm and comforting and feels like a home. A safe space.

Shadow can tell each and every object that’s in here is likely treasured dearly by the blue hedgehog.. Well. except the dirty sock peeking out from under the bed. But Shadow chooses not to acknowledge that for Sonic’s sake.

“Welcome to Casa de Sonic,” the blue hedgehog grins, spreading his arms in showmanship of his space, “Pretty cool, huh??” He seems chill, but Shadow can tell he’s holding onto Shadow’s every move and breath.

Shadow looks at him and then around the room, turning to do a slow 360 look of the place before looking back to Sonic and offering a small smile and approving nod, “Very cool.”

Sonic’s arms drop with a breath of relief, a little chuckle escaping him as he looks at Shadow a moment and then looks towards his bed. In a blur of blue and brief gust of wind, Sonic is plopping onto the bed and then sitting up to look at Shadow, “Mom and Dad set it up for me as a surprise one time. I’ve kinda made it my own since then, but they did a pretty great job of laying down a solid foundation for all my dudeitude.”

“Dudeitude??” Shadow questions, walking over to sit next to Sonic on the bed once Sonic pats the spot next to him. “Yeah, you know, like– dude attitude?” “Oh,” Shadow smiles a bit at this, looking down and discreetly brushing the dirty sock out of sight under the bed with his heel before Sonic can see and be embarrassed, “Yes. Dudeitude is a very accurate word for you, I’d say.”

Sonic snickers at that, smiling all wide as he looks at Shadow. Shadow shyly keeps his eyes away, looking around the room and examining the smaller details like the subtle footprints on the ceiling or the jar with one singular owl feather on the nightstand.

“...So..,” Sonic says after a pause, breathing a quiet sigh before speaking, “What do you think??” “Think?” Shadow questions, finally meeting Sonic’s intense gaze again. “Yeah. Of.. ya’know. My family?” “Oh,” Shadow blinks, a bit thrown off by the question before he offers a soft look and mumbles quietly, “They’re really lovely.”

“They are, aren’t they?” Sonic smirks. “Mm,” Shadow nods, his eyes drifting away from Sonic’s and down to his own lap as he fiddles with the zipper of his jacket, “...What do you think they think?” “Hm?”

“Of me..?”

There’s a long pause of silence, and Shadow isn’t sure if that’s good or bad. But when he brings himself to look back at Sonic, he sees he’s simply thinking his answer over rather than answering immediately.

“I think Mom likes you,” he starts, offering a reassuring smile, “But she’s the easy one to win over, honestly. Tails seems to like talking nerd with you, so that’s totally a good sign! Knuckles is an idiot,” Sonic rolls his eyes and Shadow smirks slightly, “but I think he sees you as strong and formidable which means you have his respect. That’s all you can really ask for of him, honestly. It’s a pretty high honor.”

“And what of your father..?”

Sonic looks at Shadow, tilting his head at him with a sympathetic sort of smile, “..He seems to like you enough to give you a chance. And I think what you said out there about being the change you wanna see in the world definitely won you some brownie points.”

Shadow deflates in relief, some of the tension leaving his rigid spines as he nods and looks down with a mumbled, “Good.. then I’m doing well.” “You’re doing great,” Sonic assures, his hand moving to rest on Shadow’s shoulder and giving it a small squeeze.

Shadow looks back at Sonic at this, not being able to convey it with words but hoping his eyes show how much he appreciates this. All of this. This opportunity and this bond.. 

This chance.

Shadow’s hand moves to rest on Sonic’s knee as his way of trying to show he acknowledges the reassurance, but Sonic’s face does this funny thing and his ears get all pink.

“Okay!” he’s suddenly standing, Shadow’s hand dropping back to his own lap, “Well, we should head back down! I wanna be there when they pick a movie, so Knuckles doesn’t make us watch Planet of the Apes for the billionth time!” His laugh seems a bit shaky, his face flushed.

“Are you okay??”

“Me?? I’m cool. Coolcoolcoolcoolcool–”

“Hey,” Shadow interrupts, standing to shove Sonic’s shoulder, “Bring the dudeitude back.”

Sonic pauses, blinking at Shadow before a little grin forms and be breathes, “Right. Dudeitude.”

Shadow nods with a small smile, not at all realizing the affect he has on this blue hedgehog, but not wanting him to be nervous around him either.

They got back down the ladder to find Tails and Knuckles have finished the dishes and Tom has finished putting away leftovers, leaving Maddie and Ozzie sitting on the couch flipping through Netflix for something to watch.

“Hey you two! You’re just in time to pick a movie,” Maddie greets, “Shadow, you have a preference?” Shadow offers a small shake of his head, “No ma’am, I don’t know many films..”

He was brought up on a space station in the 50s. Movies weren’t exactly on-demand.

“That’s alright. We’ll have to fix that!” she winks, making Shadow’s stomach flip at the idea of them potentially inviting him over for more movie nights in the future, “Sonic, you got a pick??”

“Let’s watch a heartfelt film about a man who loves his dog–,” Sonic begins his answer with zero hesitation, Tom walking into the room to shut that down real quick.

“We’re not watching John Wick,” he grunts as he plops onto the couch next to Maddie, throwing his arm on the back of the couch behind her, “Nothing that isn’t PG.” Sonic groans, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, “You guys are no fun.” “Yeah, it’s in the dad job description,” Tom coos with a smirk. 

Sonic concedes, shrugging and walking towards the loveseat against the wall diagonal to the couch, “We can sit here, Shads.”

“I thought your spot was in the bean bag??” Shadow’s brow furrows, sitting beside Sonic on the loveseat nonetheless. 

Sonic’s body tenses a bit, blushing as he fumbles, “Uh, well–” “Yeah, Sonic,” Mr. Wachowski teases from the couch, “Why don’t you sit in your bean bag like usual??”

Sonic’s puffs his cheeks with a glare at his dad, Mrs. Wachowski swatting at the snickering man’s shoulder with a huffed, “Leave him alone.” “Yeah! Leave me alone!” Sonic agrees, throwing a pillow at his father’s face.

Tom grunts when it hits him, huffing as he tosses it back at Sonic with an offended face, “Since when was this abuse the father night??” “Since you decided to challenge the world’s best hero,” Sonic smirks proudly.

The banter continues, but Shadow is completely lost on any of what just happened anyway. He just finds the interaction between the family members amusing.

And Sonic does not in fact sit in his bean bag.

Tails and Knuckles join them in the living room, Tails carrying a bucket of popcorn and Knuckles having a bowl of grapes. Shadow doesn’t think he could eat another single thing even if he wanted– which is what he tells Sonic when he asks if Shadow would like any snacks.

They all come to an agreement on a movie called Wreck It Ralph. The plot being something along the lines of a videogame character that somehow has thoughts and feelings and doesn’t want to be the bad guy he was written to be.

It sounds silly in concept, but Shadow can’t take his eyes off the screen the whole time.

It’s not until he feels Sonic shivering a bit beside him that Shadow averts his attention to the blue hedgehog beside him. Shadow has been sitting up straight watching the film this entire time, but Sonic is curled in a small ball leaning against the arm of the chair next to him and watching with tiny shivers now and then. It is chilly in this room, Shadow supposes. But he never gets cold, so..

It doesn’t take but a moment for him to decide to take his jacket off and carefully drape it over Sonic’s curled up form.

“You don’t have to–”

“Hush. The movie is playing,” Shadow mumbles, ignoring how precious Sonic looks all huddled under his coat with only his nose, big eyes, and perked ears peeking above the collar. The way Sonic’s eyes squint in the corners let him know he’s smiling..

Shadow’s attention turns back to the movie, unbeknownst to him his warm gesture was noted by his counterpart’s parents and had Maddie smiling all soft with a silent ‘aw’ as she leans over on her husband who just smiles as well.

The movie’s ending has Shadow feeling certain ways.

Ralph is still the bad guy, but he’s.. happy with that. He knows his purpose, and he knows the candy princess speedster will still accept him despite his destructive tendencies. 

It..perhaps hits him a little close to home, and when he Ralph is chanting the villain support group’s affirmation, he finds himself memorizing it to heart.

‘I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be than me.’

Shadow gasps when Ralph sacrifices himself for the others in the arcade, eyes wide and glossy on the screen and his heart pounding in his chest. He feels like he can’t swallow. Like his palms are sweating. He’s seeing stars fly past him. Seeing the ARK get further and further away as he falls. Seeing–

He feels a hand rest on his and squeeze tight, flinching at the touch and immediately looking over to find Sonic staring wide eyed at the screen too..

They’re both seeing the same thing..

Shadow squeezes Sonic’s hand in return, finally allowing a deep breath to exhale as he relaxes again and looks back to the screen.

They’re here. Not space. Not the ARK. Here..

And there’s nowhere Shadow would rather be than here.

The movie ends. Maddie moves to carefully and silently step next to the bean bag Tails is laying in, the poor fox having fallen asleep around when Ralph was building Vanellope’s race track. She carries the kit down to his room to tuck him in, Knuckles rising from his own bean bag and stretching his muscles before announcing that he too would be retiring for the night.

He wishes his family goodnight and offers Shadow a simple nod of his head and smirk before heading out to his shed.

Tom looks over to Sonic and Shadow. Sonic is now properly wearing Shadow’s jacket and sitting up again, Shadow next to him looking back to Tom as if awaiting what they’re expected to do next.

“Well, Sonic. I think it’s time to call it a night,” the father announces, Sonic’s ears folding back at this and a small pout forming on his muzzle.

“Aw, but we’re not even tired,” he ironically says just before yawning. Shadow chuckles a bit at this and Tom just smiles and raising a brow at Sonic. Sonic groans and stands up, “Alright..” Shadow stands as well, looking to see Maddie now coming back up from the basement.

“We’ll walk you out, Shadow,” Tom offers, Shadow nodding politely as they all move towards the door.

Once outside, Tom immediately takes notice in Shadow’s bike sitting at the end of the driveway. “Did you ride that here???” 

There it is.

He seems impressed as he looks the bike over the best he can from the doorway, Shadow looking to his bike as well now.

“I did,” the hybrid nods.

“What kind?” “Ducati Panigale V4 SP.”

“The Dark Rider??” “Yes sir.”

“Nice. Helmets?” “Two.” “Very nice,” Tom smirks, nodding approvingly as he looks back to Shadow.

Shadow just smiles small and proud, pleased his plot to impress the Donut Lord with his motorbike came to fruition.

“That mean I can go for a ride on it??” Sonic chimes in.

“No,” Maddie answers instead, the blue hedgehog knitting his brows and looking at Tom in preparation to protest only for Tom to wink at him and subtly nod.

Sonic grins. Shadow hums out a chuckle.

“It was really nice meeting you properly, Shadow,” Maddie says warmly, reaching out her hand to shake Shadow’s. Shadow obliges and shakes hers politely with a nod, “Likewise, Mrs. Wachowski.” “Glad we could see this version of you,” Tom adds, reaching to shake Shadow’s hand now, “Ya’know. The version that isn’t set on destroying the world.”

Shadow is about to get nervous at this, but he sees the playful smirk on Tom’s face. Glad to know where Sonic gets his sarcastic attitude.

“I appreciate the opportunity, sir,” Shadow chuckles breathily, shaking the Donut Lord’s hand.

“I’m sure we’ll be seeing you around more often,” Tom adds with a knowing smile, “So long as you take care of my son, that is.”

Sonic groans audibly, flushing as he rubs a hand down his face.

Shadow just nods seriously at this, seeming to take this task to heart.

They both speak at the same time.

“We’re not like that!” “I will.”

They blink. Each processing the other’s words as wide eyes meet in surprise. Both blushing. Both seeming to try and register what the other just said. 

Maddie and Tom stare with wide eyes too.

“Ooo..,” Tom hisses, “Awkward..” Maddie is quickly grabbing her husband to pull him inside, chuckling awkwardly as she goes, “Well, be safe going home, Shadow.” “Yeah, take care!’

The door shuts.

Sonic and Shadow stand alone on the doorstep, still staring at each other.

Sonic, never being one to stay quiet long, is the one to speak first.

“You will..?” he breathes a little smile at that, looking shy now as he rubs the back of his neck with a blushing muzzle, “What did you mean by you will?”

“I meant I’d take care of you,” Shadow states as though it’s obvious, though he’s starting to fear he has in fact had a very deep and embarrassing misunderstanding of their circumstances. His ears stand extra tall, tensing them up so they don’t droop back in disappointment.

“We.. aren’t like that..? I don’t understand.” “I-... you thought we were like that??” “I thought that’s what all this was,” Shadow says quietly, becoming more and more embarrassed as he reruns all this in his head, “You chasing me. Insisting on being in my life. Always planning to meet again. All the circling and snorting and puffing–”

Sonic deadpans, “the what?” “Hedgehog courting rituals!” Shadow huffs, now getting irritated the more he grows humiliated, “All my research talked about it! It’s clearly stated that everything you were doing to pursue me was as a mate.” Sonic’s eyes widen further at this, ears drooping back and now his entire chest and ears are pink too.

“Mate??..,” his voice is small as realization begins to build.

“And then you invited me over to meet your parents for their approval, yes??” Shadow asks, tilting his head with a knit of his brow as he tries to understand where he misread the signs, “That was the objective??” “Woah, hey. Shadow. The objective was to have their approval on me getting to hang out with you, not–”

He stops, seeing how Shadow’s ears twitch back a bit. How his stance is now a bit more drooped than tall and confident. How his eyes hold confusion and shame..

It breaks Sonic’s heart.

Sonic purses his lips, sighing as he looks away shyly and, “...I guess I kinda did do all that, huh??”

Shadow doesn’t answer, just slowly moves to cross his arms in a defensive sort of manner. His crimson eyes averted towards the ground.

Sonic chews on his lower lip and looks back to Shadow, “I’m a hedgehog. Not an earth hedgehog, though, ya’know?? I don’t even know how my kind of hedgehog would try to initiate a–... what’d you call it??” “Courtship,” Shadow mutters.

“Right. That,” Sonic sighs, frowning at how this night took a sudden turn for the awkward and heavy.

It had been going so well.

“...I’m sorry, Shads–” “Don’t-,” Shadow interrupts, eyes closing as he takes a deep breath to gather himself, finishing with a sighed, “--apologize. I shouldn’t have made so many assumptions. That’s not your fault.” “Well, I feel like it kinda is,” Sonic insists, brows knit at the ebony hedgehog in front of him.

This can’t ruin this. He can’t lose him.

“Look..,” Sonic says after a breath, rubbing a hand back through his own quills before pausing to notice Shadow’s eyes were still shut, “Hey… look at me, Shads.”

Sonic’s hand reaches up to delicately cup Shadow’s cheek, tilting his head up to face him as crimson eyes open to meet emerald.

Sonic offers a soft smile, “I know I’m all about going fast, but...we don’t need to rush this.”

Shadow blinks, staying quiet as he listens to the blue hero speak.

“I.. don’t know what we are,” Sonic admits quietly, “I thought we were just buddies, but.. I’d be kidding myself if I said I didn’t know you were different for me.” Shadow chews on the inside of his cheek, still not saying anything in fear of saying the wrong thing and humiliating himself further.

“..I think.. We can take this slow, huh??” Sonic offers, a small smile as he knits his brows up and tilts his head at his rival, “Learn each other better. Learn ourselves better. Maybe go on some actual dates..?” Sonic chuckles a bit and Shadow can’t help but lean his cheek into Sonic’s palm slightly. 

Sonic rubs his thumb along Shadow’s muzzle.

“We’ll figure this out,” he assures simply as if it’s just a fact of life, “Because I’m not goin’ anywhere. And even if you tried to, I’d find you, Faker.”

Shadow can’t help but smile at that, chuckling at the reference to one of their not-so-friendly first encounters. He looks down between them a moment before lifting his eyes back to Sonic.

“We’ll figure this out,” Shadow agrees with a nod.

“We’ve got plenty of time.” “Plenty.”

Sonic smiles at this, breathing a small sigh of relief through his nose that they’re gonna be okay. This misunderstanding won’t ruin or change anything.

“We just gotta learn how to communicate better, dude,” Sonic chuckles, Shadow humming amusedly as well. 

“Agreed.”

Sonic smirks at this. And maybe he looks at Shadow’s eyes a little too long or lets his hand linger on his cheek a bit longer than needed, but sue him.

He just found out Shadow the Hedgehog wants to court him.

Screw that. He just found out what the heck courting even was.

Sonic needs to get educated, he decides.

Shadow ever so subtly rubs his cheek against Sonic’s palm in a nuzzling sort of manner before he takes a step back, Sonic’s hand falling back to his side. The two smile at one another a moment longer before Shadow just smirks with a “hmph” and turns to walk down the front steps.

Sonic watches with a content little smile, “...Wanna race tomorrow??” Shadow keeps walking, not turning around as he responds, “Arcade or waffle house??”

“Waffle house. I’ve been craving french toast.”

Shadow chuckles, waving a hand up at the hedgehog over his shoulder with a nod.

Sonic just grins at this, biting his lower lip before flinching at the sudden realization–

“Oh! Shadow!”

Shadow turns to face him again as Sonic quickly makes his way down the steps and across the yard to him, moving to take Shadow’s jacket off himself– though Shadow notices the slight look of loss as Sonic removes his arm from the first sleeve.

“You forgot this–” “Keep it,” Shadow interrupts, lifting his hand to halt Sonic.

“..Really??” Sonic’s tail wags behind him, a smile curling back onto his muzzle.

“Looks better on you,” Shadow insists, moving to help Sonic put his arm back in and settle it properly on his shoulders once more. 

Sonic just beams at this, “Agree to disagree, pal,” his gaze softens as Shadow looks him over, “But thanks..”

Shadow just smirks at this, shrugging and turning to his bike, “Don’t mention it.”

Sonic shoves his hands in the jacket’s pockets, crossing his arms so that it’s snug around him.

It smells like lavender.. Like a hug from Shadow.

Shadow straddles his bike, looking back to find Sonic standing there with his eyes shut and his nose buried in the jacket’s collar. He smirks smugly.

“It’s called anointing, by the way.” “Huh??” Sonic jumps slightly, jolting from his daze.

“Covering yourself in your mate’s scent,” Shadow explains, placing the helmet he doesn’t actually use in the bag attached to his bike before finishing, “It’s called anointing.”

Sonic blinks, eyes widening as a blush grows on his cheeks with a sheepish, “oh..”

Shadow just cranks his bike up, revving it to life before looking back to Sonic with a wink, “See you tomorrow, Hedgehog.”

Sonic’s left feeling dumbstruck as Shadow drives off from their home and down the street before eventually disappearing with a roar of the engine.

Sonic may not know it yet, but Shadow knows..

They’re absolutely courting.

[dovahkiin796]

DC x Sonic 2#

Oh, Sonic. If only you knew that Darkseid is someone you shouldn't underestimate. This man, this New God, is far beyond what you fought in the past. Even Superman has trouble fighting him in one-on-one combat and Darkseid ever rarely has to throw fists to put Superman on the backfoot.

Sonic gets a taste of Darkseid's strength as the New God just stands there unbothered by the repeated spin-dashes and his grip on the Chaos Emerald is so tight Flash gets tripped up by it. Though, I like to imagine Darkseid is holding the emerald lightly, at least, lightly to him.

A first time a swear is said around a Sonic character since Shadow the Hedgehog. Flash urges Sonic to run as he sees the alien god charge up his attack. The infamous Omega Beams. An attack that is said to lock onto its target and will only stop when eventually making contact with said target.

Superman and speedsters being the only things alive to outrun the beams but even then, it's a matter of running forever or finding a way to have the attack hit something else.

Sonic has outrun and even tricked homing missiles in the past, but the Omega Beans are something he has never encountered before, and we can see in the panel he's struggling to dodge it. Fortunately for Sonic, Flash had a plan to get the beams to hit each other. Though it resulted in a huge explosion.

Don't tempt him Sonic, both you and Flash are lucky Darkseid sees you two as not worth his time. Of course, Flash has to poke a jab at Sonic for his slowness. X3

The other League members and Sonic's friends now have to hasten their search for the remaining Chaos Emeralds with Amy asking The Chaotix for their help. Shame what's about to happen to them.

Returning to his ship Darkseid is informed that the search for the remaining six Chaos Emeralds is becoming difficult as the emeralds are trying to hide themselves from Father Box. Don't know if this should be applied to Sonic canon as the Chaos Emeralds NEVER displayed this ability in any Sonic media and is very likely only made up for this story to explain why Darkseid doesn't get them almost instantly.

With this new information Darksied orders for his elite warriors to be sent out across the world and if needed burn anything to the ground to find the Chaos Emeralds.

The heroes are alerted to the Apokolip forces sent out and will use them searching the emeralds to help speed up with their own search to get exact coordinates to which they do, and Cyborg gives them the locations.

I like that Wonder Woman is sitting in Amy's car. It's a cute detail and WW probably feels like a giant in it as she's usually depicted being really tall as all Amazons are.

Also, Flash saying he can move within a picosecond which is real by the way, look it up. And of course, Sonic finds it adorable that his speed can be measured. X3

Again, Flash IS FASTER than Game-Sonic. DEATH BATTLE is fanfiction and Archie-Sonic is NOT canon. Flash has run at light speeds on his own without rings, can travel through time with his speed, and has outrun Death himself. There is no debate.

We see the JL and Sonic's friends combat against the Apokolip forces but Batman and Shadow's "fight" against Steppenwolf is the only one that gets the most focus. I feel like after the Justic League movie, doesn't matter which version, Steppenwolf has been treated as a joke.

Anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but it really does seem like he's often written to not be a threat. Now, I'm sure he does have moments in the comics where he does put up a fight and even has a few heroes kills to his name. But not here, so, Shadow's win against the guy doesn't truly feel earned. Almost feels like it happened this way because SEGA would get mad if he didn't get some kind of win against a named DC character.

Is it just me or does this feel familiar to anyone else? I'm just saying I feel like we've been here before, twice in fact. Maybe it is just me. 😉

Anyway, Darkseid is pleased with the results by having one of the Chaos Emeralds power his machine. Even believing he can destroy entire universe if he gets all seven. That's how powerful the Chaos Emeralds when put into the right machine.

Now out of time, the League and Sonic and co must switch their focus on Darkseid but Tails informs his planes won't survive an assault against the Ragna Rock. Knuckles is still pissed about his island and the destruction of Master Emerald.

However, unexpected help has arrived.

Dr. Eggman, doing his best villain pose, will offer his aid to help all the heroes get into Ragna Rock and fight Darkseid as Sonic says to Flash Eggman has much to lose like they do if they don't succeed.

And help he does as he rams the Egg Carrier into the right eye! A true Eggman move.

Now onboard the heroes fight their way through Parademons to find wherever the Chaos Emerald is being stored. With Eggman having to remind them all Earth is his planet to conquer and one else's.

Hearing that causes Wonder Woman to say she might stay for a bit to deal with Eggman and Amy isn't against the idea. Ummmm, Amy, while Wonder Woman's compassion equals to yours. She's one of the few League members who does kill. Eggman will be cracked egg after she's done with him.

Flash is the first to find not only the Chaos Emerald but Darkseid as well. Also including his did it faster than Sonic who tries to make an excuse he went the other way. Cope Sonic.

Not bothering to fully turn around and face the pair the New God again fires his Omega Beams and in a more confined environment Sonic and Flash would've definitely been killed. But luckily for them Superman tanks the beams. Even calling them out for their pointless competition and to pick up their pace. Both speedsters call for a truce. X3

Now with all the heroes here. They all gang up on Darkseid who is ready to throw down. And he may or may not be powered by the Chaos Emerald.

This is a pretty cool looking panel.

Superman and Darkseid equal in physical strength but this coming to blows distracts him and is pinned by his sides by both Green Lantern and Silver. Then having the Lasso of Truth wrap around and tie him up and then being pulled down to his knees by WW and Knuckles.

Shadow, being the arrogant hedgehog he is, disrespects the New God but Batman warns him to not underestimate the alien. Batman speaks the truth.

Shadow... did something with Chaos Control. I know what Chaos Control is and what it does. But Shadow didn't do anything after using the power. I'm guessing he was going to casually go to Darkseid and take the Chaos Emerald while time was frozen.

Regardless, Darkseid appears to be immune to the power, which shocks Shadow but not me. I understand what Darkseid is capable of. This being is intricately woven into the very fabric of the DC multiverse. Darkseid must exist for the DC multiverse to exist; without him, it all collapses in on itself. Furthermore, there are no other Darkseids. Any Darkseids you encounter in other media are merely avatars used by the one true Darkseid to seek the Anti-Life Equation in a universe he believes it resides. As he himself states, "Darkseid is."

Also, while Shadow is no longer in his Vegeta phase. He still gets those Vegeta Ls. He can only win if Sonic isn't there.

I skipped a few action pages, hard to comment on those, but Flash was tasked with wrecking the machine while Sonic gets the emerald from Darkseid. Flash is successful, but Sonic wasn't. However, Flash did more damage by messing with the machine.

Seriously, that middle panel is really giving off deja vu vibes.

Darkseid tries bend the machine to his will with the Chaos Emerald while Supes and WW try to stop him. Seeing things aren't going their way Green Lantern puts the Sonic characters into a bubble and Cyborg opens a Boom Tube. Amy asks what he's doing, and Batman answers putting their faith into them.

They are then thrown through the Boom Tube and end up in the DC universe, meeting Mr. Terrific. They demand he sends them back to their world so they can help the Justice League, but Mr. Terrific tells them he can't as their universe is gone.

Oh! Now I know why this feels familiar! Anyway, time for another reboot!

[cherry-chaos-cola]

another silly little sonadow fanfic because they are fun to write:)

edit: link isn't working? so I'll put it under the cut

edit 2: It's working again?? Possibly??

Tranquilizer

Rated T | No archive warnings apply | Sonic Movie Universe

"I can't believe you shot Sonic's boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend!?"

"Well I actually don't know, we haven't had that conversation yet, because you shot him!"

Sonic has been hiding Shadow from his family for the past few months, blaming disturbances on the usual: the wind, wildlife, other genetically modified alien hedgehogs that are totally real and not made up. Unfortunately, Tom thinks the raccoon problem is back, and fed up, takes matters into his own hands (because that worked well last time).

aka Sonic loses the world's worst game of hide and seek, Tom gives Shadow ketamine, and Tails needs to watch age appropriate TV shows

Autumn was rapidly coming to an end in Green Hills, cold weather creeping in when night fell. Shadow didn't mind the chill that came on the wind, but Sonic had grown soft from years of watching winter pass by from inside a heated home. It was just another mark on a long list of endearing annoyances when he started complaining the forest was too cold, the caves too drafty to be meeting in, and started silently sneaking Shadow into his home.

It was risky, even under the cover of darkness, but Sonic promised he was careful. "Knuckles sleeps like a brick, and if Tails wakes up he'll be too groggy to notice I'm gone. We're probably good until 5 when Tom gets up for work, but if we're careful we might be able to hide in the garage until he leaves, he never parks inside..."

"Sonic." Interrupting his train of thought, Shadow held out a hand to stop him from going any further away from the forest, balancing on the edge of their toes to keep from stepping forward. "There's frost on the ground."

"Ah." The first crunch of ice under his shoe was louder than he expected, ringing through the night and giving them away. It couldn't have possibly woken anyone in the house, but the second crunch was just as loud, like broken glass, and left a very identifiable footprint that wouldn't melt until morning. "Okay, well, we'll just be real careful, take the long way to the garage. By the trash cans."

Before he could stop him, Sonic grabbed Shadow's hand, quietly leading him along the edge of the trees and darting around the dying brush. It was much slower than either were used to, and even in the dark Shadow could see every move Sonic made, from his shiver when the wind blew to the hesitation before risky steps. With every glance back, it was clear something was weighing on his mind.

Finally, after a dangerous maze of snapped branches and crunchy piles of leaves, they were by the side entrance to the garage. Sonic reached up to pull the door handle, to push open the gate to safety and—

"It's locked." Deep sigh. With his head pressed against the frame, Sonic jiggled the handle as much as he dared, but it didn't budge. "Ugh."

"I can come back another night."

"No!"

His response startled Shadow, jerking back as the other lunged forward. Sonic's outburst seemed to startle himself, as he awkwardly caught his hand before it reached Shadow's shoulder. "Ah, I mean. There's something I really wanted to talk to you about, and the sooner we can, the better. I don't want to keep pushing it off."

He wouldn't meet Shadow's eyes. From the way he fidgeted, leaning his weight from foot to foot, his movements betrayed anxiety. If whatever he had to say was important enough to incite fear, it must have been urgent. As restless as Shadow was, Sonic was worse.

"Fine."

"We can go around the front." He whispered, slowly creeping around the corner of the garage. That should have been his first tell that something was wrong, Sonic moving slowly. "We'll have to be careful not to trip the lights."

Pressed against the plastic panels, Sonic carefully stepped over an extension cord plugged into the wall. "Or blow the fuse again."

They had started meeting in the forest, and it would have worked out, had Sonic not been such a diva. He didn't like the bugs, he didn't like the dirt, there was water on his quills and the sun hurt his eyes. For someone who lived in a cave for the majority of his life, he was ill equipped for surviving the wilderness, always some excuse as to why they should sneak back to his home. Shadow wasn't sure why he put up with it, but the other would stretch out in the grass, dangerously close to his personal space, and whine with his big pleading eyes until he gave in.

The first time they had tried sneaking into the house, Shadow had chaos controlled into Sonic's bedroom and made just about every outlet in the attic burst into sparks. The second they snuck him in through the window, but the first heated touch of a paw to his fur had the power crashing out again. By the third time they thought they had it figured out, and then Sonic kissed him. The whole town was without power, and it was a week before Shadow showed his face again.

Obviously, they still had a ways to go. Sonic carefully looked around the second corner, motioning for Shadow to follow, staying low to the ground and right near the wall. No motion sensor lights blinded them, no alarms blared in their ears, and all the windows in the house stayed dark. They were almost in the clear, and then—

"Shit! Who moved the trash cans?"

The loud crash echoed down the driveway, and it was like a row of dominos had been set off. Emergency lights flooded the pathway, illuminating footprints in a thin layer of ice and snow, not frost. Sonic hurriedly tried to reset the bins, zipping about and disturbing more snow, and a light came on in an upstairs bedroom. A blue flash disappeared into the garage too fast, and a car alarm started blaring loudly. A few more swears, not so whispered now, and right as the light in the kitchen shined out onto the grass, Sonic was pushing Shadow into the open door of the garage.

"Hide!" Shoved behind a tall stack of boxes, Shadow was about to ditch this situation and apologize later, but Sonic had grabbed both his hands, staring at him with wide, crazed eyes. Tense moments passed that could give them away at any minute. The alarm cut off with one last abrupt screech, the light outside shutting off and plunging them into total darkness.

Slowly, the blood stopped pounding in their ears and their eyes adjusted to the dark. A blue ear twitched at any sound the wind made, listening for a hint of footsteps. Shadow dared to peek over the edge of the boxes, nothing in the garage but them.

"That was close." Sonic whispered, pressed too close against Shadow's chest and his fingers too tight on his wrists. "I thought for sure that Tom would come out here."

"Too close."

"Yeah." Sonic made no move to pull away, almost relaxing against him, if anything. He didn't take the hint, jittery paws running up Shadow's arms and tangling into white fur. His muzzle was buried into his own shoulder, shallow gasps in time with a heart beating twice as fast.

"Shadow, I was thinking." He mumbled, out of breath and rushed, "We can't keep sneaking around like this. Do you think it might be time to...?"

The door to the garage (the side that had been locked) swung open with a metallic twang, the flashlight that shone into the room minuscule compared to the floodlights from before. Shadow made to use his powers to get the fuck out, but Sonic was still practically on top of him and stumbling over his feet.

"Unless you're a raccoon—even if you are a raccoon, really—you've messed with the wrong house, so hands where I can see them!"

"Shadow, don't!"

In his surprise, Sonic tripped them both over the empty cardboard boxes, tumbling into the beam from the flashlight at the same time as a high-pitched yelp and a deep human scream. Shadow tried to wrestle him off, snarling as instinct kicked in, and he would have succeed if it weren't for the sharp prick he felt in his side. Injured, pinned by his wrist and waist, his limbs didn't seem to respond as he felt Sonic struggle on top of him.

"Dad! It's not—it's not what it looks like?"

The room was spinning, two blue blurs frantically rocking across his vision. Shadow weakly punched his fist at the left one, missed, and felt hard concrete against his head before he was out cold.

---

"I can't believe you shot Sonic's boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?"

"I don't know if I'd call him that, we haven't actually had that conversation, because, you know, you shot him!"

"Well, what were you doing in the garage?!"

The voices sounded distant and muffled, like they were being played far off on a radio, or his ears had been stuffed with cotton. Shadow took a deep breath, his side aching with the movement like it touched fire, and tried to clench his fist.

His limbs didn't respond. Almost like coming out of stasis. Almost like entering it.

His heart sped up.

"I saw this on TV once." A gratingly high-pitched voice cut through the pain that was trying to overtake his head, unexpected enough to snap him back to reality. This one wasn't muffled, as if its owner was standing right over him. "The girl's dad didn't want the boy taking her to prom."

"So he challenged him in combat to prove he was worthy of her hand?"

"No, he shot him with a gun."

"Oh. Did the boy friend survive?"

"No. Which was really sad, because the next episode they revealed the girl was pregnant with his baby." A long pause. "Which isn't going to happen to Sonic. I think..."

Shadow couldn't remember their names, but could picture their faces. Hard not to, when the three of them looked like they walked out of a Crayola ad. One of the shops on the one busy street in Green Hills sold the colorful art supplies in the window, and Shadow never hesitated to mock Sonic about how he looked more at home there than in the woods.

"A boy that cannot withstand a simple bullet wound taken for his true love is too weak to call himself a man. He deserved it."

"I don't think so...?"

"Does anyone in your family ever shut up?"

"Shadow!" The younger one shouted his name much too loud, but the muffled arguing from Sonic and his parents made it go unheard. "You're alive!"

"Obviously."

"No, I mean—you're alive. We thought, after the Eclipse Cannon..."

"You thought wrong. Get me out of here without alerting the others, or you'll be the one they scrape off the garage floor next."

"Do not speak to him in that manner." The other one, with the... fists, stepped forward. "You are less than a guest in this home, and even if Sonic has decided to trust you, I do not. Why should we help you?"

"Shouldn't you stay a little longer?" Tails (because now with both of them in sight, Shadow was reminded of his too obvious moniker) ignored his brother's harsh tone, clearly taking Sonic's side in the trust-Shadow-or-not war. Not the ally he would have chosen. "I mean, mom's a veterinarian, and you look—" he stopped, as if he realized this train of thought was not putting him in any safety. "She can help."

"No doctors. Get me out of here and I'll leave you and your family alone."

"Is that a threat, hedgehog?"

"Does it need to be?"

"Knuckles, stop!" It was almost cute the way Tails thought he could get in their way should they fight, and loath as he was to admit it, Shadow would lose this one. His head was still swimming, so he must have been missing some small cue from the two of them, and that was the only reason he could come up with as to why Knuckles lowered his fists.

"What do you think the human I hurt—Tom—is going to do when he finds out I'm awake? Do you think Sonic can control his own anger?"

"Tom's not like that." Looking to the other for reassurance, Tails murmured denial. But Tails' voice was weak, unsure of it himself, and Knuckles seemed to understand Shadow's viewpoint.

"It might be best if they have their argument when you are not present. We will get you out of here."

Shadow didn't have much choice as Knuckles manhandled him off the couch, getting him standing on his own feet. He would have easily escaped on his own (should have easily escaped on his own, had he really been so weakened?), but another outburst from the kitchen had his heart twisting. Sonic didn't deserve what he was putting him through. All of them.

Knuckles wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leaning Shadow's weight into his side to guide him. No amount of protest stopped the echidna, but one glare was all it took for the fox to scurry away from helping on his other side.

"You owe us one, hedgehog."

"How about I don't kill you, and we'll call it even?"

Knuckles didn't need to know about the promises he made to Sonic, or the whispered conversations about making amends. He knew this was a step in every wrong direction, but right now he needed to fear Shadow more than he needed to trust him.

"How far do you need to go?" Tails asked, looking over his shoulder as the three of them moved toward the front door. The voices in the kitchen had stopped yelling, though they were still stern. Not much time left.

"To the forest. I can make my way from there."

"And you're sure you'll be..."

"The sooner I get out of here, the better it is for everyone." With his legs working again, he shoved Knuckles away, but the steps on the porch were icy. One misstep, and they were clinging to each other again. "Don't worry about me."

"What about Sonic? He was really upset when you were out, he really likes—"

Tails was quickly learning an ability the others didn't have, the art of shutting up. At Shadow's glare, his mouth snapped closed, nodding awkwardly. "Okay, then. Well... I guess..."

"We will act like we know nothing." Knuckles gave him a gentle push, finally accepting he could move on his own. "It will buy you time to escape. If we do not see each other again, you were a formidable opponent. I respect that."

"It's not that bad! I'm sure we'll see you soon!"

In all likelihood, they wouldn't. Shadow was already planning where he would go next, how (and if) he would get the message to Sonic, how soon he would recover enough to travel far, far away. It had been a mistake coming to Green Hills in the first place, endangering others for what? A few fleeting moments of companionship? They would have been better off thinking him dead. All of them.

Fire lit under Shadow's shoes, poised to skate away before he wasted any more of their time, but before the first rocket burst of speed, one last cry called him back.

"Shadow!" Tails shouted after him, frantically waving a hand to get his attention. "We're glad you're alive!"

It caught him off guard. Even Knuckles gave a somber nod at the statement, the two of them standing on the porch sending him off like he was simply visiting. He couldn't name the feeling that swelled in his chest, like a weight on his ribs squeezing out something he hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe ever. And in that moment, he made a decision.

"You. Fox."

"Tails."

"Tell Sonic..." Shadow hesitated, looking where the sky met the trees and back to the house. "Tell him he knows where to find me."

"Yes, sir!" A mock salute, followed by quiet giggling. Shadow rolled his eyes, but sped off through the trees with the corner of his lips quirked upward.

---

Winter passed uneventfully, heavy snow blocking the entrance to his cave more often than not. At first, the thought of settling down to sleep for months at a time made Shadow's quills stand on end, too close to memories he didn't want to relive, but the cold made him lethargic and the lack of any sort of stimulation made him bored out of his mind. It wasn't quite a true hibernation, but days passed in trance-like reflection as he waited for the snow to melt. Alone with his thoughts, he would rather false dreams than waking memories.

When birds started to sing again, grass and tiny flowers peeking through the thin cover of snow, Shadow ventured down the mountain as far as he dared, not yet ready to seek anything (or anyone) out. As he told the fox, Sonic knew where to find him. If he sought him out, so be it. If he didn't, no loss.

He would keep telling himself that until the snow had melted and the meadows were full of wildflowers.

It was late afternoon when he heard the disturbance, a crash in the woods that didn't sound like natural tree fall. A distant shout, playful laughter among friends, and a flash of blue that passed the meadow without stopping. Shadow's heart stopped beating in that moment, frozen where he stood in the field of flowers.

It was like being hit with tranquilizer again. He had spent all winter telling himself he didn't care if he never saw the other after that night, and there he was, few steps away. There he was, and he didn't even know Shadow was there too. Everything in the forest was still, the quiet calls of birds competing with the blood echoing in his eardrums, wind rustling the trees and sweeping through a painting of blue and purple and yellow flowers. Clouds passed overhead, breaking the illusion, the world still turning. His heart still beating.

"Shadow!"

From across the meadow, a frantic voice called out. Before Shadow could spin around to see him, he was hit from behind with what was intended to be a hug but felt like a punch. The hedgehog was even more hyperactive than usual, his affection mere seconds before he was spinning away again and standing back.

"It's been so long, I would have come to find you, Tails said—but Tom said it wasn't safe with the snow, but Maddie was already pretty upset that you left, she was worried about the way you—but you're okay! And now you're here! And now you can—"

Sonic darted around him in circles that made Shadow's head spin, not a chance to get a word in otherwise.

"The others, they're—" Chest heaving, Sonic held his hand up to catch his breath. "They don't know. They'll expect me back in a minute, and..."

He finally stopped moving, inches away from Shadow's face, hope filling his round eyes. "Maybe you can come along."

Everything inside his brain had shut down. Shadow couldn't form a response, staring silently as Sonic waited impatiently for an answer. There was no right way to move forward.

"You know that's not a good idea."

"When have I ever had good ideas?"

"It's been three months."

"I was grounded. For a while, mostly just for scaring my dad half to death." Sonic murmured quietly, taking a step forward as Shadow stepped back. "I would have come sooner if I could, if it weren't for—"

"—your family."

"They want to meet you." Sonic shook his head, reaching out for Shadow's hands. "They don't want to push you away. It was the snow that was stopping me, really. Not them."

"Forgive me if I don't believe they'd easily accept someone who almost tore them apart."

"Okay, I will." Sonic snickered, teasing Shadow as he stepped closer still. This time, Shadow didn't back away. "Please? You don't have to stay. I just want to see you without having to hide it, for once."

For a moment, he thought he might. Sonic's hands were warm where they embraced his, his smile infectious as he waited for an answer. Sunlight glittered down on the meadow from gaps in the clouds, breaking through the chilly spring air and shining on new growth.

Shadow dropped Sonic's hands, turning towards the shaded forest.

It was easier, this way. No attachments, no commitment. If he left without saying a word, it was final, and he could move on in peace.

"I don't really mind the forest, you know. I was just saying all that to try and get you home."

Yet there was always something that made him stay.

"It's pretty out here. I grew up in these woods, they reminded me of the home I once had." The grass rustled as Sonic took a step closer, like approaching a wild animal. Like Shadow might dart if he moved too fast. "It can be yours too."

It was almost funny the care he took to coax him, trying too hard to be something he was not. The overpowering energy was still there, under the skin, the softness and hesitation like a fish out of water. He was willing to try, at least. Shadow let some of his weight shift so he was no longer ready to run, silently offering a chance for the other to continue.

"I'm not saying you should immediately move in! You don't have to rush things—"

"Really."

"Yes, really, coming from me I know." Sonic laughed it off, casually sliding his palm into Shadow's again. "I'm just saying. It might be nice."

He was leaning in. Shadow watched as Sonic fumbled a little more, enjoying the flush that colored his cheeks. Sparks flickered under his quills, imminent and promising and dangerous, and finally, he met him in the middle. Static crackled around them as their lips met, far away from the threat of power outages, nothing but startled birds and roaring wind to disturb. Sonic pulled away first, lopsided smile triumphant and jittery, his legs bouncing as he held back for a moment longer.

"Race you back?"

"Only if you're willing to lose."

"I think it'll be a win for me no matter what." He dropped to his knee, shivering with excitement and ready to race, looking up as Shadow lunged to prepare. "Okay, on three. One, two—!"

Birds took off from the tops of the trees as the ground shook, stray petals drifting in the breeze as the grass shifted back in place. All it took was a few moments for the meadow to right itself again, and all it took was a few moments before laughter rang through the trees.

[mattsgracie]

old foes meet! kinda...

you didn't have much time to react as a red ball of burning electricity flew right past you, aiming for the one thing you care about most in this world. your panicked eyes looked for shadow, watching as he zipped right out of existence and back behind the red ball.

shadows eyes narrowed into a glare, his hat and sweater now off as he slowly removes his heart shaped sunglasses. “you again.” he grumbled.

you took a few steps back, “shadow!” you called out, expecting him to stop, but all you saw him do was throw the red ball right across the picnic tables.

knuckles groaned as he slowly got up, “ow.” he muttered. you saw as matt made his way to the creature, but you turned your back. shadow was your concern here, “what the hell shads?” you asked, grabbing his hand and moving into your car.

whatever beef that red thing had with shadow could only mean trouble, and you didn't want to stick around to find out just what kind.

once you and shadow were in the car you drove away. as you glanced at shadow you found him frowning, looking out the window as some taylor swift song played on your carplay.

you looked away from the hedgehog, your gaze falling back to the road, “are you gonna tell me what that was about?”

shadow turned to look at you, “we left my glasses.”

you scoffed, “forget the glasses, shadow. what was that thing? why did it attack you?”

shadow tilted his head like he was contemplating something. “if i tell you, you're going to be mad.”

you shook your head in disbelief, “shadow. right now i’m driving to who knows where and you were just attacked by some red creature. what could make this any worse?!” your elevated tone made shadow frown slightly, before sighing.

“i don't know his name. but i’ve fought him before.”

you didn't respond, too interested in what shadow had to say.

“it was a year ago, before halloween. i was frozen for 50 years by-”

“gun.”

“yes. then i was woken up by the professor who i knew before. we were going to take our revenge on gun for killing-” shadows voice choked up, and you felt like you were pushing him too far, “hey. it's okay. you don't have to tell me anything you can't. i just need to know about the red guy, okay?”

shadow nodded, “him and his 2 friends. sonic was the only one i really had talks with. the other two were background noise.”

you waited for him to go on.

“sonic and i were having this big fight and he brought these gems that made us go all god like. at the end of the fight i lost them. i fell out of the sky and i only have the pink one.”

you briefly looked down and the pink gem you wore, on your neck. shadow had tied metallic wiring around it, making it a necklace as a gift for you to show his appreciation for you on christmas.

“so he wants all the pieces back for the set?”

“yes.”

“you don't want to help him?”

“no.” shadow said, “i’d only help if it was sonic.”

you nodded in response, “okay. well now we have gun and the red guy on our trail.”

shadow sighed, “i’m sorry.” he looked down at his gloves.

you glanced at him, “nothing to be sorry for. okay?”

shadow only nodded. you grabbed your phone, switching the playlist you had on to shadows playlist. you weren't sure but you could've sworn you saw a faint smile on shadows lips when you put on ‘espresso’

“knuckles!” matt called, immediately running to the destroyed picnic table. he moved the flipped bench off of knuckles, immediately dropping to where knuckles was, “are you okay?” he asked, helping knuckles up.

“no not really, ow!” knuckles groaned out as he held onto matt for support.

“you wanna tell me what just happened?” matt asked, helping knuckles regain his balance.

knuckles brushed off his fur, even dirtier than before now, knuckles shook his head before sighing. “that is shadow. he's a hedgehog like sonic. he stole my master emerald pieces. he’s key to getting them back.”

matt nodded along to his words, “okay. so.. what do you want to do?” knuckles looked up at matt, his glare piercing and his purple eyes now burning with electric red energy, “i want my emerald back. i want to follow him.”

matt thought about it, he didn't really want to be caught in between the middle of a space battle. but he also knew he couldn't leave knuckles alone. plus matt was already a wanted person in guns eyes now, so he didn't really have an option. “you’ll need help.” matt said.

“will you?” knuckles asked, his glare softening.

matt swallowed deeply, then nodded. “i will.” he then picked up knuckles, bringing him to his car.

“we have to follow the lady and shadow.” knuckles said. matt chuckled, starting the car and beginning the drive. “great.” he pulled out his phone. matt may not be a genius, but when he saw knuckles throw that first punch, he knew something had to be going on. so he tagged your car.

he pulled up a tracking app, placing it on the center console, “we follow the little dot.” he said.

tag list!

@courta13 @bluestriips @sturnsflirt @twilght-talks @chriss-slutt

[thatonesonicfanfictionwriter]

heyyy the anon who requested the sonic having a bisexual awakening, yes part two is in order (#^.^#)

would love sonic sinking further into his denial like “nope! I just think of him as a very good friend, the feeling is friendship!” And then him being crushed by a bunch of bricks when he finally comes to term with it

“Woah, I’m Bisexual! I Didn’t Know That!” (Part 2!)

Pairing: Sonic the Hedgehog x Male Reader

Requested: Yes (by the same anon! Hello again ^^).

Description: Bisexual disaster Sonic. That’s all I can say.

Notes: I agree, part two is in order! More disaster bisexual Sonic is needed in this world!

(Like before, Reader will use He/Him pronouns.)

(Still not proof-read/beta-read.)

– – – – – – – – – – – –

“Uh…you okay, Sonic? You’ve been staring at that paper for a while,” Tails says, his namesakes swishing behind him.

And Tails was right; ever since you gave Sonic your number, he’d been contemplating calling it.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, ‘m fine, bro, don’t worry!” Sonic says.

“If you say so,” Tails says with a shrug, turning back around to his work desk. “Did you get some girl’s number or something?”

“Uh, no. It- It’s a guy’s, actually,” Sonic mutters.

Tails pauses and turns back around.

“You like guys??” Tails asks, not in an offensive way.

“Whaaaat? Pshhhh! Him and I are just pals!” Sonic states.

“…Uh-huh. Sure,” Tails says.

“I’m serious! All he did was save me and-” Sonic pauses, his face tinting pink. “…and call me cute-”

“Sonic. There’s no way you’re this oblivious,” Tails says.

“We’re just friends, Tails! Nothing more,” Sonic states, causing Tails to facepalm. “I’m goin’ on a run, byeeeee!”

Sonic zooms out of the house at high speeds, and Tails lets out a sigh.

“Good for him for being bi, but seriously, see the signs, Sonic,” Tails mutters to himself.

Meanwhile, with Sonic, he seems to be out of it, running while thinking.

“(I mean, come on, of course we’re just friends! I’m straight!)” Sonic thinks to himself. “(At least, I think I am-)”

Sonic gets cut out of his thoughts as he suddenly runs face first into a tree, causing him to fall on his back, letting out a groan of pain.

“You really are a clumsy one, aren’t you, blue?” you ask, your face coming into Sonic’s view.

“Not all the time…” he mutters.

You reach out your hand for Sonic to take, and he does, you helping him up.

“So, any reason in particular that you’re out here, cutie?” you ask him.

“Oh, uh, y’know, just goin’ out for a run,” he says, noticing you two are still holding hands, letting go of your hand and putting his hands behind his neck with a blush on his face.

“Is that a thing you do often? It’d be nice to have a running partner,” you tell him before smirking. “And a partner in general~”

Sonic’s face goes entirely red, the only noise coming out of his mouth being a quiet “Ah-”

You chuckle, kissing the back of one of his hands.

“Only if you want to though, Sonic,” you tell him.

“Ah- H- How did you get my name?” Sonic asks.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize Mobius’s most handsome hero?” you ask him.

Oh god, you were going to kill him with all of this flirting.

But he doesn’t think he minds.

[emeraldsfanfics]

I'd hate to be annoying but 2 other ideas: ROTTMNT Donnie with in a situationnship with paranoid reader who needs Donnie to answer their constant questions to make them feel safe about life(Sometimes it worsens Readers paranoia)

Any ver of Donnie with reckless reader who specifically mutated themselves to be like a glowstick. They stand in the sun long enough and then their veins + eyes glow in the dark, they did the mutation for fun and has even mutated their friends to have annoying special quirks as well

Reassurance

◇A Donnie x paranoid!reader◇

HI AGAIN ARTIST! <3 Do I'll be doing the first one and perhaps do the second one another time, thank you for the request! <3

◇He's questioning your sanity at first, tried doing a phycological analysis many times

◇With how much you cling onto him, hes questioning your relationship status?? Because isn't the way your hugging him considered romantic and makes him feel things?

◇Pretty awkward but does his best

◇Example:

Donatello was sitting on the couch as his brothers were out on the skating ramp. Just on his phone scrolling on tiktok. In his own world.

Until the sound of footsteps started getting louder and louder. Repeating over and over again. Resulting in you standing right in front of him. Making your way next to him, quietly, snuggling onto his plastron.

He felt your shaking, your trembling hands. Heavy breathing. Rapid eyes Everything about your current state screamed anxiety.

Donnie did not know what to do, the one who he had admired from afar is right there. Yes, he did in fact have the urge to throw you off of him.

"Uh...what is this?" He bluntly asked, not moving a centimeter.

"My ex is after me, he's after me, I've seen him everywhere!" You panicked, you clenched your heart.

"It's okay? Technically he wouldn't be disturbing enough to willingly come down here, unless he is phycotic enough." Donnie shrugged, "and he can challenge me >:)"

"What if he is that crazy?!" You panicked, it looks like you haven't slept for weeks, "HE CAN BE IN THE WALLS!" You almost pull your hair, "recording this very conversation..."

"These walls? Please. Scoff." He shrugged off.

◇Sorry but bro does not help whatsoever, at first

◇You know sticks from sonic boom (my underrated paranoid badger), yeah, that's literally you

"I haven't slept in 28 days."

◇You both don't sleep at all, it takes the forces of heaven to get you two to sleep. Or just Raph putting a blanket over you and Donnie, either will do

◇instead of 🎶helpless🎶 it's 🎶sleepless🎶

◇sleepy eyes and eye bags are your makeup look at this point

◇Later in the relationship, Donnie actually found himself to care for you, but the signs were all too hard to notice

◇Now of course, you are extremely difficult to read, he isn't sure if his feelings are platonic or Romantic

◇He actually thought he was severely sick because he wanted to be around you and dreaded your attention💀

◇Donnie is emotionally unintelligent while you are just paranoid, you both are so chaotic 😭

◇Everyone is just waiting for SOMETHING ANYTHING to develop or happen between you two, like admit you deeply care for each other

◇But nope, you two only spend a ridiculous amount of time together

◇But that doesn't mean Donnie doesn't learn anything from his experience with you. Like how to try to comfort you

◇So that is what he does, research everything on how to comfort someone like you

"Do you think there are lizard people running the government and controlling all media?"

"We exist so technically there is a slim-" He stopped himself with widened eyes, "NO NOT AT ALL THATS STUPID. No...no."

"Your right...THERE IS AND WE HAVE TO GO USE VIOLENCE!" *pulls out a grenade and chainsaw*

"Not the ideal thing but I like where your heads at."

◇Donnie may have fallen in love, either platonically or Romantically at that moment

◇You two are violent agents of chaos when in battle though, neither of you hold back

Donnie: "BLAST THEM WITH THE BOOM CANNON >:)"

Leo: "Donnie no, dad is in that thing."

Donnie: "Can I at least go semi lethal?"

Y/n: "Why semi when you can go NUCLEAR?"

◇Once you came to the lair on Donnie's birthday and got him uranium, Donnie now is stuck to your hip

Leo: uhh Y/n, where did you even get that?

Y/n: Government facility, where else?

Donnie: *whispers while clenching to uranium* I love you

◇Donnie was disappointed when you didn't take him with you though

So sorry it took a long time 😭 I only got one more request to fulfill then I'm going to do my own original writing :3

[maxilsmaster]

au where eggman adopts sonic

now i know what you’re thinking, “there are already sonic villain aus out there”, but i’m here to tell you, this ain’t no sonic villain au! sonic is still a hero here! the difference is backstory.

the tl;dr is that eggman adopts sonic and tails but they’re not evil and he is, but he’s a good dad anyway

eggman finds little baby sonic (by baby, i mean somewhere in the 4-7 range) all alone on christmas island. the hedgehog doesn’t speak, when asked if he has a family all he does is shake is head, he’s quite obviously abandoned. so eggman adopts this little blue hedgehog! he learns sign language, teaches it to sonic, puts his kid in school, and overall is actually a really good parent. but there is one problem: he’s still evil. he still wants to conquer the planet. sonic disagrees with this. when he fails to convince his dad through words, he ends up taking action and destroying robots. eggdad is not pleased by this, but he supposes that it was inevitable that his kid might not turn out to be evil like him. he still continues his schemes of course, but sonic also continues to stop him. eggman does make sure to program his robots to not target sonic, too.

at some point, eggy creates metal to be an artificial brother for sonic. metal matches sonic’s speed, and is also mute. sonic is overjoyed at his new brother :)

and then he meets tails. the two immediately take a liking to each other, and sonic learns that tails’ situation is similar to how his own used to be. immediately sonic takes tails to eggy and demands he adopt the fox. eggdad accepts and now there are three brothers :)

at some point, sonic and tails arrive on angel island. sonic gets the emeralds punched out of him by knuckles, who has NOT met eggman and just doesn’t like intruders. when eggman learns about this, he’s pissed and steals the master emerald. after this whole situation is resolved, sonic tries to get eggman to adopt knuckles, but knux won’t allow it, so he’s an unofficial brother

at around 12 years old, sonic starts speaking verbally (though in periods of excitement or stress he’ll still go back to sign) (this is just how i headcanon sonic normally but it’s still relevant)

i have the plots written down for a lot of the games, so i’m gonna go through the mainline modern ones briefly

sonic adventure: eggman tries to keep chaos out of sonic’s way, fails miserably

sonic adventure 2 is a fun one! the beginning is mostly the same, eggman finds shadow, sonic gets arrested, etc, but then eggman finds out sonic got arrested and is PISSED, so he has shadow rescue sonic. sonic is pissed about the false arrest and fights shadow, shadow is forced to use chaos control to bring sonic to eggdad before the island explodes, and now sonic is with the dark story for the rest of the plot. eggdad brings sonic to space, tails, knux and amy follow, sonic learns shadow is technically his (uncle? second cousin once removed? it’s one of them, idk which), sonic is NOT launched off the ark bc eggy wouldn’t do that to his son. plot happens, shadow “dies”, and adventure 2 is done!

at some point, eggy finds shadow, and sonic and tails are aware of this. they don’t tell anyone shadow is alive though (and eggman doesn’t tell them about the androids)

sonic heroes happens bc metal thinks he’s better at being evil than eggman, now everyone knows shadow is alive yay, and also sonic and tails are immediately sus of this plan

rush happens too but i don’t know enough about rush to accurately change the plot, but i’m sure the plot changes at least a bit

we’re not gonna talk about 06 bc it gets retconned by itself

unleashed has shadow as the protag instead of sonic

colors is almost entirely unchanged except 1, yacker gets hypnotized in the one cutscene instead of tails, and 2, eggdad did his best to make the amusement park enjoyable for his kids :)

generations! hoo boy! eggman doesn’t get invited to the birthday party (it’s his birthday too) so he causes Issues! oh and shadow gens happens lol

lost world… oh boy. this one is traumatic for everyone involved. there’s less arguing involved, but sonic is still an impulsive dumbass (leading to tails getting kidnapped, which traumatizes sonic and eggdad) and eggy presumably falling to a fiery death (only sonic is around to see this). so sonic is having a Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day all around, and the zeti are also trying extra hard to kill him to spite eggface. luckily it all works out, except that therapy Will Be Required

forces is another fun one! for me ofc, not the characters. infinite betrays eggman early on, locking him up, then also defeats sonic, locking him up too. bc i am merciful, i am reducing the time the war takes down to one month (mainly bc really, that’s more than enough time for everything to go to shit). sonic and eggman are NOT tortured (bc that was just a weird translation thing), but more therapy will def be required. also rookie/gadget saves both sonic and eggman

at some point, eggdad creates sage. he does not intend for sage to become his daughter. but also sonic and tails both know sage from the start, which is relevant for this next bit

frontiers happens next, and really, the main issue is that sage Refuses To Properly Communicate With Sonic. eggy doesn’t want to put his kids in danger so he tells sage not to run any simulations where that happens. in the end though, sonic still has to get involved. and also now there is a Sister :)

tmosth also happens because i fucking love tmosth. the train is sentient which is why sonic gets knocked out

will add some links to character descs and stuff when i post more about this au (and i’ll also try to come up with a name while i do that)

[milkytheholy1]

Shadow Generations: Part 2

Part 1. Sonic Masterlist.

Awaking in a blank world, Shadow fluttered his eyes open, taking in the vast nothingness. Rubbing his head, he stood on shaky legs, "What happened? Where am I?"

As though everything was happening all at once, the expansive emptiness Shadow resided in burst to life, well, somewhat. Large, white structures burst through the ground, erupting rocks and dirt into the air. Everything seemed to carry a sense of familiarity about it, something that Shadow couldn't quite put into words.

Looking over to the closet monument, the ebony hedgehog decided that was the best place to look for answers. Once he was close enough, Shadow could vaguely make out the rough edges and twisted metal pieces of the ARK. But it somehow felt empty, like there was no life to it, even if it was just a hunk of floating metal.

I was just on the ARK, how can it appear like this? As a matter of fact, this whole world is one big mystery. Am I the only one here? If so, how do I get out? Perhaps this is the anomaly G.U.N was looking for, I have to find a way back out. No matter what.

As Shadow rushed through each level, he soon realised what this world was: his memories.

The Space Colony: ARK, Speed Highway, his fight with Metal Sonic. Everything that was happening was something from his past. But who could have done all this? That was his only lingering question. Shadow remembered the radio that he had on him, perhaps the signal was still connected to Rouge.

'Hello, Rouge, incoming, Rouge can you hear me?" it was only static coming through, but he persisted, "Hello, Rouge do you hear-"

"AHHHH, HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE!" cried out a voice from the distance. Shadow stared at the direction from which it came, huffing, he put away his radio and dashed towards the commotion. There was no point in continuing to contact Rouge, it clearly wasn't working.

As the screaming got louder and louder Shadow picked up his pace, eventually spotting some creatures he recognised chasing someone. He quickly lept into action, kicking Doom's henchmen down within seconds.

Of course, Black Doom is behind this, I should have known. But I could have sworn I had defeated him, so how did he come back?

"Thank you for saving me-" The voice said, it was sweet and delicate, "-Shadow."

The brooding hedgehog looked up, his mind going blank and his mouth wide open. He couldn't believe this, he didn't believe this. It had to be another trick by Doom, she was gone, he saw it happen, there was no way she could be standing here in front of him right now.

"M-Maria?" he nearly whispered out, he was in complete disbelief. Maria's smile widened, she went to approach him until a hand grasped her shoulder, "Be careful, Maria, we don't know if this is truly him or another one of Doom's illusions."

"Professor?" Shadow was truly at a loss for words, if this wasn't real it would be a really sick joke to play on the poor hedgehog. All he ever dreamt of, ever thought about, was seeing them again; his family.

And now here they were in arms reach, yet he couldn't do it, he couldn't push himself to take those extra steps to be beside them again. Knowing they were just here now hurt him tremendously, but perhaps...

"Professor, do you have any theories on how we ended up in this world?" he soon pressed, he tried to appear calm for Maria's sake. Gerald rubbed his chin, deep in thought, his eyes scanned around the void, "I'd say it's a temporal anomaly. Someone or something has trapped us out of time, but that is just my working theory, of course."

Shadow thought about that for a moment, if Black Doom was behind this then maybe that could explain how he came back. Shadow took a glance at Maria and Gerald, "They must be from before the accident on the ARK," he said lowly to himself, "Perhaps I can change their fate if I defeat Black Doom. I will make him pay dearly for everything that I-"

A light presence graced Shadow's shoulder, a pasty white hand gently held him, but the warmth that radiated from it could rival the sun, "Shadow, you've become awfully angry since I last saw you; it's not like you."

"I promise you, Maria, I'm fine. I'll protect you both from what's to come, but you need to trust me."

"Of course, I trust you, Shadow." Maria offered him an ear-to-ear grin, and Gerlald only hummed in agreement, "It begs to assume that if we are here, perhaps other could be around too?"

Maria seemed excited by the idea, "Oh yes, I would love to meet new people, do you think there are more humans like us?"

Shadow could only laugh at that, prompting Maria to look confused, "The only other person I can think of being here is an annoying blue faker." he mumbled, Maria couldn't hear him that well. With a small sigh, Shadow had to drag himself away from the only people he could call family, "Stay safe and stay hidden, I will return to you when I can."

"Shadow, wait!" Maria cried out, he turned to her with wide eyes, "Be careful, please?" Shadow smirked and simply nodded his head, skating off into the distance to find and eliminate Doom.