#i love shadow just having beef with tails

[binkusdinkus]

Me when 8 year olds

[tenderandmild]

That one trend where they have old people say brainrot slang while drinking water but it’s Sonic, Tails and Shadow

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

"Why Would You Bother With Me?" - An Analysis of Kitsunami, 09/07/2024

tw: major discussions of abuse, the cycle of abuse, re-traumatizing situations, toxic and abusive relationships (non-romantic)

so like when I first read this panel my reaction was just to joke with Cori that this is a "get out of my school" moment (iykyk) but I've been thinking about it a lot recently because I... couldn't remember any specific beef Kit had with Tails?

Last we saw of them interacting one-on-one, Tails was talking Kit down from fighting, and Kit's beef with the squad later was more with Sonic than him. Tails didn't take down Surge in #56 or even affect the fight in any way, and Sonic was the one who told Kit that Surge was dead beforehand. At least that I could remember, so I went back to those comics. Indeed, in #56 he shows no animosity towards Tails specifically, nor when he talks to Surge in #55.

Then I went back to #54.

See, he does seem to blame Sonic entirely for the Surge death fakeout, and he thinks that Sonic is literally trying to kill her when he walks in. But he does have one (1) reaction to Tails, right at the end of the interaction.

In the previous issue, after Sonic and Tails saved his life, Kit immediately switched on his subservient personality and was desperate for any kind of validation from the hedgehog. We only see it for a few panels before he is told about Surge and sinks into a depressive state, but it's made very obvious.

And when he leaves to help?

Kit's conditioning under Starline means that he is excessively codependent on Surge– and if Surge isn't around, on anyone who is nice to him. The hypnotic repetition shown to us was "You live to support Surge. You'll do anything for her." Kit's sole purpose in life is to be a Support party member.

Kit's conditioning was to be the new Tails.

Starline wanted Surge and Kit to replace Sonic and Tails– that much was obvious from the get-go. But what was also obvious was his fundamental misunderstanding of Sonic and Tails's dynamic and how that negatively impacts Surge and Kit's relationship.

Starline completely misses the strong sibling bond that Sonic and Tails have. To him, Tails is just there to support Sonic, to provide the brains and tech that Sonic lacks, and so Kit needs to be there to support Surge in the same way. He sees it only as a business partnership, and not a mutual relationship built on trust, love, and shared experiences. Starline only saw other people as tools, so obviously he projected that onto Surge and Kit, hoping that they would immediately take up the closeness that Sonic and Tails did because, well, they served the same purpose to each other, right?

Except Surge and Kit don't have that relationship. These two children were forced into the same proximity and made to work together. They're coworkers at best, being told to act like a family.

Obviously their dynamic is super toxic, with Surge clearly holding a lot of power over Kit, but it's also clear that this isn't because Surge wants to beat on the kid. She was made to be Sonic, and so she has his arrogance (and possibly Shadow's, considering IS1 showed his image when Starline was talking about stealing abilities), but, as Boom!Sonic says, "Without any of the awesomeness to back it up." Okay, wrong, she's plenty awesome, the correct phrase is "Without the experience" and, most importantly, "without the altruism that makes Sonic Sonic." Surge wasn't programmed to like the people she saves, because that would conflict with Starline's goal to take over the world. So she's only made to be competitive and to want to best Sonic, anyone inbetween them be damned. This clashes with Kit's programming to not only be liked, but to be liked by Surge. Surge was also programmed to believe fully in herself in order to enhance the arrogant trait, and Kit was made to give her the help that she doesn't want.

To Surge, Kit represents everything holding her back. And she's not built to view him as a person, because Starline doesn't view him or her as people. Obviously this doesn't absolve her of her treatment of him, and later issues showing her getting more and more aware as she becomes more social is definitely going to impact the way she views him– or, if it doesn't make her reconsider Kit's personhood, it'll serve to make her more antagonistic for the viewer.

But the point is, Sonic trusts Tails because he knows and respects him as a person. It isn't just because Tails can help him, but because he knows Tails will. Surge, at this point in the comic, not only doesn't view Kit as a friend, she doesn't even care what he thinks or feels.

And despite the brainwashing, I don't think Kit is oblivious to this. He knows how bad their situation is, but he is so conditioned to accept it that he can't escape it whatsoever. In both fights with Tails, Tails talks him down easily because Kit doesn't want to hurt anyone. Kit only reacts violently when Surge is brought up, because he's meant to do anything she wants.

Like he said to Belle, he was made for Surge. And what he says directly after– "Sonic can use me, too." Kit doesn't even view himself as a person, only a tool– that's how far Starline's brainwashing went. It's clearly even affecting Surge, who realized in the latest issue, #72, how fast she and Kit fell into their abusive patterns again once Clutch took over– they were conditioned to be tools. Clutch claimed to want to help them, but really he was just using them for his own ends, just like Starline. So they went back to the familiar.

And speaking of familiar– pain is familiar to Kit, specifically pain in service to others. In his breakdown in #50, he says that Starline made him happy he'd been hurt. And in Imposter Syndrome #3 and #4, we see that him and Surge hate Starline and want to usurp him... but also are still trapped in the patterns he implanted in them. Surge still wants to kill Sonic and outperform everyone else. Kit still can't do anything but what she wants, to the point he becomes near catatonic when he believes she's dead.

Another pattern Kit is still trapped in is the idea that he has to be okay with his own suffering.

The only sense of home or family Surge and Kit have is in each other, but they fundamentally can't work together, at least as they are currently. Kit is expected to take Surge's anger, and Surge isn't expected to treat him like his own person.

And this, I think, is Kit's problem with Tails.

He was made to be Tails, and he knows this, but he can never have what Tails has. He can never live up to Tails and do what Tails can do, despite that being his entire life's purpose.

He doesn't hate Tails because he was programmed to– as he says to Surge, he only wants to destroy Sonic because she wants to. When he first encounters Tails, he refers to him as his target- a simple, unemotional term. He doesn't have the deep ingrained hatred for him that Surge does for Sonic.

Instead, he hates Tails because of what he sees in him. He sees Sonic and Tails interact, he sees how much Sonic trusts and relies on Tails, and he sees how he also loves and respects him. He sees how Tails has his own motivations and opinions, and he's experienced Tails's genuine compassion that was in part fostered by the hedgehog that raised him. In turn, Tails is loyal to Sonic, but not because he has to be– because he, in turn, loves Sonic and wants to be with him.

Kit only wants to be with Surge because he was forced to. Starline wanted to use Surge and Kit to stop Sonic and Eggman's cycle, but he made a whole new one instead. Kit is trapped in a cycle of pain, knows he's trapped in it, and is helpless to escape it.

Tails isn't, and Kit sees that in Tails. Subconsciously, he sees Tails and only sees how he fails to live up to his life's mission, and how he'll never have what Tails has.

After all, why would anyone bother with him? They already have Tails.

Is he a target? I like it here now.

[nortedwayfinder]

Hiii!!!! Your Shadow and Tails friendship art is one of the sweetest things I've ever seen! I'm also someone who doesn't like the 'beef' between them, so seeing your depiction of Shadow basically adopting Tails any chance he gets is genuinely so heartwarming!!!

I bless you with a nice cold pillow, a cup of tea and a lovely day <33

WOE Shadow Tails friendship be upon ye

I just think it's more interesting for them to be friends. They have a lot of fun things in common, and a lot of parallels.

Shadow could find a chill kinship with Tails, I think. They'd silently hang out with some coffee and baby metal playing through the speakers while cleaning their weapons (at Shadow's place, so Sonic doesn't catch on to how much coffee the kid drinks). Eventually they could even bond over the silly things their older siblings have gotten up to.

Legitimately, I think Shadow could start to heal - truly heal - about Maria if he had someone else who understood what it's like to be loved the same way Maria loved him. And I don't think anyone understands that better than Tails, the other autism creature who got adopted by an older sibling when he needed them.

[bugs-with-webs]

as much as i love the shadow and tails beef i think itd be equally funny if they were nerdy friends

shadow would love learning about things, he was also raised with maria robotnik and by gerald robotnik. hes a nerd.

im just imagining him going to tails with platform boots and asking him to make them into air shoes, and tails just. talking shadow through what hes doing as he watches with big eyes

them having a conversation that no one understands because theyre using terminology only a few people know

sonic regretting introducing them because now theres two of them

shadow and tails being nerds and friends and teaming up

[valentinebugzee]

I for one would like to know more about the sonic boom stone AU :]

I wrote a fic abt it here

But If you wanna know more:

(Some of this is about the AU in general not just stone)

-Stone's backstory is very similar to the events of the comics (He got his boss arrested and took over the shop)

-Eggman and Stone are boss and henchman at first, but eventually it turns into something more when he (Eggman) join a dating game show against Balinda and Charlie, they pretend to be dating, at the very end Stone confesses that he has always had feelings for Eggman and Eggman's the same (they lost the damn show cause the host found out they were pretending)

-Stone's favorite member of team Sonic is Tails

-His least favorite is Sticks for... obvious reasons

-Stone and Shadow form a father and son/daughter (depending on when I'm gonna trans Shadows gender in the Au, she's transfem) relationship because of muffins and coffee, Shadow claims that he's "the only person worth talking to in this village"

-Stone is a homewrecker...like literally, he sends married people fake love letters with aliases and makes sure their spouses find it.

-Stone has beef with Dave the intern, and not the fake kind meh burger serves.

-Maria is alive in this AU, she's also a supervillain like robotnik.

-Shadow was put in stasis when he was 15, he was separated from Maria and that's what caused her to become evil.

-She crashed the lab 30 years later (the timing matters so sorry not 50 years 😞) and freed Shadow

-They caused mayhem on an island different from Sonic and team's island, it had it's own set of heroes which I have not decided who they are yet.

-A literal squabble between Shadow and Maria made Shadow leave the island totally pissed and move to sonic and team's island.

-Stone's relationship with Eggman's family is......okay, mombot didn't like him AT ALL at first so he rewired her into liking him (Eggman doesn't know)

-Morpho/Steve tried to persuade Stone into becoming his assistant after a fight he (stone) had with Eggman (that's flirting in villain language) so he doesn't like Morpho very much.

-He ADORES Maria, When mombot found out that Eggman's cousin is still alive she called for an immediate family reunion.

-He loves Orbot and Cubot when they're not fucking shit up, their relationship is like Benson and Mordecai and Rigby, he's basically their second more chill boss.

-When Stone is not home wrecking he's being a matchmaker, he gives relationship advice to sonic team and he is partially responsible for Sticks and Shadow getting together.

[cosmicroadkill]

Thinking about my shape shifter AU and how Cacao and Burning Spice would feel like they're stuck chasing after their prospective mates who in turn are busy chasing after someone who either isn't interested or was interested at one point.

I've gotten over my childish beef with PureLily but I still like the idea that it's rather one side; like Lily loves Vanilla but she's not *in love* with him the way he is with her or at least she isn't any more and if it's a case of not any more it could absolutely be because of how almost obsessive he is about her to the point that he'd do readily throw his life away for her with it being overwhelming and easily dipping into downright creepy.

In this case for Shadow Milk it would be Elder Faerie though I feel like any drop in interest would likely be in direct relation to Shadow Milk's fall though I could absolutely see him being just as if not *more* obsessive about his feelings if the update is anything to go off of.

Where was if Lily told Vanilla to move on he would, though it would be with an aching heart, Shadow Milk would and in this AU did keep trying with Elder Faerie.

All this while Cacao and Spice watch from the sidelines, heart in hand.

I can imagine them being confronted by Vanilla and Shadow Milk who try to make a move and maybe they're both hesitant, have that moment of asking if they're sure, if they *mean* it, asking that were Lily or Elder Faerie to change their mind would they change *theirs* because Cacao and Spice don't want to be second place consolation prizes, they want to actually be chosen.

But then again maybe Burning Spice wouldn't even give Shadow Milk the opening to change his mind, maybe he'd just accept and then strut and chuff to show off just how much better he is than that stuffy old moth; his claws and fangs are sharp, his fur soft, and his body a temple to the pure chaos and destruction he can cause; surely a beast would much rather another beast and someone who was once a close friend as their mate.

Cacao, though, oh Cacao

He's so soft and sweet on the inside, he'd want Vanilla to be sure of what he wants, wouldn't want to feel like he's trapping him, couldn't bare the idea of Vanilla leaving him to run off back to Lily so he'd need Vanilla to be certain and should be waiver there I can just imagine Cacao's ears slowly drooping, his tail still.

He can wait; he's waited for Vanilla before and he can wait some more...

[fandomgeeknerd]

cul-de-sac neighborhood au p2

specific facts abt the ppl of this au

-robotnik jr has a rock collection in his backyard he's very proud of it

-sonic plays every sport ever besides volleyball he hates that one

-shadow is the embodiment of the early 2000's older brother aesthetic and emo of course

-metal is mute and communicates through sign language

-tails likes superhero stuff and tech stuff (stone's house has blackouts 2 times a week due to tails just trying to make something and one time the entire cul-de-sac deal got a blackout)

-sonic and rob have the Disney channel sitcom classic of old ass adult and child have beef for seemingly no reason (think of mrs. dabney and gabe from good luck charile)

-rob is that one neighbor to mow the lawn or blow leafs at ass crack in the morning purely out of spite (bro's not a morning person he does this on PURPOSE)

-stone and sonic are guilty of playing loud ass music in the middle of the night that the whole neighborhood can hear it's mostly sonic tho

-maddie has an etsy shop and sells stuff varying from handmade plushies to entire custom doll houses and maybe the occasional kandi

- wade's a girl dad and we love him

-almost everyone has a backstory on why they ended up moving into the neighborhood

-knuckles and amy cosplay

-tom bakes, makes puppets and knits

-starline collects coins (we only know this bc we can see it through one of his windows)

-amy collects discontinued dolls ( my scene, novi stars, star darlings, cutie pops and the works ya know, the line she has that she's most proud of is her Bratzillaz, yes poor wade's wallet :sadge:)

-knuckles is that one friend that has the "everything and anything in his bag or purse or backpack" like it's bottomless there's just random shit in there like random candy, small things he accidentally shoplifted, a whole scarf and one time he had three pairs of scissors in there which wade promptly took away bc how tf-

-shadow has a secret youtube channel it's not taking off at all but he still posts and has a decent 200 subs

-dw guys rob's still a streamer too he just uses the vtuber more often

-stone's also a streamer but streams rarely

-the entire cul-de-sac silly goofy what can i say

[0ne-shot]

okay i know im team chaotix centered but god dAMN i am shaking screaming crying after the sonic 3 trailer it was sososo good

one thing that i am actually nervous for though is how paramount is going to take shadow and tails's relationship in the third movie

now i KNOW that in the trailer shadow pulled one of his kicks on tails again but yknow. he beat the shit sonic and knuckles too. i dont think its that personal as everyone thinks. i'd argue he hurt sonic and knuckles even MORE than tails: the fox just got a simple kick while sonic got SLAMMED into the air and knuckles got his wrist bones gone. reduced to atoms.

i just hope. HOPE. that they dont give shadow and tails that stupid fucking beef between eachother like in some sonic media. i know shadow just spent most of his life in a pod for 50 years and just went through immense emotional pain and trauma but i genuinely do not think that shadow is immature and or irrational enough to hold a forever grudge towards a kind-hearted child he barely knows. he's an antagonist, not a monster

ALSO about amy and rouge not being in this movie (god DAMN you paramount write a fucking WOMAN for ONCE PLEASE) im also hoping that MAYYYBE possibly that tails might be the one who reminds shadow of maria (if they'll include something similar to sa2) because sonic just. i dont see him being a parallel to maria at all im sorry and i think why knux wont is obvious. also the fact that tails has a bunch of similarites to maria (blonde hair, blue eyes, in the child stages, innocent, love for science, calm and mature-like etc etc) ALSO another reason for why the shadow and tails beef shouldnt have happened in the first place

i am clinging onto the slight dynamic changes sega has been making with shadow and tails over the years as i manifest their friendship in the third movie (the shadow the hedgehog game where they both fight alongside eachother and consider one another allys, mosth where tails and shadow talk with eachother and banter casually, that one tailstube video where tails INTENTIONALLY gives shadow a gift i am still weeping happy tears over that)

tails could even be what makes shadow slowly trust in familial love again after his heart's been shattered back at the ark

so uh. yeah. that's out. the shrieking goblin in my brain can finally rest until the full movie comes out

[murderandjambalaya]

Stick figure hcs!!!

It’s been a while since I got on tumblr and I STILL haven't posted, like, anything about my hcs (except for old writing from before I switched accts & devices but SHUSH WE’RE NOT LOOKING AT THOSE), so here’s some stick-focused world building stuff (mostly the hollowheads)!

rambles. Very much rambles. Only some coherent rambles. This is your only warning.

WTF IS A GENDER

Most sticks are closer to drawings or computer programs than humans, and their perception of gender reflects this! A few sticks across the outernet might take on more traditionally human genders, but most sticks see gender and pronouns as a fluid extension of their personality and self-expression. How attached a stick is to their gender varies from each individual to the next. That being said, most stick figure “genders” are more like pronouns (or lack of them) + flavors. My flavor hcs for the sticks (or at least the ones I have a clear idea of) are: (EDIT - this was supposed to be gender flavors and it slowly flew away from that but it’s long enough that I don’t want to delete it. I am so sorry.)

Red- uses she/he, cat videos, brainrot, bright blue artificial dye, time-out corner, three yo-yos at once

Orange- uses xe/xem, Yippee, Power of Friendship, orange juice mixed with caffeine in a Monster Energy can, loaf of bread, Take On Me music video but make it cosmic horror

Yellow- uses she/they, raccoon covered in car grease holding a wrench, ridiculously thick goggles+gloves, tism, curious. A bit too curious. Why are you googling “how to get away with arson.”

Green- uses he/him, disaster bi, theater kid (only derogatory during the influencer arc), WHAT’S UP DEMONS, it’s ME, yaoiYA BOI, Siren by Kailee Morgue

Blue- uses all prns, witchcore, “my farmer gf- or as I like to call her, my crop top,” if their eyes open yk you’re fucked, LET HIM COOOKKKK, rhubarb & lemon, Willow from ToH, 🫵rehab

Ourple- uses he/they, moth, capitalism, product is dairy free (father has not returned with the milk yet), “hello, Zuko here,” you’re literally broke how do you have so many suits, anxiety, Cavetown, flower crowns, psychological warfare, “DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE A PLASTIC BAG*ugly sobbing*”, birb. Birb is love. Birb is life. grisp the birb.

Chosen- uses he/him (anything but ‘it’), Shadow the Hedgehog, Falling in Reverse, Transcendental Cha Cha by Tom Cardy but make it the seven stages of grief, Sobbing on the Ground, *pac man noises*, traumacore, Alan gave me depression bc he knew otherwise I would beat him in hand-to-hand combat at 14, eats pizza crust-first, coffee as dark and bitter as my soul, cornered stray dog, 🇺🇸F🇺🇸R🇺🇸E🇺🇸E🇺🇸D🇺🇸O🇺🇸M🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸🍔🍔🍔🍔🍟🍟🍔🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸

Dark- uses he/they (‘it’ when the mission code is in control), Murder, “spider-man, spider-man, does whatever a- OH NO NOT THE CHILDREN,” the crackling sound of a circuit board being broken in half and emitting sparks, ✨extra✨, shoplifting from Hot Topic on a Thursday, I’m Gonna Kill Santa Clause by Danny Gonzalez, masculine but like in a peacock way, knife pronounced “kuh-NIFF-eey”, chaos, the Sillies (aka bloodlust so strong I could commit a felony. Perhaps even multiple felonies.)

Vic- uses she/her (annoying local qpr always wearing the same gender), a woman politician???!!/pos, I’ve been near you for five whole minutes when are you going to murder me already, wet cat, tears, fluffy blankets, bones, space, I miss my wife, Tails. I miss her a lot.

MT- uses he/him, musty crusty Old Man, *eyebrows widen in surprise*, Flashbacks to The War, beefing with literal children, Dad Jokes, dust, depression

Agent- no time to Gender, never beating the loyal dog allegations, lost all whimsy in The Great Fire of 1941, “I just wanna be part of your SYMPHONYYYY,” ink, crunchy, fucked-up lil guy/w bg explosions for dramatic effect, IM SMITH SHADY YES IM THE REAL SHADY ALL YOU OTHER SMITH SHADIES ARE JUST IMITATING SO WONT THE REAL SMITH SHADY PLEASE STAND UP PLEASE STAND UP PLEASE STAND UP

Mitsi- uses she/her, Girlboss, actually the woman ever, paint, daffodils, ashes, earl grey tea, :3 “friend-shaped”

Gold- uses all prns, ash baby, space but it’s a liquid that will suck you into it, LET ME OUT, crayons, cotton, sunlight, glitter, sand, Minecraft end poem

Corndog guy- money, corndogs, repressed godhood, Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan

Did any of that make any sense? Admittedly, no. Am I saying that if you bit into Red, you would taste artificial blue dye and cat videos? Yes. Absolutely. For added fun, read these like Ao3 tags.

WTF ARE THE HOLLOWHEADS

In my hcs, the hollowheads are not siblings *coughcoughchodarkpropaganda*. However, Vic and Cho are practically twins. Why? A hollowhead’s physical appearance (since I usually draw them like Fleshy Human People) is mostly determined by their creator’s intentions when creating them. Alan can only see them in stick form, so their appearance being shaped by his intentions is kinda like how ppl have hcs of their ocs that are still a part of them even though they’re only in the creator’s head and haven’t been drawn yet. Vic and Cho are so similar bc they’re only in we’re both drawn as punching bags, even though Cho was a challenge and Vic was a training dummy. Sec didn’t actually have a comprehensible mortal form until xey found RGBY (just picture an Eldridge Horror exploring Alanspc when TSC was first introduced) bc Alan created xem without any intent to make xem alive or any idea of what xey’d be for who xey’d be, so TSC is Art. Literally. Xey embody art itself. That’s why xeir whole green glowy power is so effective, it’s not meant to be an offensive measure, but a large part of the outernet IS art, so xey have a very wide range of control (or xey would have, if it was what xe wanted when xe realized it. Xey find more purpose and joy in just existing with xeir friends. Xey connect and create. It’s xeir whole thing).

A hollowhead’s appearance is also heavily shaped by the attachments they make, most notably their secondary colors. Their second color reflects the deepest attachment they make. When a hollowhead is first created, before they make any attachments, their second color is clear. The hollowheads’ pupil/irises being different colors would also make them blind until they form an attachment (light passes through clear stuff instead of being absorbed by it), and by that logic, even while attached, most hollowheads are some form of colorblind. Vic has never not been blind while Dark is the only hollowhead with Rainbow Premium™️. Second’s secondary color is Green, Chosen’s is red, Dark’s is black, and Vic’s was white but faded mostly back to clear with hints of silver (after Misti’s death, Vic kinda self-isolated and got addicted to the VR memory tech). Attachments forming appearances is also the reason why Sec is the only one with a cursor ahoogie. Vic has a large, cursor-shaped scar on their back. It fades while Mitsi helps her heal, but starts growing again once she starts blaming the cursor for Mitsi’s death. Sometimes, during her really bad flashbacks, her old cursor scars will start to show up on her skin, even though she has a new body with no scars each time she’s drawn. Chosen still has all his cursor scars. They function like normal scars. During his terrorist years, Cho also gained a “halo” after seeing the one on the Angel of Death poster. With each attack, he’d gain a few small, jagged, triangular red arrows floating around his head. Dark thought they looked cool, but Chosen would sometimes feel like they were poking him. Cho would gain more arrows per attack as the destruction went on, having an overcrowded full-on halo by the time he stopped killing sticks. It hurts a lot, these days. Sometimes, when the sunlight hits it just right, the halo flashed purple. Although his other powers remained unaffected, Chosen’s fire started to burn a little redder after escaping the PC. After the Showdown, it sometimes burns his hands. Just a little, not so much that he can’t use it anymore. It just hurts when he does. The same thing happened with Dark’s fireballs. They got darker as time went on. Dark only has a few scars. The star-shaped one on his neck only gets deeper. When under the mission code’s influence, Dark’s secondary color reverts to clear and the whites of their eyes go black. With the virabands on, Dark’s pupil/irises turn red. During the Showdown, they had red pupils and black eyes. The virabands also project six small screens in front of their face which look like eyes with the same coloration. These projections act as a targeting system for the virabots, give quick stats on how many are functional, track the location of the other band if only one is being worn, and look really fucking cool (according to Dark).

OK THAT’S PROBABLY ENOUGH FOR ONE POST, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

[fuctacles]

"What are those 'freaks' exactly?" Steve asks from the back seat of the car. He does have a vague idea but it's not something that comes up in daily conversation or gets covered in classes. He's not even interested in going, but his parents rarely take him anywhere, so when his mom mentioned that a freak show came to town and she wanted to check it out, he backed her up and his father reluctantly agreed to make it a family trip.

“Human curiosities,” his mother answers, which explains nothing to him.

“Mother Nature’s fuck-ups,” adds his father, making Steve frown. 

Wasn’t nature supposed to be orderly and thought out? Meticulously crafted by evolution or god’s plan, whichever you believed in? (Steve’s teachers had a confusing beef about it.)

Then again, nature invented spiders, which Steve would consider a fuck-up on its part. He remembers Dustin telling him about a comic about a spider-man. The thought of a human-shaped arachnid makes his skin crawl and he loses all his curiosity on the topic. Suddenly the family trip doesn't seem so fun anymore.

The short drive to the empty fields on the outskirts of Hawkins is filled with the Top 40 playing on the radio. His father taps his fingers to the beat of some of them, proving against all odds that he's capable of enjoying trivial human things. Steve loves to sing along and dance in the confines of his room but here, trapped in a car with his parents, he just bops his head slightly, not wanting to disturb the silence.

The freak show is a lot like the circus his uncle took him to once. There is a scattering of tents and trucks in varying sizes, all in a similar, kitschy theme of a fun fair. The air even smells of popcorn and hot dogs.

His mother scrunches her nose as soon she steps out of the car.

“This is not what I expected,” she comments, eyeing the scattering of kids and families running around.

“Well...” His father slams the door shut, pulling out a cigarette even before locking the car. “These things are dying off because of human rights activists,” he says around the cig he's trying to light. “Guess they had to rebrand to keep the business afloat.”

It's Steve’s turn to scrunch his face. His dad makes everything about business and money, even something supposedly fun, like a Sunday family trip to a fair; freak show, circus, whatever this is.

“It used to be a huge tent with displays. Now each of them gets their own? Who do they think they are?” his mother laments while hanging onto her husband’s arm, while Steve tails behind.

They pass a tent with a Siamese Twins sign hanging from the front, with a man at the front of the line, gathering money and letting people in. Nearby is another tent, occupied by a Bearded Lady, then a Half-man Half-wolf behind it. The line to that one is particularly long.

The Harringtons agree to take a walk around and decide which ones they want to spend money on, and whether it's even worth it. They've already paid an entrance fee that gives them access to most of the attractions anyway.

They pass a couple of smaller booths, a face-painting clown, and a juggler, before reaching the biggest tent in the center. In front of it stands a chalkboard with a schedule of main events. According to it the next show, between 1 pm and 2:30 pm, was a music performance, pricing a dollar per song: The Twisted Jukebox. 

Steve decides to stay back, with a couple of bills burning in his pocket, while his parents keep exploring.

The light coming in from the top of the tent illuminates a box in the stage center, throwing a long shadow against the soft glow. As he comes closer he realizes it's a jukebox, and he wonders what could possibly be so special about it to warrant an hour-and-a-half-long performance slot. The sign says 'a dollar per song', but does it even take bills?

He decides that the couple of minutes left until the start gives him enough time to examine the machine. It isn't as close to the edge of the stage as he’d like but he presses against the wooden construction nevertheless, cocking his head to the side. The jukebox looks off, different from the ones he'd see at diners, but he can't exactly put his finger on why.

“Hi! Would you like to request a song?”

The sudden voice to his left startles him into bumping his elbow against the stage. He winces as he turns around.

A blonde girl is smiling at him apologetically. She's wearing a short green dress, with a jacket he's seen on other circus staff thrown over her shoulders. She must be involved in the show, then.

He glances back at the jukebox, the song list unreadable from his vantage point.

“What are my options?” he asks, looking at the girl again. 

“Any song works!” she says with a bright smile, and he frowns at her, confused.

"That's not how jukeboxes work," he observes. But her smile only widens.

"This one does," she assures him. "So?"

His mind blanks in when put on the spot like that, but he thinks back to the songs he's heard on the radio today.

"Madonna's Material Girl?" he suggests hesitantly. For some reason, she laughs.

"That's perfect. You're the first one today, so you'll get the honors. Do you have a token already?"

The face he makes must be answer enough because she smiles and produces a coin from her pocket. Or a poker chip painted gold to resemble a coin.

"I hope you have a dollar because I don't have any change yet."

He remembers how gigs work, that you have to pay the performers, and dives into his pocket. He didn't take much with him, but one dollar isn't a problem. He exchanges it for the golden token.

"Follow me." The girl motions at him and turns around abruptly. Stunned, he does as he's told until they reach the steps on the side of the stage. She moves aside as if expecting him to go up there.

He's confused as all hell. Is this how all circus performers were? Freaks in both senses of the word?

The girl chuckles at him and she's too cute for Steve to be offended but it's a close call.

"Hop up there, put the coin in the slot and the show will start. I'll come get you after that."

His confusion triples down but he's used to nodding along when a cute girl talks to him so that's what he does now as well. Blondes are not exactly his type, but maybe he could ask her out and show her around town later.

"Okay," he says before stepping on the stage. When he turns around the girl is gone and he hopes it's not some kind of twisted joke.

The sunlight coming through an open flap on the tent's dome lights the stage, casting the surrounding audience in shadows, which Steve is grateful for. He doesn't want to know what kind of faces they are making looking at the dumbass on stage approaching a jukebox.

It looks almost like any other he's seen before, though the paint job is custom. Twisted Jukebox is written at the top in scratchy letters, and the sides are painted with images of fantastical creatures: dragons, unicorns, and the like. Not Steve's style but someone did a good job on it.

The songs list though, is... peculiar. It has things like:

Anything by Metallica, please,

No Wham! I beg of you,

Country over Pop.

Steve wonders briefly if he had even woken up this morning. Everything from the moment his mother proposed a family outing has been too weird to be real.

Finally, his eyes land on the colorful slot with an arrow pointing to it saying "$1 - 1song". He rubs his thumb over the token he's been given before flipping it sideways and sliding it in.

The coin rattles inside like it just fell through into an empty box. He frowns.

read the rest here with art by @blasvemous

And then, the sides of the jukebox fall apart.

[luckyfinch]

i’m bored and need to start the year off strong so

Sonic characters headcanons!!! maybe i will update sometimes…

Sonic

ADHD, also has an anxiety disorder

either overthinking or not thinking at all, always

dyslexic… he gives me the vibe

TRANSGENDER. this hedgehog is TRANS. he is a trans boy. i will never falter upon this hill

i like the hc that when first meeting Tails, Tails assumed he was a boy, and Sonic goes “yknow what hell yeah” and becomes Sonic right then and there

would be a Marvel fan i know it in my heart

forced to watch Twilight by Amy. Team Alice truther, the two argue about it very heatedly

he can prepare an egg 25 different ways beautifully, but otherwise is ass at cooking

NEVER let this boy bake

saw Shadow take a handful of plain coffee beans from the bag once and eat it, never looked at Shadow the same

“oh i never mentioned them? well yeah i’m a triplet. guess it never came up!” -> cue everyone flabbergasted

Shadow

AUTISTIC.

Demiromantic, Asexual

this guy has PTSD i will never accept him not having PTSD

also i don’t care if Shadow eating coffee beans is canon or not it’s canon IN MY HEART!!!!!!

his favorite disney princess is Merida from Brave

i imagine him liking sweets but not liking anyone to know. gotta keep up his mysteriousness. also he’s a little embarrassed

Rouge buys him the candies he likes occasionally cause he would never get them for himself

Sonic tries to show him roblox just one time. Shadow destroys his computer and ignores Sonic for a month after losing DTI, and Sonic never tries to get him on a game again

Sonic tries to pass on the Twilight trauma and makes him watch the saga. Team “move back in with her Mother.”

^ Shadow and Sonic get into a physical fight over it

^ Shadow wins

sometimes he babysits Cream for Vanilla

spreads rumors about Tails to literally ANYONE. the most random people, who have never seen or heard of him. he makes shit up just to do it

claustrophobic

Warrior Cats reader, i imagine him liking Yellowfang

Tails

forced to do does Sonic’s taxes wholly of his own volition

snacks on coffee beans while he works after seeing Shadow doing it; begins to prefer it over coffee

major insomniac, Sonic sometimes has to force him to go to bed when he spends too long hyperfixated on a project

big fan of Indiana Jones

he plays all the Lego games, and MUST 100% everything

has a youtube channel for his outrageously complex Lego builds which has a surprising amount of subscribers

^ Sonic only finds out about the channel after accidentally opening Tails’ mail and seeing his Gold Playbutton award

^ “oh yeah i forgot to tell u about that i guess!” “….HOW DID YOU FORGET?”

hates Shadow. the beef is insane. they cannot be left in a room together without fighting

homophobic but only in context of sonadow. if sonadow was to exist Tails would HATE IT SO BAD.

^ Shadow would grab Sonic’s hand or something while making eye contact with Tails just to piss him off

during thunderstorms, Sonic lets Tails sleep in his room. they watch movies until Tails can fall asleep.

owns Rarity (my little pony) merch

has an extensive rock collection which is his pride and joy. Sonic always brings him back cool rocks when he travels around

Amy

lifts in her free time. girl is jacked

uses :< :> :,C X3 when texting

loves vampire media, big Twilight fan. Team Edward, and she’ll die on that hill

loves baking!!! (Sonic isn’t allowed in her kitchen)

colorblind

she LOOVES Dress To Impress. bought herself VIP, forces Sonic to play it with her (he acts annoyed but he plays it on his own time too)

Knuckles

PTSD

aroace vibes

hates being alone

likes drawing, but ends up getting frustrated and breaking the crayons/pencils by accident

the coolest mf around ON GOD!!!

has the worst present wrapping skills ever seen. everyone knows exactly which gift is his during white elephants

turns out to be a surprisingly good cook, annoying Sonic to no end

eats toothpaste

[sonicboomrevisited]

I'll understand if you wanna keep those answers to yoursleves, but in case it's ok to ask, this question is for mama, Star, multi and everyone else who wanna answer.

Wich Sonic Boom episode is your favorite, wich one you find the funniest and wich one is your least favorite?

Reasons why would be appreciate but not nescessary

Three megafans with many thoughts = long post! Buckle up!

MULTI:

FAVORITE: A tie between "The Meteor" and "In the Midnight Hour". I'm a sucker for body swapping tropes. Hearing Roger Craig Smith and Mike Pollock take on each others roles was a lot of fun. The animation team also put in a lot of work to have them swap mannerisms such as Eggman reaching for a moustache he didn't have in Sonic's body or Sonic trying to run like himself in Eggman's. "In the Midnight Hour" was a solid Stick's centered episode with a really cool robot as the main antagonist. I love Dreamcaster's design. The mind control plot also helped inspire Robo-Sonic 1.0!

FUNNIEST: Probably "Alone Again, Unnaturally". There's specific scenes in other episodes that make me laugh harder, but this episode generally makes me smile throughout. Sonic being completely oblivious to why he's trapped out of phase and his "haunting" of Eggman's lair always cracks me up.

LEAST FAVORITE: Another tie, this time between "Counter-Productive" or "Knuck Knuck! Who's Here?" Both these episode base their plots around Knuckles just... being an idiot. I can't stand plots that are only motivated by characters being dumb, especially coming from someone that really shouldn't be. Charlie and his wife are fun villains, but I hate that I sympathize more with them than I do Knuckles when watching these episodes. I'm not laughing. I just feel bad for everyone.

STAR:

FAVORITE: A tie between "Fiend Bot" and "Role Models". Sonic acquiring a giant killer robot that wants nothing but his safety and to follow him everywhere is one of the cutest concepts in the show. "Role Models" was a fun episode because of the ridiculous premise that I find hilarious. I also love "Robots From the Sky" Especially because of Mighton and Bolts <3

FUNNIEST: A tie between "Double Doomsday" and "Alone Again, Unnaturally". I agree with all the reasons Multi said about the latter. My favorite joke in the entire show is Sonic trashing Eggman's lair while he's invisible. It's too good. "Double Doomsday" is also hilarious. From the banter between Eggman and Dave through the door Dave locked himself behind, to Eggman getting offended at the way Sonic made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

LEAST FAVORITE: "The Biggest Fan" (I can't watch this one). "Late Night Wars" for making Knuckles look stupid for jokes and both the episodes that Multi mentioned--for the reasons she mentioned--they are unwatchable. I also hate "Knine-to-Five Knuckles" for these reasons as well. I also dislike "Do Not Disturb" for the way the Unbreakable Bond was written.

QWERTY:

FAVORITE: Oh, I have a few that I would watch over and over.

"Cowbot" - Eggman actually made a giant robot cow

"It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog" - Shadow's just THERE, and just has this beef with Sonic for no reason

"Anything You Can Do I Can Do Worser" - Tails' over competitive nature at play.

"Multi-Tails" - Knux being the bestest babysitter ever

"Cabin Fever" - love eps where they just act like kids

FUNNIEST: I think I have to say "Cabin Fever" is one I just love

LEAST FAVORITE: There are a number I don't like, mostly because they feature characters I don't like, or portray Knux as SUPER dumb, or are just boring. Anything with Nominatus is a hard pass for me. And those frog people.

[papagabu]

As far as Tails and romance are concerned, how deeply to you like to analyze things?

If we’re talking canon then I don’t really like shipping game Tails with anyone really, like I say I’m a fan of Kittails but in terms of how I’d like that in the main series I’d prefer it to be platonic cause Kit deserves a better friend than Surge, as much as their relationship has gotten better I still think it’s a disgusting, destructive, and fundamentally fake relationship the both of them have, especially on Kit’s end, I think Kit and Surge can have a good relationship but they need to be separated and learn to move past their programming instead of perpetuating a cycle of self destruction. And while yes Tails and Kit have their very one sided and stupid rivalry, I’ve mentioned once I think Kit’s reasoning for hating Tails is irrational and stupid but Kit is meant to be irrational so it’s understandable to an extent, but at least Surge has a deeper philosophical reason to hate Sonic Kit is just, “he lied to me” even though Tails just repeated what Sonic said, so if anything he should have beef with Sonic. Though I did hear once that some people thought he was jealous of Tails and Sonic’s relationship and wishes he and Surge had that. But besides that I like to think Tails has a frame of reference to relate to the feelings of being isolated and powerless Starline’s experiments would have put Kit through, and that was showcased in their first meeting then completely dropped later, I want Tails’ fucked up backstory to have more impact on his character and getting to relate to Kit would be an amazing way to do that. Like Knuckles and Tails have sadder backstories than Shadow but they don’t give either the light of day in that regard, that’s part of the reason I find Shadow kind of annoying cause he steals from the potential of characters that are equally as interesting if not more than him, like I’d love to see less of Shadow and more of like Blaze and Silver any day.

Fuck, I just ended up rambling there.

Uh… anyways, Tails in game is a child so thinking about his romantic and sexual interests is a little weird… though like from personal experience I remember having crushes around that age so it’s not entirely out of the question. And sometimes it’s really funny to think of him as being more like Archie Tails who was falling for women left and right.

As for in my AUs Broken Tails is sex repulsed and aromantic asexual, and Metal Breaker Tails is bisexual and obviously dating his assistant.

[thatoneguythatwatchesgayporn]

And now, more fic ideas ! ( But since I can't write shit, I hope someone else does )

FOR LUFFY CENTRIC FICS:

* Post Wano/Egghead Luffy gets somehow yeeted on the pre-Sabaoady Thousand Sunny and gets yeeted back just before they dock ( shenanigans, little spoilers and a tiny, little ,minuscule panick attack must be added )

* The strawhats meet several of their versions, and WHY DOES LUFFY HAVE A HEART DESEASE (as in either cancer,arrhythmia,cardiomyopathy etc. it's a funny hc I love ) IN EVERY VERSION BUT THE OG ONE ?! Featuring modern au, actors au and marine au! >:D

* BRAZILIAN LUFFY, that's all I need to say.

FOR SHADOW CENTRIC FICS

* he goes to a Sabrina Carpenter concert, and some influencer accidentally films him being her #1 fan, and the internet goes apeshit

* a one-shot where Shadow explains to Tails the reason of their legendary beef ( both of them were seen as monsters, until they met their annoyingly kind blue sibling )

* He meets a girl named Maria. He's a bit delulu bc he gets overly attached ( PLATONICALLY FOR CHRIST'S SAKE ), and she's a Latina, obviously

* an au where Sonic and Tails have Shadow's and Maria's backstory( and vice versa) meet the og ones

[maxilsmaster]

i am not normal about these characters: shadow the hedgehog

shadow is special to me. he was the first character i was ever abnormal about. so today you all get to share in my abnormalness

now, if you’ve seen my previous iannatc posts, obviously we’re gonna get neurodivergent headcanons out of the way first. autism and ptsd. i don’t think i need to elaborate on the ptsd. shadow is hypersensitive, is hyperempathetic, has special interests, avoids eye contact, doesn’t understand social conventions, and has alexithymia.

ofc this motherfucker is hyperempathetic. he was created to be a companion for maria as well as to cure her. but he was also created to be a weapon, so he would have heightened senses as well. he gets overstimulated really easily when he’s not in a fight.

he has special interests in medicine/diseases/healthcare in general, motorcycles and bugs. i saw a comic where a bug got onto the ark and now i just think shadow really likes bugs and thinks they’re neat. i’ve explained that he knows medical stuff in a different post

shadow was raised on the ark. of course his ass doesn’t understand social conventions.

my guy does NOT understand his own emotions

shadow has a few different fears, mostly stemming from trauma. he’s especially afraid of heights (acrophobia), tight spaces (claustrophobia) and needles (trypanophobia). needles (and really any medical things) are made 10x worse when he doesn’t have any agency in the situation.

bc of the medical trauma, he strongly prefers colored/patterned bandages bc they feel less clinical/institutional.

he loves physical contact. he is a hugger. he requires kindness and affection. his love language is physical closeness. he does not want anyone to know about this. sometimes rouge will carry him around and he’ll pretend to hate it but he secretly really enjoys it.

shadow is agender (any pronouns, he/him used here for consistency). he learned about trans people and thought “how can anyone feel like a man or a woman?” he then went into a spiral about it (bc of self worth/dehumanization issues) until rouge told him to look up the term agender. this happened with him being aroace as well, except replace rouge with sonic, who is also aroace. sometimes i throw aplatonic into the mix for extra fun.

shadow does not officially work for gun. in fact, he actually got rouge to help him file a lawsuit for all the bullshit they put him through. they settled out of court, and now shadow gets a monthly sum of money from gun. he joins rouge and omega on missions though (rouge works for gun as an alternative to prison, omega wants to blow shit up), and he’s also more competent than any of the medical team, so he’s unofficially in charge of them. he and abe are currently working shit out with the government to get shadow an official medical license.

he lives with rouge and omega. they’re a weird little fucked up found family 💕

shadow is susceptible to hyperthermia/heat stroke. thick black fur gets hot in the summer, plus he’s used to the colder temperatures on the ark/in cryostasis.

shadow will always go see the northern lights if he has any opportunity to. he got to experience them on the ark with maria (yes, you CAN see the northern lights from space) and they both wanted to see what the lights were like on earth. they’re more beautiful than shadow ever could have imagined. he named his chao aurora btw.

sonic and shadow secretly get along, and even have movie nights together. in front of other people (or a camera) they’ll always fight, but they do actually enjoy each other’s company. tails and rouge see right through their facades. shadow also only pretends to have beef with tails when sonic is around. otherwise, he gets along with both just fine.

shadow has no preferred music genre. he likes anything from taylor swift to death metal. sonic got him into crush 40 tho lmao (see iannatc sonic edition)

shadow is a keanu stan. he watched the one spongebob movie solely bc he was told keanu was in it. his favorite franchise of all time is john wick. if he knew keanu voiced him in the scu he’d explode.

shadow thinks die hard is a christmas movie. (he is correct.)

thanks for sticking around lmao