#this is one of those times he seems so much older than sonic and tails

[wherearedagrapes]

Can’t get over how small and scared Tails looks here. Even when Knucks and Sonic look away/at Maddie, Tails cannot stop staring at Tom on that stretcher. He’s horrified he’s just a baby

[head---ache]

Fankids Character Charts [1/3]

The kids!! The first 7 out of all the kids getting charts!!! They're going to be divided in three groups because they're too many kiddos now lol.

More detailed info under the cut!

Emmie: Sonadow kid, the one who got my fankid train started! Also, the first Tube Baby! (Here's three posts about it: One, two, three).

Her full name is Emily (meaning "rival"), however, everyone just calls her Emmie (out of universe explanation + in universe explanation).

She has Black Arms DNA, but it's uncertain the lenghts it's effects have on her. They know she had green blood (first shown here) and has access to the Hivemind, which as a baby she used to communicate with Shadow (first shown here), but as she grew older she stopped using it, and now finds it harder to access it.

She, of course, also has Chaos Energy. She has super speed and can perform Chaos Control (here) and turn Super (first shown here), but her super form is highly unstable and quickly becomes similar to Sonic's "Super Fleetway" form (here).

Emmie uses her trusty yoyo to fight (here), complementing her powers and ability in a way to extend the reach of her attacks, rope in her enemies, etc.

Listen to Emmie's Spotify playlist here!!

Sparks: The oldest of my Blazamy kids, and first Belly Baby in the lineup (here's context).

Sparks has fire powers, similar to Blaze's, though they find them a bit harder to control. They get Blaze, Knuckles and Espio's help to learn to use said powers, since they require a lot of training. Also, again, quite like Blaze, they can turn into Burning Sparks (here), but this form drains their energy pretty fast.

Since Blaze is a princess, Amy, Sparks and Tulip do acquire royalty related tiltes, however, they're very informal and don't hold that much power due to Blaze not wanting them to have any responsability simply because they're related to her. Despite this, Sparks does end up becoming ruler of the Sol Dimension later in the timeline, but by their own volution.

They use a fire sword to fight (here). It would be a simple sword, but they infuse it with their powers for it to become this flaming version of the weapon.

Listen to Sparks' Spotify playlist here!!

Lash: The oldest of my Scourgiona kids and your local surprise baby representation.

Her main ability is acrobatics, and she has some sort of super speed but it's quite weak compared to Emmie's.

She has both mommy and daddy issues, and spends most of her time at Aim's house, although she grew up with Mareep, Glamour and Stumble. She has two older siblings, and at first she didn't have much of a relationship with them, since they're younger than her and much closer to each other, but eventually Lash steps in and tries to be a part of her siblings' life like their parents should've been.

She starts as more of a "villain", taking the role of your local mean girl next to Mareep and the others, and has a bit of friction with the rest of the kids, but as she starts hanging out more with Aim and Spades, she begins to let that attitude go and tries to be better, eventually joining the Restoration.

Listen to Lash's Spotify playlist here!!

Aim: Whispangle kid, selectively mute, and a Belly Baby.

He does archery, which is their main fighting technique, however, during battle, they also use their tail to move around faster and will occasionally team up with Whisper's wisps.

He does not speak, at all, but the others just seem to understand him without him even needing sign language or anything. Also finally giving it a name rather than just saying 'he doesn't speak', they're selectively mute! So yay for it finally having a name!

Listen to Aim's Spotify playlist here!!

Bria: Sonina (Sonia x Mina) Belly Baby! Making them Emmie's younger cousin.

They don't fight much, rather serving to give hope and high spirits to those around her! But of course, living in the universe they live in, they know martial arts just in case it's needed, and as self defense.

Even though Bria's hard of hearing, his biggest passion is music. She plays piano and guitar, piano being his main instrument.

Listen to Bria's Spotify playlist here!!

Tulip: The youngest of my Blazamy siblings, also a Belly Baby (in universe explanation here).

He hasn't shown any special ability yet, which is something that bothers him. Because of this, he isn't allowed to be around the other kids when there's danger, but he's very sneaky and often gets things to work in his favor anyway (in some strange way, he always knows what to do to get what's best for his interests, hm...)

He has an interest in tarot cards, like Amy, and in these sorts of magic related topics.

Listen to Tulip's Spotify playlist here!!

Destiny: One and only Code Baby! And Sallicole kid. She's an AI similar to Nicole, but with more advanced and sophisticated technology.

Being an AI, she can easily hack into robots and computers, which helps during battle.

They usually take the leader role very naturally, immediately making a plan on the spot and guiding the rest of the group thanks to her rational thinking nature. However, she's quite shy which makes things a bit difficult for her, her confident side mainly showing when assuming the role of the leader, or when fighting for things they're passionate about.

Destiny is president and leader or a smaller section of the Restoration, which is the training and formation for teenagers. This is where she shines her brightest, leading this group on missions and making their plans of action, as well as organizing their training schedule.

Listen to Destiny's Spotify playlist here!!

[mama-qwerty]

Do you think that Tom would be secretly jealous over the fact that Wade was able to form a friendship with Knuckles in a short amount of time, while he himself has trouble having a full conversation with the kid?

Even though Sonic and Tails already are fond of him, the idea that Knuckles isn't as close to him but with his best friend instead would probably bother him a bit

Tom stood at the window near the front door, watching as Knuckles slid into the passenger seat of Wade's truck. Wade gave a little wave, before pulling away, taking the boy . . .

Well, Tom didn't really know. Knuckles never said, and asking Wade seemed almost like an invasion of privacy. Even though Tom and Maddie were supposed to be looking out for the echidna, just like they did the fox and hedgehog who were currently sitting in the living room playing video games.

"You're gonna get frown lines glaring out the window like that."

Maddie's voice broke through his thoughts, and Tom turned to find her hauling a basket of laundry toward the utility room.

"Do you see the way he smiles when he heads off with Wade? He never smiles like that around here."

She rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like he's a teenage daughter going out on dates with a guy you don't trust."

Tom flinched slightly. "I just . . ." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sonic buddied up to me right away. Tails, too. Why won't Knuckles?"

Maddie shrugged, shifting the basket on her hip. "He's not like the others, Tom. In a lot of ways, he had a much harder life. He wasn't looking for . . ." She gestured around them. "This. A home. A family. New parents. He was looking for that emerald. And now that he has it, he's trying to figure out where to go from here. Where he fits."

"Yeah, well, right now he seems to 'fit' better with Wade than us."

His voice was a little harsher than he meant it to be. This whole situation was actually kinda pissing him off, and he wasn't quite sure why. Sonic thought the world of Tom, and Tails was right there, too. Was it an ego thing? He had to have everyone love him?

He didn't think so.

He was pretty sure, anyway.

Maddie watched him for a moment, before moving closer. She ran a knuckle over his cheek, drawing his attention back to her.

"You're jealous."

His brow furrowed. "Am not."

A smile curled her lip. "You are. Sonic practically appointed himself a Wachowski from all those years he snuck around outside, and Tails has absorbed some of Sonic's admiration of you. But Knuckles doesn't see you that way, and it just eats at you."

Tom pulled his lips tight. She may have a point. A little one. A nano-point.

"I don't want him to idolize me or anything, but I mean, come on. Wade??"

Maddie shrugged. "Wade's got his issues, but he's a good guy. And maybe Knuckles needs someone who's not gonna be as . . . fatherly."

"But I'm not--"

"You may see it as being Sonic's 'buddy', but we all know what you really are to him." Her voice was softer, but not unkind. "Tails, too. I'm just saying that Knuckles wasn't looking for that. He doesn't want parents. Not right now. I made the mistake of just lumping him in with the others as a kid who needed a mom right before he went AWOL with Wade to Reno. I tried to parent him when he wasn't ready for it."

He didn't respond, instead looking out the window where Wade had been parked a few moments before. All that had gone down while he'd been out of town, and judging from how freaked Maddie had been when Knuckles had disappeared after the ill-fated grounding, she understood his feelings right now.

Knuckles was the hardest of their kids to understand. He didn't speak much of what happened while he was being the Most Dangerous Warrior in the Galaxy, and Tails tended to go a bit tight-lipped, too, when asked. The echidna was independent to a fault, proud to the point of almost-but-not-quite arrogance, and insisted he didn't need to be looked after.

He was older than the other two, but that didn't mean he still couldn't benefit from having people care for him. Watch over him.

Tom turned back to Maddie. "So it doesn't bother you that he spends more time interacting with Wade than us?"

She blew out a little huff. "Hell no, it pisses me off." A little smile pulled one corner of her mouth. "But I understand. It was one thing when Sonic came. He knew Earth life, he watched us for who knows how long. To him, he practically lived here already. Tails is a smart kid who seems to adapt easily to new situations. But Knuckles . . ."

She trailed off, glancing out the window with a little sigh.

"He's different. He likes to feel in charge of himself. So, like it or not, we're just gonna have to let him come to us when he's ready. And we have to stop treating him like a kid who needs to be taken care of. Even though he is. He has to decide he wants it before we can meet him there."

Silence settled over them as her words sank in. They made sense. If Knuckles were a dog, rescued from the fighting pits, you'd have to establish yourself as a safe place before getting too close. Let him realize he was safe before trying to establish any closer relationship. And while it hurt him to think of the echidna like that, based on what little he knew of Knuckles' history, it was heartbreakingly similar.

Wade had somehow broken through this defensive exterior Knuckles still wore around the Wachowski home. As much as it pissed Tom off, maybe he needed to swallow his pride and ask Wade just how he'd done it.

"He's such a proud little guy," Tom said, his voice softer. "Always watching out for danger, trying to protect us. I just wish he'd see that we want to do the same for him."

Maddie nodded, letting out a soft sigh. "I know. It kills me that he doesn't see himself as needing it. But I think he wants it. I've seen the way he looks at us when we hug Sonic or Tails. But if he catches me looking, he just turns and walks away."

Another awkward silence fell, broken only by the soft sounds of video game music from the living room.

"We just have to give him space," she said, and Tom could hear the frustration in her tone. The sadness. "Let him know we're here, but don't push it. As hard as it is, we're gonna have to leave it up to him to show us when he's ready to reach out."

Tom's heart clenched. He hated that idea. Waiting for this traumatized kid to decide he wanted love. Wanted to be part of the family. Knuckles apparently did want that closeness, otherwise he wouldn't be so buddy-buddy with Wade. He just wasn't ready to get it from the Wachowskis.

Yet.

"Yeah," Tom sighed, running a hand down his face before taking the laundry basket from her. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

They headed toward the laundry room, and Tom cast a quick glance in at Sonic and Tails, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV, game controllers in their hands.

It'd been so easy with them. They both had joined the family like they'd always been there.

He wished it was that way with Knuckles, too. He hated to think of the horrors the echidna had seen as he grew up. The hardships he'd gone through.

And Tom wanted nothing more than to tell him he didn't have to be afraid anymore. Didn't have to be so tough anymore. Didn't have to take care of himself, or be worried about being betrayed. That there were people who cared about him, wanted to love him, if only he'd let them.

He uttered another sigh. Time. It would just take time.

And they would just have to be patient.

[popculturebuffet]

Valentine's Comic Wedding Special IV: Archie''s Revenge: Bunnie and Antoine

Happy Valentine's Day all you Happy People! So for those new to this proud tradition, I love a good wedding episode, issue, what have you and so for the past 3 years i've had my patreons each pick one from the massive pile there is in comics, many of which I haven't read, and then you fine folks vote on the winner. In previous years it's been oops all superheroes, but this year I added a few non superhero weddings to the list my patreons, and yours truly could pick from. And this one, like last years Wally and Linda Wedding, was a landslide.

Yes by an overwhelming margin, WeirdKev's pick of Antoine and Bunnie won. It's honestly nice as it not only shows how strong the love for the Archie Sonic comics still is after nearly a decade out of print, beating out marvel, dc and the other archie option. On the bright side archie at least got a sponsorship deal on the wedding

I was pleased with these results: Antoine and Bunnie are some of archie's best characters and some of the main reasons i'm mad Sega won't let anyone what use them because their bitter lemons.

While the happy couple may not be superheroes they do have a history as vast, rich, weird and often exausting as them. Sonic's ongoing lasted for 24 years so it had plenty of time to build up as much continuity, good and chunky, as possible. A few years back I read through EVERY issue of Archie Sonic. It was.. truly exausting for reasons that will become clear as I dive into these two's history, but ultimately worth it. So join me for a deep dive into these two and their nuptials under the cut.

For starters Bunnie and Antoine actually debuted in SATAM, one of two sonic cartoons at the time each taking a diffrent approach. It's sister series Adventures was a wacky looney tunes style series where Sonic foiled Robotnik's wacky schemes and robotnik posed naked or near naked a few times, one of which my friend Mars proudly owns a cell of.

SATAM on the other hand took this shit seriously and took a turn that worked far better than it had any right: In the world of SATAM Robotnik isn't a goofy guy in various contraptions, but a cruel horrifying dictator voiced deftly by Jim Cummings. He still does schemes of the week at times, but instead of stuffing animals into cartoony robots he horrifyingly turns furries into milndless roboticized slaves. The only line between him and total world Domination are the freedom fighters, Sonic and his amazing friends who do daring raids on Robotnik's nightmare city of Robotropolis.

The Freedom Fighters exist because back then sonic's supporting cast was .. just Tails. There were sketches of characters, but with CD and Knuckles only on the horizon, early stuff had to get creative. Hence the freedom fighters: Leader, stratigest supreme, love intrest and princess Sally Acorn, Rotor the tech savy walrus (Tails hadn't picked up that trade yet), and of course Antoine and Bunnie. Bunnie was the muscle of the team, a rabbit who'd been partially roboticized but could use her cursed gift to help others. She wasn't in the show as much as she should've been but was well loved.

Antoine was more prominent.. and also an obnoxious asshat. Antoine was a self important twit who while deftly voiced by Rob Paulsen, pritoitsed trying to get into Sally's non existant pants over their life or death struggles and constantly resented sonic for having her affections and being cooler and actually doing his job. Antoine seemed to be only on the team because shut up. He was a coward, and while it's okay to have fear given the odds their against, he seemed really not cut out for this and given they had a villiage base, should've stayed there. Tails was protrayed as a tagalong kid here but he should've easily taken Antoine's spot as despite being greener, he had far more pasion and bravery than his older counterpart.

So while SATAM and Adventures were in development Archie Comics, they of the never ending love triangle that should really just be a polycule now, came a knockin. They TRIED to get the rights for adventures but instead got SATAM.. and being archie proceded to make a comic that had the premise of SATAM but stuck to their comedy wheelhouse. The comics would evolve past this as they went, largely thanks to MIcheal Gallagher (Who was still good with sticking in gags) and well.. Ken Penders

Who slowly grew to suck , but that's a story for another time.

Back on point the cast was transplanted as was. Antoine fit better here as being the douchey comedic foil works better in a comedy. He still had exactly no shot with Sally. For a while though he mostly stuck around as panicky comic relief and didn't really change much from SATAM, the only big change being he was less obnoxious... apart from his prosecuting sonic for treason, which he turned out to be innocent of. Again story for another time.

Bunnie however got fleshed out a bit. For starters she got a proper origin story, as rather than be with the team from day one with the initial mini or ongoing, she joined in issue 3. Sonic and Rotor got word of use of a portable robtocizer, via Rotor's Little Mermaid Camera, yes really, and found a rabbit farmer being captured by swat bots. Calling them a yankee did nothing and she was chucked in

Exausted for obvious reasons, Sonic ran Bunnie back, not carring if robotnik tracked them: saving someone in distress was more important. Sally agreed and Bunnie joined the team, proving to be an instant asset and the series break out star. While most of the focus was still on Sonic , as you'd expect, Bunnie got a consderable number of backup features. She never got a mini series like Tails and Sally, weirdly enough, but she still got more than enough spotlight to flesh her out and add a new dimension: While her robotic limbs made her super poewrful.. they felt like a curse. She wanted badly to be herself again and even had a nightmare one issue where robotnik hacked her cybernetics to slowly reoboticize her. It was the cornerstone of her character. And if you thinka southern accented hard hitting southren belle who has a tragic condition sounds familiar... your right. Bunnie was made more like Rogue from the x-men with time, even getting a leather jacket in the strips later years.. also a neat cowboy hat.

As the comic went on more twists turned, things got more serious, and as things escalated. And with all this Antoine's jealously MOSTLY disappeared, replaced as Sonic's rivarly by prized asshole and 19 year old Geoffery St John, because 19 was okay for a 15 year old back then as far as fiction was concerned.

Geoffery fucking hated sonic, partly out of jealously and partly because Sonic never gave the prick respect, constantly calling the freedom fighters "Ameturs" as he'd been fighting robotnik longer.. despite them having way more success. If he sounds punchable your extremley correct.. and it's someone acting on that that lead to Antoine's finest moment. After close to 50 issues, he got some character development when the freedom fighters, their allies the wolf pack and Geoffry all had a tense camp out.

Also present was Uncle Chuck, sonic's uncle who had been roboticized but got freed of it earlier in the comic and had since served as their spy on their inside, a kingsman who might let some things slide. Geoffery being nature's biggest dickhead, wasn't convinced Chuck was on the up and up, and figured he was a traitor. Sonic understandably popped the arrogant prick and certified pedophile one, and Geoffery less understandably prepared to kill sonic... till a hero emerged

Not only does Twan stand up to the asshole but he points out his DAD founded the underground Geoffery leads and accuses him of being a traitor. Sadly the skunk isn't but the issue does flesh out Twan considerably. He's revealed to be the son of King Acorn's most loyal soldier, wearing his father's uniform in his honor and actually starting as a hero, having apparnetly saved bunnie in backstory, a retcon I don't hate. His decline is blamed on his crush on Sally: his loyalty turned to love she never reciprocated and the depression over it broke him a little. But clearly seeing his dad's legacy coopted by this prized asshole relit his fire and from here on Antoine is a certified badass and master swordsman and all the better for it.

He's also no longer alone

It's not super sudden either: an earlierr backup had her protecting him when he did a solo missoin, showing off both his growing bravery and hinting at her crush on him. With this the two became a solid couple, the war soon ended and the comic... forgot about them.

The comic largely forgot about Bunnie, Antoine and also Rotor during it's post-robotnik era. Sally's father tried to get her to marry Antoine or give up her crown, yes really he was a right asshole, but when it came to the main plot the two were largely left out. It's a mixed bag: on the one hand seeing two of the series best characters benched, especially since Antoine had just hit his stride as one, is depressing. I didn't realize till writing this review just how little they did between robotnik's fall and the time skip. Their still on the team but Sonic, Sally and to a lesser extent Tails get all the focus.

There were two big developments: We found out what happened to Antoine's father Armand.. he became the evil high shierf while roboticized, terorizing Mercia, a small forest villiage protected by Rob O Hedge, amy's cousin. All stuff I didn't make up. They eventually got him back and eventually his mind was restored like all other robians.

The other was a bit more distressing: in a side story Bunnie found out her cybernetics were no longer working with her nervous system and had a choice: undergo upgrades, or die. She choose, with Antoine's support and love to go through with it. She'd never be free of her limbs, but she accepted them.

This also meant when some random ass aliens deroboticized almost everyone, Bunnie couldn't be, but it's something she accepted.

So yeah not much happened for the two. They were happy, they were stuck playing support in various nonsense overcomplicated plot lines I thankfully don't have to get into, things were good.

Sadly there IS a nonsense overcomplicated plot line I do have to get into. So Mobius what got invaded by starfish aliens and sonic seemingly died but instead spent what felt like a few months but ended up being a year to everyone else making his way back across the galaxy. This lead to a time skip. Which would be a great idea, I love a good time skip and after years of the status quo being kind of wobbly we were back to Eggman having the upper hand and our heroes on the backfoot, which could be seen as regressive but honestly worked.

The problem is most of Boller's other ideas.. didn't. He decided to shake up the main couples and had antoine don an eyepatch and break up with Bunnie, while Sally broke up with sonic because he woudln't stop fighting which she screamed at him for and slapped him.. despite the war being at it's worst again and badly NEEDING him and part of the deep shit they were in was due to his absence. It felt horribly selfish and out of character. Sally was the general for the rebellion previously. She knows the sacrifices needed. Sonic isn't doing this for the thrills like she thinks but because people need him and like a true hero he can't let good people get hurt.

This felt like an excuse to get Sonic and Bunnie which while sadly brief.. actually kinda worked. The two had chemistry before, it created tension and we could eventually find out WHY Antoine broke up with Bunnie. Instead this lasted maybe a second, and instead Bunnie ended up making out with Scourge, sonic's evil alternate universe counterpart who at the time looked just like him. If this sounds fucking gross it was. He made out with a bunch of people while pretending to be sonic. It's gross as it sounds and somehow gets more fucked up as he ended up kissing supporting character fiona fox.. who then started going out with sonic. Whose best friend tails had a crush on her and...

Eventually the comic imploded: Bollers left having trouble working for Ken Penders and Penders was fired for being impossible to work with and kinda nuts.

On his way out though he DID clear up the Bunnie and Antoine thing. And shockingly for Late Stage Ken Penders.. it was suprisingly simple. Antoine had been replaced by his Anti-Counterpart from the same evil universe as Scourge, who wanted the crown and started poisioning people: He poisned antoine's dad then poisoned Sally's dad so he could trick her into marrying him. Thankfulyl Antoine's dad had figured it out, Sonic stopped the wedding and got the real antoine back.

Thankfully after Ken and Karl... came Ian. Ian Flynn, as mentioned is a massive sonic fan, and already loving archie took a similar approach to superhero writers of the time: fix the mess he'd been left with while reminding people whyt hey loved these comics. He spent the first year largely playing clean up, tying up the various tangling threads left by the previous teams. He ended Sonic and Fiona with the whole "She was actually hot for Scourge thing", turned Scourge into scourge in the first place going from a greaser sonic to a real true evil counterpart, refocusing sally's character, and brought tails parents back from space. All mostly done by just.. writing a story around it instead of trying to hastily retcon all the stupid shit.

Naturally that ship writing included Antoine and Bunnie, who were back to being prominent and got a subplot leading to their nuptials. It was a small one and moved fast, but it was nice to give them something, and lead to a full honeymoon arc I already covered some time back . It also implied as hard as an all ages comic could they what did sex to each other

Which let's be fair here: their both hot , their both 18 and over respectively, why not? He knows the fanbase. Their both smokeshows. Let bunnie use those special attachments while Antoine shows off his swordplay. Before we get to the consumation of the marriage we had the marriage itself. The buildup started with a tragedy: Due to all the evil doppleganger shit, Armand died. The story is deeply touching, and seems to be pulled from Flynn's own pain as he dedicated it to his late mother. Armand tells his son how proud he is, not to be ashsamed or blame himself, and to hold onto bunnie. It's a truly wonderful story and a good way to send off the character.

This feels like the big push towards it... though earlier in the story he was already considering it before sonic told him to go to his father. The final push comes after Fiona's betrayal: with a bunch of their enemies loose, one of their own having betrayed them, and things getting more and more dire Antoine decides to do something about it..

After some talking with Sally, who put the two on a mission right away but really just wanted a chance ot talk with Bunnie and apologize for being so distant, the wedding is soon on the issue after the proposal. After all the whole reason he proposed was they don't know how much time they have left. Why wait?

So we've finally come to the actual wedding. Sonic is getting tuxed up in his house, happy to go STAGGGGG after the whole fiona debacle, and heading off to in his words "Go bug the groom". Never change man, never change.

Sonic is going with Tails, who isn't living with his surrogate brother as his parents, as I will never get tired of saying, came back from outer space something the little guy is overjoyed about. He actually likes thier fussing over him like Sonic's Mom does asking him not to run in his nice suit. Maam that's his thing and he has two genuises in his friend group and one for an uncle. If none of them could make fabric that won't roll around at the speed of sound that's on them.

Tails isn't all smiles though as he's still going through some stuff.

Now Fiona and Tails.. is a pretty sad tale all things considered. He fell in love with a robot copy of her.. but that copy was the same age as him. Tails is ten, fiona is 16 and never remotely took his crush seriously, brushing it off when he finds out about her and sonic and when betraying everybody, making sure to hit the poor kid in the face. This is also nice build up for later: Sonic just kinda brushes it off.. and that's part of the problem as Tails is still understandably feeling betrayed his big brother went out with his crush, and this all boils over soon in the excellent house of cards arc. Rather than just milk shit for drama, Ian milks shit for drama.. but couches it in the characters. Sonic SEEMS uncaring because he's laid back and chill and dosen't realize how hurt his friend is or how much tails has grown.

So they go to someone's basement where the Chaotix are trying to help Antoine's nerves.

Why Rotor is absent I have no clue. The Chaotix in this continuity were Knuckles best friends, allies and squad, all coming from angel island themselves.

It is kinda nice vector is trying to help as he's a bit of a playboy in these comics, while Charmy is indeed married. Or at least engaged. It also makes his words here tragic as after this he suffers severe brain damage to put him in line with his child counterpart from heroes.

Espio is absent as he's on a mission, sneaking into the Eggman Empire to find out what he's up to. We'll cut back and forth to him all issue and it's a ncie contrast: the truly happy day at the wedding with everyone in good spirits and reflecting on their own romantic troubles.... while Espio uncovers a terrifying secret: Eggman is gearing up for a massive assault complete with fresh body armor and easily incapacitates him. As our heroes have one of the best days of their lives.. one of the darkest is coming. Again though..

It's one I really want to cove ras the fight between Eggman and Sonic next issue is fucking brutal. Truly fantastic. I honestly might need to cover ian's run after giant days. May have to find someone to sponsor it.

For now though Sonic's bored and goes to the bride to bug them instead. Rosie, Sally's old baby sitter and mother figure while her mom was in a coma tube, decides to use another rose to deal with this

It's a fucking great gag. And yeah Amy at this point is still in her obessive fangirl mode. She's also 12, her body just got what aged up to a teenager. I ship her more with Tails for that reason and because it's always been a ship in my back pocket. NOt against Sonamy mind now she's stopped making stalker rooms or trying to force him into marriage, it just does not work in this continuity. She's too young and he's interested in someone else.

We get some really sweet interactions here as Sally brings up how in her first apperance Bunnie wanted to be her hair stylist. And she will be... it's just now as a side thing for her friend inbetween time with her husband and beating up badniks. They even have a giggle when Rosie and Bunnie tease Sally about Sonic. Sally, like her ex, is happy riding solo for now. Sure hope she dosen't get turned into a robot before anything happens and dosen't get freed because of rights issues> That'd really suck.

It's time for the Wedding as Sonic arrives with Knuckles and runs into Knuckles girlfriend, soulmate and sonic character I dearly miss Julie Su. Julie is a had scrable former soldier and that's why he loves her. She also hates formal wear and how she looks in it, though knuckles he er.. tries to make her feel better

I love this scene, the little banter and the fact neither really want or need to get married. It's neat for a sonic comic of all things to have such a progressive stance for it's time. It's also understandable from a character perspective; both are highly indepent and both's parents had... less than stellar marriages. Knuckles parents divorced while he thought they were dead, with his mom remarying and having another son Kneecaps, and Julie Su's birth parents abandoned her. Her foster parents are doing fine but I get maybe not wanting to get married with all that baggage.. or you know just because you don't want to.

So sonic arrives to meet the royal family. Max, the asshole I mentioned whose left in a wheel chair after the poison, his wife Alicia, and sally's long lost brother I mentiond Elias. I joked about that but while his introduction is needlessly convoluted Elias is a fascinating character and Ian will use him well. He never WANTED the crown, and in fact ran away, finding his wife Megan and soon marrying her and adopting her daughter. He only returned when the kingdom needed him to lead as things got worse with Max, but does a stellar job. He later gets to run my faviorite incarnation of the freedom fighters, the secret freedom fighters.

Despite all the lingering tension... Sonic and Sally still fall back into their old routines.. and the spark is still there.. even if both are.. not exactly ready to reignite it.

We get some omnious setup for a future arc as Tails dad Amedeaus talks about how it's an honor to serve Elias.. and then behind his back admits he soon won't have much more power anyway. This leads to the whole house of cards arc. Seriously while this issue is good it is very hard to talk about a single piece of Ian Flynn's sonic. Like Chris CLaremon'ts x-men it's really one big ongoing story nicely chonked up into arcs and what not.

And so the two are married in a touching ceremony as Espio nearly dies overlaid with it. And we end on.. er Eggman preparing to kill a whole lotta people. See what I mean?

This issue is decent. The sentiment is nice, the sally and bunnie scene are nice and I really do like the contrast between this very happy day.. and the impending doom awaiting our heroes. It's a solid issue with some good moments... but on re-read it's not nearly as good as it was the first time. On Re-Read I noticed just how.. little Antoine and Bunnie play into their own wedding issue: we get a really nice moment of Bunnie and sally.. but Antoine dosen't get anything like that with Sonic, just him being really sweaty while Vector and Charmy of all people try to calm him down. I get their not as close but you could still pull on their long rivarly and it was clear fromt he previous issue just how much Antoine had grown. Instead most of the focus is on Sonic's love tornado, tails depression and setup for later. The setup is damn good.. but it feels like this could've been two issues instead of one but Ian wanted to continue the tradition, upheld to this day, of every 25th issue of sonic being a big deal. A huge story turning point. The resulting story feels great but it rushes the wedding out as a result. There isn't reflection on how they got here, not enough hyjinks.. it just happens really fast and it's over and time for the horror show to start. It's easier to notice in isolation as before i'ts sandwitched betwene Fiona's brutal betryal and the big wham episode that's the next arc.

Thankfully the two would get more spotlight in a tails adventure adaptation of all things, because Ian unlike the writers before him gave a shit about these games and noticed they missed one. The marriage would mostly just be really happy and the two would get used more often.. until tragedy struck and Bunnie was deroboticzed while Antoine was left in a coma, both not resolved as Ken Penders and rights issues meant a reboot came.

Thankfully in the reboot both got plenty of stories, stayed married, and reflected on things, ending the second continuity happy. And we have fan comics to pick up the slack elsewhere. Still this was a nice milestone and with Sega being anti-relationship, I don't see the lemur and wolf wedding we all want and deserve coming anytime soon, so this may be the last sonic wedding. I mean there was that one in Sonic 2 but I don't think traps to catch our heroes count... I mean for these polls they do but we won't be doing that one. Thanks for reading , have a happy valentin'es day and remember, i'm pullin for you, we're all in this together and if you liked this consider checking out the Giant Days retrospective I did yesterday.

[etaleah]

Why Not Ship Sonic with Knuckles Instead?

Why is it that, when Shadow and Knuckles have such similar personalities and dynamics with Sonic, do some people prefer to ship Sonic with Shadow instead of Knuckles? Wouldn’t a Sonic and Knuckles relationship offer the same thing and be more believable since those two are friends?

The answer (in my opinion) is no, it would not, and here’s why I find a Sonic and Knuckles relationship both less believable and less interesting.

(Disclaimer that I’m not knocking anyone who does like the ship. I have no problem with it; it’s just not for me)

Now the first issue I would see with a Sonic and Knuckles pairing is logistics. Knuckles is stationary; Sonic is free-roaming. Never being able to stay in one place for long is a big part of Sonic’s character, and staying in one place for a long time is kind of Knuckles’ whole thing. He guards the Master Emerald and never leaves Angel Island unless he has to, and never for very long if he can help it. Having to stay in an isolated place for a long time would drive Sonic crazy. Maybe a good fanfic writer could reconcile this by playing up the “being in love with you makes me want to stay” schtick, but even that I think would only work for so long. Knuckles wants to stay where he is because that’s his home and he feels an obligation to it. Sonic wants to travel and go where he pleases. And while we don’t know where Shadow lives, it’s safe to assume he’s probably living at least a somewhat nomadic lifestyle because the one permanent home he did have was destroyed. So I think he and Sonic would work better just from that standpoint if nothing else. Shadow has moved on from his past, but Knuckles is still very much tethered to his.

My other issue is that these characters don’t clash over the same things. As I mentioned in my Sonadow post, Sonic and Shadow fight over serious ideological differences that both are equally passionate about defending. When Sonic and Knuckles fight, however, it’s usually because Knuckles got tricked into falling for an Eggman scheme that almost any other character would have immediately seen right through. There are exceptions to this, I’m sure, like in the movie where they fight over which parent was on the right side in the war, but a lot of times they fight because Knuckles is just so dang gullible. Instead of both of them being passionate, it’s more one-sided where Knuckles is passionate but Sonic is smirking at what a dumbass he thinks his friend is. I don’t find that nearly as satisfying to explore and write about.

There’s other factors as well. I think Shadow would be drawn to Sonic because he reminds him of Maria. They’re both blue and kind-hearted, they both love the world and want to protect it, and they both want to explore and hate being trapped in one place for a long time (only in Maria’s case, she can’t really do anything about it). Knuckles doesn’t really have anyone like that in his life. There’s not really any reason for him to be drawn to Sonic in that way, at least no more so than he would be drawn to Amy, Tails, or any other good-hearted person in the series. He admires Sonic for his bravery and good morals, sure, but I imagine he admires Cream for the same reason. The only family we see Knuckles have (outside the Ken Penders comics) is his dad, who always just kinda seems like an older version of Knuckles. Shadow being with Maria makes me think of Shadow being with Sonic, while Knuckles being with his dad just makes me think of Knuckles being with his future self.

And finally, there’s the speed. Only Shadow is a match for Sonic in a race. Knuckles could beat Sonic in a fight, where it’s a contest of strength and power, but he could never beat Sonic in a race. Only Shadow can keep up with him in a race. And I just think there’s something romantic and cool about that.

Knuckles and Shadow may have a lot in common, but they are not the same character. And neither is their dynamic with Sonic.

[true-blue-sonic]

Based on his personality traits, what kind of kid would make a good Tails/Marine type sidekick for Silver?

That's a good question I find difficult to answer, because every time I consider the idea of Silver having a younger sidekick, I get a very strong "no that is wrong" feeling, haha! That's presumably because Silver's always been teamed up with people who "act older" than he does, namely Blaze, Espio, and arguably Knuckles in Forces and the prequel comics. Silver's definitely not a kid sidekick, but in my mind he works better as the younger and more hotheaded person of a duo wherein there's a more quiet and logical (on the surface) person helping him out. But then in the same vein, I do see Silver as either the full decision-maker or someone on equal standing with his partner. So he fills an interesting niche in my mind when it comes to the "role" he fills as part of a duo or a group: while he's certainly The Leader, he's in the same vein someone who needs a companion who helps with decisions and lend a hand behind the scenes. He encompasses both leader traits and simultaneously traits of a sidekick who the leader must help, if that makes sense. Silver's dual nature, my beloved <3

But that being said, Tails and Marine are both foils towards Sonic and Blaze, respectively. Where Sonic is the embodiment of confidence, Tails is more insecure and humble about his achievements. Where Blaze is withdrawn, doesn't like being called by her title as Highness, and has a burdened past because of her responsibilities, Marine is completely full of herself, firmly convinced she's the boss before her character development, and definitely more sociable but also yearning for adventure because her life has been dull for years. So a kid sidekick for Silver would then presumably follow the same principle of said sidekick having opposing core traits as he does. Let's see...

Silver is fully confident around his abilities and is quite full of himself at times, has a strong sense of justice, has a heart of gold and a strong desire to help others, enjoys seeing smiles and lovely sceneries and gets sad when there's people jeopardising these, is extremely honest to a fault and therefore doesn't always get believed even though he's always right in the end, has a rather black-and-white mindset wherein his perspective is The Right One and people who don't share it are against him in the Rivals games especially, is a bit snotty and competitive at times and seems to enjoy brawling... I think with those characteristics, a kid sidekick with a similar personality as Tails seems the most fitting if we're going true foil here XD

Hmm, but that is boring, since Tails as a character already exists. One interesting thing about Silver is his honesty: in Rivals 2 he gets into a fight with Knuckles because he (objectively correctly) indicates the Chao are needed to save the world, for which Knuckles deems him crazy. In a Sonic Channel story from 2021, he doesn't get believed by Soleannan officials when he tells them he knows a bridge is going to collapse because he's from the future, even insisting to Sonic that that's the truth of the matter (which, also here, it is, haha). Since Silver's blunt, straight-to-the-point, and completely honest demeanours are therefore a core part of his personality, I think it'd be interesting if a kid sidekick is not that. But then immediately on the other hand, Silver wouldn't hang out with liars for sure if he values honesty so much XD The same goes with his sense of justice, which is often noted in bios and also seen in the games: Silver wouldn't waste his time on an unjust person, because the trait of justice (and honesty too) by its very nature cannot get along with someone who is not that. So I find it difficult to conclude what characteristics a true younger foil for Silver would have to embody to fall in the same category of sidekick as Marine and Tails are without becoming too much like those two, to be quite honest. But if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear about them!

UPDATE: asked a friend and she stated Venice as I wrote him in my very first fic ever, Belong: "someone quiet who does not at all want to be involved in things, whereas Silver is hotheaded and throws himself headfirst into any conflict". So someone very withdrawn who doesn't like brawling and fighting in the slightest, then!

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Amy Propaganda

"Despite the fact that Sonic has said outright that she is important to him and someone he's glad to have around, fans choose to ignore that she is shown to be a good friend and has lots of friends- Cream, Big, Tails, Blaze, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge(? They didn't seem to get along, but she invited Rouge to her birthday), Vector, Espio, Silver, E-102 Gamma, Elise, Belle, Sticks, and again, Sonic- in favor of pretending that she is a creepy, obsessive fanatic and a stalker who forces herself into Sonic's life and the lives of those around him without ever being wanted. It's quite frankly disturbing."

Kairi Propaganda

"The Kingdom Hearts game series is about Mickey Mouse battling the forces of Darkness with an alliance of fashionable anime boys. Kairi is a major character, and one of the few female characters. She is part of a trio of childhood best friends, with the protagonist Sora and their other friend Riku (who had a villain arc and then a redemption arc). Though Kairi is constantly and clumsily sidelined by the canon narrative, she arguably has more backstory going on than any other major characters. She is a refugee from another planet. She implicitly lost her beloved grandma at five years old in the traumatic destruction of their hometown. She was kidnapped and experimented on by an evil wizard-scientist—she escaped thanks to having a magic charm that basically teleported her to her soulmate(s). Then she had to adjust to living on a new planet and being adopted by a new family. In the very first game, when she's 14, she turns out her pure heart is one of 7 in the entire universe to be free of Darkness—she shows a full emotional spectrum of fear, sadness, frustration, defeat, but she isn't vulnerable to corruption. In KH2, she becomes one of the Chosen Ones who wield a magical weapon called a Keyblade. She loves her friends very much, and she has the unique talent to instantly recognize them even when they've been transformed into monsters. She has saved them several times with nothing but the Power Of Love in her heart randomly manifesting in, like, telepathy and teleportation and resurrection—she doesn't even consciously know that she has powers, her love is just so great that it's accepted as a tangible force of nature. She is frustrated and ashamed by her role as a damsel in distress, and she wishes to be stronger and combat-capable so that she join her male friends on their adventures instead of waiting around where it's safe. Also she was kidnapped by an evil assassin clown who's ten years older than her, and then they became friends. NOT ONLY does the fandom plug its ears and claim there is nothing interesting about this character and no potential in her story—Kairi has been demonized by the fandom for about 20 years. Somehow Kairi is useless and boring while also being a Mary Sue at the same time. She was called a bitch and a slut and a whore. She was hated for wearing too much pink and wielding a girly weapon with a floral design. She was criticized as a slut for wearing a short skirt, and for THE PLAYER being able to manipulate the camera into a contrived angle to look up her skirt to see her panties in the first edition of KH2. You can find nearly 20-year-old fanfiction and fanart of her being twisted into an evil schemer driving her friends apart, and of her being gleefully brutalized and insulted. Haters STILL comb for every crumb to make elaborate anti-canon theories about why she's an agent of evil, even though canon has FIRMLY ESTABLISHED for TWENTY YEARS since the very beginning that she's THE ONE CHARACTER incapable of growing Darkness in her heart. The theory is that she exists only as a puppet sent by the main villain to sabotage her friends (the plot for two out of the four main female characters) for all ten years of their friendship. The theory is that she's been using her powers to force her friends to love her—and their Power Of Friendship that is the EMOTIONAL BACKBONE OF THE STORY, and THE MAJOR FORCE OF GOOD IN THEIR UNIVERSE, and THE MOST CONSISTENT MOTIVATION FOR THE HEROES is all Just Misdirection LOL building up to a shitty Plot Twist. The theory is that she's secretly a custom-manufactured Chirithy (a cute talking animal companion that serves and guides humans)—and not a human girl with her own natural feelings and aspirations. AND THEN after stripping her of every important trait and role, these fans claim they're making Kairi more important and interesting than she is in canon. I don't know what causes the fandom to so desperately hate a sweet 14-year-old girl who literally canonically never did anything wrong."

[sonicasura]

You got no idea Sonic. And at least in this au this fact won't be forgotten as easy as there are plenty of incidents that will remind everyone of this for years to come.

And while this is going on, they are still going through a lot of files thye have stolen from the organization. And one of these files as a list of the newest targets to be 'picked up' in a few years. Which ends up in Keiji, Gen, Eiji and several platoon leaders having to physcially restrain and hold down a now very enraged Isao who found out Kikoru's name is on that list.

So is the rest of every canon Third Division rookie as well for that matter. Things would have gone bad for the kids if it had not been for the fact the organization fate is sealed when No 9 gets to know of them.

But over to our suffering himbo hm? The second and third month is when the special tests, tasks and even the beginning of Kafka's training starts. It all strats slow though as none is willing to hurry up on this. They want accurate info and don't want to have to do this more times than necessary as none want Kafka to have an episode from the stress and whatnot.

It is also here where they finally begin to see Kafka's older self showing up more. Slowly becoming the lovely goof we know he his. His manchild behavior will also start to show as well once the fourth or fifth month comes by. And despite his vocal cords still being damaged somewhat by this point, Kafka will try to communicate more with Mina at first, then with Soshiro and Okonogi as well.

They also learn by the second month that it is best for those who are scientists, doctors and whoever else wear similare grabs of lab coats, scrubs and what else to wear something more casual when near Kafka. And learns to hide their instruments and equipment in bags and such when Kafka start to allow them taking blood samples and stuff instead of Mina doing it. Granted, none of them dare doing any of that without the woman being present. And any of the more daring ones gets little chance in trying as such.

Speaking of the swordman and the operation leader, both Soshiro and Okonogi has quite the experiance when it comes to Kafka. The Kafka they are seeing now and the one Mina will tell them about late into the night, is so vastly different it gives the two whip lash.

However, they come to like Kafka. Both of who he was before and even the one he currently is. Despite all that has happened to him, some of his old self remain and he still has his way in charming into peoples hearts without issue. As well as still being Soshiro's favorite target to tease at. Though in this au, Soshiro is a lot more conscious and careful in how to do that.

He also the one who ends up training Kafka on how to properly control his kaijus strangth, combatability, the seven tail blades and much more. Though he and Mina has to call the captain and vice-captain in for some help in this matter.

First thing first though. By the half-way mark of the third month its finally time for some brain scans and boy due they show clear sign of various forms of brain damaged that Kafka has suffered. Luckyly it seems to be finally healing. But it is still bad enough experts are called in to make sure theres the equimpent and data is not messing with them. And ends up with them somehow managing to find someone who is willing to become Kafka's therapist to help him properly heal.

Isao would go scorch earth if something like that happened to Kikoru. Although this might have made him how much of a dick he's been to her ever since Hikari died. The fact she's a target alone means they are more aware about Kikoru's schedule and life than he is, enough to make her vulnerable.

Kafka would give someone whiplash by comparing his past/present behaviors. It is a good sign though that he is mentally recovering. Nobody still wants to poke the kaiju in fear of a relapse or episode. This is a very very delicate situation. Even moreso with the brain damage now being known knowledge.

I can only imagine the therapy sessions with him being so awkward.

[asoulofatlantis]

The game throws these at you like there is no tomorrow, right when you start the game. I zones out after the first two and I feel like I missed out on some important stuff ^^'

H-How the hell do you train while loading or game-over? O.o

I think you can tell that this will be a more story-heavy game then most Sonic-Games were, just by the fact that it starts with an Eggman-Cutscene.

I don't know why games these days love to pretend they are glitching? I've seen that A LOT in games lately. I know mostly it shows you that you are in Cyberspace or something like that... but especially right at the beginning of a game it seems rather weird. Like... is this supposed to happen? ^^'

I think I accidentally crashed my game...

Sonic is such a showoff. Despite everything it still feels like his chances to die in a plane-crash are much higher than Tails - and if you remember how often the Tornado has crashed already with Tails in it, that has to mean something XD

(BTW... I love Sonic games. Its a big part of my childhood. We had a Sega Mega Drive for whatever reason and I always watched my Cousins play Sonic games. And when I was older I owned Sonic 3 and Knukkles on PC and my former best Friend and I played it in Co-Up-Mod. HOWEVER I always played Tails because I was so bad at those games that playing Sonic myself would have gotten us constantly Game Over. These days... sadly, no one plays these games with me anymore ((I am such a loner and the few people that I have in my life don't like to play - or at least not games like these...)) so I have to play them myself. But... you will see, I suck at them XD)

Does this count as crashing the Tornado? Because I feel like singing "Oooops! Sega did it again! It crashed to Tornado..." or something XD Its like a classic running-gag at this point ^^'

I play this on easy, this is the fucking first stage and I've got a C. Can you believe that? That is embarrassing!

It won't get any better than this I fear ^^' In fact, you better get used to seeing the letter "C" A LOT XD

I feel like this is the first time you actually see Sonic being in pain after a fall.

Are Hedgoges called rodents in other countries? We would rather say that to a mouse or rat here.

So... I may or may not accidentally put party-clothes on Sonic and an happy birthday song in the background by accident. I would like to change that but I don't know how to get out of here and back into the menu...

I am not sure if I was supposed to run into that thing just yet. I do not feel ready at all.

And I fucked it up already XD But the game neglected to tell me how to parry BEFORE the fight ^^'

I believe they do not let you save while in the tutorial. Hense... why Sonic still looks like this ^^'

Soooo... can I finally save now? ^^'

My first impression of the game at the current "Just after the tutorial" - Moment is that the handling of Sonic is not very easy. And he is... slow when you don't boost ^^' I am used to him rolling around at the speed of sound, if you get me XD Fighting might need some... uh... WeMod help too, if I take a closer look at my next Guardian-Enemy *lol*

But lets continue for now...

He appears to be quite calm despite his circumstances ^^'

I really suck at fighting. Especially those guardians. I am not even sure if any cheating will help here, to make up for my skill-issues...

I remember that scene from the Trailers. We Sonamy-Shippers were screaming XD

Sonics reaction was short but shippable nothing the less ♥

Ah yes, stuff like this gives me life, I tell you.

We gave her our heart XD

Ups! I guess Sonic got a bit hurt in the process...

[dogydayz]

Not to vague post, and this is especially not anything against the person who brought this to my mind, but I feel the need to make sure people know this since I post a LOT about how I like Sonadow and don't wanna attract the wrong crowds-

I'm NOT okay with Sonadow depictions that are abusive. I'm not okay with ANY abusive ships being seen as cute or romantic. That's a huge thing for me, and it's super triggering to see people romanticize abuse and shit.

HOWEVER. I do not view the rivalry aspect to them as inherently "abusive" so long as it's depicted in a way that's like. Mutual. They enjoy it. They enjoy competing and battling and shit. Because I totally love that idea for them, and even think it's a tad odd when they're shown as /only/ being super affectionate, since their rivalry is sort of intrinsic to their relationship. They're basically perfect for competing with one another, and I've even shown in my Razor AU that I tend to go with the idea that, similarly to the cosmic rule of Sonic and Tails being brothers, Sonic and Shadow are like. Destined to be rivals. Literally star-crossed rivals. They are somewhat of equals in their abilities, they can learn one anothers' powers too, and they both have weird natural Chaos energy. They bounce off one another perfectly emotionally and competitively. THAT'S a huge part to their relationship! (I have no actual problems with the more affectionate depictions of them, I just generally like to show their competitions AS their affection at times. Their fights are like dances. I think that's a wonderfully interesting concept for a ship!)

I will say that their dynamic is very much one of those "it works in fiction, but it wouldn't work super well in reality". Like, their traits are too extreme for reality by default, and their dynamic would, in the real world, simply not work out well since they'd be humans and deal with Human Issues. The fact of the matter is that there are things that CAN BE FINE IN FICTION, but not in reality (do NOT spin this to mean i'm okay with actual proshipper-type shit. That's NOT what im talking about. What i'm talking about is more like.... Like, pairings that would be unstable irl due to lack of environmental control and how human psychology works but can work in fiction because of expanded possibilities that already exist in fiction, such as characters who are assassins but aren't immediately bad guys and shit).

Which is kinda why I got so shocked by some of the tags on AO3 Sonadow fics, because I sorta neglected to consider that there are people who DO depict it as abusive.

Another note is that I like to stick to an older canon for Shadow, but I often like to use details from more modern media for him. Which is probably why I don't see their rivalry and the possibilities for them to have a relationship more than just friends (whether it be qpr or romantic, i dont really care since i'm an enjoyer of both) as really bad. Because I don't really consider the more recent times where they've battled and Shadow's been more "nasty" to him as how I base things on (excluding the Twitter Takeovers since those go off-script and Kirk does his damn best to make Shadow actually more like who he truly is there, so I see those as positive depictions of their banter).

Maybe this post wasn't needed, maybe it could've been assumed by how I talk about them, however it was weighing on my mind to make sure people understand how I feel about this whole topic, because I do need to recognize that there ARE very problematic and gross depictions of the ship and I do NOT support them. So when I reblog art of the guys fighting and shit, just do know that this is how I tend to view it, I'm not at all trying to seem like I'm romanticizing abusive behaviors or anything, I just like the different ways they could be interpreted as rivals and/or as partners

[mama-qwerty]

The Curious Case of Miles Prower

Okay, so because I should be working on the next chapter of Fall of the Status Quo, or the next part of my Eclipse intro story, I instead wrote this. Because I can’t stop thinking about the adorable-ness that is the de-aged Tails art of @dakt37

Seriously, it’s freaking adorable. Check it out if you haven’t already.

This isn’t much, but I thought it was a good intro to the plot.

~~~~~

Sonic stared at the little two-tailed fox, currently curled and napping on the floor.

“Tails,” he muttered to himself, a tired groan mixed in with the words. “What have you done to yourself?”

The boy didn’t answer, instead curling into a tighter ball. His twin tails flicked at the tips, twitching with whatever dream the kit was having.

Running a hand down his face, Sonic heaved a sigh. His brilliant best friend slash adopted little brother usually took detailed notes about whatever invention or experiment he was working on at any given time. But sometimes—like this time, apparently—the fox got a little too caught up in his brainwork, and would only write notes once the burst of inspiration had faded.

Unfortunately, it would seem he’d never write those notes, now.

Because he was currently about three years old.

At least, that’s how old Sonic thought he was. He’d been about four when the hedgehog had originally found him, being bullied by some older kids for having an extra tail. Had he been this little then? The fox seemed littler now, but maybe it was because Sonic was older? He himself had only been about 11 when they’d met, so still just a little kid himself.

Was that only four years ago? Seemed like a much longer time. Seemed like they’d known each other forever.

Sonic sighed again, sitting heavily on a workbench stool. He glanced over the mess strewn across the bench itself—tools, papers, pencils, bits and bobs of various machines in various states of repair—and felt a sense of helplessness. “I have a system,” Tails had told him once. “I know it looks like a mess, but it makes sense to me. Don’t touch anything!”

Your ‘system’ leaves a lot to be desired, buddy, Sonic thought, glancing back at the kit on the floor. How can we fix this when we don’t even know what you were doing in the first place?

Tails gave a little squeak in his sleep, and Sonic’s ears twitched, instantly flicking toward him. The boy twitched, caught in the web of bad dreams, and a whine escaped his little throat.

Without thinking, Sonic bent to scoop the boy into his arms, bringing the kit up to cuddle against him. Tails curled tighter for a second, before uttering another squeak and turning his face into the soft fur of the hedgehog’s chest.

“You’re okay,” Sonic soothed, holding his now much littler brother close. “You’re safe. I’ve gotcha.”

Another sound left the boy’s throat, this time a kind of grunt. Then he uncurled, reaching his little arms around to cling to Sonic and hug him tight.

A lump formed in the hedgehog’s throat. Had Tails been this little back when Sonic first found him? At four, he must not have been much larger than this. What possessed him to think that he, at only 11, would be capable of taking care of someone else, especially one so young?

All their early adventures flittered through his mind then. The danger. The risks. Sure, he’d done his best to keep Tails safe and unharmed, but, again, he was ELEVEN YEARS OLD at the time. Not exactly an age that’s known for good ideas and sound decisions.

He thought about the kids around the village who were about that age, and his chest tightened. He wouldn’t trust any of them with a four year old, even in the confines of a village with other people around. Yet, he’d run around other islands, dragging a literal baby with him, without a second thought.

This stomach clenched at what could have happened. How many times Tails could’ve been hurt. Or worse. Because of his lust for adventure.

“I’m sorry, Tails,” Sonic said, his voice soft. He nuzzled Tails’ head, and the boy uttered a soft purr. “I haven’t been the best big brother. I just . . . didn’t know better. But I’ll make sure you’re taken care of now. I promise.”

Tails sighed, snuggling deeper into Sonic’s chest fur. His twin tails split, curling around either side of the hedgehog’s waist.

~~~

Like this? Check out my other snippets. Reblogs are appreciated!

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

Headcannon that tails’s came across his past bullies at one point and are actually sorry for bullying him after hearing how much he’s a hero by using his tails. They’re not friends but they’re on okay terms with Tails now.

That would be an interesting story beat to have Tails go through where he deals with certain traumatic experiences he dealt with in his youth with the bullies being one of them.

But....maybe a slight twist to it? Perhaps?

Have it be where they would now think differently of him and try to make amends because people know who he is, but it’s because of the fact he is a part of Team Sonic and is Sonic’s partner in heroism the main reason why they want to make amends.

If they know him, they will get to know all the other heroes through him for their own personal gain.

Now Tails is a smart kiddo, being raised by Sonic and growing up around the other heroes allowed him to have different insights of how people are and the differences of the relationships between friends, allies and enemies can transform over time if given the chance.

So when they show back up, he is understandably tense and uneasy, they’re much older than when he last saw them during their last encounter, as well a bit taller.

He is also aware that it seems pretty odd and sus that after so long, the small duo/group of kids would suddenly be wanting to make amends for the pain they inflicted on him all those years ago when he wasn’t able to defend himself, and act like they always wanted to be friends with him, saying that they made fun of him cause they were jealous of his intellect and his tails, etc.

Tails just stares at them after listening to their reasonings for a while, and he only says this to them in a single sentence with an emotionless tone in his voice,

"Why do you think that I'm even worth talking to or even being looked upon in a positive light now, when you made it so obvious that I wasn't worth anything before?"

And with that, he turns and leaves them with that statement swimming in their heads, turning his back on them.

[thejitterbug]

so I finally watched all of the 8 episodes so far for sonic prime and it’s a really cute show. very much marketed towards kids but also has enough to keep older audiences engaged along with some references that fans can pin point. It’s not perfect but it gets better with every episode imo.

Prime is like a sonic meets a multiverse of madness/everything everywhere all at once. the writing isn’t perfect as the pacing gets a little crazy when sonic goes from one dimension into the next all within the span of few episodes but the universe within new yolk city (so corny lol) seems to be the focus for now while the others such as the jungle and pirate universes are on the side. makes me curious to see what other universes they will explore in the future.

It’s a stark contrast with sonic’s characterization from frontiers. This sonic is more juvenile in this adaptation which isn’t bad considering he’s a teenager and acts on impulse rather than thinks before he acts which is classic sonic nature. what I do admire is the fact that Sonic recognizes his faults and mistakes throughout the episodes. we see how he goes from being careless to realizing his actions have affected everyone he knows and loves. he realizes that all of this chaos has happened because he didn’t listen to tails and should’ve. and now he has to fix this and also help those in the other universes. I can see more development in his character when they plan on releasing future episodes and also his appreciation for his friends will grow even more.

humor wise it kinda reminds me of sonic lost world but it has its moments where the jokes land whereas lost world didn’t really land jokes correctly. there were a bunch of funny moments with the characters but the puns could be dialed down a bit haha

I also really dig Sonic’s new voice actor. His voice is super animated and colorful and deven mack really seals the deal. the other voice actors in the cast also sell good performances especially Nine Tails who uses a more darker toned voice. Also Ik I’m a rouge stan but she really kicks ASS in this show. she’s a leader (and a baddie) and I’m glad she’s given time in the spotlight whereas she’s been more on the sidelines in previous adaptations. I’m glad she’s recognized as an important character and we see her shine as Rebel and Prim.

Overall it’s a really cute series and I enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. I’m curious to see what else they do for the future episodes and what else they can explore since the multiverse concept is a very broad concept. and who knows if other fan fave characters could show up. we have shadow and I hope they utilize him more in the story too cuz that cliffhanger ending really made me wanting a lot more. I can say that we ended 2022 on a nice note for sonic and I’m hoping 2023 is gonna be another good year for him :)

[hext00ns]

I am curious about your hunger au? could I know more about it?

👁👁 hi yes hello absolutely 100% [slaps the pause button on Ed-Aid]

Okay okay. So like I fully intend to write this au at soooome point but I don’t have the time rn but IT WILL HAPPEN BY GOD IT WILL

Also a fair warning this a horror au and is VERY dark like murder canabalism kinda dark all the main characters are very morally gray and that’s sorta the whole appeal (at least for me) and once I start writing I fully intend there to be main characters death so yk if that’s not your thing here is ur warning (tho I’m not gonna go like. Mega into detail here as this is just gonna be a basic run through of the au)

ANYWAYS so!!! This au basically takes place in this small town where our main protag Shadow Kintober lives! He lives with his older sister Maria and their little cousin Hope all of them unfortunately orphaned after the death of their last family member, Grandpa Gerald Kintober a good number of years back. Maria is still sick in this au but she got somewhat better, but she falls under the weather p often and easily so Hope and Shadow often care for her.

Shadow is going to collage for a degree. Not really in anything specific as he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. He know he wants to stay and take care of Maria and Hope but other than that he doesn’t really have any plans or dreams. And lately it’s began to weigh on him.

The small town they live in is one with an old urban legend spanning hundreds and hundreds of years about the forest. The story is that there’s a monster that lives in there and anyone who goes into the forest at night is never seen again. But of course that’s just a story parents tell kids to keep them out of trouble… right?

Well Shadow soon finds out when he accidentally finds himself into said woods after dark. He stumbles across a large beast and quickly makes a run for it. But, unfortunately, his curiosity gets the best of him and he goes back the next night. This time when he runs into the beast it… doesn’t attack him. I’m fact, he realizes it didn’t attack him the night before either. While in a stupor of confusion, a third party makes an appearance. A strange seven tailed fox who seems just as shocked as Shadow is that the monster didn’t kill him.

The fox introduces himself as Miles and also introduces the monster as Sonic. Shadow is pretty curious as to why the monster has a name but Miles insists that Sonic is no monster- at least, he wasn’t. But Miles is hesitant to share any more info on the matter. He does, however, express that if Shadow tells ANYONE about what he saw or leads anyone to hunt down Sonic in any way that Miles is prepared to kill Shadow himself. A threat that Shadow, wisely, takes to heart and makes his way home.

Shadow continues to go back to the forest and learns a few things as he does. For one, Miles and Sonic have been alive for hundreds of years. Almost 400 at this point. Miles and Sonic also grew up together and were inseparable the whole while. And lastly, that Sonic was once a normal Mobian much like Shadow before he was cursed and that all these years Miles has been working to cure him. The most unfortunate part of this curse is the only thing Sonic eats, and the only way Miles can keep him alive all these years, is people. The legends, Shadow realizes, are true. Those who enter the forest are never seen again. Because they were all killed and eaten by a monster. By Sonic.

Shadow debates killing the monster himself to end it all here and there. But now the monster has a name. The monster has a friend and, at least at one point, a life. That’s much harder to kill. So, instead, Shadow works alongside Miles to try and find a cure to the curse. All the while finding out horrible secrets and mysteries about Sonic, their small town, and even himself.

There’s also a good number of other characters I intend to be major players here. Shadow’s best friends from class Rouge and Omega have p large roles. As do Knuckles and the Chaotix, a group of monster hunters who’ve found their way to town on the whispers of the horrors in the forest. Knuckles’ girlfriend Amy also comes along though she’s nowhere near as keen on the Chaotix’s mission as they are and ends up trying to help Shadow and Miles as well. There’s also a much larger villain looming in the background of the story that is ready to cause a whole ton of problems for everyone.

I’m a huge horror fan so this kinda au was tailor made to my own interests fjjdjdkdkdkdk

[mooshs-crack-headcanons]

Favorite genre of Tails fan art is art acknowledging that yeah he might be super genius smart but he's still an 8 year old kid who probably plays Roblox and probably likes all the other fandoms that unsupervised internet access children get into for the better or worse because what are you going to do? Put parental controls on his snack crumb ridden iPad? He'll just easily hack his way past it so there's no stopping him.

Yes, I'm fully saying Tails is 100% an iPad kid.

Going off this, Knuckles (of any universe/interpretation) doesn't seem to be the type to really have an interest or can figure technology out and Sonic while having most definitely more experience and knowledge with it I can see kind of being oblivious to it most of the time but occasionally he'll be chilling with Tails, whose just tapping away on his iPad, Sonic being as bored as he is in this moment will decide to glance over to see what his buddy is up to only to look over in horror to see him looking at some sort of creepypasta (stereotypical hyperealistic blood bleeding out of equally hyperealistic eyes and all) or sees him about to spend an RIDICULOUS amount of money on Roblox or something similar to it and decides he has to be the older familial figure and quickly take the iPad away, however Tails is the absolute master at the puppy dog eyes look so once Sonic returns back it's not long before he gives him the iPad back and at least makes him promise not to watch at least as many of those creepypasta videos or spend so much money on a video game like that again and attempts to look over Tails' shoulder more often to see what he's doing, you know like a good big brother should and even makes other people to always make sure what he's up to.

Ex:

Amy who'll probably try to help find other kid friendly stuff like cute (regular, non morbian) animal videos or show him other 'chill' games like animal crossing or stardew valley.

Knuckles which with his unfamiliarity with the internet and internet culture maybe will need some help how to differentiate safe and unsafe content for someone Tails' age, but once then he'll get the hang of it fairly quickly.

Shadow, which maybe you'd think wouldn't be the best of choices but actually the opposite in fact all it depends on is he's even willing to be around to 'chill' where he can even watch over what Tails is doing but when he does I think him and Tails actually get along very well and I can see them talking about machines and weaponry of the like and on a whim Shadow can turn any conversion or interaction with him into these types of discussions so he can distract the fox away from looking at unfit content for an 8 year old very easily.

Rouge, she doesn't hang with the Sonic team often but when she does she always has found a soft spot for Tails, he's just a small kid using such big words she finds so adorable. So she'll be quick to act and will introduce him to ASMR, the sensory pleasing safe kind with the soap cutting, slime squishing, or her personal favorite the shiny objects clinkering and the moment Tails is introduced to it he is HOOKED. Rouge can't help but to giggle at the sight of him glued to the screen as she hums to herself. Mission accomplished. Now, maybe while Tails is distracted she can snoop through a certain echidna's belongings and maybe find some clues about the current location of a certain green emerald?

Vanilla, she's a mother on her own so she definitely has more experience with this type of thing even though Cream is more of an outdoorsy play type of person than a technology kid. However, she knows her daughter can be a very good listener so sometimes she'll encourage Cream to ask Tails about one of his inventions to distract him from the iPad and both her and Cream will happily listen along to his info dumping with tea in hand as long as they need to.

(Movieverse!) Like with Cream, Maddie while not having parental experience of her own until these certain blue hedgehog, red echidna, and yellow fox arrived she is still an aunt with Jojo so she knows how to handle the situation a bit at least once Sonic tells her once going on, and Tom though with a bit less experience of course is there as support. It won't fix everything of course, like mention parental locks and controls will absolutely not work with Tails being a genius but at least they try like with the gameverse/primeverse examples make sure people are there with him as much to at least look over his shoulder time to time as well as limiting and scheduling his iPad time as reasonably as possible with it going into Maddie's bedside drawer at a certain time before bed.

Of course all of this will change as he grows older but at least for now he's eight years old, super smarts or not he deserves to be safe online.

Idk why I wrote all of this but I thought the idea was funny but this I kind splurged a bit thinking about just how important monitoring you children's internet access is even if it's a little bit and as long as it's within reason because unsupervised internet access and it's consequences I've seen time and time again is a BITCH. Maybe it's just the dad instincts coming out of me idk 🤷🏻‍♂️

[wereh0gz]

Actually I wanna talk about my idea for what Tails' backstory (before ever meeting Sonic) is and why he may be a nine-tailed fox as some bits of his character seem to imply

My thoughts are a little disjointed right now (when are they not lmao) but whatever

Anyway. Tails is an orphan. His parents have been gone for pretty much as long as he can remember, which is pretty far back compared to the average person, actually. He was alone ever since he became an unusually smart (like, super smart) toddler

He's never really tried to look for his parents, even though he has the resources to do so. Because of the bullying and abuse he's faced at the hands of other people, he just assumed they thought he was a freak too and just left him. Unless they died, somehow, but again he doesn't have much interest in finding out

He does find out eventually, though, once he's older. Curiosity just gets the better of him, so he investigates, though the investigation doesn't go much farther than googling his last name. What he manages to find in just that one search, however, is very interesting

(More under cut bc this got long lmao)

He finds two researchers who shared his last name. They specialized in Chaos Energy, and were very prominent near the time Eggman began his conquest for world domination. They disappeared only some time after Eggman's first attempt at taking over, and were presumed dead. He could only assume it was Eggman's doing

The fact that they mainly focused on Chaos Energy, though, definitely caught his attention. He once thought his second tail was just a random mutation, or perhaps he absorbed a twin in the womb and only the tail remained, or something like that. But, assuming these researchers actually were his parents, and considering they researched Chaos near the time of his birth, it's possible his second tail- and maybe even some of his other strange quirks- came from exposure to Chaos in the womb

I mean, if Sonic's eyes can change color after repeated exposure to the Chaos Emeralds, then it's entirely possible their energies can do much, much more to a person

That was how Tails thought he'd been born, with his namesakes that can somehow spin around like propellers, and a super genius brain that developed much faster than any normal person's should, all due to being exposed to a lot of Chaos while in the womb. Mystery solved...

... right?

Now, Tails is very young, so he still has to undergo more changes as he grows older. There are many uncertainties in his future, and in his past too, as he still doesn't know that much about his parents. He can't find much past basic info and the fact that they're declared dead. Even most of their research is missing, most likely stolen by Eggman

So he'll be in for a big surprise when he gets older, lives on for longer than any fox should, and after a hundred years

Grows another tail

Him being born with an extra tail wasn't just because of his exposure to Chaos, that just... gave the powers he would've gained after living for a hundred years right from the get go

Being a nine-tailed fox means he will only grow smarter and more powerful with time, and that power will be sought after, if the public were to find out. It's no wonder he can't find much information on his biological family, knowing what he really is, and what they were most likely to be. The very gods are exploited so often by those who seek to do wrong, who's to say they wouldn't do the same with creatures like him?

Tails won't have to worry about any of that for a long time, though. It takes hundreds of years for a nine-tailed fox's power to grow, after all, and he's still only eight years old. Plus, if anything bad were to come from his immortality, he's strong enough to be able to defend himself. And if he couldn't, he knows Sonic will always be there for him, and would do anything in his power to keep his little bro safe