#i just kind of wanted some free will metal sonic

[rapidhighway]

Anon back again, what's the story to your organic metal au?

The last ask response has given me many questions, why does Metal seem nervous when Eggman greets him?

Eating up this AU, looking forward to whatever you're cooking

i mean theres a lot that has changed and a lot that i havent worked out but the basic idea was that metal somehow became organic (i have no idea how that happened xd) but because he's got no programming eggman cant force him to do his bidding and he rebels against him. He still wants to kill sonic. badly. but doesnt want to be eggmans lapdog anymore. most of this is just pure self idulgent stuff bc i want to put him in situations. a little bit of plot is in there

#i just kind of wanted some free will metal sonic #i kind of struggle with writing robots with free will #its all just tainted by programming i think and i thought it would be interesting to try writing him as a person with actual brain chemistr #lmao #ofc lets not take this too seriously its all just for fun #though i've been planning to reread the neo metal sonic parts in idw #and i wanna play heroes hihi #ALSO i just really wanted to make a design for him hehe #i made that one comic some time ago you can just search organic metal sonic on my blog and youll find it its like 3 pages #and it started with that bc i just saw that in my brain and it kinda went hard xd #(i say all of this softly and scared) #sorry im always very embarassed to share my aus ive been working on this for years TwT but im trying to free myself and be more self- #indulgent #okie bye hihi *hides* #i also know how this ends. 💀

[yeets-ix]

Sonic Bad Guys AU Infodumping

@thefakehedgehogaroundhere pitched the AU and its roles, I went too far and fleshed it out a LOT.

Here's the first round, the basics of the characters:

The Bad Guys go by “Ms. Surge,” Ms. Metal, Mr. Rough, Mr. Tumble, Mr. Duo and Mr. Kitsunami (for fun.)

Backstory: While the AU is mostly just the self-contained plot of the movie, Eggman and Starline did exist in the AU… emphasis on DID. In a very very deliberately loose interpretation of Sonic canon setting up this AU, they created Surge, Kit and Metal, but were ultimately defeated for good, with their former creations and minions being left to form various random organizations including the Bad Guys, none of whom are nearly as much of a threat anymore. Sonic took all the credit for “beating” Eggman, though it probably wasn’t actually him in this AU considering this version of him is also a villain and has just been using his hero image for personal gain (hell, considering his Marmalade-assigned wealth, he probably bought out Eggman Industries after the Doctor was gone.)

Ms. Surge, instead of the “big bad wolf,” boasts about being an “evil twin.” A twisted and evil counterpart to a hero. Of course, she turns out to actually be the good one between herself and Sonic in this AU, but that’s beside the point. She still doesn’t remember her original life and has only experienced being compared to Sonic and seen as a monstrous, evil version of him, never being given any other chance. When Sonic gets exposed as the criminal he is and arrested, Surge, Kit and Metal recognize they’re fully free and able to go good, what with him being put away for good.

Ms. Metal was also originally designed after Sonic (that’s why she and Surge are best friends,) but being “the safe-cracker,” has modified herself with some help from Kit into a heist-focused robot with stealth tech, safe-cracking tools, and the ability to turn into a hyper-boost engine for the getaway car. She’s the “most evil” because she’s still programmed to defeat Sonic, even if she’s currently spending almost all of her time pulling heists with the Bad Guys. She comes around in the end and rejoins Surge and the gang, and stays with her as a good guy after finally taking down Sonic. She’s also kind of addicted to absorbing Wisps.

Mr. Mimic actually goes by Mr. Duo most of the time - he’s made the happy-go-lucky but still evil cat his public identity they think of when they hear the term “Bad Guys.” After genuinely befriending the others, he wants to move on from and forget the even worse crimes he committed as an octopus (even though not necessarily those of his canon self.) That being said, he’s still a shapeshifter and “the distraction.” Instead of Mr. Shark swallowing Mr. Snake when he annoys him, Duo can mess with Metal’s circuits since he’s “good with computers.”

Mr. Rough and Mr. Tumble are the flattest ones, but then again, they always are. They beat the shit out of people, make immature jokes, and Rough uncontrollably sprays when he’s nervous. Mr. Piranha is perfect for both of them (and also for Surge - she’d release catastrophic EMPs - if she wasn’t Mr. Wolf here.)

Mr. Kit is “Drippy” the same way Ms. Tarantula is “Webs.” His laptop has extra monitors and keyboards for his Hydro-Coils the same way as Webs’ does for her eight legs. He’s also still Surge’s younger brother for the feels. Owing to being around 13, he's less anxious and less formal, and with the world aware of his power, more confident in being scary on his own or at his sister's side.

Governor Rose’s backstory as the Crimson Paw Rascal is changed a bit. She, too, gave up just as she was about to steal the Awardy Award (the Golden Dolphin equivalent,) but it was because she realized she’d built her criminal career upon being a “sweet widdle hoggo” who nobody would suspect or believe could be a criminal mastermind, instead blaming more scary or ugly animals. Realizing that not only would some undeserving creature take the fall for the Rascal’s ultimate heist, but she fully knew and wanted to exploit this, just made Amy feel like shit, and she immediately hung up her cowl. Note that this same reason also leads to her despising Sonic for working under the same ideals, and makes her very happy when he’s the one who takes the fall for her crimes in the end.

“A wolf and a fox are not so different” becomes “A tenrec is just a false hedgehog.” Sonic later reuses this line to mock Surge, before Surge and Amy finally wreck him with it in the end.

Sonic as Marmalade? Take every bad take on IDW Sonic in the entire hatedom, make them completely true, and then sprinkle the resulting abomination of a Sonic with Scourge dust. He’s supposedly the same hero as his canon self, but in truth all he cares about is his own entertainment and his own reputation. Lying and manipulating people are what give him “the tingle.” He’s gonna scream “LET’S DO IT TO IT! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!” like in that one satire comic as he’s dragged off to S.U.C.M., utterly determined to the end to convince everyone he’s never done anything wrong in his life. Fuck him. He deserves nothing, he is the scum of the earth, I want to punch him in the face, and maybe call in a few other AU Sonics to punch him in the face too.

Heck, I have an OC named Shine who is basically “Sonic but Marmalade” already, and I’d be willing to donate her for this role if I didn’t want Sonic himself to get to chew some scenery.

We’ve agreed Whisper is Chief Luggins due to her power to be incredibly biased against these people, especially Surge with a good helping of Mimic on the side. Lanolin would work too, but I think Whisper being really angry a lot fits better. You poor wolf, you poor meow meow, you poor thing, how did you end up becoming a cop?... or she's just the face of what's left of the Restoration in this universe. Lanolin can probably be Tiffany the reporter, IDK.

To be continued.

#sth #sonic au #the bad guys #tbg #sonic bad guys au #surge the tenrec #metal sonic #rough the skunk #tumble the skunk #mimic the octopus #duo the cat #kit the fennec #amy rose #surgeamy #sonic the hedgehog #whisper the wolf

[telekinetic-electronica]

let’s talk about neo metal sonic.

Metal Sonic has definitely been a fan favorite over the years. He’s one of Sonic’s first rivals, next to Knuckles. He has been in many games. And Heroes, was to be honest, his big role overall in terms of story. I want to look at what his Neo form means, canonically and how people taken his Neo form within the fandom.

First, let’s start off with something, I’m gonna call Metal Neo from here on out. Neo, at his core, is honestly an insanely tragic character. He struggles with an identity crisis, the moment he has free will. He wants to be his own person so bad, but he’s still VERY much tied to Sonic. The purpose he’s meant to destroy and overcome.

And I also wanna say, a lot of Neo’s issues come from Eggman. I also wanna say, Eggman is nothing like his portrayal, fanon wise. This man is very selfish. He berates his creations, threatens to hurt them, and sees them as something he can use. Neo isn’t exempt from this. And before any brings up Sage,

I do like Eggman having a human moment with Sage, but just because an abusive parent is nice to one kid, it doesn’t mean he didn’t abuse his other kids. I don’t know where this whole “doting father” thing came from, but it’s fanon and something heavily Ian Flynn leans into, and it isn’t canon. (Like he literally blew that conch thing and just like. Messed up with the Zeti’s heads because they “disappointed him, and listed off things he’s “done for them”, Ik he’s a villian, point still stands.) 

And because of this, it drives Neo, but at the cost... of a lot. It’s often hinted at that Neo actually really doesn’t fucking like Eggman and hates of the shit he says to him. Him failing to finally end Sonic. Him always being left to the side lines to just... die.

Sonic just leaving him, after the day ends. Or Eggman just leaving him there. Until he’s ready for the next mission, and whenever Eggman feels like it. Neo has no support system, and he’s just driven by this overall need to prove himself. To prove he’s not some unlovable failure to Sonic and to his creator.

“I WAS CREATED FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING YOU. BUT I COULD NEVER SEEM TO DEFEAT YOU. THAT IS WHY I TRANSFORMED MY OWN BODY WITH MY OWN HANDS. BUT THAT WAS THE PAST. NOW YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A SPEC OF DUST TO ME.” “SEE ME AS I AM, NO LONGER AFRAID OF ANYTHING.” Like, it’s quite clear that Neo DOES have feelings. If he weren’t alive, in some way, he wouldn’t be able to use chaos control during his fight with Sonic and co. And I think we all know what he’s afraid of. Afraid of, what they implying and saying about him is right. The only REAL person to try and reach out to Neo is, Shadow. And guess who was also used as a living weapon? 

(I know Sonic has done so as well, but let’s be honest, those moments are kind of rare?)

They both were. Neo, really doesn’t have, anyone. He was viewed as a heartless, monster, who is obedient to Eggman, no matter what. He had nobody, and let’s be honest, Neo definitely ran away from Eggman to develop his Neo form and Metal Overlord. He was alone and gone, for God knows how long, and I’m gonna be honest, I think this form was him having a mental break down.

This stage is literally called “Metal Madness.” And God, let’s talk about his Neo form, for a bit.

Neo broke away from Eggman’s control and is FINALLY taking action for his own life. Sure, evil purposes, but still to him, he’s freed from Eggman shackles, and can you really blame Neo for doing so? He was basically raised to be nothing but to do evil shit, and with no warm or kindness extended to him. Or it was really fucking rare. He had nothing but just bitter and anger to drive him, revenge to drive him forward, and it tore him apart. No emotional system, he was just left. Alone.

Neo is taking control of his own life and forming his own destiny. Neo means new. New Metal Sonic. Neo Metal Sonic. Which is why I think a lot of fellow trans people, (I’m a trans male myself), have been flocking to Neo’s, well, Neo form. Because he’s no longer conforming to whatever Eggman wants him to be. He created his Neo form on his own, it’s HIS identity, and Eggman can’t take that away from him. He’s Neo and he’s here to stay. Now, God, getting to this part, it’s always just... so sad to me, from Neo’s POV.

Sonic and co. finally defeat Neo, and we here him cry out. Now, they’re all happy and cheery, while Sonic taunts of him a rematch. He had put his all into these new forms of himself, he was so certain for ONCE, he was gonna win. He was gonna be able to prove he’s not some fake Sonic or a mistake. And when he did his best, he failed. Miserably so. “AUUGH! NO! WHY?! I HAD IT ALL!” when he says this line, you can just hear how... miserable he sounds. Because to him, he was finally doing something RIGHT for once.

“IT’S NO USE... BUT WHY CAN’T I DEFEAT YOU?”

I think, after everything I said, speaks for itself. And has he says this, he reverts into his base form and turns off. Omega holds him in his arms and Shadow looks somberly at him. The two people who were used as nothing but seen as living machines, also holding a fellow seen as nothing but a living machine.

It’s a very somber feeling, looking back on it all. The big question for Neo is: will he be free or just... stuck in a cyclical cycle of being defeated and just loosing?

I think his theme song: What I’m Made Of also just highlights his character perfectly, too.

#abuse tw #sonic the hedgehog #neo metal sonic #metal sonic #metal overlord #metal madness #sth #sth neo metal sonic #sth metal sonic #sonic the hedgehog analysis #sth analysis

[heyclickadee]

Thoughts on “Faster”

1. THAT’S MY BOY!! THAT’S MY BOY!! MY BEAUTIFUL NERDY BOY!!! 2. I love that Echo and Hunter were out delivering space door dash. I joked about that with my sister once; I didn’t think it would actually be canon. 

3. Even though I missed seeing Hunter and Echo (and Crosshair), I don’t think this episode would have worked with them in it. I’m not sure Hunter would have agreed to going with Cid in the first place, and even if he had, there’s no way he would have let Tech on that race track. They would absolutely shut down the shenanigans. I’d pay cash money to see his face when they all get back. 

4. I know a lot of people are calling this one filler, and while I don’t agree seeing as how there was plot development or at least set up for plot development as well as some lovely character development for Tech, I’m glad this one was a bit more lighthearted than the first three. You can only delve so far into the angst before the audience becomes numb to it. You need to let them (and the characters) breathe a little before going any farther with it. I’m genuinely glad they just got to have a good (albeit dangerous) time. 

5. Tech, seeing riot racing for the first time: It would appear that anything goes out there.

Tech internally: If I do not get out on that track within one standard hour I will perish.  6. I LOVE how, in contrast to the first season, which highlighted the batch as a team and what their roles on the team were, this season is focusing more on the batch as individuals. It’s less about what the team will do and more about what each member of the team might want. For Tech, that seems to mean opening his eyes to the possibility of life outside of war and combat, not just for himself but to the idea that there’s so much of the galaxy that existed before and outside of the war that he’s never thought about, as well as presenting him with the idea that he’s good for something besides fighting. And given the conflict between Hunter and Echo (who ultimately want the same thing but are looking to get there in different ways), I’d say that’s going to be really important later on down the line. 

7. Along those same lines, I’m adoring the throughline between Crosshair’s desperation to stay relevant using the only skills he thinks he has, Echo’s determination to fight back using the only skillset (being a soldier) he thinks he has, and Tech’s frustration with Cid wasting their skills on things like space door dash. They were designed to do one specific thing, and the republic they were designed to do it for no longer exists. They’re all floundering and struggling to find their own sense of purpose, the same way Hunter seemed to find his back in season one. 

8. TAY-0 was. Oh boy. 

9. Obnoxious. Eminently punchable. The irony of casting Sonic the Hedgehog as the blue racing robot was not lost on me, but besides the “Gotta go fast,” aspect of that, casting Ben Schwartz as an egotistical, aggressively dramatic theater kid always works. He always plays that part well. 

10. You could feel Tech was exactly 0.35 seconds from punching TAY-0 in his stupid metal face from pretty much the moment they met. That deadpan glare when TAY-0 told Tech to stop fixing him the wrong way? I felt that in my bones. The way Tech sighed and shook his head when TAY-0 said that Tech didn’t have strategy or skill? Dude was pissed and it’s almost like he’s had to mask his whole life. The, “Don’t try me right now, I’m done and I’m doing what I want,” look when Tech said he was going to be the one to race? Yes. Good. 

11. The way that Tech clearly didn’t know how to respond to the crowd chanting his name because he’s not used to that kind of recognition, so he gave that little awkward half salute is going to live rent free in my head for a while. As is the fact that Tech did listen to everyone giving him advice but ultimately trusted his own judgement. 

12. “Tech, you have to be in front to win!” “I know what I’m doing. It’s called strategy.” “No, it’s called losing!” I’m dying. I’m literally dead. 

13. So...Tech doesn’t trust Cid. Which, he shouldn’t, of course. Besides Millegi’s warning at the end, the way Cid was acting all the way through this episode makes me think she’s definitely got something shady in store for the boys. And the thing is, I don’t think it’s something she’s planning on doing--I think it’s something she’s already done. I suspect she actually sold them out to some extent way back, maybe back in season one, in a way that’s going to get them in big trouble this season, and that she’s maybe starting to regret it because a part of her actually likes them. 

14. Wrecker and Omega playing chess at the beginning of the episode! Omega putting things on the line to help Cid! Wrecker and Omega being so happy when Tech won! Tech with his hand on Omega’s shoulder and Wrecker doing that affectionate shoulder punch! I love them!

15. The poor guy who got shot at during the race at the beginning of the episode. I know this was a much lighter episode than the last few, but dang. That’s...kinda dark. 

16. I cracked up when the announcer lampshaded how odd clone names are in-universe, especially when they don’t have the “they’re a clone” context. 

#the bad batch #the bad batch season two #tbb spoilers #tbbspoilers #the bad batch spoilers #tech! #i love him! #semi-coherent thoughts? on my blog? it's more likely than you think #tbb tech #this season is perfect so far actually

[siennaditbot]

I've seen others share their Sonic AU and headcanon stuff so I thought I could share mine!

It's kind of a career focused thing, everyone has a job cuz they need money now. It's kind of in the IDW continuity but has AU stuff and other Sonic comic characters. The location is Seaside City from IDW, and everyone is a bit older than in the canon.

Team Chaotix has a café. Vector owns it, Espio is the assistant manager, and Charmy, Mighty and Ray work there part-time (my oc, Slushie, works there as well, for self indulgent fluff and shipping with Espio :3)

Vector and Vanilla are married and laid the groundwork for the café together before Vector found the staff members and randomly picked them off the streets. He plays the piano at the café

Espio isn't a ninja but does come from a family that's big on judo. Likes to paint in his free time (maybe also play the shamisen or koto, idk)

Mighty works as a personal trainer and does gym videos. Gym buds with Knuckles

Ray does "MeTube", both parkour and gaming videos

Charmy helps Silver with gardening around the city. He might not be adopted by Vector but he sees Cream as his sister and the guys as his brothers

Silver is the local gardener, keeps the city plants looking fresh and tidy (shipping with another oc)

Sonic is a really popular MeTuber (imagine MrBeast), he travels around the world, helps others while making fun and entertaining content. He takes Mighty and Ray along sometimes

Shadow owns a clothing store called 'Maria's'. He does the paperwork and keeps it running for the others (Amy, Honey, Blaze and Omega)

Amy works at Maria's, sews and sells the clothes. A casual writer outside work? (Unofficially a thing with Shadow?)

Honey has her own line that Shadow is willing to have and sell at the store. She comes and goes as she pleases

Blaze is the store's model, but also helps make and sell them

Zero (Infinite) is Shadow's competitive neighbour, creator of the 'Jackal Squad' brand (expensive but plain), has a crush on Blaze lol

Omega is an old campus robot (created by Robotnik) who wanted more from life. Shadow gave him a job, he's basically a living sewing machine lol. (Needles can be used in a threatening way, though)

Robotnik (Eggman) teaches robotics etc at a local university, students love him. Basically Mr Tinker from IDW

Metal Sonic is another campus robot who's willing to stay with his creator and help him. Based on the famous MeTuber

Tails is an intern studying under Robotnik at the university

Cosmo is most likely going to appear just for some Tailsmo fluff, not sure yet

Rouge has a jewellery store (and is married to Knuckles?)

Knuckles is a guard at Rouge's store. His calling is guarding gemstones lol

Big is still himself, just fishing

Cream works at a daycare with the other oc, Briar

Bean, Nack/Fang, Bark, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor and maybe others are the kids at the daycare

Not everyone has appeared yet but at least these peeps are gonna be in the fic. I'm also kinda working on a comic of it but gotta rework some of it.

It's most likely gonna be a series on AO3, rn I only have a ship-heavy fic of Espio and Slushie going. Probably gonna write about what the others are doing soon.

Anyway, here's the link if anyone wants to read some Slushie x Espio (Sluspio) fluff lol:

#sonic au #slushie the arctic fox #sonic oc x canon #sonic original character #vector the crocodile #espio the chameleon #charmy bee #mighty the armadillo #ray the flying squirrel #knuckles the echidna #rouge the bat #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #blaze the cat #big the cat #honey the cat #infinite the jackal #cream the rabbit #vanilla the rabbit #tails the fox #miles tails prower #sonic the hedgehog #e 123 omega #metal sonic #dr robotnik #mr tinker #this post really made me rethink Charmy and Cream's dynamic #thank you tumblr for opening my eyes #SDB rambles #SDB fics

[south-sea]

fooling around with this guy's design some, because i realized i can't actually call him a metal sonic

it's Complicated because in terms of character, he's meant to be an alternate of second chance metal, so in my mind he registers as the same core character. but in this AU, he's not made by eggman, much less even in the image of sonic, and at that point that's literally not even metal sonic anymore, that's just an OC. so while i don't claim this to be an ~original design~ or anything, tagging him as the character feels disingenuous, so i'm going with "metal medic" from here on out.

some expanded design notes on this guy:

"bigger ears and rounded corners": he's made in the image of shadow purely for the sake of being his caretaker/companion. the goal was to provide someone his size/general shape to help keep him comfortable. (someone in the tags of a previous post about this AU likened him to baymax and tbh that is Exactly the intended vibe. you get me.)

"no use for a turbine or even a back jet"/"padded finger tips instead of claws": originally i had in mind that he'd still have a much smaller jet or something on his back, but the more i thought about it, the less necessary that seemed. given his role is that of a caretaker, he was not designed with speed or combat in mind. at most, he's got built-in heelys just to be a little quicker than average and not make a huge racket as he's walking through the halls and such.

"made from cheaper material with crude plating": the resources available to his creators were not up to the same standard as the regular sonic universe. it's a wonder he functions at all. he's scrapped together with visible bolts, flimsy hinges, uneven plating, and his power depletes incredibly fast. they had limited options when it came to color, hence the lack of red to mimic shadow's stripes (much less the medical cross tackily slapped right there on his forehead).

(i did take some inspiration from my own shadow android design, such as the bulkier arms, but it's surprisingly difficult to design a robot made in the image of shadow, that still reads like an alternate metal sonic, without making him look exactly like a shadow android or just regular metal sonic. like, at his core he's still supposed to be "second chance metal but to the left", so looking like regular metal is still kind of intentional, it's just, his background is so completely removed from canon that it's weird to still call him a metal sonic, you know?)

in terms of personality/function:

he's considerably more Robot than even canon metal, in that he's coded to operate within a specific set of parameters and limited free will. he has his purpose and goals already predetermined, and his feelings are more or less the same. so, contrary to second chance metal, he is fully obligated to care for his shadow and knows nothing else.

his logic is more akin to gemerl's in that he takes his objectives very literally. when he finally decides it's in the best interest of shadow's health to escape the facility with him, it comes from a place of logic, though it can be argued there's also genuine care/warmth there, just like gemerl's bond with cream. his creators maybe shouldn't have coded him with such a strong sense of care for shadow if they didn't want to be betrayed. (or maybe that's exactly what they intended :) who knows)

given he's meant to be a more personable caretaker, he's considerably more expressive both in gestures and eye animations. he's more "playful" than "bubbly", and more "careful" than "patient".

he isn't incapable of causing harm in the interest of protecting shadow, and it's not like it goes against his coding to cause harm in general, but he's not very good at fighting. shadow is very much the actual protector in this case; metal tends to get underfoot more than not once they're free.

he is completely mute and has no means to communicate beyond simple nods/head shakes/thumbs up or downs. he was not coded with the capacity to learn sign language or emulate words. in general, his coding does not allow for the same depth of self-learning like canon or second chance metal.

#metal medic #lab rat au #art by sea #it is entirely reasonable if you still want to tag him as 'metal sonic' and i very much don't mind if you do #i'm just explaining my reasoning here

[project-shadow]

do you agree with what people say about IDW Sonic? That he's nothing like the game version, and that hes selfish and lets his enemies go without just punishment?

I've seen this take quite often, and even got some questions about this on Discord.

The short answer; No, I do not agree with that statement.

The long answer?

I don't see why people seek to compare the Comics Sonic with the Game Sonic. They're not the same universe, first of all, and second of all, Ian Flynn, who wrote for Archie after Ken Penders left and currently writes for IDW, is also the writer of Sonic Origins and Sonic Frontiers. He's been writing for Sonic longer than most people in the fandom have even been consuming Sonic media (from 2006-present)

If you hate Sonic's characterization, then you've hated him in any paper media since 2006. And some people prefer Archie over IDW (another take I do not agree with)

If there's any version of Sonic that was selfish, it was definitely Archie era Sonic. He was admittedly a poorly written character, mostly because he was written as infallible most of the times.

IDW Sonic is nothing like Archie Sonic, and probably the closest to the games as we're going to get (excluding Frontiers Sonic, of whom we don't have much information on character wise)

IDW Sonic goes through phases. Yes, he lets his enemies go, but he doesn't do so to the point of "letting them go without punishment". The punishment Sonic gives his enemies is the battle they engage in. And some of his enemies are sent to prison/hauled off to other planets/etc. None of his enemies escape "unscathed" except arguably Eggman. And this itself is explained in the comics.

After the battle that caused Eggman to lose his memories, he became Mr. Tinker. Shadow had come seeking Eggman out to kill him. Literally, he wanted to kill Eggman. Or at the very least, imprison him. The reason why Sonic stopped Shadow wasn't because he was sparing his enemy. He was literally sparing an innocent man. Mr. Tinker had lost all of his memories. He knew nothing of his time as Eggman, and was still dead set on repenting for a side of himself that he didn't even remember. He helped people, built rides for children, and even created Belle, the antithesis to Metal Sonic.

Sonic tells Shadow that if no one is worth redemption and should be killed, then why was it okay for Shadow to be running around free? Shadow understood the logic behind this and allowed Mr. Tinker to continue on. The only reason why this becomes a problem is because Starline (whom no one knew of at the time) wanted to bring back Eggman. He kidnapped Mr. Tinker and tortured him until he became Eggman again, which directly leads into the Metal Virus arc.

In the Metal Virus arc, Sonic is one of the first people to get infected. And Sonic blames HIMSELF for everything that happens in that arc. He apologizes to the victims, he apologizes to Tails and Amy. He even shows some signs of survivor's guilt/depression, because Sonic realizes that if he had killed/imprisoned Eggman or let Shadow handle Tinkerer, none of this would have happened. The world as he knew it and everyone he loved were potentially going to die because Sonic made the wrong call. How in the world can anyone say that's selfish? Or that he doesn't care about his friends or the world he protects everyday with his life?

And in the Surge arc, Sonic thinks back on his mistakes and the villains he deals with, and STILL CHOOSES TO SPARE SURGE. Surge owes Sonic NOTHING. She wants to kill and replace him. And Sonic still chooses her life and her happiness over everything. Because that's the kind of person he is. He doesn't want her blood on his hands, he doesn't want to be the kind of hero who kills his enemies. He wants to be the kind of hero who always extends a helping hand no matter who the person is.

Sonic the Hedgehog believes in love and friendship. He believes no one is truly evil, and as long as he can be there for someone, hold their hand, show them that there's always going to be a home and a friend waiting there, that he can change their life for the better and in turn, make the world they live in a better place.

Sonic is someone who suffered so much and saw so many people he cares about suffer, and still choses love as his weapon of choice. Not violence, not murder. Love.

How can you sit there and truly think someone like that is selfish?

#sonic the hedgehog #idw sonic #shadow the hedgehog #sth #shadow the ultimate lifeform #project shadow files #amy rose #surge the tenrec #doctor eggman #eggman #sonic idw comic #sonic idw #dr starline #starline the platypus #archie sonic #sonic frontiers #mr tinker #idw sonic comic #dr eggman

[blazehedgehog]

i remember someone asking you how would you conceptualize a sonic tv show a couple of years ago and you said something about taking the core aspects of the characters and make them play out like with batman TAS. if so, what other ideas do you have about something like that?

Well, first we'd have to identify what the universal ideal of Sonic the Hedgehog is. That's what Batman TAS did -- it took every variant of Batman ever created and distilled them down into their purest essence.

So my first inclination would be to just start over and maybe retell the events of the Genesis games but with new context, but that's not what Batman did. I'm not even sure how long it took Batman TAS to retell Batman's origin story (judging by this list, maybe 26 episodes). It assumes you know who the character is and tells very simple, iconic stories regarding that universe.

So then you have to ask yourself: what does the purest essence of Sonic look like?

Is it Classic Sonic? Modern Sonic? Something in-between? The above two are Tyson Hesse sheets, and I use them because one, I like the way he draws Sonic, and two, he's kind of been the guiding force behind Sonic's appearances in 2D animation in the last decade. The boy draws a good hog.

And in that regard, I believe he drew this as his way of trying to blend Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic design sensibilities:

Short, scruffy, and a little athletic. But still identifiably the way Sonic has always looked.

Unfortunately, I think Eggman changes too much to really blend two aesthetics together -- again, we're not so much looking to create "our version of Eggman", we're looking to create The Ideal Eggman. So we could probably settle with Classic Eggman and leave it at that. It's a more simplistic design, if nothing else.

From there you just start... telling stories. Not necessarily origin stories, like I don't think we really need an episode where we see Eggman build Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic is just already there.

If you do tell an origin story, it has to be in service of focusing on a specific element of what makes that character sing. Like, I mentioned episode 26 of Batman TAS was probably where they finally touched on Batman's origin, but that's because it's an episode about Crime Alley, the place Bruce's parents were killed. It's not a story about Batman's origin.

So if we tell Metal Sonic's origin story, it has to be referenced within something else as a pillar to strengthen the story being told. It cannot be an origin story about Metal Sonic, because you have to assume the audience already knows who Metal Sonic is. Again, you're not here to show how your Metal Sonic is different, you're here to show the perfect, idealized, purest distillation of Metal Sonic. This is every Metal Sonic in one, shaven down and polished to a mirror finish.

So then, what's interesting about Metal Sonic as a character? Well, he knows, on some level, that he's Sonic. He has some awareness that he's a copy, and he both wants to make his creator (Eggman) proud and also become the one true Sonic (by incapacitating or otherwise destroying the actual Sonic). He is also a creation of Eggman, so there's some desire to subjugate and rule the world in there somewhere (to be evil, in other words).

This means we have a villain with confused goals. He is controlled but strives to break free of that control. But he still wants to be evil. Maybe for reasons he doesn't really understand.

So maybe we tell a story where Sonic's out on a run, looking for a Chaos Emerald. No particular reason, just he thought it would be a good idea to collect one or two to have on hand just in case. Make it so nobody could easily have all seven.

As he gets close to where he thinks an emerald is, he gets blindsided by Metal Sonic, and they have a fight. Sonic reaches under the cuff of his glove and pulls out a tiny communicator he uses to radio Tails with, asking if he's heard any movement from Eggman recently. Tails has not. Then why is Metal Sonic out here?

Tails has Sonic lure him close to the workshop, where Tails runs a scan on Metal.

Turns out: Metal Sonic had the same idea as Sonic. Because Metal Sonic is operating on all of Sonic's thoughts and memories (a good aside to establish here), he independently decided to go on a mission to gather up some (or all) of the Chaos Emeralds "just in case" with the idea of giving them to Eggman. Obviously both Metal and Sonic know they're doing the same thing, so there's no easy way to get Metal Sonic to just stop and go away, right?

So, Tails comes up with an idea: a fake emerald, for a fake Sonic. I don't know that we have to reference Sonic Adventure 2 here, but maybe there could be an offhand reference about how Tails has "always had the technology to synthesize a fake Chaos Emerald." The problem now is getting Metal Sonic to believe the fake emerald is real.

Maybe, for the sake of the plot, a real Chaos Emerald has to be within proximity to hide the energy signature of the fake more easily. So now we have our episode finale: Sonic has to let Metal attack him, they have to fight over the fake emerald, but oh no Tails gets dragged in, and there's a mix up. Who has the real emerald, and who has the fake?

Everyone involved knows one of the emeralds is fake, and Tails has a piece of technology that helps him identify the real one, but it's easy to get confused as to who has which one (by design, that's why there's a real Chaos Emerald here).

The episode ends with our heroes (presumably) having the real one. We see Metal Sonic return to Eggman's city (Scrap Brain Zone) and there's a POV shot where it says "Deliver Emerald To The Doctor" like a mission objective. Metal Sonic pauses for a moment, staring in to the Emerald, and we see the objective get minimized for a new one:

"Take The Untold Power For Yourself."

Metal Sonic's hand transforms, or his chest opens up, or something happens where he's going to use the emerald to power himself up. He starts to accept the emerald's energies, everything looks like it's working just fine, but there's an anomaly, the wavelengths go haywire, and the emerald explodes.

Our final shot is a severely damaged Metal Sonic limping into Doctor Eggman's lab, who is completely unaware of what just happened. He dotes on Metal, cursing what Sonic has done to him. And Metal Sonic just silently stares.

Now I'm no Bruce Timm or Paul Dini, but to me, that gestures towards the type of storytelling I think a TAS-style Sonic show would lean towards.

#questions #Anonymous #sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #batman tas #tyson hesse

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #12: The Cost of the Battle for Angel Island

Even though the battle is over, this arc still isn’t done yet. We are shown yet another amazing cover, with Metal Sonic being chained up. Despite being defeated and powerless, he still acts as a catalyst of destruction in this story.

The story starts with Sonic and Tails repairing and awakening Metal Sonic. Tails questions Sonic’s idea, but Sonic remains optimistic. Also, I know that this decision Sonic made is just as controversial as him not punishing Mr. Tinker in any way, but I will get to that.

Metal Sonic awakens and immediately goes for an attack, breaking the chains that restrained him, and immediately collapses in Sonic’s arms. Sonic remarks that, while he is compassionate, he isn’t stupid and that Metal Sonic isn’t in any shape to fight, as Tails fixed only the worst damage.

He then adds how it’s over and how Metal Sonic is now free to decide his own fate, now that Dr. Eggman is gone, and hopes for truce.

Metal just looks at Sonic, seemingly hesitant, then promptly slaps his hand away and flies off, his answer clear. Tails asks Sonic whether he’s fine, and while Sonic says he is, he does look a little hurt by Metal’s refusal for peace between the two. He then adds how he gave him a choice to live how he wants and he’ll honor that decision, with Tails noting how, since Eggman isn’t around anymore to repair and weaponize him.

Now, hear me out here. I don’t think that the point of this scene is to be fuel for readers to get angry at Sonic for his compassion and blame him for what happens later on. Far from it. There are several things to analyze here, one being the obvious consequences of Sonic’s decision, but more importantly, the way he views Metal Sonic.

We know that Sonic could just easily tell Tails to shut down Metal and be done with it. After all, Metal Sonic is just a robot, right? Except, Sonic doesn’t just see Metal as a robot, but a living being. He saw that Metal has free will and he wants to appeal to that free will by offering him to live a life without Eggman. While his compassionate side might be his weakness in this situation, it is also his greatest strength. If it worked on people such as Knuckles and Shadow, why not try it on Metal?

If you’re still complaining, that’s on you. I had a discussion with a close friend of mine on the topic and we both noted that Sonic being compassionate is in-character for him, even adding how people screaming for Sonic to kill Eggman and/or Metal Sonic is pretty much the same as the hypocrites being up in arms if Batman even dares to break his “no killing” rule, but then bitch about him not killing the Joker. You can’t have your cake and eat it, people!

As for Sonic, I said it before in a conversation and I’ll say it again - he is not a hero. *hears gasps of shock* Yeah, how dare I claim the main protagonist, who helps people and save the world isn’t a hero? Well, let me tell you one thing - Sonic himself stated that, even adding how he doesn’t mind being the bad guy at times.

My point here is that I feel that people act as if Sonic has to be some kind of paragon of good, that they’re putting Sonic on a pedestal and that he isn’t allowed to be flawed. The reason I love this iteration of Sonic is that he is flawed, he makes mistakes and he owns up to them, never betraying his own beliefs. Hell, that is also why I liked Sonic’s conversation with Scourge in Sonic!Archie (with Scourge actually becoming a good character after Ian Flynn took over). Scourge had pointed out that Sonic could easily bring ruin to the world if he wanted to, but Sonic’s own determination to stick to his beliefs is what makes him a himself. Hell, even the lyrics of his own song, It Doesn’t Matter, tell how he doesn’t care about right or wrong, he’ll follow his own morals and those dictate to protect those he cares about.

Rest assured, this will be brought up again once we get to Surge.

We then switch over to Dr. Starline at one of Eggman’s bases, talking to Rough and Tumble about not understanding how he failed to bring back Dr. Eggman, all while Mr. Tinker works happily on repairing a Motobug. We also learn that Starline freed Rough and Tumble from their prison, promising Eggman would build them weapons if they help him out. Starline figures Mr. Tinker just needs some kind of emotional trigger, with Orbot and Cubot walking in. We then have a hilariously heartwarming scene of Tinker doting on the bots, all while Orbot and Cubot are confused, with Orbot even wondering whether they want their old boss back.

Suddenly, Metal Sonic appears.

Mr. Tinker quickly runs over to Metal Sonic, checking on him (and I’m sure as hell Metal didn’t expect to see him at this base meaning that this whole meeting is pretty much a coincidence, accidentally caused by Starline; as Neo Metal had no way to find Eggman despite searching for him all over the place).

Suddenly, we see memories resurfacing, those being of Eggman praising Metal Sonic as his finest creation and then repairing him after a battle with Sonic, fussing over Sonic damaging Metal and praising him after the latter confirms he punched Sonic in the face. Honestly, it is oddly heartwarming, showing that there is some kind of father-son relationship between the two. The fact that it is Metal Sonic out of all people that triggers Eggman’s memories speaks of how close the two are.

Oh, and Eggman is baaaack!

As it turns out, he lost all of his memories of being Mr. Tinker, pretty much going back to his old ways of yelling at everyone for an answer. I agree with Cubot here, Mr. Tinker was nice while he lasted. Starline quickly introduces himself, revealing to be a deep admirer of Dr. Eggman’s craftsmanship - so a fanboy - and explains what had happened to him.

As Eggman repairs Metal Sonic, Rough and Tumble quickly introduce themselves, with Eggman’s reaction falling flat. He is not impressed by the skunk brothers, but Starline assures him they’re just minion fodder since they hate Sonic as much as Eggman does.

Starline then shows off the Warp Topaz, a gemstone he used to find Eggman,... as well as the Chaos Emeralds! Eggman (and me too) is impressed by Starline’s competence, welcoming him aboard The Eggman Empire and calling him his best lackey yet (which he isn’t wrong about; yeah, we had Snively in Archie!Sonic, but I’d pick Starline over him any time - also, I know they’re different continuities, I’m just doing some cross-comic comparison here).

We then switch over to Sonic telling Knuckles how everything on Angel Island is in-tact, with Knuckles deciding to remain on Angel Island and continue with his guardian duties now that the world is, seemingly, safe. He then casually tells Sonic how the Resistance is disbanded and to get off his island. I just love these two’s dynamic.

Sonic then informs Amy about the Resistance being disbanded, with Amy not being too happy about it. Our “hero” then abandons her to deal with Team Chaotix, who are hoping for a pay for their detective work. Stay classy, Sonic.

We then see Tangle befriending Whisper, although being a bit too forward for the latter. Still, Whisper seems to be quite happy around Tangle.

Meanwhile, Blaze informs Sonic and Silver that she’ll be going back to the Sol Dimension, with Silver adding how he’ll be staying in the present, as he feels his work still isn’t done.

Lastly, we cut to Rouge, who made herself quite comfortable on Eggman’s lawn chair, as well as spying on the Master Emerald. Apparently, some things never change.

She also informs Sonic that Shadow is already gone, never looking back. Sonic just tells her to pass him a “Thanks” message if she sees him and leaves.

Sonic meets up with Tails, who has the battleship prepared and ready to launch so they can finally return home, with Knuckles seeing them off.

Back at Eggman’s base, Starline suggest they could reconstruct the corrupted Bio-Data Metal copied from Sonic and Shadow, but Eggman axes that plan. I agree here with Eggman, as the only reason Metal’s plan could work was because of the many lucky breaks he had: the heroes searching for Eggman and being unaware of Metal being around (having only fought the Phantom Ruby copy), Angel Island remaining unguarded and Neo Metal being able to snag the Master Emerald, as well as absorbing Sonic and Shadow’s Bio-Data.

Instead of heading into another confrontation, Eggman moves forward with another plan, placing Starline in charge of keeping Sonic distracted. That is actually a fairly smart idea, as Sonic doesn’t even have the slightest clue of Starline’s existence, meaning the platypus can easily blindside the hedgehog. He then leaves Rough and Tumble with the instructions for their new weapons and moves over to his latest creation.

Welcome to the beginning of the end!

Links:

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#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer #sonic the hedgehog #metal sonic #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #vector the crocodile #espio the chameleon #charmy bee #blaze the cat #silver the hedgehog #tangle the lemur #whisper the wolf #rouge the bat #shadow the hedgehog #rough and tumble #dr eggman #mr tinker #dr starline #orbot #cubot #sonic idw

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

MTV Amp 1997 Big Beat / Breakbeat / Drum n Bass

Man, I *religiously* watched MTV when their electronic music show, Amp, was apparently on the air, but I legit had no idea that it ever existed until maybe a few years ago. And I've constantly chided the US arm of MTV for largely ignoring electronic music throughout their history, but evidently, I've been wrong this whole time. They just put it on when almost no one was awake to actually watch it 😁. But Amp seems to have developed a cult following among a certain set of night owls, as tends to happen with all kinds of late night programs of different stripes.

And this show had to have been, like, a portal into a different world for the folks who were fortunate enough to have seen it, because it was really like nothing else MTV had ever aired before in America, both musically and visually, as the videos were far more ~out there~ than what typically got played during the network's daytime and primetime hours.

But as good as this CD is, it actually doesn't appear to fully encapsulate the true essence of Amp, because while the show presented videos from a range of different electronic genres, this release seems to be primarily focused on just one specific type: the futuristically dystopian, post-nuclear hellscape kind that was made up of high-octane, acid-addled big beat and breakbeat tunes; hard, intense, dark, and sharp-edged; a sort of proto-Matrix sound; a post-industrial club music for dudes who sleep on beds of nails. This portion of Amp was like an electronic version of Headbanger's Ball: it had the same level of propulsive energy and angst that was so germane to grunge, some post-grunge, and metal, but it channeled it in a way that was probably far more unfamiliar to a general MTV audience at the time. But Amp also played Daft Punk.

And you have to think that, since this show debuted in 1996, this specific sound that's captured throughout this CD had to have played a role in pioneering a future-is-now electronic sound in the US, as that sonic aesthetic came to dominate the soundtracks for gobs of turn-of-the-millennium visual media that dealt with high-tech themes and gadgetry, like The Matrix, et al.

So, here it is: about an hour's worth of some of the more intense sounds that played on Amp in '96 and part of' 97, most of it deeply influenced by The Chemical Brothers, and more than two-thirds of it coming from British acts. You won't find any house or trance on here, or barely any techno either, besides Josh Wink's "Are You There?," a frenzied acid techno-breakbeat hybrid that succeeded his similarly formulated "Higher State of Consciousness" from '95. What you have here is basically a who's who of breakbeat and big beat, with those aforementioned Chem Bros, Fluke, Underworld, The Future Sound of London, Orbital, The Prodigy, and The Crystal Method, along with a small handful of tracks from the worlds of both drum- and drill n' bass, with offerings from Photek, Aphex Twin, and Goldie, as well as some trip hop-acid funk-rock from the one and only Tranquility Bass. Plus, Atari Teenage Riot, a band that fused punk rock and pummeling, high-BPM drums to yield a type of uniquely earaching sound that I definitely see the appeal of, but that I also can't fucking stand 😅.

Boy, did I really miss out on this show. What a trip it must've been to actually catch it in real time. I'm guessing most of the people reading this never got to see it either 😔.

Highlights:

The Chemical Brothers - "Block Rockin' Beats" Fluke - "Atom Bomb" Underworld - "Pearl's Girl" Aphex Twin - "Girl / Boy Song" Orbital - "The Box" Tranquility Bass - "We All Want to Be Free" Goldie - "Inner City Life" Prodigy - "Voodoo People (The Chemical Brothers Remix)" Josh Wink - "Are You There?" The Crystal Method - "Busy Child"

#big beat #breakbeat #drum n bass #drum & bass #drum and bass #dnb #d n b #d&b #d & b #d and b #dance #dance music #electronic #electronic music #music #90s #90s music #90's #90's music

[heckinconfusedparade]

Part 4: Have You Seen My Hedgehog??

It’s Tails’ turn to visit Shadow. Not because he wants to talk, but because Amy said they should probably feed him. Shadow is just sitting, tapping his fingers on the metal top of the table. He stopped trying to lift it up. It’s far too heavy for him.

His attention is directed to the opening door. He hadn’t realized how small Tails was before. Tails places a plate of food in front of him. Shadow gets a forkful of his meal “thank you..”

Tails only lets out an “mmn.” In response. He starts heading for the exit, when Shadow calls out “hey, wait. I have a question.” Tails turns around silently.

“How old are you?”

Tails is taken off guard. “Hm?”

“You look.. fairly young.”

“I’m 8.”

Shadow blinks “you’re- you’re 8???”

Tails nods “Mhm”

Shadow is shocked, almost appalled. He mutters to himself “the doctor spoke of the fox with such… astonishment, yet hostility.. like a rival.. Why is Robotnik so hellbent on destroying a child he considers a prodigy?..” he wonders. Can’t they just simply learn and grow off each other? If Tails is as gifted as Robotnik says, wouldn’t teaming up be a better option?

Shadow stares down at his plate.. now that Knuckles had mentioned it.. the red flags he was warned about are waving frantically for his attention. Tails gives him a dirty look and leaves.

As Shadow eats, he wonders why nobody has come looking for him yet. Robotnik would have surely noticed he’s missing by now..

To his surprise, Tails returns, this time looking annoyed. He frees Shadow from his cuffs “dad wants these back for his shift.” He says then mutters “can’t you just get new ones??” He quickly leaves, and presses a few buttons outside the door. The door slams shut and “PRISONER MODE: ENGAGED” can be heard throughout the treehouse. Ain’t no way this hedgehog gonna escape.

Shadow does some stretches, stiff from being in one place so long. He decides to investigate the room for an exit.

What he doesn’t know is that the cell is Sonic and Knuckles proof. That was the standards Tails had built it to in order to keep the prisoner IN. Originally it was meant for Robotnik, or a fun game of Cops N Robbers.

These new people are certainly interesting.. two of four treated him with kindness. Even Sonic, the guy he was supposed to destroy. Sonic didn’t seem to have any feelings of anger towards him. Not that he’s showing, Anyway. Shadow takes Knuckles’ warnings into consideration. Amy and Tails bring only questions. Amy was not mentioned by Robotnik, and Tails is much younger than he expected him to be, and he is not comfortable fighting a literal child.

Meanwhile, Robotnik is trying to pinpoint where the heck his hedgehog went. He is this close to putting up MISSING flyers. He’s been both on his computer and pacing by the door. He shouts in anger “WHERE IS HE?? He should be back by now. I can’t go over there myself…” idea! “STONE!! get in your disguise. I have a mission for you.”

The doorbell of the Wachowski house rings around noon. Maddie answers. In the door stands a man dressed in a G.U.N. uniform. She begins to shut the door, when the man stops her “ma’am I would just like to speak with you about recent accusations against your…son.” Stone can’t believe the blue blur got himself adopted.

Maddie glares at him “I’m not going to speak with you, nor is anyone else in this house until we have our lawyer here.” She slams the door shut. Stone sighs. This is gonna be harder than he thought.

He looks around the yard and spots the treehouse. He scans it, but the readings come back as a normal treehouse. Stone checks it out anyway, because he is aware of the little genius that resides in the household. As he gets closer, he notices some security measures. There’s security cameras, a lock pad, a ring doorbell, and even a sign that says NO ADULTS ALLOWED.

He sends all data to Robotnik for further inspection. Something is off about this little treehouse.

Sonic is hiding. He’s very good at hiding. He takes a picture of Stone’s face. He adds the photo of his list of people to avoid.

He shows his brothers, parents, and Amy the picture. They all have the same feeling of deja vu like they’ve seen him before.

Robotnik is not very happy with Stone’s initial update. Then he receives the data. As he digs deeper and deeper, he discovers there much more to this treehouse than meets the eye. Whoever built it took good care to hide as much secrets as possible, and Robotnik wants to upturn every stone. As much as he would love to go there himself, he doesn’t want to run the risk of another 3 vs 1 situation. Stones not a fighter.. that he knows of.

Stone gets a motel in Green Hills. It’s been decided they’ll wait another day for any new sign.

Shadow receives his dinner from Sonic in the evening. Tails has refused this time. He places Shadows food on the table. Shadow hardly acknowledges Sonics existence, as he is ping ponging around the room. Sonic has done this himself to test the strength of the walls, but actually getting to witness it is quite neat! And a little freaky with how fast Shadow is going.

“Hey! Dude! Calm down, dinners ready.” Sonic says, hands on his hips. Shadow stops, looks at Sonic, and goes to his table to eat. “Why are you giving me the silent treatment?” Sonic asks, a little sad.

“I have nothing to say.” Shadow responds “you’ve trapped me in a dark metal box with no escape. Why do you have this thing here anyway?”

“Oh! It was originally built just in case Eggman is still alive and shows his bald head and freaky moustache around here again. Just to hold him until we get someone to get him.”

“..Eggman?”

“Eggman is what I call Robotnik.

Shadow wonders for a moment.. then tries to hide a small amused grin “..he does look like an egg.”

Sonic laughs and lets Shadow finish his meal. He then remembers “oh right! There was this guy snooping around our yard. You don’t happen to recognize him do you?” Sonic shows Shadow the photo he took. Shadows eyes widen “..that’s Dr. Stone. He’s Egg-…Robotniks assistant.”

Silence. Sonics heart has dropped. Shadow sighs “you should let me go. But if you want to die at the hands of brilliance, you be my guest.”

Sonic stands up “I’ll talk to the others..” he leaves Shadow to finish his meal and drink. Shadow balls up in the corner of the room to take a nap.

Sonic finds the others and gathers them in the living room.

“Everyone, we need to have a talk. Remember that guy that came by today? I showed a picture of him to Shadow, and he says that the man is Dr. Stone, which means Robuttnik is trying to find him. He wants to know if we can let him go, to spare us whatever Eggmans got coming. I.. I wanted to know what the rest of you think.” The others think on Sonics words.

On one hand, if they let Shadow go, he could lead Robotnik back or, because he knows where they are, tell Robotnik about any secrets.

On the other, if they don’t fork the hog over, someone’s gonna get hurt.

Ultimately they decide to let Shadow go.

Shadow and Sonic race back to San Francisco.

They make it there at the same time. Sonic cheers “I win!” Shadow scowls “no you didn’t, hedgehog. I won.”

Sonic sticks his tongue out childishly “nuh uh!” Shadow rolls his eyes back playfully “yeah huh!” And suddenly he freezes.

. . .

“Maria! You ate my chips!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yeah huh!”

“You literally have the bag in your hand.”

“I didn’t see your name on the bag, Shadow!”

“Fine then. I’m eating your cookies.”

“NOOOO-“

. . .

Shadow comes back to present time to Sonic waving his hand in front of his face “hellooooo? Shadow, you there? Earth to Shaaaadz”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Oh you’re back! What was that, dude?”

Shadow avoids eye contact. Frankly, he doesn’t know what that was. But.. it gave him a warm fuzzy feeling of familiarity. Whoever this Maria was, she was important to him.

“None of your business… and next time, I’m beating you. Til we meet again, Sonic the Hedgehog.” Shadow turns his back and starts to walk away.

Sonic waves “bye Shadoooow!” And off he zooms to get home.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic the hedghog movie #miles tails prower #tails the fox #movie tails #sonic #movie sonic #knuckles the echidna #movie knuckles #tom wachowski #maddie wachowski #amy the hedgehog #amy rose #movie shadow #shadow the hedgehog

[beevean]

(Feel free to ignore this if you don't want to talk about IDW Sonic! /gen) I don't know if you've seen the solicits for issues 63 and 64 yet, but... yikes. I'm happy Silver is getting more focus, but it honestly feels as if they're just going the Archie Sonic route with him being kind of a literal dumbass jumping to conclusions left and right? In itself I don't mind that, I think it does suit Silver to immediately undertake action without thinking things fully through, but it's how the other characters (are going to) react to it. The fact that the solicit for issue 64 already says "Awkwardness ensures." is promptly giving me second-hand embarrassment, and it hasn't even come out yet! I really don't want another situation wherein everyone is going to jump down Silver's throat (*flashing back to Sonic dragging him by his quills through the town towards Antione in the hospital*) because of the narrative presenting him as an idiot who accuses others without proof and like a dumbass (even if Silver is right; I'm pretty sure it's already confirmed the blue cat dude is Mimic in disguise. I'm not sure if IDW Sonic the comic can be trusted for the others to put a genuine apology towards Silver when this comes to light.). It honestly makes me kind of sad that Silver might get reduced to just being The Dumb Overeager Guy Being Rude To Others And Who Everyone Thinks Is Stupid in this way, not to mention all the weirdness of him getting in the way of the Diamond Cutters and being an overeager fanboy despite having been perfectly able to work together with Whisper at the end of the Metal Virus arc (and, you know, being an immensely powerful psychic and stuff). The comic already went this route in issue 8, why are they dragging it up again despite having shown things that can definitely be interpreted as the contrary in issues 26 and 28?

Just something that has been on my mind ever since I read those solicits, and wanted to get off my chest😅

Stuck in the past with no clear directive, Silver decides to spend some time with the Diamond Cutters and their new member. But he’s too busy being star-struck over Whisper to notice that he’s interrupting their training! Elsewhere, Sonic takes Blaze sightseeing so she can enjoy her vacation.

This issue is all about Silver the Hedgehog! First, he's incredibly suspicious of the Diamond Cutters' new member and he jumps to a conclusion that leads him to some hasty accusations. Awkwardness ensues. Then, Blaze comforts Silver as they bond over being away from home and in Sonic's world.

I'm honestly surprised that they even remembered that Silver is a Whisper fanboy. Remember when people shipped Silvisper and Blazangle, before Whispangle fused together? Good times lol

Yeah, this plot is going to be cringe in the real sense of the word. I hate when the story is about characters making fool of themselves, and Silver is about to be a uwu cute but annoying idiot in #63, and a Mr. Conspiracy Theory (who was actually right all along) in #64? Miss me with that.

Remember when Silver kicked the entirety of Sonic's ass and came close to murder him in cold blood? I do. Silver is not an edgy murder machine and sure I can believe he's happier now, but come on, do something more with him than turn him into the cute child of the group!

Also didn't Silver already have a conversation about being stuck in the past in the 2022 annual, with Espio? A much more interesting interaction since the two have only been paired together in Rivals 2 of all things? Ah, but then again, if they're rehashing Archie, sure why not :V yay can't wait to see Sonic being an utter jerkass to Silver <3

And why oh why did you have to remind me of how awful Tangle's apology to Whisper was 😭 I hate that scene so much

... I hope they'll show Sonic and Blaze having fun on Frog Forest. I love Frog Forest 🥺 please just have two characters having fun on their own

#fans don't look #i don't talk about idw anymore because the latest arc has been boring as all hell #but yeah i still dislike it lol

[bluebunnyears-08]

Mr. Archive Guy, back again with another writing prompt idea!  

This basic idea’s kind of simple, but all things considered, I think it’s one you’ll get a REAL kick out of writing, Bluebunnyears.

I call it: “See Ya, Buddy.”

So it’s that fateful moment in Episode 2 where Sonic is about to be killed by the Chaos Council’s machine.  The hedgehog looks over sadly at Nine and says what could’ve been his real last words: “See Ya, Buddy.”  

What I’d like you to write is Nine’s POV narrative of THAT MOMENT.  What specific feelings came into Nine’s heart when he thought Sonic was about to be killed?  What specific thoughts played through his mind when Sonic the Hedgehog’s presence in his life took on a whole new level of significance and worth? (And don't be afraid to go into detail!)

Narrating that part of Episode 2 entirely from Nine’s POV, start from a point shortly before Sonic says the words “See You, Buddy”, and end at the point where Nine frees Sonic and says, “Okay, hedgehog, you’re up!”  

Have fun!   (As always, I’m really looking forward to seeing this one on “Archive Of Our Own!”)

Hello again! I've actually been wanting to see what Nine's perspective of this was, and I have a couple of ideas in my head.

And thank you! I will have fun!

================================================

This was it.

It was over for both of them. Nine's shackles felt heavier at the thought, and he could practically feel the electricity from the stun guns latch onto his fur and bring more pain. But he was more focused on the struggling blue hedgehog in front of him, held by electric pulses of shackles of his own, the red beam of the energy extractor getting closer and closer.

Sonic was beginning to panic even more as it did so, having been rudely cut off by those monsters. The machine was getting closer, ready to cut the urchin's life short just to give more power to cruel dictators, and Nine couldn't look away.

He didn't know why, this was an awful thing, nobody would want to watch someone die like that, but he couldn't look away even knowing that it was a twisted curiosity of his own and a sense of hypnosis, one he couldn't break.

The hedgehog was going on and on about his "friends", thanking random people, but it didn't matter to the dictators.

They just wanted power.

The beam was set up now, and Sonic's face fell with dread, and Nine felt a strange feeling wash over him. Something uncomfortable and somewhat panicked and sad, something he didn't know what to call it.

Guilt? He had nothing to be guilty about, they were captured because the blue idiot decided to go out from cover. And he didn't have any reason to be ashamed.

Maybe it was fear, not for the hedgehog, he hardly knew him, but it was that he was going to be next on the chopping block.

Sonic suddenly turned to him, eyes filled with panic and sadness, but also some kind of concern.

That's when the blue blur spoke his true last words, words Nine never expected.

Words Nine never thought he'd ever hear.

"See ya, buddy."

And everything went in slow motion.

Nine felt that horrible feeling come over tenfold, his jaw-dropping. That wasn't what he was expecting. He was expecting pleas for help or mercy, not a silent admission of his incoming death alongside such an affectionate term.

'Buddy'

Nobody's ever called him that before. Nobody's ever treated him with such kindness before. Nobody's ever touched him with a caring and soft touch, it was more kicks, hits, and pulling. Nobody's ever looked at him with anything other than disgust or unexplained hate.

No...

This hedgehog told him of another life he could've had.

No...

This hedgehog gave him warmth and care, things he craved more than anything. Who can give him that, now it was going to end?

No!

There was a sudden movement, and the extractor was quickly turned away. Nine felt a sense of relief, looking up to see one of the resistance leaders, a bat.

The Council and hunk of metal were distracted by the fight, so Nine took his chance. He got to the computer and put his skills to the easy test, getting those cuffs off.

His eye caught the sight of the now rolling wheel that the hedgehog was stuck in, so he directed his attention to freeing the now dazed hedgehog.

Once he did, he called out to the urchin now trying to stand.

"Okay hedgehog, you're up!"

#more sonic prime! #ask response #story prompt #writing prompt #nine the fox #tails nine #sonic prime #sonic the hedgehog #character exploration #thank you for the ask

[true-blue-sonic]

The thought of Eggman Nega having a hand in Silver’s “creation” is hilarious. The Robotnik bloodline just cannot escape the curse of at least one of their best creations turning against them in some way.

…Actually, right after I sent that last ask, I happened to remember something. I know it’s been mentioned before that Silver likely isn’t an artificial creation because he mentions having been born, but isn’t it possible in the Sonic universe to implant fake memories? I always thought that that was the way Gerald got Shadow to believe he had to destroy the world. And that was 250 years before Silver’s time, so imagine what the tech from his time could be capable of

I think it would also fit with the fact Eggman Nega is just so bad at being a credible villain that he never managed to get Silver back under his control again. Eggman reprogrammed Metal after the events of Heroes to have unwavering loyalty to him once more, and Gerald was long dead by the time Amy managed to make Shadow remember his true wish (and in ShTH Gerald's video message furthermore inspires Shadow into a second wind that allows him to beat Black Doom, so he managed to undo the destruction of the world after all like his sane self would have wanted).

But indeed, on the topic of Gerald and Shadow, in Gerald's speech in SA2 in the Last Story he says: "I designed its mind to be perfect, pure…", implying to me that he meddled with Shadow's mind somehow (because the Shadow we see in earlier flashbacks is quite kind with Maria, while pondering over his purpose and why he was created). We also see that Shadow at first does not recall Maria's actual wish ("Give them a chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams."), and instead only remembers bits and pieces. Here it is interesting to note that in those, Maria never says the word revenge or anything urging for it. She just says "Shadow… I beg of you… please," and "Do it for me… for all the people… on that planet…", which Shadow fills in with her desiring revenge. I'm not certain if this is indeed what happened, but I figure Gerald actively repressed the parts where Maria asked Shadow to protect the world and put the idea of revenge in Shadow's head instead, while still leaving enough pieces of Maria's presence and words for Shadow to recall she had a wish for him to fulfil. So from that, I figure tampering with memories is absolutely not impossible in the world of Sonic.

In canon, I doubt Silver is indeed an artificial creation because there is nothing pointing towards it, but I quite like the idea of a story where Nega created him to be the ultimate fighter in his army or something like that... and somehow managed to make a hoglet with such a strong sense of justice and desire to help others that it all backfired on him immediately. I can imagine Nega pulling a Starline-esque move wherein he kept erasing Silver's memories in attempts to this time get him to be loyal, except Silver somehow managed to escape and be free from his control between memory wipes. He'd remember enough about Nega to know he's very dangerous and wants to destroy the world, and he also knows enough about himself that he doesn't want that to pass, and thus them being archnemeses is settled for life. And Nega is never going to be able to defeat him, haha! I think it'd be even more interesting if he made Silver with just some base powers (some telekinesis, maybe being able to teleport), but Silver keeps developing himself further. And now he can fly at the speed of sound! And make knives from pure psychic energy! Some precognition and telepathic abilities, why not? Lifting literal tons of weight at once, sure! Eggman Nega can't even be proud of the fact his creation is able to do all this, because it's only ever used to wreck his plans. He'll be beyond bitter about it!

#I really love SA2's story actually I find it incredibly intriguing #just... Gerald's video message. How he describes Shadow as a son in ShTH but goes insane with grief so much he begins to see Shadow only as #a means to an end to take revenge on everyone who took Maria from him #he goes from calling Shadow his son to just calling him 'it' #and Gerald even *says* he's gone insane and that it frightens him yet he continues with his plans anyway #and everything Shadow was supposed to stand for (helping people) got twisted into him destroying them all instead #it intrigues me so much #silver the hedgehog #eggman nega

[lemonmatronics]

I'm feeling a bit "meh" and I'll give you some cookies if you have any other headcanons regarding the babygirl metal sonic 👉👈🥺 it's healing to hear people babble about them! sorry if this sounds kind of out-of-nowhere that's just the 'tism 🥺🎉

OH ABSOLUTELY

-The BIGGEST Hatsune Miku fan!! She looooves that fictional bitch, even got Cubot into her! Listens to her music on the daily and enjoys the songs that actually do sound more robotic

-I feel like when Sage first shows up, Metal is very much jealous of her instantly getting the daughter role, but hides it pretty okay from most people. Except, of course, Sage herself. It takes a long time for her to actually accept getting close to her new sister, but eventually she realizes that Sage isn’t the one to be upset with here. It’s him.

-So random, but. I feel like if Metal ever had the chance to be free as her own person, her snd Rouge would be fuckin besties. Amy invites them both on a girls day out and they instantly hit it off. Finally! Another girlie that won’t stop her from stealing a cute necklace!! Yknow

-Before being fully free, she’d like to change some things in her appearance and programming that are almost unnoticeable. A slightly more pink hue to her red eye, additions into her program to let her process things like music, ect ect. A small act of rebellion for a taste of freedom

-Adapts an odd fascination with nature. She was denied it her whole life, the allowance to stay there, observe it, nothing but destruction. One day she goes out into fully, committing herself to simply observe. Why was it so bad, anyways? She wanted an actual answer…she didn’t get one.

[my-name-is-jefferooni]

Reflection

I AM ON A GODDAMN ROLL TODAY HOLY SHIT OKAY UHMMM

This is a short little Drabble I just came up with in this moment, inspired by my latest character analysis reblog. You don’t have to read that honestly, because it is VERY VERY LONG, but if you want then you can! idk I mean I kinda like it so…

Anywhizzle, this drabble is basically just Sonic angst. Takes place in the IDW universe some time after the Metal Virus, maybe in my own au, it fits in both so it doesn’t matter. Sorry for stalling, and here it is:

———

Sonic doesn’t look in mirrors very often. Usually when he wants to fix up his appearance or if he just wants to know what he looks like, he’ll just head on down to the nearest pond and watch as his face wobbles along with the waves. It’s not much, and he does have to admit that more stable surfaces are better than water, but it’s just how he does things. Like the saying suggests, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

This was the first time in a while he actually saw his reflection at all, actually. He was hanging out with Cream and Vanilla, helping the younger rabbit with her writing. Honestly, his writing looked way worse than hers, but nobody ever said anything so he never mentioned it. And when Vanilla came outside with a metal tray full of cookies, obviously the two of them cleaned off the whole dang thing! All that was left were a few measly crumbs and that was it!

Or… No, wait, there was something else, too. Something… Odd. Something blue in color and with splotches of peach as well, something spiky sticking out from the back of the head…

Oh. That was him. Sonic the Hedgehog.

… Right…?

The strange image confused the young hedgehog. The odd reflection in the tray didn’t look anything at all like him! It was more like a blue blob, or an imposter of some kind, taunting him. It grinned wide and maliciously, staring at Sonic with empty eyes. The sight almost made the hedgehog jump out of his seat in surprise! He kept himself from doing so, then politely excused himself from the table, in search of an actual mirror. Because, yeah, that totally wasn’t Sonic! That blue ball of nothing wasn’t him at all! It was just a trick of the light, a fantasy in his head, the texture of the tray! That was it, surely! No scary blobs in sight!

He entered the small bathroom down the hall and looked into the mirror.

Something else looked right back.

A dark blue hedgehog, probably about three feet tall, with pointed ears and scruffy quills that stuck out every which way. The eyes looked dull, nothing indicating any sense of life, with only a dark green iris and a pure black pupil in each one. The fur on the forehead was matted and ugly, stains of all kinds replacing the original blue coloring. The muzzle was far too long for it to be natural, the nose on its end practically touching the mirror! Speaking of which, the nose was completely black, no wet shimmering in sight, indicating a clear lack of proper health. Dark circles lay dormant underneath the eyes, showing how utterly exhausted and gone this strange creature truly was.

But that… That wasn’t Sonic, was it? He wasn’t halfway to death’s door, was he? Sonic the Hedgehog was a world-renowned hero! A figurehead in practically every community! Everyone on Mobius knows of him, everyone looks up to him, everyone loves him! He’s got everything he could’ve ever wanted and more! Friends, a mismatched family, a life, freedom, peace and quiet…

Did he? Yeah, of course he had all that! He’s literally Sonic the Hedgehog! No one has a better life than him! Who else has the ability to go out into the world and be as free as the wind? Who else gets the chance to kick some angry fatso in the head with his own machinery? Who else gets to keep running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and running and ru

Sonic stands there, staring at his reflection. It IS his reflection, isn’t it? He is tired, still trying to properly recover from the Metal Virus. (Even the thought of that dreadful time made his stomach squirm) Sonic still hasn’t showered in a while, so of course he’d be a bit on the uglier side. He is a bit on edge, still learning to not trust as easily as he did before. He is slightly malnourished, not wanting to be greedy and waste more food than necessary.

But… But is that really him? Does Sonic really looks so… Unwell? So overhelmed? So unkempt? So scared, so sad, so dead inside?

He stares back at the image in the mirror, glaring daggers at the darker version of himself. No, this could not be the same hedgehog. The real Sonic is cheerful, happy to be alive, happy to have such great friends, happy that he has such great opportunities! He’s thankful, he’s kind, and he would never ask for anything more.

The hedgehog in the mirror begs to differ. Its head tilts to the side, mocking Sonic’s thoughts, grinning from ear to ear as it analyzes its counterpart. Not a word is spoken from either being, for there are none that need saying. They just continue staring into each other's eyes, trying to one-up the other without even lifting a finger.

Sonic gets tired of it after only a minute, a pathetic little yawn escaping his lips and his eyes drooping in exhaustion. He rubs his eyes angrily, knowing the version of himself in the mirror has already won. But when he looks back, the being is no longer grinning.

It still looks the same, but… But it’s also still Sonic.

…

He exits the bathroom, turning the light off behind him, not wanting to look in the mirror any longer.

#The ending was kinda rushed tbh but I’m still proud of this #The only thing I managed to finish in a whole fucking year Jesus christ #Let me happy I finished some creative writing for once in my life okay #blog/ask stuff #angst #sonic idw #Putting this in the default tag too because I WANT PEOPLE TO SEEEEEEE