#satam robotnik x reader

[robotnik-apologist]

AHHHHHHH! I love your writing! SatAM Robotnik is chronically underrated.

Can I please get some headcanons about what SatAM Robotnik would be like as a husband? I need to marry that FAT man.

tysm! and yes, absolutely. marriage-related headcanons just hit different 🙏 (a.n. i know that the req didn't include anything wedding-esc but i can’t help but indulge myself 😗)

SatAM!Robotnik Marriage HC’s:

Theme: Impacto - Enjambre

In my mind, there’s 100% an elopement. Not as dramatic as a traditional one (maybe a little, though - he has a flair for the dramatic, after all), but really just to get away from things - getting married is kind of hard to do in your workplace.

It also makes sense to me because it’s feasible - I forget which episode it happens in, exactly, but he leaves to go deal with an uprising in the Northern Frontier for a few days. I just figure that it means that he could realistically spare some time away - especially if it’s for you! <3

Moving on from that though, I think he’d actually be fairly different as a husband than he is in a (technically) noncommittal relationship. If you get to the point of marrying this guy, there’s an undeniable level of trust and intimacy between the two of you. It wouldn’t necessarily go away, per se, but he’s definitely not going to act as egotistical as he usually does - not around you, at least.

Not that there wouldn't be a bit of occasional struggle, though. Although he’s a lot more comfortable being open with you, it doesn't necessarily mean that he’s entirely confident. He does hold you in high regard, after all - and although he trusts that you’d never think badly about him in such a scenario - he just doesn't want to change how you feel/think about him.

Regardless, his usual bluster and confidence is completely flipped on its head when he actually cares for someone - that won’t ever change.

Really, though, he adores you. You’re someone that he can laugh with, that he can rely on, and most importantly, you’re someone that cares about him.

It seems out-of-character, at first glance - but this guy is a master manipulator when it comes to dealing with the Freedom Fighters. It’s not like he doesn't comprehend the emotions that drive people, or that he himself is immune from them. And because of that, I’d say there’s likely a pervasive loneliness that tends to linger in him.

All of that seems pretty heavy, and it really just comes with the concept of marriage itself - but at the same time, he’s not immune to whimsy and occasional tomfoolery. Like I said earlier, a big part of marriage is just being able to laugh at AND with one another.

Another change from dating to marriage is likely going to be the amount of PDA he’ll tolerate. Before getting married (like I said in my earlier relationship headcanons), he isn’t fond of PDA simply due to it possibly leading to a perceived weakness on his part. But afterward? You’re his spouse/wife/husband, for God’s sake, and he doesn’t give a damn anymore.

When it comes to having kids, ehhh… I personally don’t foresee it - he hates organic life, and I doubt he’d want to create more of it. But I’m very self-indulgent and think about it anyway, so if you want those kinds of headcanons, fire away. (I think it’s also important for me to say that even if something doesn’t align with my personal headcanons, they’re just that - headcanons. If you wanna see a specific scenario, even if it's super out-of-character, who cares? I certainly don’t, so ask anyway.)

Either way, he’s going to be much more affectionate in pretty much every way you’re comfortable with - you will constantly receive handmade trinkets, and you cannot escape it.

Like I said earlier, he adores you; there's very little he wouldn't do for you. He really just wants you to be happy and see you smile.

[satamramblings]

INTRODUCTION BLOG

Hello everyone, my name is Astragene/Madyson! I decided to make a separate blog for mainly SATAM related content. That way I have a separate area of where I can yap about this gem of Sonic media. I'll occasionally post about AoSTH, Underground, and maybe the comics, but SATAM is my main focus.

I got into the SATAM/Underground fandom back in 2019, discovering both shows when I was browsing some live channels. It very quickly developed into a specific area of my special interest in the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise. I LOVE old Sonic media, everything from the old cartoons, to the old games, and to the comics. SATAM overall is my #1 favorite Sonic show, as I have a deep passion for the lore and characters.

Within the show, I specifically hyperfixate on Naugus and Snively. I kinda flip flop between the two being my absolute favorite character, but I'm genuinely fascinated with how each character is written. You'll see a lot of posts regarding these two, even some Robotnik since I like him as well.

If you want to reach out to me, you can DM me @astragene (just let me know you came from this blog). However I will not answer DMs from those under 18.

Minors are allowed to interact with the blog, WITH ONE EXCEPTION. This blog post may have NSFW content, which those posts will be rated 18+ accordingly with specific warnings. Despite being extremely difficult to age restrict content on the internet, if I see a minor interacting with NSFW posts, they will be blocked.

Other than that, I can guarantee that 90% of the content here is SFW! I'm not too keen on posting a lot of explicit content unless it's a fanfic request. I may thirst from time to time, but nothing explicit on that aspect. ^w^

Speaking of fanfic requests, I take those! I'll write any fanfic you want whether Canon x Reader or OC x Canon. HOWEVER, I will not write NSFW content of underage/Noncon situations, or aspects of NSFW that I'm uncomfortable with. Everyone has their kinks, so I'm not gonna judge if it involves consenting parties. But I still have my limits.

Next, I wanna point out that I do have autism. It can be difficult for me at times to understand tone or I might come off as rude from time to time, so please know that I don't mean any ill intention. Please point it out and I'll correct myself :3

Last thing is that while I don't mind going a bit off topic, I will not permit talks of politics or any sort of hatred on my blog (racism, homophobia, ableism, etc). This is a blog where I wanna vibe and gush about a cartoon. Overall, just don't be an asshole.

And with all that out of the way, here's some info about me!:

Age: 20

Birthday: August 12th

Favorite Color: Dark purple

Gender: Nonbinary

Pronouns: She/They

Favorite food: Potstickers

Favorite Games genre: indie games that are simulations or story rich. (UnderTale, Stardew, Inscryption, etc.)

Favorite Movies/Show/Book genre: Psychological horrors, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Old cartoons

Hobbies: Playing Video Games, writing, drawing

Thank you for coming to my blog! I hope you're having a good day!! <3

[thankskenpenders]

And so that’s it... nearly 200 issues deep, we’re done with the contributions of original writer Michael Gallagher. I’ve been asked in the past about the possibility of writing an article going over Gallagher’s run, like what I did with Penders. And I might still do that. But for now, here’s a shorter postmortem summarizing my feelings on the work of the original writer for history’s longest-running video game comic

I think it’s easy to look back on Gallagher’s silly old stories with a lot of nostalgia, especially after seeing what the series would become in its Dark Age. I can’t blame anyone who feels this way. I feel that way sometimes, too. It was a simpler time, with short, self-contained stories and a ton of puns, and it was a lot more easily digestible than a lot of the teen melodrama and half-baked sci-fi that followed. But the thing is... that doesn’t mean that Gallagher’s writing was good

Gallagher was always an odd fit for Sonic. I can’t really blame the man for introducing lame concepts like Cal and Al that didn’t fit in with Sonic early on because it’s not like he had much to work with in the early days. The guy was expected to write a monthly comic series based on a couple 16-bit platformers with very little story and some snippets from a cartoon that wasn’t out yet. He also had no way of knowing that his work here would lay the foundation for the longest video game comic ever made. I don’t envy his job. Of course he’d do a goofball story where Sonic travels back to caveman times. It’s not like he had much else to do

But as the series progressed and the cartoons and games gave the comic writers more material to work with, Gallagher didn’t really play along. He gave us a few solid, fun stories like Mecha Madness, but for the most part he was off in his own world, trying to sell us on shoehorned characters like the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters or the Downunda Freedom Fighters who existed almost exclusively to deliver new flavors of lame pun. One time he even worked with Jim Valentino to make a naval-gazing parody of classic Guardians of the Galaxy so they could make lame puns about a comic they used to write (that very few children in 2001 reading Archie Sonic would be familiar with)

People generally pinpoint Penders as the guy who became obsessed with his own pet characters over the main cast as time went on, but really, Gallagher was just as guilty. And honestly, sometimes Gallagher doing it bugged me more. At least Penders had some prominent characters people actually liked, like Elias, Lara-Su, and Julie-Su, as well as some semblance of an overarching plot to work with. Meanwhile Gallagher was over here trying desperately to get people to care about a group of characters he had created exclusively as a vehicle for trite Australia jokes

Gallagher did introduce a few characters who stuck around, but he doesn’t really deserve much of the credit for that. Most notable would probably be Fiona Fox, who would become a major recurring character under later writers... except Gallagher only really invented her robotic doppelganger that Robotnik tricked Tails into falling in love with that one time. He created Knuckles’ grandfather Athair, the one comic character to somehow make it into a cartoon, but Penders helped out with that lore and did more with the character, meaning most people just assume he’s another Penders echidna. He created Tails’ parents, but Karl and Ian were the ones who actually did stuff with them. And he created the Ancient Walkers, who were kind of neat at first but quickly devolved into a tired plot device, only to be killed off by Ian almost immediately to cut down on the deus ex machinas. If you look at the list of characters Gallagher created, it’s mostly just randos he created for the sake of puns

And that’s really what most of it comes down to. Lame puns. I’m totally down for Sonic stories that go for a silly tone. I love Sonic Boom as much as the next fan, and I’ve been having a blast with the extremely goofy Sonic X comics. I’m not a cartoon snob who won’t watch a show that doesn’t have action and drama and lore, I’m out here watching shows like Apple & Onion. But while Gallagher could write good jokes sometimes, he mostly relied on groanworthy newspaper strip-level puns. (I guess it’s fitting, considering he’s related to both the guy who created Heathcliff AND his successor who makes those comics about the Garbage Ape.) I love me a good pun from time to time, and a lot of Gallagher’s are funnier when shared out of context, but when a story is just wall to wall puns it becomes agonizing. Puns should be a spice, not a main ingredient. And when Gallagher got a chance to follow an ACTUAL newspaper comic strip format in the Off Panel, he fared even worse. It was so rare for the Off Panels he wrote to actually be any funny

He WAS genuinely funny at times, though. I’ll give him credit for that. I don’t want it to seem like I hated ALL of his stories. (He did impress me with at least one political joke that’s sadly still relevant today, and in hindsight there’s something really funny on a meta level about the dark and gritty return of Cal and Al.) I think his best work came when he was paired with better artists. Scott Shaw’s more energetic Sonics really helped sell the cartoony comedy in the original miniseries, and obviously Spaziante’s work on Mecha Madness made that story legendary. When he was stuck with the less exciting Manak or Mawhinney, though, not so much

Beyond the puns, there was also this undercurrent of nastiness, meanness, and general grossness in his stories that I don’t see as many fans pick up on. This was mainly evident in the many odd decisions he made with the female cast

We had his take on Sally, who was treated as little more than Sonic’s annoying, moody, bossy girlfriend who bickered with him, sat on a big throne, and occasionally got to be a damsel in distress. He added Bunnie to the cast early on, but it felt like he didn’t have many ideas for what to do with her except make her the butt of jokes about her being a southern belle, including literally making her say “the South shall rise again!” We had Barby Koala’s extremely creepy flirting with Tails, who was half her age. We had that tone deaf Off-Panel joke about turning the special dedicated to the female readers into a swimsuit special (which isn’t far off from what everyone else actually did). And we also had that baffling story where Dulcy killed her mother. I have NO idea what the fuck he thought he was going for with that one.

It wasn’t just the girls, though--Antoine was somehow even more of a punching bag in Gallagher’s early stories than he was on SatAM. At least in the cartoon Sonic was responding to Antoine’s’ massive ego when he poked fun at him. In the early comics, Sonic would constantly rag on Antoine at any opportunity he got. It was VERY distracting in the early issues, and it made his Sonic come off as way more of a jerk

Later writers would often talk about needing to fix certain characters. Penders, for all his countless insufferable faults, used his early stories to steer Sally towards the version of the character fans knew from SatAM. (He then ruined Sally in his own special way, but, you know.) Just about every writer who touched him spent years and years trying to fix Antoine and make readers stop hating him. The unspoken part here is that the original incarnations of these characters that everyone had to work so hard to fix... were Gallagher’s

Again, Gallagher didn’t have an easy job as the first writer on this series, and most of his stories were... fine. Nothing I’d recommend to non-fans, but they had their moments. They make for an amusing read for their sheer absurdity. But a lot of it ranged from not very good to outright bad. We’ll always cut him some slack for having so little to work off of when he started and for writing stories that were, in hindsight, better (or at least less grating) than a lot of the melodramatic schlock that came later. I’ll always have some nostalgia for those simpler times. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Gallagher’s stuff was ever all that good

But I can’t hate the guy too much, because he gave me the greatest Sonic character of all time

[mashounen2003]

Sonic opinions - 2

In large portions of every fandom, it looks like it prevails the idea that you can only take one of two positions: praising the story in every respect, including both the ideas themselves and their execution by the writers, or admitting not to like the story and not to praise any element of it at all. I think my ideas regarding the Archie-Sonic comics and the Sonic franchise in general cannot be pigeonholed into either of these two extremes.

More below the "keep reading" cut.

I loved all the world-building in Archie-Sonic, the elements the comic introduced, their many characters and the potential to tell stories about them; I also really liked much of the art and personal styles of several artists Archie-Sonic has had throughout its history, with very few exceptions (and such exceptions include Ron Lim, of course). That's why, of all the Sonic continuities, I often use the pre-reboot Archie-Sonic comic as the primary source for world-building elements and story ideas.

What really makes me feel bad about that comic, what motivates most of my criticism, is the ideas’ execution by the main writers, as well as aspects that I think are more linked to each writer as a person, the unique way in which each of them has written their stories.

Firstly, Michael Gallagher: the writer for the first few dozen issues of the comic had a terrible sense of humour, and this hurt the comic hugely since those first issues were fundamentally based on that low-quality comedy style. The characterization of the entire cast also suffered greatly from this; in Sally's case, something quite ironic happened too: Gallagher portrayed her as bossy, annoying, temperamental, usually bickering with Sonic, and now that's also how Sally is seen by many fans of the videogames’ continuity (at best). Other than this, not much more could be said about him.

Karl Bollers wrote quite decent stories with some nice comedy, with “Return to Angel Island” being his best work, one of the best stories in the entire comic and perhaps even one of the best in the franchise; but Bollers’s work was "torpedoed" by Ken Penders and then-editor Justin Gabrie, which ruined the stories’ final versions sometimes or led to elements introduced by Bollers being "retconned" and overwritten by whatever Penders smoked and decided to do when taking over. The characterization of Fiona Fox is one of the main examples, with Bollers's Fiona being a quite under-utilized character but with a great potential that would later be wasted by both Penders and Ian Flynn. Another similar case was Sally breaking up with Sonic: Bollers tried to give context to such a drastic decision by Sally and show how she was the one who was suffering the most at that time and also that both she and Sonic were partially right, but Penders and Gabrie didn't let Bollers develop this subplot properly and all we had was a quite infamous scene that unfairly made Sally one of the most hated characters. It’s also known of several plans Bollers had for future stories, and one of them was Antoine being corrupted by the Source of All and turning into a villain; this had the potential to be a good story by subverting the concept of the Source of All and making it an actual threat, but on the other hand, it’d have meant resorting once again to the resource of "this character isn’t doing anything, let's make them evil", something quite disappointing, which later would have disastrous results when Flynn did the same with Fiona a few years later. However, these plans of Bollers were just ideas, and the quality of a story created from them still depends a lot on execution. In the end, I can't say anything about how good or bad Bollers was as a writer, simply because I have no way of knowing what his stories would have been like if he had been given more freedom and had stayed as the writer longer.

There were two writers who influenced Archie-Sonic comics far more than any other writer in its history: Penders and Flynn. The first of them was a retarded pervert with an overly inflated and fragile ego. He became obsessed with the primitive, toxic ideal of "family" North-Americans have. He wrote nonsensical, contradictory stories, having already decided the end down to the last detail long before even thinking about how the story would come to that end (I also made this specific mistake a few times when I was just starting to write fanfiction, I must admit). He increased Fiona's age in order to be able to pair her with the Don Juan that Sonic had become, which also ruined Fiona's characterization forever. The issues 150s -right before being replaced by Flynn- were the worst part of Penders’s run, as Bollers was no longer there to put a stop to his madness in any way, and it was at this time when there was the most egregious case of Penders pouring into the comic his worst perversions and retarded ideas: he hinted at a sex scene in one of the most infamous cases in the history of the entire Sonic franchise, although it wasn’t infamous for the implied sex per se but rather because what happened was technically a rape by deception; to add insult to injury, the writer implicitly blamed the victim some years later when asked about it on Twitter.

I could go on talking about “Ken Perverts”, but I think that's not necessary and would be a waste of time since, as everyone here already knows, he's been the laughingstock of the entire Sonic franchise for years; @ponett even has a whole secondary blog, @thankskenpenders, mainly dedicated to this. On the other hand, there’s still another writer who has also contributed a lot and also made huge mistakes but is not criticized in the least by almost anyone, simply because he was better than Penders.

Ian Flynn usually reduced the characters to slightly oversimplified portrayals, similar to the personalities of the characters in the most recent videogames. Under his pen, Sonic was more sympathetic but his words sometimes sounded too empty and shallow, his apologies for past mistakes didn’t lead to genuine changes on his part, and sometimes he even seemed plain insensitive to all the tragedies happening around him, especially at the Mecha Sally Arc (I nickname Ian Flynn’s Sonic "Plastic Smile" for this). Admittedly, this had already happened several times with previous writers (Penders portraying Sonic as a Don Juan, as I already mentioned), and this is why I think the original Sonic from Sonic SatAM was always better for feeling more "genuine", less "empty", and more heroic and likeable as a result. Perhaps the only ones to escape the oversimplified portrayal have been Shadow and E-123 Omega, whose characterizations in Archie-Sonic were the best in the whole franchise.

Besides, Flynn had strong favouritism for Amy Rose, which only made things worse because this Amy was much more similar to the one in the videogames from Sonic Heroes onwards. Anyway, this also happened with previous writers, like when Amy wished to be younger at the cost of a chance to save Sally's mother and no one ever berated her for it.

Let’s look at the villains. Unlike the typical Eggman from the videogames, with his follies, eccentricities and other absurd aspects, the Robotnik “inherited” by the comic from Sonic SatAM was explicitly a genocidal bastard and crueller while at the same time being sane enough to realize everything he was doing (@robotnik-mun already spoke in detail about this once); however, Flynn tried to combine the two characters into the pre-reboot Archie-Sonic Eggman, and the result created some severe problems with the stories’ tone. Something derived from this was how Sonic let Eggman live and even felt sorry for his fall into madness, in addition to treating him as if they were the Sonic and Eggman from the videogames, Sonic X or Sonic Boom; it’s worth remembering this Eggman technically is a sort of reincarnation of the SatAM Robotnik (his exact nature is quite complicated and includes parallel universes, but yes, he’s supposed to be exactly the same as the SatAM Robotnik, with memories and everything) and this Sonic is supposed to have fought a bloody decade-long guerilla war against him just like his SatAM counterpart.

Scourge was turned into a massive Mary-Sue who achieved easy victories, as subtle as a huge neon sign saying "the bad guys win"; he was also an abusive manipulator towards Fiona Fox, and Flynn was unable to show that properly for fear of making his pet look no longer cool, which makes you wonder how alike Flynn and Penders might actually be in some ways. To clearly understand the horrible damage this has caused: it not only created a generation of young Sonic fans -mostly boys from the USA- who romanticize abuse either consciously or unconsciously, but also there are even women -including scholars, committed feminists and transgender people who are also activists for social justice- who either sympathize with Scourge or think Fiona made a right, wise, rational or informed decision by joining him in the story (I’ll not give names of those women, I’m not really eager to get into heated fallacious discussions about “the true meaning of Feminism”); to top it off, among the writers who started working with Ian Flynn either on IDW-Sonic or the last years of Archie-Sonic, there’s at least one person who got the job of writing official Sonic comics after gaining quite a bit of fame with a fan-comic where they used the pairing of Scourge & Fiona to inspire its readers to feel sorry... for Scourge. And speaking of Fiona specifically: the subplot of her career as a villain was ill-conceived, was built by using as a cornerstone the A-story of Issue #150 (that quite infamous and widely known story written by Penders where Scourge may or may not have raped Bunnie by deception), and was also seemingly "abandoned" as Fiona ended up merely being Scourge's new abuse victim girlfriend and her status as a traitor didn’t even have a significant emotional effect on the Freedom Fighters.

Flynn also followed something like a pattern of taking tropes from famous works and then using them when writing the comic but not actually understanding why those tropes had worked in the first place. Perhaps the prime example of this was Scourge giving Sonic the Joker's "One Bad Day" speech: it almost felt a bit like giving the same speech to the Batman of Batman vs. Superman, as Sonic had already had a whole "bad decade" and was still a hero despite it; also, Sonic's answer to that speech (telling Scourge it only takes a tiny bit of selflessness and decency for him to be a good person) wasn’t that great, not at all compared to the mildly masterful answer Batman had originally given to the Joker in The Killing Joke, and it even made Sonic look more like a bad judge of character.

Lastly, the entire Mecha Sally Arc was poorly planned, had some contradictions with itself and with previous stories, was stretched through dozens of comic issues no matter if that felt forced, and the main events and plot twists throughout the story arc were heavily based on shock-value without giving any substance to this or making it a bit more sense when putting it under scrutiny; meanwhile, Flynn always seemed to have quite a hard time when writing long story arcs, so these long stories looked like he was trying and outright failing to imitate Toriyama (someone quite known for putting together stories ad-lib according to what seemed most convenient at the time).

Despite this, it looks like those Sonic fans who are still interested in material outside of the videogames will keep buying and reading whatever Ian Flynn or one of his colleagues writes, simply because they’re better than Penders... even though it's been 15 years since Penders wrote something official about Sonic. Seriously, we should have gotten over it by now, instead of continuing to compare all material in the franchise with Penders's work, which sets the bar too low for any official content creator. Now that I think about it, Penders's work is to the North-American Sonic canon what Sonic 2006 is to the videogames: people can criticize the latest games all they want, and rightfully so, but if someone even casually mentions Sonic 2006, any Sonic game from 2010 onwards instantly becomes a masterpiece just for being marginally better than Sonic 2006; the same happens between Penders's work on pre-reboot Archie-Sonic and any other North-American Sonic comic written by Flynn after Penders left.

Right now it looks like it's also forbidden to criticize Flynn as a writer at all just because he's much nicer in his personal life and engages with fans more directly through his podcasts, or because Flynn is truly progressive while Penders claimed to be progressive and a feminist and was affiliated with the USA Democrats but his work showed how misogynistic, perverted, retarded, reactionary and downright sick he was. Also, now saying something about Flynn other than total blind admiration for him and his work, even asking for the Freedom Fighters to return in the IDW comics, has become synonymous with agreeing with those assholes who cry "Rally4Sally" or "Udon4Sonic" on Twitter: "nostalgic" fans of SatAM and Penders's work on Archie, in their 40s or 50s, deeply conservative and absurdly paranoid, who claim that those new inclusive cartoons such as Steven Universe or She-Ra "are ruining their childhood", are mad at Flynn just because he hinted Sally and Nicole may be a lesbian couple (and in a rather platonic way, not even romantic in the traditional sense), and try to justify their own warped ideas and fantasies about SatAM by ignoring any “liberal” political messages SatAM may have had at the subtext level.

[cryptoriawebb]

I want to talk about something. Something very personal and dear to my heart. Before I do, however, I’m going to ask right now that anyone stumbling onto this either takes the time to stop and read this in full, or carries on with their business, leaving this post untouched. I’m not here to talk about shipping. I’m not here to talk about which characters “are” better and what is and is not “canon.” I know the Sonic fandom is a toxic place filled largely with a young and/or aggressive audience. That’s fine. I was part of it once--on the younger end and adamant about who belonged with who.

I’m not, anymore. Nor do I have patience for any silly comments regarding these points. This is not about the fandom. It’s not about shipping and it’s not about blanket character statements.

This is about me, and how important the Archie Sonic comics were to me. 

I don’t remember how old I was when I first stumbled upon the world of Sonic, but I do remember what it was. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehow used to air on one of Disney’s many channels, and one day my brother saw it for the first time. He described it to me, and for a while I hadn’t a clue what he meant. I remember trying to picture the series and my gosh, I was off the mark, design-wise. Regardless, I eventually did see the show and we used to watch it together in the morning. It was strange and silly and I didn’t think much of it, but I loved Sonic’s catchphrases, the theme song and Tails. 

Sometime after that, we found the OVA at a video rental store (remember those?) I know a lot of people out there don’t think very highly of it, but I was young, and at the time didn’t have any Sonic reference beyond the cartoon. Honestly, I preferred the OVA after watching it. It was darker than the show, with a different type of humor I must have found more appealing. It was also one of the first anime-type-things I’d ever seen. I loved the design, this interpretation of Tails and Robotnik and I also quite liked Knuckles, having never seen him before. 

I suppose I should state right now I was not allowed to play video games growing up, and the first computer I remember entering my home was in the very late nineties. Even then, we didn’t play a lot of PC games, mostly Disney and things like Clue Finders and Freddie Fish.  At some point I know we discovered a sega collection of old Sonic games, and Sonic R, I just can’t remember when. 

Anyway, after that, my next “Sonic medium” came in the form of advertisements for Sonic Sega Dreamcast. I don’t remember what I found so appealing about it, but I very much wanted to play this game. At this point I was pretty obsessed with the OVA and had acquired a lot of old toys relating to the Dreamcast game. Alas, twas not to be, and that was it for me and Sonic..

...until my brother picked up issue #110 for me at a store. I’d never seen a Sonic comic before--had no idea such a thing existed, and believe me, I carried that thing everywhere. The art and story I found incredibly confusing, as did I the side story about Sally and the Sword of Acorn. Who was Sally? How did she know Sonic and Tails? I hadn’t a clue, but I loved the art. A lot. If I were to go back and try reading that comic now I’m pretty sure it would fall apart...the cover’s already been detached from the pages ^^;

Sometime later, I was in a comic book shop--my brother and I loved super heroes and we were starting to get into manga--and I found #114. In it, I discovered a sort of continuation to #110, as well as another beautifully illustrated story by J.Axer. Imagine my surprise to discover not only more characters I’d never seen (Bunnie, Antoine and Rotor) but Amy Rose! Whom I knew, vaguely, from my toys and what I knew of Dreamcast. Like my previous comic, I loved this one so much it also fell apart. J.Axer’s art really fascinated me, I would trace and try to mimic it all the time. Artists today look down on such things, but through the course of doing what I did I broadened my horizons and grew to be a better artist. 

It wasn’t long after that I discovered Sonic SatAM. I was thrilled. Sally, Bunnie and everyone else in a TV show of their own? Why was I not aware of this? I must have rented those videos a thousand times. There were only two or three available, with a handful of episodes each, but I didn’t care. I admit I was a bit saddened to see Tails as a mere side character, but that was the only drawback. I knew this story, or part of it--Sally’s father, King Acorn, I’d seen him before. I knew Knothole, Snively--I knew all of it. It was...amazing, quite frankly, and I’m sure I talked about it a lot...to such a point I started annoying my brother. But again, did not care. I had all this insight and I couldn’t get enough of it. So when I stumbled into another comic shop one day and found several back issues (#100, #103, #104, #105 and a few others) I knew there was no going back. 

I admit, I can’t remember if I found those back issues before or after I realized it was a monthly series, but either way, once I did, I became a steady collector for the next ten years. I ordered back issues, specials, drew art and comics regularly...even when I got older and my interests tapered, I still collected. This world was so in depth, the art--at least most of it--detailed and rich--and I loved all of the characters. All of them. To me, these comics were the meat enhancing the bare bones that was the video game universe. I preferred them to any other incarnation I’d seen prior, and to be quite honest, I still do.

 I can’t speak for the video games now--I know they’ve grown and added characters and I’m sure there’s a lot to be said for that world--but the last video games I played were Shadow and Sonic Heroes. I did watch Sonic X for a while, I just...didn’t care much for it. Shadow was the only one I felt matched the same thought, tone and creative care the comics had, and that’s because they adapted his history pretty well, at least I think so. 

The comics had their ups and downs; I’m not the biggest fans of the #130s, but before the reboot, I really felt things were on a strong track forward. That said, I desperately feared the end of the Freedom Fighters...especially Sally Acorn. I remember actually crying about it to one friend. Since discovering her, Sally has been and remains my favorite Sonic character. 

Please note again, my thoughts are my own and I’m allowed to have them.

Now then...Sally Acorn. Her and Bunnie, fluctuating occasionally because Bunnie reminded me of my favorite X-men growing up (Rogue) but I’d always come back to Sally. I know some people don’t like her. That’s fine, not everyone is going to like every character. For me, though, Sally was one of few tomboy characters I knew of as a child. Yes she was feminine, but her femininity never overwhelmed her. She never felt over-romanticized, at least to me, and I really appreciated her modest design. It always bothered me female animal-type-characters were heavily dressed while the boys rarely wore full clothes. I liked that she broke that norm, it fit her personality.

Her relationship with Sonic felt very buddy-buddy, too, as much as romantic. Like they were really equals, despite differing status and power. Sally’s sacrifice remains stapled to my memory; it is, I think, the defining nature of her character. Her “true” character, I think: what comes out when it’s down to the wire. I’m really impressed with how she’s grown over the years. Not only how she chose to “end” her life but how strong she became after breaking up with Sonic. I don’t at all believe he held her down--and unlike some people I wasn’t bothered by the slap. I just wasn’t. I am, however, so happy she was able to become the Sally I grew up reading, the one I was first introduced to, once again before her final moments. Above all else, she and the Freedom Fighters proved to me you don’t need special powers to be a hero. 

Sonic may have been the ace in the hole, but every one of the Freedom Fighters brought something unique to the table. Watching them evolve over the years--from one universe to the next, powers, kids and otherwise--has been such a wonderful experience. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve invested for so long...I only wish I were able to see how the original story intended to progress.  I tried describing the comics to a friend recently, particularly where it left off before the reboot. He was incredibly surprised by how vast and dark it was. 

I’m going to confess I stopped reading shortly before Sonic rebooted the universes. I have read scans of that initial first issue, but once I discovered the story wasn’t going to continue, I lost a lot of my drive to collect. I’m not going to talk about Penders here--I think we all share mutual feelings in that regard--but in my opinion it was absolutely the defining nail on the coffin for this twenty+ year run. He remains one of few people I find incredibly difficult to forgive. I’m a firm believer in forgiveness, but I grew up reading Sonic. I wanted very much to continue reading it, to see the characters I love continue growing. I can’t do that, anymore. None of us can. 

I don’t expect to see Sally and the others carried over to IDW. The Sonic gaming side of things has evolved so much from where it started out: most readers today know of the Freedom Fighting crew through the comics only. If it’s true Sega sees a different creative vision for their franchise, I think this is finally goodbye...I said goodbye years ago, but it’s final now. The comics as I knew them are over. Another staple of my childhood, already reinvented and reimagined, gone for good. The chances a new generation will find the comics, reboot or otherwise, and meet and connect with the characters I loved the way I loved them, rather than through internet fodder they don’t understand are fewer now and far between. That hurts me, it does. As a creative individual who held this so close to them, one thing I’ve always wanted is for people to discover something and experience what I did. Understand in their own way why myself and I’m sure so many others held onto the comics as long as we did. It’s not about shipping, it’s not about what’s canon or who’s better than the other. It’s about something else entirely. For me, it was an expansive, inclusive and ever-changing world. It was following a show that made something equally impressive from so very little and nurturing it until it took on a life of its own.

Maybe I’m a little dramatic, a little theatrical, but if you've stayed with me through this entire confession I hope you can forgive me. I loved these comics. They were a part of my life for a very long time, and I’m going to miss them, indefinitely.

Thank you, Archie Team, for creating something wonderful. Thank you SatAM and yes, even thank you, Sega, allowing them the chance to give us these memories.

[returnerofthewrites]

Thoughts on Sonic Mania

This review/essay assumes that the reader has kept up with the social media releases in regards to the game, such as the reveals of Flying Battery and Stardust Speedway, the videos on the Special and Bonus Stages, gameplay videos of some zones released by Youtube accounts, and so on. However, it will not have any spoilers about zones, mechanics or things beyond this.

Everyone out there who’s already put out a review or video or whatnot on Sonic Mania has already started off by going into Sonic’s history, ups and downs and so on, so I won’t bore you with that. Everyone already knows about Classic Sonic, Sonic Adventure, Sonic 06 and Boom. There’s more interesting (and relevant) ways to do an intro for this anyway, and the 06/Boom stuff doesn’t bear repeating.

What does bear repeating, then? The fact that Sonic Mania is a very, very good game.

I’ve been a Sonic fan all of my life, starting with renting VHS tapes of both cartoons (AoStH and SatAM, not Underground) from the local Blockbuster, then eventually ending up with the PC versions of Schoolhouse and CD, and I’m willing to admit that, up until very recently, I was never particularly good at the games. As a child I always got stuck around Collision Chaos, and as I grew up and found out about emulation, I never exactly beat any of them, but it didn’t matter to me, because frankly, moving so fast, shooting through loops and the general feeling of momentum was so much fun.

The whole videogame news website meme of “Sonic was never good” thus understandably grates on me. The Sonic social media construct and everything else cracking jokes about his less-than-stellar outings and so on was cute at first, but it quickly gained that poisonous ironic tinge to it, like Sonic would never be able to step back out of the shadow of its own mistakes. Like when you see people on here or Twitter or whatever call themselves “furry trash” or “(X fandom) trash” or so on. Stop doing that. Don’t settle for acting like mediocrity.

Sonic Mania is the opposite of all of that. It feels like the freshest, most interesting, but most importantly, most earnest Sonic game in a long, long time. It was obvious to most people when the game was revealed that the game was going to be something special, and I think the hype for it only grew as time went on, even in the hearts of anyone who managed to be skeptical at first. There were no jokes, no self-deprecating wisecracks or memes, none of that. They simply stood up, head held high, and showed off gameplay after gameplay.

This game is exactly the game that Sonic has needed, now more than ever. This year in general has been great for games (between Breath of the Wild, Nier, Persona, and many other upcoming games like Mario Odyssey and the like), and Sonic Mania is another excellent chip to add to the pile. The sheer amount of passion and love for Sonic as a franchise that the developers (Taxman, Stealth, Tee Lopes and the rest of the Sonic 2 HD crew, and so on) have is palpable, and more importantly, it’s wonderful.

I have experience with Taxman’s work through the excellent Sonic CD port from back in 2011, so when I booted up the game and started a save file as Sonic and Tails, I felt right at home. Controls, as expected, feel very natural, and the physics and momentum are virtually unchanged from the CD port, which itself was already about as accurate as you could possibly get to the originals. I have the Switch version, which meant that I was primarily using the left buttons to play rather than the control stick, and while I would have preferred a normal d-pad, it worked just fine anyway.

There’s something to be said about how easy it was to pick up the game and slip into a groove. I had gone in intending to look at the same the way I had when I streamed Sonic 3 and Knuckles a while back (my first time completing that game, no less), looking at the level design and seeing how the game itself worked. Instead, I ended up getting completely sucked into each and every level I played, and I was completely enamored with the game as a result. While I could see the machine and its cogs all working together, I needed a couple days to cool off and some more time to play it after the initial rush to get my thoughts in order.

I suppose that, more than anything, is what speaks the most to the sheer quality of the game. The levels consist of a mixture of:

Recreated zones from older games, oftentimes with new mechanics or mechanics pilfered and repurposed from other games in the series

And entirely new zones like Studiopolis and Mirage Saloon, with their own unique gimmicks, setpieces and visual themes

And while it’s very easy to organize those things like that, the game itself is far more than the sum of those parts. Mania’s levels absolutely ooze with love and attention to detail, so much so that it took at least two full playthroughs for me to pick up on everything (and knowing me there’s probably more stuff I missed). The game feels like a best-of game, where it takes many of the fan-favorite or memorable things from all four of the classics (1, 2, 3&K, and CD) and mashes them together in order to get the most out of them.

Chemical Plant is probably one of the easiest examples to point to, and it’s just the second level. The second act’s arguably “major” gimmick is the chemical pools that can be altered into bouncy gel (both light blue and green), but it’s not the only gimmick the stage has on offer; there’s also sticky platforms that move on rails, pink bubbles that lift you from one area to another, as well as the classic pipes from the first act and the original zone.

That’s four different small mechanics, and I can happily say that all of them are integrated into the level design in very sensible yet surprising ways. The levels aren’t massive, but there’s still plenty to explore, and thankfully exploration isn’t quite limited to only Tails thanks to the addition of a carry ability you get when playing with Sonic and Tails.

Thankfully, the exploration never feels like it becomes the main focus (partly since the Special Stage rings are the only major thing to find, and partly because the game has a save system), and there were times during my initial playthrough where I was trying to explore but accidentally stumbled into a high-speed place, only to decide to just roll with it (hah) and see what I could find in the next section of the level I ended up in. It speaks to the heart and soul of Sonic as a game and as a character, and it’s a very, very happy feeling.

The game’s difficulty is also worth noting, mostly since it’s probably the smoothest difficulty curve I’ve ever seen in a Sonic game. I’m rather curious to hear how the developers picked the old zones to remaster that they did, since it often feels like they were chosen not just for their memorability and mechanics, but also for where they showed up in their original games. Zones like Green Hill and Chemical Plant are obvious choices; some of the ones that show up later on, when the game starts getting harder and nearing its finale, are not quite so expected, and personally are very welcome surprises.

This also goes for the bosses, which often feel like they were designed more to be interesting and engaging rather than simply difficult. None of them are all that complicated per-say, but around the end of the first third of the game, things start to become much more challenging, and by the final act everything reaches its peak.

That said, I never got a game over and actually ended my first run with my lives in the double-digits, despite having a few deaths in earlier zones and dying a few times to the final boss. I attribute this to the quality of the level design more than anything else, though. Bottomless pits are beautifully rare (aside from a couple sequences in Flying Battery, naturally), and all of my deaths were due to my own recklessness rather than unintentional crushes, spikes or enemy placement.

And best of all, the Special Stages aren’t annoying. In fact, I’d say they’re probably the best in the series, taking the best elements of the previous games’ Special Stages and mashing them together. They get tough, but still quite fair, and are rather exhilarating. The Blue Sphere bonus stages are quite nice as well, though I do kind of prefer the 3&K ones which get you shields and extra rings and lives. Mania’s bonus stages only give you a medal if you win, which counts across all saves towards unlockables, like the sound test and other, more gameplay-related specialties (which, unfortunately, can only be used in the No Save mode).

Also, have I mentioned the presentation? I talked plenty about the attention to detail in the gameplay, but the graphics! The music! Sonic Mania has catapulted itself into my top pixelart-y games ever. It is to 2D Sonic what Symphony of the Night is to Castlevania: rich, colorful, smoothly animated, and full of vibrant details and lots of foreground and background elements that are just as much fun to sniff out and spot as actual secrets in the levels. Seeing all of the goofy EGG TV things in Studiopolis, or spotting the ever-recurring Eggman face logo in various zones (stylized, of course, in the look of classic Robotnik’s face), had me smiling the whole way through.

The music, much like the rest of the game (as I keep repeating) feels like a mixture of the good of everything that came before it, and it’s often the highlight thanks to how the old zones, new zones, and their remixes/music respectively shake up the genres and moods. It’s very similar to Sonic CD’s soundtrack in that regard; the final zone’s music gave me a similar sense of foreboding that Metallic Madness’ US track did, and there’s the obvious, funkier comparisons to draw between something like Stardust Speedway and Studiopolis. And classic tunes remixed, like Chemical Plant and Flying Battery, amp things up nicely.

If there’s one aspect that I do feel like nitpicking, though, it’s the stage transitions. The game has an intro cutscene and does transitions between the acts and zones quite a bit during the first half of the game, but after a certain point things slowly start to go more of the Sonic 2 route of just going from zone to zone, with little tying them together aside from being in older classic titles. Like I said, though, it’s a nitpick, and certainly not enough to really put a damper on how good the game is.

On the whole, Sonic Mania feels like an absolutely triumphant thing, not just for Sonic fans but anyone who loves videogames. It really is like a bolt from the blue (heh), coming at just the right time to remind everyone, fans, non-fans and newbies alike, of just why Sonic was such a massive hit in the first place. By the time I finished my first run, I immediately had the urge to play it again, and the only thing that stopped me was the fact that I really needed to go to bed and get to work early the next day.

As for right now, though? I think I’m off to play through another zone or two of my current Tails run. Gotta speed!

[robotnik-apologist]

I'm not sure if you are currently taking requests. I absolutely love your work! This is very self indulgent request so feel free to ignore if you don't vibe with it. Currently I'm in the process of moving out from home for the first time, and it's hella scary and stressful. Could you please do a comfort one shot or head cannons for SatAM Robotnik comfort?

first of all, sorry that it took me a minute to respond to this - i saw it, but... errr, motivation is kinda at a low for me right now. anyway, thank you so much ^^ and yes, i'm still open for requests! i'm probablyyy gonna post something else about it, too, because this is the first request i've gotten in well over a month - but i know how niche the eggs can be, especially some of the older gen ones.

as far as this request goes, most of these headcanons will be a bit vague - applying more to the factor of 'change' itself. but i'll make sure to throw in some more specific ones, too!

oh, and if you meant, just like... general satAM comfort hc's, you can totally request those, too! i'm very sleepy right now and my reading skills suck when i'm tired

SatAM!Robotnik Change/Comfort HC's:

This may be a bit self-indulgent on my part to start this way, but I did make a post earlier about Robotnik and the traits of autism he shows. So, in vague regards to that:

Robotnik himself is NOT a fan of change.

Don't get me wrong, he's cunning as hell - he knows how to adapt.

This is a bit of a tangent, but I'd imagine he was a bit more confident about it before the (Knothole) Freedom Fighters thing started. Like him or hate him, Sonic had a big mental impact on the big guy in this specific media.

I mostly say that because Robotnik stays pretty cool and composed when dealing with anyone except a handful of people - Naugus, largely, but more pressing is Sonic. I forget which episode, but he literally risks crashing a damaged hoverpod by trying to launch a very illogical and unnecessary missile... which would very likely ensure his death in the process. Robotnik is a creature of logic, however, which makes this moment particularly intriguing - though, like I said, this is just a tangent.

Back on track, it doesn't take him long to pick up on the fact that you're stressed out. He knows you well enough by now to notice when something major is on your mind.

He doesn't mention it at first - SatAM!Robotnik is certainly not known for his outpouring compassion. Not that it doesn't concern him, of course - he's just hoping that it will sort itself out and that he won't have to intervene.

But moving is a lengthy process. After a few days of seeing you under such duress, he folds.

He isn't sure how to approach the subject, honestly; he's vaguely aware of what's causing you to feel the way you do, but there's seemingly no easy solution for him to pursue.

Don't count him out, though - he definitely tries his best. If you're away from him for longer periods of time, he makes sure to keep in touch, if only just to keep you from worrying about him or anything other than your current situation.

This is also really specific, so ignore it if you will, but I think this could also work well for a situation where you're moving in with him after being in a relationship with him for a while.

That is to say, he tries to help with some of the manual labor if he can, but he is very busy with his work - if you're not moving within/into Robotropolis, there's not much he's able to do. Not unless the fates so deign to give him a break - but God knows that's unlikely.

Still, I think he would possibly swing one or two visits if you're too busy to come to him. He's keeping in touch, of course, but there's a big difference between being with someone physically and being with someone through a screen.

And he'll never admit it aloud, but he starts to miss you dearly.

Regardless of the method of communication, though, you might also pick up on the way that he seems to be treading a bit... softer in your conversations. Maybe you two are fond of debates, maybe a bit of banter... regardless, he avoids any topics or particular mannerisms on his that might add onto your emotional duress.

Robotnik's way of providing comfort is subtle - he tries to ease the burden without directly acknowledging it. His own ego and bluster gets in the way of him directly comforting you, which is really just the way that Robotnik is.

Instinctively, he wants to ensure you're cared for. But, goodness, it would just wound his pride so terribly to ever speak of such a thing!

The only thing he's ever even remotely direct about is pretty regularly encouraging you to rest. Does he take this advice himself? Hell no. Will he repeat it to you until he's blue in the face? Absolutely. No booty-calls at 2 AM allowed, even if he was already awake for his own purposes. He will fuss at you until you finally go to bed.

All in all, he's constantly toeing the line between comforting you and ignoring the problem altogether, as strange as it sounds.

BUT!!!

If you need something specific, something explicitly stated, he's not going to deny you.

I mean, the big guy can hardly stand to say no to you when you're in good spirits, and it's infinitely harder for him to do so when you aren't.

If you need a shoulder to literally or figuratively lean on, he's there. He may not be good with tender words or touches, but he'll be damned if he denies you based on that alone. He'll provide nearly anything to ensure you stay in good health and spirits.

[robotnik-apologist]

What if Julian and reader knew each other before the coup, and Julian had feelings for them that he'd very subtly expressed, but not quite? Like, reader knows he's fond of them, but not the full extent of which he is.

Could you maybe write some headcanons about that? Also, how would the relationship / Julian's treatment of the reader change after the coup, given that the reader wasn't actively against his regime?

oooh, very interesting prompt!

SatAM!Robotnik x Reader Pre-Coup HC's:

It wouldn't be particularly surprising, I think, if you knew about his feelings for you despite him not ever explicitly stating it.

When it comes to romantic matters, which we see nothing of when it comes to the show itself, I headcanon that he's about as subtle as a bull in a china shop. Don't get me wrong, he's a master of most social situations, but he's not had much of a use for romance... prior to you, of course.

It's admittedly common for people to know when acquaintances/friends possess more than platonic feelings, yet not acknowledge it. That's likely the situation you find yourself in.

Finding out about the coup wasn't intentional, but... not all that surprising, either. There's no way that you're personally close with Robotnik without picking up on the whole 'menacing egomaniac' thing.

Not that he was trying all that hard to hide it, either. Not from you, at least - you were always an unexpected variable. Something impossible, to him - a risk factor that had little logical value.

But he couldn't bring himself to count you out. He's internally a mess in regard to his feelings for you.

Either way, when he sees how... unaffected you are by the discovery of his 'big evil plan,' he's taken aback to say the least.

You're so pleasant to him - you're surely not evil, are you?

He can't tell, and it escapes him to actually ask.

But God, it only makes him love you more - you don't seem insanely invested in it, but he's relieved that he doesn't have to dispose of you (as awful as that sounds).

And in some contexts, you seem almost... supportive? At least, that's what he makes himself think.

Though it doesn't escape you that you weren't intended to be informed or involved in the plan. Nor does it escape you that if you hadn't found out, you would've likely ended up dead or roboticized.

You aren't exactly happy about that.

He can tell you aren't exactly happy about that.

He tries to explain his way out of it, though not so subtly exposes his feelings for you in the process.

And I mean REALLY lets it slip.

You're too shocked to remember how pissed you are about being excluded from the plan entirely.

I mean this guy is just rambling on and on about how he would never intentionally plan to harm you because of how much he cares.

You have to tell him to stop, or else he won't. You're one of the first people he's ever genuinely cared about beyond logical reasoning or what he's socially 'meant to feel' and he can't mess this up.

"dude it's okay i believe you"

"oh"

type shit

It's definitely awkward. Unfortunately so.

One of you has to give in and acknowledge what's just happened, and nine times out of ten it isn't gonna be him.

He gained a lot of confidence in his time as dictator, but that hasn't happened yet... so while not particularly insecure and still self-assured, he can't find the words to confess what he actually wants.

That being you, of course. God knows he just wants to be with you.

He's got one hell of a soft spot for you, and that won't ever change, even after the coup.

If anything, it only gets more intense.

Between you and Cluck, he doesn't have many people to spend his affection on. That, and the fact that he's lucky enough to have you by his side for what could be the rest of his life (or eternity, if things go to plan,) makes matters all the sweeter.

You're going to be spoiled, regardless of how that happens. You could hate literally every major love language and this man will find a way to go overboard in showing his love.

Official marriage isn't really a thing after the coup, given the sole legal authority is him, though your relationship eventually develops into something not dissimilar to the typical 'old married couple' trope - albeit the more wholesome version, despite how mortifyingly evil he is.

In a phrase, he definitely falls into the 'forever married, newly in love' category. Not in an eternal-honeymoon phase kind of way, of course - such a thing doesn't exist. But the two of you don't seem to ever tire or grow bored of one another.

This might sound silly and idealistic, of course... but if he genuinely loved someone, SatAM Robotnik would make for an incredible long-term partner.

[robotnik-apologist]

This is a lil bit of a self indulgent ask, so feel free to ignore if you want. But could you do head canons for SatAM Robotnik with a reader who's really academically smart, but socially kinda dumb? Idk about you but personally I'm really good at school and academics, but when it comes to social situations I'm really poor at picking up on things like social cues or sarcasm. #sociallyakwardlol

not self-indulgent at all - at least not to me, because i'm the exact same way 🥲 these were seriously so fun to write though!!

SatAM!Robotnik x Academic!Reader HC's

i didn't know what to title this oops

**For these HC's, I'm going to write them as if reader and Robotnik met pre-coup, and that reader was brought into the scheme due to their intelligence.

Given the state of Mobius around the time in which he rose to power, he's 100% caught off guard by your intelligence.

Maybe not so much if you also happen to be human instead of mobian, but still.

That being said, he does start to pick up on your social ineptitude pretty quickly - one conversation with you was enough.

From all the fidgeting, the lack of eye contact, and your closed off posture, it felt pretty obvious that you were avoidant of carrying a conversation with him... Though, upon seeing your interactions with other people, it seemed that you were avoidant of speaking to anyone whatsoever.

From a critical standpoint, he tells himself it's a weakness - but then again, there's also something endearing about it that he just can't shake.

Maybe it's just that he enjoys the conversations he has with you - they're much more stimulating than his usual conversations.

Or... maybe, though he tells himself that it's not at all true, it feels nice to not have someone avoid him because of his stature - I mean, he's huge compared to the average Mobian, and still large by human standards. But... knowing your flustering comes from an overall fear of conversing rather than anything about him is admittedly refreshing.

Although, as he goes out of his way to speak with you more and more often, he finds that faint respect towards your intellect shifting into an overall fondness for you.

It's also, in no small part, due to your gradual change in demeanor around him. The more the two of you talk, the less anxious you seem. Of course, you still struggle to grasp figurative speech and nuance, but he eventually learns to avoid it when speaking with you.

It's actually a nice change, too - while not stereotypically witty, it feels like the two of you have made your own... sense of humor, for lack of a better word.

Long story short, that fondness ends up being far more than platonic.

When it comes to the aforementioned plot point of somehow ending up with the coup, I feel like it would probably be accidental. Like comedically accidental.

Like accidentally seeing blueprints for something that there's absolutely no non-evil explanation for and just going "oh" and walking away.

Robotnik's ready for his entire plan to be exposed and it just... never happens??

Listen it's gotta get brought up eventually, but it's sure as hell an awkward conversation.

Probably involving a lot of "please don't (kill/expose) me."

(idk even if you LIKE King Acorn a non-constitutional monarchy isn't exactly a good governing system when evaluated from an academic point of view.)

So even though toppling a monarchy is a plus... maybe you aren't necessarily in LOVE with the idea of the entire biosphere of the planet collapsing. But it's better to be on the non-lethal side of it, so do you really have a choice?

I mean, you do, but not if you wanna stay alive.

Or maybe you're totally all-in on destroying the global ecosystem!!

Either way, he finds it enjoyable to keep you around.

"Keep you around" is a weird way to put it 💀

Still, you're really the only remnant of a less... brutal side of life for Robotnik. Even if you're working alongside him in his ventures for world domination, his feelings towards you haven't changed a bit.

Good luck getting the stubborn bastard to admit it, though.

[robotnik-apologist]

When you write stuff about Robotnik what do you imagine reader (I can't think of any better way to put it) 's previous relation to him was?

Like, outside of SatAM and Underground, I always think reader is just some random civilian who got mixed up with Robotnik by mistake or something like that.

With SatAM and Underground I just assume they previously worked for him. Maybe not as like a war general or whatever Snivley is, but as his secretary. I swear he had a robot one in the Fleetway comics. Also, the idea of Robotnik falling for one of his employees has good drama behind it.

hii! it's kinda weird, but i always stay pretty vague in my head. the way i imagine the reader is really just as one of my ocs, and i just take out the sway of their personality. it really just comes down to imagining someone he could love, imo.

when it comes to the past relationship, i'm a big enemies to lovers fan - though a lot of my headcanons don't fit that. i usually imagine the reader as an ally of some sort - someone who commands the same respect as robotnik does, just to keep the playing field even. i usually steer clear of the 'employee x boss' dynamic just because of the power imbalance, which is why i go with the 'ally' aspect instead - it has a lot of drama around it still, but there aren't any undertones of manipulation, coercion, or using the other for personal gain.

that being said, an employee x boss dynamic for him and reader does still work! it's just personally not my cup of tea.

outside of satAM and underground, i imagine reader to be someone like that of the 'egg bosses' from the archie comics. kinda like i said earlier, they, too, were allies that held a fair amount of power and command. also bc i LOVE slow burn and sexual/romantic tension between academic rivals 🙏

[robotnik-apologist]

If Robotnik (literally any version of him) were in love with you he'd personally make you robot servants to assist you in your day-to-day (and maybe keep an eye on you for him).

oh 100% he would. especially if you're chaotic and always up to something - he does NOT have the time to keep you from breaking your own neck 💀

but from an affection standpoint, it's also something he's totally do for you. in my SatAM!Robotnik marriage headcanons post, i mentioned something about him constantly making small trinkets for you, and that definitely goes for every version of robotnik. seriously, there needs to be another love language added to the usual list for this guy - literally just 'robots.'

[robotnik-apologist]

I love SatAM Robotnik so much! He's just so evil and snake-like (though I do have a huge soft spot for AoStH Robotnik, too).

If you're still taking writing requests, I'd like to request some SatAM (and maybe AoStH, too) Robotnik x fem reader headcanons about what he's generally like in a romantic relationship.

Love the blog <3

the way tumblr deleted everything i wrote TWICE 💔 im gonna tweak out.

anyway, sorry if this is really fluff heavy, i'm deathly allergic to angst /hj

there also isn't as much for aosth as there is for satAM, but that's really just due to the differing complexities of the two of them.

SatAM!Robotnik Relationship HC's:

Theme: Love You to Death by Type O Negative

I cannot stress enough that this man does not do “casual.” If you’re in an official relationship with him, you’ll have his entire devotion.

And it’s that devotion that is the largest indicator of his feelings towards you.

He’s a pretty standoffish guy, so I’d imagine that ending up in a relationship with him would take a loooong time.

Appearance wise, I don’t foresee him as the type of person to really care about physical attraction.

Not that he’s entirely immune to it, though. If he can tell that you’re fairly put-together and cleanly in your appearance, I think that would go a long way.

For him, it’s mostly about intelligence. Not necessarily the applied type, either - you don’t have to be a rocket scientist. When I say intelligence, I mean that I imagine his infatuation would likely start upon the realization that you’re able to engage him in academic conversations - not that this is the only factor, though.

I think the biggest thing would just be that you’d have to be in it for the long haul. He’s extremely guarded, and getting past those walls is going to be difficult, to say the least.

It’s rather rewarding, though. Despite surrounding himself with grandeur, there would be no massive displays of love from him, but there are definitely minor things.

The biggest sign is definitely how he speaks to you, or the ways in which he acts around you. He certainly has a temper, but upon his realization of why he feels the way he does, it would become a lot rarer for him to raise his voice around you, let alone at you.

Something about you seems to calm him, in some weird way.

Not that he’d bite his tongue; he’s not that kind of person. He’d be fairly open when it comes to communicating his frustrations.

Though that doesn’t extend to his frustrations in means of attraction. This man will spend literal months trying to stop himself from feeling the way he does, and it really only has the opposite effect. Thinking about you so often has only strengthened his attachment. At that point, he has no idea what to do with himself.

He’d likely confess with the expectation that you’d reject him, and would use that as a way to get rid of his feelings.

And as far as confessions go, he most likely won’t just come right out and say it. He’ll probably spend the entire day saying mildly implicit things about his infatuation, likely in increasing obviousness as he grows more and more frustrated that you’re just accepting the things he says.

When you finally voice your reciprocation of his feelings, however, I think he’d be emotionally paralyzed. Like, just staring for a moment before walking off. He didn't have a “plan B,” to say the least - and now you know about how he feels, and now he knows about how you feel, and it drives him crazy.

He may beat around the bush for quite awhile afterwards, not even acknowledging that it had happened.

Eventually, though, the tension just erases his resolve. I mean, imagine getting approached like you’re about to get the scolding of your life, only for him to hesitantly ask if you’d like to join him for dinner.

In an actual relationship, though, I imagine this guy wouldn't be too fond of PDA. Chaste kisses and handholding is as far as you're gonna get (scandalous, I know).

That goes out the window in private, though. Not that he's suddenly all over you, but he loves to be close to you. He doesn't indulge himself with physical affection much, but it's one of his favorite things to receive. If the two of you happen to share a bed, he'd love to hold you until he falls asleep - as corny as it sounds.

When it comes to giving, though, I imagine he'd most often be one for acts of service. He'd constantly do small things for you, and not even acknowledge that they've been done. He isn't good at expressing such intimate feelings through words, so he uses actions instead.

All in all, getting into a relationship with him wouldn't be easy, to say the least, and would take forever... but I personally think it's worth it, when the amount of devotion he would feel towards you is as high as it is.

AoStH!Robotnik Relationship HC's

Theme: Villainous Thing - Shayfer James

Most of this is based on Katella... but damn this is gonna be a wild ride 💀

Step One: Don't jump him like Katella did!

All jokes aside, I think it's pretty obvious he doesn't care much for appearances because damn... he lost a baddie.

I think all you have to do is match this guy's freak. You have to be a special kind of insane, to say the least. And also a saint to deal with his mother.

Regardless, this man is OBSESSED. Compared to SatAM, this guy is gonna fall in love about twenty times faster, and he isn't gonna pretend that he isn't. You'll know.

Once again opposite to SatAM, he's the type for huge displays of love. It's hard to give any specifics because I doubt there's anything this man WOULDN'T do if he was in love.

You'll definitely be pampered to say the least - and if that isn't your thing, he's still gonna find a way to show how much he loves you.

He's silly. He's fun. ...But also fairly immature. You have to have a tolerance for quite a bit of tomfoolery.

Still, he's one dedicated lover. I doubt he'd let himself be bossed around, but when it comes to being requested to do things, anything you want suddenly becomes top priority.

Honestly, he's adorable to me in the same way that SatAM is - there's a lot of bluster to get past, but at their core, there's a deep devotion and undeniable love. It just comes in different packages, so to speak.

[robotnik-apologist]

Inside me, there are two wolves.

One wolf knows Robotnik dislikes organic life and therefore would not want to have a child with his partner.

The other watched Sonic OVA.

Not sure if this is crossing a line, but could I maybe get some headcanons about Robotnik as a father? Like, how would he treat the kid? How would he treat a pregnant partner? What are his thoughts on fatherhood? Love ya!

dw, there’s no line to cross bc uahuhauahuahuauhuhuuuu YES i would love to write this (っ＾▿＾)

SatAM!Robotnik Pregnancy/Father HC's:

To start with, I think he'd be pretty put-off by the idea of having a kid upon finding out that his partner is pregnant - not that he’s upset by it, it’s just more of a shock than anything negative.

Not that he'd necessarily be the type to accidentally end up with a pregnant partner, but given his age, he likely hadn’t even considered the possibility.

But as reality starts to set in - sonogram imaging, an increasingly obvious baby bump, etc. - everything changes for him. He’ll still be a little nervous, of course - what parent-to-be isn’t? - but he starts to slowly fall in love with the idea of having a child with the person he loves.

That being said, he’d definitely dote on his partner more while they’re pregnant. If anything, it might be a little hard to get him to leave you alone, haha. His top priority is your health, after all - he wants to personally make sure that you’re taking care of yourself and the baby, and that he’s doing the same.

Once he gets over his apprehension, he’s immediately going to make the leap into ‘nesting’ - really just a colloquial term for the natural urge to have a clean, comfortable environment prepared for your child. This man is going to hand-craft every piece of furniture in the nursery, and nothing - NOTHING - is gonna stop him.

But, stars above, he’s never seen you so radiant - it’s nearly enough to already have him considering having another child, just to see you like this again… nearly.

When his partner goes into labor, he’s most definitely going to be someone ten times more worried than them, somehow. Childbirth has its risks, after all - and the heightened risk of potentially losing you or the child has his nerves on edge in a way he’s never experienced before.

…But when everything’s finally calmed down, and both you and the child are safe, he’s practically glued to your bedside - still doting on you, too. In some weird way, he takes a lot of responsibility for being the reason the two of you had a child in the first place, and he wants to be of as much help as he can.

(Personally, I think most instances of Robotnik would be total girl-dads. It makes more sense to me than a son, for some reason, but that’s just my own headcanon.)

Now, Robotnik had never been one to care about blood/familial relations much, but upon seeing his own child, so impossibly small and fragile… yeah, he practically melts then and there. In that moment, he loves and adores the both of you more than words can express.

Though that peace and contentment does falter when the sleepless nights start. You’re both burning the candle at both ends to take care of this thing.

Still, he can’t help but savor it - it’s a challenge like no other, yes, but he couldn't be happier.

And, eventually, things get easier as the baby grows out of the newborn phase and into infancy. Not all that much easier - an infant is just as much work - but being able to sleep through the night certainly helps. He cherishes this phase, too - quite literally every phase, haha. Seeing the product of his and his partner’s love start developing into their own little person is one of the best things he’s ever seen.

He wouldn't be perfect, of course - he’s still short-tempered and occasionally distant - but at the end of the day, he really does adore you and your child.

He would treat and raise the child to the best of his ability, in short. He really does want the best - the best education, the best healthcare, the best recreation - and there’s very little to stop him from providing it.

There might be a bit more conflict as the child grows into the tween/teen stages, but I’ll save that for later, if someone wants to request it :)

[robotnik-apologist]

How would the robotniks care for an S/O on their period?

mmmmnnnn interesting question! also ty for your patience bc i have no idea how long i've had this ask, but i've only just now gotten around to answering it.

i had a really long authors note to go along with this but i don't wanna put it here for people that don't care about my yapping sooo... if you still wanna see it, it'll be at the bottom.

IDK What to Title This HC's:

I don't care if it was a mistranslation, we're running with the fact that Robotnik was described as a feminist in a game guide.

I think pretty much every Robotnik is similar in this regard, though. None of them will pry, should you not wish to openly discuss it, but if your period tends to be rather rough on your body, I think it would be somewhat unavoidable.

You're basically going to be treated like you're sick... so I guess these are technically double-function headcanons.

It would be really frustrating for him to know that this, however, isn't quite like sickness - there's no genuine cure, only ways to relieve the symptoms.

Regardless, he'll do the best he can. I think I've said before that I imagine all of the Robotniks to be somewhat, though not totally, inexperienced in romantic regards. TLDR: he doesn't know what he's doing but dammit that isn't gonna stop him.

Constantly just checking in on you to make sure you haven't, like... keeled over and died, I guess?? He doesn't know why he does it, either. His schedule does still get in the way, though, so it's not like he's the type to wait on you hand and foot.

that's what all of the robots are for lmao you'll still be 100% taken care of at all times

That being said, I think it would be rather disconcerting to him if you're usually rather steadfast and unaffected by pain only to be felled by a natural function of your body. He won't admit it, but he definitely panics a bit the first few times.

Give the poor guy a break. His S/O is laid up in bed like a Victorian child dying of Scarlet fever.

Even if you aren't particularly emotional affected by your periods, he's still going to be extremely careful to not upset you. Not that he'll bite his tongue, but he's definitely not as... intense as he usually is.

listen he just doesn't wanna get jumped for mouthing off

Long story short, every Robotnik is going to be rather pliable in caring for an S/O who's on their period.

It's a rather convenient boon, to be associated so closely with a man that seems to have no shortage of wealth no matter how ridiculously expensive his schemes may be. You're pretty much guaranteed to get what you want, especially if you have a more intense cycle.

ok here's the really long A/N i was talking about... ending might be a little political but it's my platform and i'm gonna post what i want /lh

** for the sake of these HC's we will be ignoring that early archie robotnik had an entire comic based on 'girl power!!' which started by him insinuating sally and bunnie were stupid simply because they're women. (yeah that entire comic pisses me off because any person who's reasonably THAT smart wouldn't have such glaring biases in their logical reasonings and guidelines. one of the rare times i'll be political (although such social issues shouldn't be political) and say that being any form of sexism/racism/xenophobia/homophobia/transphobia/other general douchebag-ery makes you an idiot - and furthermore an idiot that isn't welcome here !!!)

okay soapbox over i just have a lot of feelings about that issue

[robotnik-apologist]

Good evening. I really like your headcounts. How would Robotnik suggest having another child?

thank you! for suggesting having another child, i think he would probably take 2 routes

1... is just that it accidentally happens again 😭 'heat of the moment,' if you know what i mean.

the other way, though, would probably happen after the first child is 5 or older - a toddler and a new born are a lot of work, after all. not that little kids aren't still a lot of work after they grow out of that phase, but it's a lot easier to handle.

it probably comes out of a place of nostalgia - i'd imagine that the nursery would still be equipped for a baby, so maybe that's how he even gets the idea. like he doesn't even realize how much he misses the pregnancy/newborn stages until he finds himself in the nursery for whatever reason.

i think he'd subtlety hint at it for awhile, and hope you get the hint. he might just happen to mention it here and there, and be especially sweet out of seemingly nowhere. that being said, if you're completely opposed, of course, he'll let it rest - he's not the one that'll have to go through pregnancy and birth, after all. and, in truth, i think he'd be fairly satisfied with just one child... but in the case that a bit of baby fever sets back in, i can definitely see him suggesting it.

if you don't figure out what he's hinting at, though, he's going to eventually just approach the subject outright. not that he isn't gonna try really hard to convince you, though. i 100% think he's the kind of person that would pull out photo albums and shit just for the sake of having a slightly higher chance of you agreeing to it.

but, like i said earlier, it probably comes from nostalgia and baby fever - and that eventually ebbs away. it's not going to hurt him if you're against it.

[robotnik-apologist]

Can I get some K, P and T for my boys (SatAM and AoStH)? A part of me wants to think Robotnik has some freaky toys he'd probably be into using on his partner, though, maybe that takes away the fun of being hands on...

mwehehehehaaaaa yes you certainly can 🙏

18+ under the cut!

NSFW Alphabet K, P, T (SatAM!Robotnik):

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks):

Gonna do a bulleted list for this one because I’m just a little lazy and this guy is into a LOT:

Voyeurism (we’ll come back to this one in a minute ☺️)

Exhibitionism

Bondage

Humiliation

Discipline

Dominance

Breath play (collars, choking, etc.)

Impact play (spanking, flogs, whips, paddles, etc.)

Sadism

Candles/wax play (no, you get no explanation.)

^ Also sensation play in general

Auralism (dirty talk, partner’s voice, sounds of sex, etc.)

Breeding (once again, no explanation 😜)

Edge play (extreme/dangerous activities ala choking, knives, etc.)

Gagging

Katoptronophilia (mirror sex)

Orgasm control/edging/overstimulation

Primal play

Temperature play

Honestly anything BDSM-related. Yeah, this guy is freaky (and so am I, I fear).

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.):

Honestly, it probably depends. If there’s no scenario and it's just porn w/o plot, I’d say he’s about a 7 on a 1-10 scale of speed, and a 5 on a 1-10 scale of roughness. That obviously changes based on a lot of factors, like I said, but that’s where I’d put him as an average.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Yeah, the og asker was totally right - this guy has some freaky ass toys, and at least half of them are of his own design. I could honestly see him using toys on both his partner and himself - not only does it fit within his whole sexual ‘shtick,’ but it’s practical during refractory periods. He’s going to do whatever it takes to hear you scream for him - and oh BOY does he love to see you squirm.

NSFW Alphabet K, P, T (AoStH!Robotnik):

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks):

Another bulleted list, just a little less intense:

Exhibitionism

Dominance

Impact play (spanking, flogs, whips, paddles, etc.)

Sadism (lighter sadism - he gives soft dom vibes)

Auralism (dirty talk, partner’s voice, sounds of sex, etc.)

Begging (lmao)

Breeding (once again, no explanation 😜)

Gagging

Katoptronophilia (mirror sex)

He’s a slightly sweeter flavor of freaky.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.):

Honestly… I dunno. If there’s no scenario and it's just porn w/o plot, I’d say he’s about a 7.5 on a 1-10 scale of speed, and a 3 on a 1-10 scale of roughness. He’s not painfully slow or too fast, and has good enough technique to make sure you feel every thrust.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Once again, og asker was right - maybe not as crazy as SatAM, but this guy’s still a freak in his own way. His usage of toys is either for masturbation or pleasuring his partner - not really intending to overwhelm like SatAM does.