#sonic reminds Ruby of someone

[sonadowcentral]

What’s Sonic’s relationship with Ruby like at the time of the Q&A? (To you or him, either is fine) Is she like an acquaintance that he works with or kind of a friend or what? And how’d he meet Rouge?

The second question is easier to answer: He met Rouge after making his deal with Shadow. She was nice to Sonic, so that's good.

As for Ruby. She's a little rough around the edges but she always tries to protect her teammates. Sonic knows that she doesn't have bad intentions or holds any animosity towards him, she's just doing what she thinks is the right thing.

They are going to develop a kind of companionship in the fic when he is taken into the resistance but there will be an eventual clash in their beliefs. What are they both willing to do for the "greater good?"

I've never really made a character like Ruby before so I'm still trying to navigate her inner thought process. It's been really fun, but also really difficult to construct :D

[crownjewel123]

I’m requesting a 15th!Doctor x Rogue fix it fic where the Doctor uses the psychic circuit to find Rogue and there’s a cute reunion between the Doctor and Rogue where they decide to travel together and Rubys there like “awww” a lot of fluff hurt/comfort maybe some tears and a kiss! Thank you so much have a good day!

Combining your request with @flamboyantbisexual’s since they’re rather similar. I hope you enjoy, I just finished the episode myself :)

That couldn’t be it, right?

They had lost plenty of people, for good. Almost everyone he promised to protect, it was like he was signing off on the execution himself when he promised.

The Doctor, they weren’t the type to give up. So why was he?

It is what it is, brush off the dust, and keep swimming. Just like Dory always says.

But why? Why should they keep doing this? How does he continue to do this? He thinks, maybe he’s too old to let it just roll off the shoulders so easily.

And, they had just met him. Just truly, honestly, properly met Rogue. Why, then, did it sting like they had always known?

The joke about the screwdriver, the cabinets, Rogue reminded him of someone long lost.

And pulling the gun on him on the first meeting, telling them to find him. It was all so familiar, so similar. Just like how they had met here at her ending. Went back, uploaded her to the library.

Except this time, someone remains, not just a consciousness.

They look down at the ring on his finger, the Hermes symbol glaring back at him. The sign of a traveler, the sign of a medic. How ironic that they were both.

Ruby smiled sadly at him from across the room, as he twists the silver accessory around his finger. Silent as they relax in the stillness. They didn’t normally do stillness.

“Doctor, what’s on your mind?” Ruby asks softly, worry in her eyes as they rest on his furrowed brow. They know she has his best interest in mind, he’s thankful for his best friend. She doesn’t let him brood in the silence alone, or just push on like it’s nothing. A healthier approach in all honesty.

Like a light-switch in their head, they snap their fingers.

“I know how to find him!” They jump with a grin, slipping the ring off.

“Doctor?” Ruby raises a brow, excited though wary. Where had his mind drifted off to now.

“His atoms may be difficult to find, but this ring- I’m certain we could use it to track his bio-diversity to the void he’s trapped in,” The Doctor beans and there’s a certain giddiness to his demeanor. Ruby visibly brightens, gesturing for him to go on.

“How?”

“I’m going to use the Tardis’ psychic circuit to cross examine his atomic signature, and trace him to the void he’s in with the Chuldor’s,” a small tray slides out from the console with the flick of a switch. They delicately place the ring, sliding it back into place, and the Tardis lets out a ding. Then, her engines begin to churn to life.

“But isn’t it possible you’ll bring a Chuldor aboard by accident? Do you think they’ve decided to cosplay as him?” She’s excited, but she doesn’t want to get her hopes too high. She wants them to be safe- well safe as they can be. His grin widens.

“I would worry, except, Rogue has been in the Tardis, which means he’s contracted her neuron energy,” the Tardis is moving beneath their feet now, shifting swiftly through the vortex. “I could beam him up here without ever setting foot outside- the time vortex is sure to have rubbed off on him even in that short amount of time.” They both exchange a giddy laugh.

And as they soar and the engines ring their tune, it’s not long that they’re grinding to a halt- he would never turn those brakes off.

With a sonic to the console, there’s a small ding, as a gasp escapes from Ruby. A small sound that echoes behind them, and they turn.

There he is, like the moment he had zapped himself away. Beautiful blue eyes, and suit clinging to him just like that very night in 1813.

“I knew you’d find me,” there’s tears brimming in Rogue’s eyes as he smiles back at him. Overcome by emotions the Doctor can’t begin to unwind, he jogs over and pulls him into a tight hug. “I never doubted it for a second.”

“How could I resist? Love a good challenge, saving a damsel.” The Doctor jests as he pulls back to meet his beautiful blue eyes. He brushes away a single tear. Rogue lets out a laugh.

“That would be a good edition to my campaign,” he searches their brown eyes with his own. “And what a brave night is leather armor.” He notes the other’s dress as he surveys them. The Doctor laughs once again, and Ruby’s own baffled laugh echoes them.

“I believe there’s only one thing left then.” The Doctor remarks.

“What’s that?” Rogue raises a brow.

“True love’s kiss!” Ruby cheers, jumping for joy behind them.

“You heard her,” the Doctor grins, leaning into Rogue with a chaste and amorous embrace. There’s clapping behind them, as Ruby cheers happily. Rogue leans into their soft exchange, and then they both part. “Now, how’s about I show you the stars?”

“I’d follow you anywhere.” Rogue smiles.

[saphstories]

Happy Birthday?

He could do this. He'd built a battle mech into a biplane, created a false Chaos Emerald, built a TV out of paperclips, and reprogrammed a super computer using dishwashing detergent and toothpicks...so baking a cake? Pfft.

Amy had given him a dubious look and asked if he was sure he didn't need help, but Tails waved her off. Oh, she of little faith. It was just a cake. What could go wrong? The pink hedgehog insisted he call her if he needed her help, and Tails rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom." He'd groused. Amy had stuck her tongue out at him but finally left, and Tails marched to the tiny kitchen nestled in the corner of he and Sonic's home.

Tails had several hours until the surprise party that afternoon, and Shadow had been tasked with keeping the birthday boy distracted until it was time. Nothing could go wrong.

...Famous last words.

HP?

"Getting slow in your old age, faker?"

"You're one to talk! How old are you know, Shadster? Pushing the 90s, aren't we?"

"Don't call me Shadster, and I'm immortal; I don't age, rat!" Shadow grabbed Sonic's wrist and flung him towards the nearby tree, momentarily forgetting he wasn't supposed to actually be fighting his rival, just distracting him. Ridiculous. Shadow snorted. The things he did for the pink hedgehog...

Sonic used the motion to his advantage, curling into a Spin Dash around the trunk and tackling Shadow on the rebound. The pair rolled in a tangled mass of blue and black fur, trading blows back and forth. Shadow paused, fist raised, but ruby eyes focused on something beyond the clearing he and Sonic had demolished in their spar. "Hedgehog, is that smoke?"

Sonic shoved Shadow off him and rolled up onto his knees to see the black pillar raising into the sky above the treeline. "Yeah, looks like it. Someone must be starting a bonfire."

Shadow gave him an unimpressed look. "Correct me if I'm wrong-,"

"Which you usually are." Sonic cheekily interrupted. Shadow rolled his eyes and punched him.

"But that smoke is coming from the area where you live with the fox, is it not?"

Sonic did a double take and his stomach dropped. "Oh, Chaos, not again." The blue hedgehog complained, shooting to his feet. "That kit is so grounded." He grumbled and gave Shadow a two-fingered salute. "It's been fun, Shadster, but I gotta juice." The Hero of Mobius was gone before Shadow could respond.

He could head back to his apartment. Technically, his task was complete, and Amy never specified he had to attend the party itself. He could deal with her and hee swinging hammer later.

But...Amy had said that she was going to ensure the fox knew what he was doing...and if there was a fire...

Shadow groaned. "She owes me." He dusted himself off, sighed, and relucantly followed the smoke pillar still rising, cheering himself with all the ideas thought of for the pink hedgehog to pay her debt.

When he arrived at the house, it was miraculously still standing but still yet smoldering, and Sonic stood with his arms crossed over his chest, foot tapping impatiently on the ground, and the sternest glower on his muzzle directed towards the fidgeting two-tailed fox kit in front of him, his hands behind his back...with slight tendrils of black smoke wafting out behind him.

"I'm waiting, Miles Prower." Sonic reminded the fox.

Tails gulped, ears flat against his head at the use of his birth name. He was really in for it now, but his self-preservation ran away with his mouth. "At least the house isn't completely destroyed! And it's just minor damage, I can fix it easy-,"

"Miles."

Tails bit back a whimper and nodded in defeat, then reluctantly presented the smoldering pan of black brick to his brother.

Sonic blinked. "Is that supposed to be a cake? You nearly burned down our house and got yourself killed for a cake?"

Tails tried to smile. "Happy Birthday?"

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonic Boom - S3E17

Chapter title: Gotta Go Fast!

Summary: It's about time for a second race! Tails used his Build-It Box to make cars for his friends a while back, and they all competed to see whose was the best. Apparently Shadow already has a vehicle he'd like to use, though…?

((So, if anyone's wondering what on EARTH this intro is about, just know that it is all the fault of both @teamxdark and @dragon-spaghetti for introducing me to the insane crackship that is Shadave. I hope you all enjoy being cursed (blessed) with the same experiences that I have had.))

AO3 Link

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[Episode opens on the six heroes sitting at a table in Meh Burger.]

Shadow sighed, pressing his thumbs to his temples. He looked very much like someone who was desperately trying to understand something despite strongly suspecting it wasn’t actually possible. “Please, remind me again. Why do you eat at this place so often when every last one of you—and yes, that does include you, Sonic—can make food that is infinitely better?”

Sticks shrugged. “It’s a whole lot easier than making food ourselves, and that matters way more than how it tastes.” she explained.

“But—but surely there is someplace else you could go to eat? It would be farther away, yes, but the food might actually be good and the floor might be clean. Sonic could get takeout from the other side of the island and it would still arrive hot if he stored it in something!”

The blue hedgehog in question shook his head, holding up his hands with an expression on his face that suggested he was about to impart some piece of incredible wisdom. “Shadow, don’t you get it? Eating bad fast food is a bonding experience! We all get to complain about it together! And besides, we’ve been coming here for so long that it’s kind of a tradition now. We can’t just stop!”

Shadow dropped his head into his folded arms, letting out a pained groan.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get very long to vocalize his despair, as Amy interrupted him with a polite call of his name. “Shadow? Would you be so kind as to get me some napkins? Meh Burger ketchup tends to make a bit of a mess, and I forgot to grab some earlier…” she explained sheepishly.

“Of course.” he said, and was already out of his chair before he noticed something about the napkin dispenser across the restaurant floor.

[Cue a visual of a dotted line going from Shadow’s eye to the empty dispenser, complete with a blinking outline where the napkins should be, but aren’t.]

The android sighed. “They’re all out. I’ll go ask the person at the counter to refill it.”

“Um, Shadow, wait, it’s okay—” Amy began, not wanting him to suffer the apathy of Dave the Intern, but it was already too late.

At the counter, Dave was currently resting his elbows on its surface and scrolling away on his phone, oblivious to the world around him. He double-tapped on someone’s post, disliking it, before making to scroll again, only to be interrupted by a calm “Excuse me?”

The intern lazily glanced upwards, his ever-present retort of “I’m on break” ready…but it died before he could ever say it.

This was because he was experiencing what could only be called a bisexual awakening.

The hedgehog on the other side of the counter had his arms folded in a way that perfectly framed his fluff of white chest fur. As Dave continued to look upwards, he noticed the polite, neutral, yet confident expression…the deadly yet elegant swoop of the black and red quills…the way the hedgehog’s ruby-red eyes shone ever so slightly golden in the sunlight…

Dave shot to attention so fast his spine cracked, barely noticing either that or the way his phone clattered to the floor. “Uh—yessir!” he squeaked, his voice breaking several octaves in the process. “Is—is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes, please.” the hedgehog said, with a voice that was just the right kind of rough to be incredibly attractive. “My friend requested that I get her some napkins, but the dispenser seems to have run out. Do you happen to have any extra?”

Dave’s eyes widened. “Absolutely! Here, I’ll get you some!” he said eagerly, reaching under the counter as quickly as he could. Snatching up far more napkins than were necessary, he pushed a whole stack into the hedgehog’s hands (and promptly turned bright red when their fingers brushed momentarily). 

Thankfully, the hedgehog didn’t seem to notice, and simply inclined his head with a quiet “Thank you.” before turning and walking away. Now left all to himself, Dave stared after Shadow as he walked away, while the next phase of his awakening began.

More specifically, the phase known as “bi panic”.

[The intro sequence goes off without a hitch yet again—is this a new record? As usual, everybody gets their own cool intro, plus the team shot at the end.]

[Dr. Eggman does his villain reveal without the green screen this time, which means it doesn’t have an opportunity to stop working! …however, what does break instead is his Egg-O-Matic, which slams into him and knocks him fully out of frame halfway through his maniacal laugh.]

[The intro then continues on, before ending with the title of this week’s episode.]

[Camera opens on Soar the Eagle, in the midst of reporting.]

“Well, folks, it’s probably been at least a year since the last time we held a race here—nobody at the studio could really be bothered to check—but it looks like it’s happening today! Again! The Second Probably-Annual Hedgehog Village Race!”

[Cut to the six heroes, who are standing off to the side watching this take place.]

Shadow frowned. “What’s all this about a race?”

“We all built cars last year with Tails’s cool Build-It Box!” Knuckles explained, practically vibrating in place with excitement. “And then we raced them to see whose was the fastest!”

“Since it’s apparently a thing to hold races annually, the mayor wants us all to do it again for ‘the tourism board’ or something.” Sticks added. They jumped into a fighting stance, their eyes bright. “I don’t care about any of that, I just wanna prove that my car’s the best! I’m gonna win this time for sure!”

The android’s expression softened at the sight of his friends’ eagerness. “Well, would you all care to show me these vehicles of yours?”

All five heroes immediately let out various shouts of agreement, before racing off in different directions to grab their cars. Shadow smirked and rolled his eyes, settling into a slightly more comfortable standing position to wait.

Sticks was the first to return, their all-terrain turtle-style car racing over the bumps in the ground with ease. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails all pulled up around the same time, having used their speed, massive tires, and technological tricks (respectively) to get there as quickly as possible. Amy pulled up last, since she took great care with her pink convertible to ensure it didn’t suffer any damage whatsoever.

A brief montage ensued (complete with a backing track in which the voice samples only consisted of “look at these cool cars” edited in different ways). Tails demonstrated the various abilities of his vehicle, and Knuckles flipped his truck several times on purpose to flaunt its second set of tires. Amy did a few laps in her convertible, showing off its handling, and Sonic did twice as many laps in nearly the same amount of time, just to prove he could. Meanwhile, Sticks hid their car in various places and challenged Shadow to find it—which only became difficult after they banned him from using infrared or electromagnetic sensors.

Once they’d all had their fun, Shadow asked a slightly strange question. “Do you have to use a car in the race?”

Amy grinned at him, folding her arms. “Shadow, if you’re trying to call your skates a racing vehicle, you should know that won’t work. Sonic would win the race by a mile if he got to run in it, but this is about proving whose car is the best! We already know you’re fast without one.”

But Shadow just shook his head. “No, I mean—if I were to use a legitimate vehicle, with wheels and all, but it wasn’t a car, would that be allowed?”

Tails furrowed his brow in thought. “That sounds fine to me…what do you guys think?”

The rest of the team made various noises of agreement, at which Shadow looked almost surprisingly delighted. It was the brightest expression any of them had ever seen on his face, and that alone was enough to convince the other five both that they had made a great decision (when it came to their friend) and possibly also a terrible decision (when it came to the race).

Suddenly, he shot them all a wickedly sharp smile, activating his skates. “I’ll see you all at the race, then…” Shadow replied, before dashing off and leaving a distinct sense of foreboding in his wake.

“Soooo…what do you guys think he has planned?” Sticks asked, once that had all settled in.

Sonic shrugged. “I dunno, probably something weird. He was being really cryptic about it. Like, more than usual.”

“I haven’t seen him smile like that ever.” Knuckles added. “I think this race might actually be really good for him! It’s been ages since he’s gotten into some wild shenanigans with us, it’s about time we had some more fun like that.”

“You’re right, Knuckles.” Amy said, smiling up at him. “I’m looking forward to seeing what he brings to the race.”

About an hour later, everyone was lined up and doing their last few checks on their cars before they set off. All of the old contestants were there—Dave, TW Barker, Eggman…even Leroy the Turtle.

Sonic put on his special racing helmet, flicking his ears a couple times to make sure they’d gone through their notches alright. Since their last race, he’d managed to spray-paint a few cool designs on it; everything from a pair of interlocking rings to his own name in a bold, jagged font could be seen. (He’d also carefully hand-painted five dots on the inside in yellow, red, pink, orange, and black. One was a little newer than the rest, and all of them were kept secret from the others. Cool heroes like him weren’t supposed to be sappy, after all.)

Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise made heads perk up all around the track from whatever it was they were doing, searching for the source of the racket. After a moment, Sonic managed to figure out that it seemed to be coming from the nearby forest…

And then—out of nowhere—a sleek, black motorcycle burst out of the undergrowth, fishtailing in a way that suggested its owner knew exactly what they were doing, before pulling up into the lineup right alongside Sonic’s own racing car. Its engine growled once more before slowing to a stop.

Now that he could see it closely, Sonic noticed the clean red detailing along the sides, as well as the glowing golden designs that marked it as a piece of Ancient technology. Seated just above the back wheel was a glowing, pulsing golden ball of pure chaos energy that seemed to be the source of the designs along the rest of the bike. 

The driver wore a jumpsuit, gloves, and boots so black they practically seemed to absorb light, save for the glimmering golden zipper down the front of the suit and the equally golden rings around their wrists and ankles. Their entire head was fully masked by a black helmet, marked only with a single line of golden Ancient text along the back, near the bottom.

It was only then that Sonic realized his mouth was still hanging open, at which point he immediately shut it.

A low chuckle came from the driver, and they stepped off the motorcycle, raising their visor to reveal none other than Shadow himself, who looked like he couldn’t decide whether to smirk so smugly he’d risk getting kicked or to grin like a child in a toy store. “Nice, isn’t it?” he said, clearly proud.

“Ohmygosh—ohmygosh—OHMYGOSH, WHAT?!” Tails shrieked, launching himself at the bike. “Shadow, what is this, and why have you been keeping it from me? I thought we were friends!” 

Shadow scoffed lightly. “I’m showing it to you now, aren’t I? Besides, I can’t have you knowing all my secrets at once. I’d like to think I deserve a dramatic reveal every once in a while, after all.”

“Where did you even get this?” Tails asked, his eyes and smile still so wide it nearly looked like it might hurt.

“This is my old motorcycle from back when I fought in the war. They’re powered by the user’s chaos energy, and each member of the force I was part of received one. It was…an old hobby of mine, taking care of this. It’s been a long time.” Shadow’s expression grew more and more pained as he spoke, and Sonic took that as his cue to intervene. 

“So, you’re gonna try and beat the reigning champ with half the wheels I have, huh?” Sonic boasted, pointing a thumb at his chest to indicate exactly who said champion was.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Why am I not surprised that you were the one to win the last race.”

“Well, it was him or Eggman!” Tails piped up. “Sonic’s definitely the better option there.”

“Gee, thanks, Tails.” Sonic huffed. “‘Better than Eggman’ is such a great endorsement.”

“Anytime, Sonic!” the fox shot back, complete with an evil grin.

Shadow chuckled quietly. “He’s not wrong, though. Eggman would have been even more insufferable than you had he won, so I suppose we should all be grateful. I certainly am.”

Sonic narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Now I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or being genuine.”

“A bit of both, if I’m being perfectly honest.” Shadow replied, flipping his visor back down. “Enough standing around, now—the race is starting soon. Make sure you’re ready. I want to face you at your best.”

The hero jumped into his car, a big smile beginning to spread across his face. “Oh, believe me, you will! I’d never bring anything less than my A-game!”

“Ey, this is a race, not a ‘best rivalry banter’ competition!” Sticks yelled from her place a couple of spots over. “Let’s get to the part where we actually, y’know, race?”

[The screen is split into six sections, each showing one of our heroes as they rev their engines, ready to take off.]

The mayor climbed atop a small stool, holding a checkered banner in his hand. “Three…”

Sticks slid her camouflage into place, and Tails flicked several switches.

“Two…”

Knuckles gripped his steering wheel tightly, while Amy flashed her headlights.

“One…”

Shadow rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck as Sonic’s foot hovered millimeters over the accelerator.

“GO!”

All of the competitors took off, tearing down the path and into the woods as quickly as they could. Sonic and Shadow immediately began vying for first place, their wheels threatening to grind together as they each fought to pull ahead. 

That was nothing compared to the animosity with which Tails rammed Eggman’s car, however, leaving massive scuffs in the pristine white paint job. “That’s for scaring my brother last episode!” he yelled, teeth bared in a feral grin. Eggman yelped, stomping on the accelerator in an attempt to escape the fox’s wrath.

Meanwhile, Knuckles and Sticks were having a friendly competition to see who could go the most off-road and take the riskiest shortcuts without technically deviating from the course, which was actually going surprisingly well. Dave and TW Barker, on the other hand, were both too distracted with sabotaging each other to focus on enacting any really effective villainy. To be fair to them, they were soon also distracted by the fact that Amy was taking swings at both of them with her hammer whenever either of them threatened to break a rule. 

And Leroy the Turtle…listen, he was doing his best, but…he really shouldn’t have brought a regular bike to a car race.

Back up at the front, Sonic was drifting around corners like a pro, showboating with winks and smug grins as he did so. “Hey Shadow, how’s that dust taste?” he called out, having to fight not to let his voice be whipped away by the wind.

At first, Shadow didn’t reply, and Sonic frowned. Had he really managed to take away Shadow’s knack for snappy comebacks with such a by-the-book remark?

Then, as he drifted around the next corner, practically running on autopilot, he saw Shadow tear past him on the inside of the turn, leaning so low to the ground that his elbow practically brushed it. Sonic had only ever seen something like that happen in movies, and his jaw dropped once again. 

“I don’t know, you tell me!” Shadow shot over his shoulder, pulling into the middle of the path in a clear attempt to block Sonic from regaining his previous position, and that was what snapped Sonic out of it.

The blue hedgehog burst out laughing, letting out a wild cheer of pure exhilaration. And though he couldn’t see it, he just knew that Shadow was smiling under his helmet too.

Not far behind them were Tails and Eggman, both still locked in bitter combat. Tails was pulling out all the stops, launching every possible road hazard he had in his arsenal, from spiked balls to straight-up bombs. Eggman was giving as good as he got, though, deploying movable shields and retaliating with laser blasts. 

Tails growled softly to himself. “He dodges everything I throw at him! How am I supposed to get the jump on Egghead if he predicts all my moves?”

Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Wait…the jump…of course! Why didn’t I think of it before? I might’ve designed this to be an obstacle, but it can help me too!”

Tails slammed his hand on a big button near the edge of his dashboard, watching as a massive star-emblazoned spring shot out and landed ahead of Eggman’s car, forcing him to shift lanes in order to avoid it.

“Ha!” the doctor cackled. “Missed again!”

“Bold of you to assume I was aiming for you!” Tails cried. “You forgot this fox can fly, Egg-breath!”

And with that, his car hit the spring, soaring high into the air. Within seconds, Tails had calculated exactly what he would need to do in order to land in front of Eggman, and then how to herd him off the path entirely so he would be disqualified, and then all he’d need to do would be to pour on some speed and—

—just as he reached the peak of his arc, something smashed into his car, blowing it completely in half. Without the right weight to maintain his momentum, Tails’s car smashed into the road far off from where he was expecting…which would’ve been alright on its own, if it weren’t for the fact that it couldn’t, well, drive anymore. 

Shaken, the fox peered out of the wreckage just in time to see Eggman blast by, laughing evilly as a giant laser cannon retracted back into his vehicle. “Better luck next time!” he called, revving his engine as he blasted into the distance. 

Tails stared after him for a long moment, his eyes wide and pupils tiny. It wasn’t until Eggman was out of view that he sank to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his tails around his shins.

Hopelessness began to sink in further as he heard more engines coming towards him from far in the distance, and he hid his face in his arms. Stupid—he should have known better than to deviate from his pre-planned maneuvers! Now he’d be forced to sit here and scrape together the broken pieces of his car as the other contestants rushed by…

Wait—but—weren’t the engines supposed to be coming from the other direction?

Suddenly, Sonic’s speedster car skidded to a stop beside him, followed shortly by Shadow’s motorcycle. The blue hero leapt out of his car, rushing over to Tails and lifting him up with ease. “You okay, Tails?” Sonic scanned his little brother for injuries nervously. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Just my pride.” Tails sighed, his ears visibly drooping. Sonic set him back down and ruffled his hair gently.

“What happened?” Shadow asked, having removed his helmet in an effort to better look over the fox’s car. “We just heard the announcer say that your car was hit by a laser and wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Tails startled at the second half of that sentence, his eyes growing wide yet again. “You…but I thought you wanted to win the race?”

“Lil’ buddy, I wasn’t just gonna leave you behind! I need my best bro with me, not blown up in the middle of a race!” Sonic insisted.

Shadow frowned. “And you’ve done so much for me, there’s no chance that I’d pass up an opportunity to return the favor.”

Tails grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Awww, you guys…”

“Now then,” the android said, “what exactly happened here?”

The engineer sighed. “I tried to deploy a spring so I could leapfrog Eggman, but he blew my car in half with a big laser cannon while I was still in the air.”

Sonic smacked a fist into his other palm. “Well, there’s no way we’re letting him get away with that! We’ve gotta get your car back in the race!”

“And how, exactly, am I gonna pull that off? It’s literally in pieces, and I don’t have the Build-It Box with me for repairs!” Tails gestured over to said pieces unhappily.

Sonic’s determination didn’t falter for even a second. “You remember how you guys helped me win last year? I think it’s about time I returned the favor.”

Tails’s fur practically stood on end. “You don’t mean—?!”

Sonic grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. “Just promise you’ll rebuild them later, ‘kay?” (In the background, Shadow raised an eyebrow, before seemingly resigning himself to this plan.)

“I promise!” Tails cried, bouncing up and down in place. “And you guys can ride with me too, if you want!”

Shadow gave him a small smile. “That sounds perfect. Now let’s not waste any more time—the doctor is already far ahead, and we need to catch him.”

Quickly, the three rebuilt Tails’s car, replacing his wheels with Sonic’s and patching up many of the worst scrapes and breaks with parts from Shadow’s motorcycle, along with a new Chaos-fueled turbo engine in the back to make up for lost time. (Shadow had requested a non-Meh Burger meal afterwards to make up for all the energy he would lose, and Tails had more than happily agreed.)

Sonic climbed into the passenger’s seat next to Tails, while Shadow donned his helmet once more and teleported onto the roof, where he took hold of the converters that would power the turbo booster on the back. “Are you ready, Shadow?” Tails called.

“I’d never be anything less.” Shadow’s smirk was practically audible.

And with that, the car took off.

Tails steered it through the various tight bends that Sonic and Shadow had previously traversed, with little bursts of power from Shadow to help guide it around particularly difficult turns. Before long, they found themselves gaining on Eggman, who had slowed down to a more leisurely pace (although he hadn’t stopped in front of the finish line like last time—he didn’t earn his doctorate by not learning, after all).

The young engineer smiled in a way that suddenly reminded Sonic that his brother had descended from carnivores in a way that hedgehogs had decidedly not. “Hey Eggman!” Tails barked. “This time, it’s the fox that’s hunting you!”

Eggman screeched, stepping on the accelerator as hard as he possibly could and firing a barrage of lasers back at Tails. At that moment, Shadow cut off the Chaos engine, making the car drop back and all the lasers miss. 

“Oh, so that’s how it is, hm?” the doctor yelled. “I suppose they do say ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’!” 

With that, he activated his giant laser cannon, popping it out of his car and charging it up rapidly. “Sonic!” Tails cried. “I need you to hit the big red button as many times as you possibly can!”

“Wait, Tails, are you serious?” Sonic asked. “I thought people were never supposed to hit the big red button!”

“Yeah, but I knew you’d wanna do it, so I made it so you can. Now hit it, and don’t stop!” 

Sonic mashed the button as quickly as he could, continuing to do so even as a humming noise coming from the front of the car grew louder and louder...

The muffler on Tails’s vehicle split, unleashing a laser blast of his own that stopped Eggman’s dead in mid-air. “What?!” the doctor yelped. “How?”

“Guess you’re gonna need to fix that now, huh?” Tails shot back, in lieu of a proper answer. “Shadow!”

Suddenly, Tails’s car blasted forward once again, courtesy of Shadow’s energy reserves. Eggman was too stunned to even react at first, and by the time he did, it was far too late. The other three were already most of the way through the forest, and he only caught up enough to watch them from a distance…as they crossed the finish line far ahead of him.

“No!” Eggman cried. “Not again! Ugh!” He pressed a button on his console. “Orbot? Cubot? Prep the ice cream. Fudge swirl. And if you value your gears…do not talk to me about the race!”

And with that, his Eggmobile flew him back to his tower, grumbling all the way.

Meanwhile, over at the finish line, Shadow had slid off the roof and was currently being supported by Sonic and Tails, all three wearing various triumphant smiles. Amy was there to greet them, having been disqualified once she caused a two-car pileup. (She wasn’t actually disqualified for causing the crash, but rather for getting out of her own car to have a proper smackdown with TW Barker and Dave.)

“Hey, where’s Knuckles and Sticks?” Sonic asked her.

“Oh, I think they’re still having fun playing demolition derby with their cars.” Amy explained, rolling her eyes fondly. “But good job, you three! I saw it all on the cameras!”

“Even the part where I embarrassed myself by getting all sad?” Tails asked, cringing.

“You didn’t embarrass yourself.” Shadow replied, sounding more noticeably tired than usual. “You made a mistake. It happens. Now you’ve learned from it, and you even won the race in spite of it.”

“Exactly! Thank you, Shadow!” Amy exclaimed, seeming quite proud for some reason.

Sonic zipped off, snatching the trophy from the mayor’s hands, and rushed it back to Tails with a big grin. Amy took up the role of ‘Shadow support structure’, allowing Sonic to lift Tails onto his shoulders as the fox held his trophy high in the air. 

“Yeah! We won!” the fox cheered, over the sound of Sonic’s whooping. 

The blue hedgehog grinned up at his brother. “What do ya say we go grab some burgers to celebrate?”

A loud “AHEM” abruptly came from Amy and Shadow’s direction, making both Sonic and Tails whip around to stare at a suddenly giggling Amy and a distinctly unamused Shadow.

“I believe I was promised something other than that?” the android remarked. “I refuse to let all of my flavor reception programming go ignored, after all.”

The brothers gave Amy twin hopeful looks, making her sigh. “Very well, you’re all invited over to my place for a meal. But!” She raised a single finger in the air. “You two are going to handle getting Knuckles and Sticks over, and you’re helping out in the kitchen wherever you can.”

“Just promise me it won’t all be health food, and you’ve got yourself a deal.” Sonic held out the hand that wasn’t supporting Tails to shake on it.

“Deal!” Amy declared, taking his hand and shaking it firmly.

“Alright, now let’s get this show on the road!” Sonic cheered, making Tails laugh with delight and the other two smile, the euphoria of winning spilling out onto everyone and brightening all their moods.

And with that, the four headed off to Amy’s house, ready to celebrate their victory together…and without putting up with Meh Burger.

[The show freeze-frames, and then fades to black. Then the credits roll.]

[synthient]

Straight from my notes app to you: Devil's Chord rewatch commentary

• Door behind Maestro looks like the tardis

• That's my daddy -> mother father and other of us all

• Is the tardis a he/she/they/any?

• Maestro as the tardis's harbinger + H Arbinger disappearing when his song is sung?

• Is the tardis also an absent/abandoning parent to her children? Or are they just manifestations of her?

• Maestro plays the theme song. Cut to the intro, which the tardis is the active "host" of: her light is the first thing we see, she brings the actors' names on screen, she's the star of the action shots. Cut to the tardis playing the theme song on her jukebox

• Is the embittered musician who never got his break and had to go into teaching a mirror for someone? What about art as an expression of Beethoven's rage at impending deafness? "All the songs you never sung, wrapped around your heart"?

• Ruby's a musician and composer, but doesn't (yet) fit the bill. The Doctor is a musician and a teacher. That's all I've got so far

• The Doctor treating Ruby like an equal, not making fun of her Beatles idea like she thought he would, allowing himself girlish boyband whimsy over the masculine seriousness of the titantic etc - "why haven't I ever done that before???"

• Music/art as a comforting reminder of her mom's girlfriend who's presumably not in her life anymore

• Giggling and squealing and holding hands as they run to the makeover room

• The obvious "I've got a dog, he's not dead" foreshadowing. But also - the tardis isn't actually all that great at songwriting (or storytelling)? Their faces falling as they expected something good but got a lackluster song (finale)?

• Going back a bit - H Arbinger moving around on the page + the Chris Waites billboard near the end + Sue Tech + Bad Wolf + her penchant for writing words and wordplay across time and space

• The Doctor's suit in this is also a lil bit of a tardis disneybound, if that means anything

• "I love you, you love me, we are two, we are not three, we're happy, I think, perhaps" - commentary on the Doctor-tardis relationship?

• "Music is the highest form of thought" + "sonic" + all her psychic stuff

• Music is her domain, even if she doesn't totally "get" the human aesthetic expectations?

• Their first direct Susan interaction (since Isaac Newton) - "that's daylight robbery!" "that's me. Maragaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady. Now there was a woman. Statuesque."

• The tardis faceclaiming? Tardis lesbian moment? What's the plot anyway

• "In 17th-century England, Barbara Worth (Margaret Lockwood) lives a privileged yet humdrum life as the wife of well-heeled landowner Sir Ralph Skelton (Griffith Jones). To stave off boredom, Barbara begins impersonating famed highway robber Capt. Jerry Jackson, stealing precious jewels and valuables from coach passengers. A chance encounter with the actual Jackson (James Mason) propels Barbara into a dangerous double life with potentially lethal consequences."

• The tardis starts living a double life as a villain to stave off boredom?

• People have been giving up music (art, fiction) because they think it's childish and embarrassing. "But Paul, when it's just you on your own, don't you think there must be better songs? Songs that lift you, and devastate you, and make you soar. Songs that are tucked away, somewhere, in secret at the back of your mind."

• "That's all I want. Leave this life, and go home to a woman of my own. Then why do I wake up crying?"

• (Both life without art + heteronormativity?)

• Putting notes (words) together "feels like the most holy thing on this earth"

• Paul starts to sing "words straight from my heart." "I love you, so much" (the thing the Doctor couldn't say to Ruby). Everyone's heads whip around. The Doctor drops a spoon (spoon lady?) Maestro appearing in all the mirrored surfaces and laughing

• The Doctor needs to embrace the embarrassing childishness of both fiction & direct expressions of love?

• Something in all this about Clara's Song, as the closest he was able to get to a love declaration in that relationship

• "You know what you are with your ideas, pal? Disgusting. You are disgusting!" Definitely something here about music and homophobia. Hashtag beatles yaoi

• The midsentence jump of "the world is darkening - I live over there."

• The Doctor suddenly bringing up Susan. This all playing out in the time period where he lived with Susan. His failure to tell Susan he loved her, to take part in her whimsical girlish interests without making fun of her, to stop repressing himself enough to find their common ground?

• "You have children?" "I did have. I will have." Starts to say what I think is the truth, then corrects

• The Doctor casually saying that she might be dead, then laughing through Ruby's attempt to hug and comfort him

• Thought the Doctor was holding a spoon at the piano, but it was actually his screwdriver. Which looks a little like a spoon this season?

• The Doctor revealing that he was watching Ruby perform before she knew him + the tardis possibly shaping her into a companion

• "I wrote this for my friend Trudy when a girl broke her heart." More music/art as love, gay love, and a memory of the people we loved who are no longer in our lives

• Ruby playing her own theme, like the Doctor played Clara's theme and Maestro and the tardis played the theme song

• The songs "locked up in your heart. So tight" for the opening musician also have some homophobic repression vibes

• Ruby playing her song (for the loved no longer in our lives) while the Doctor looks out at the city (where Susan is)

• And doing his Nine Slaying Off In The Corner pose

• The Doctor is instinctively scared of Maestro/the pantheon in a similar way to the boogeyman. "Why was I so scared? I love an ugly bug. I am an ugly bug."

• Fear of the pantheon/boogeymen as internalized loathing/shame? Maestro being a They specifically?

• The Doctor uses his screwdriver as a tv remote to turn off the sound

• Maestro undoes it by putting their tuning fork in a puddle (Bill's puddle ghost gf callback?)

• "Sound and vision" [looks right at the audience]

• The Toymaker "tore my soul in half. I can't survive that again." The Doctor being "torn in half" by confrontations with the pantheon (his self loathing?). Play and music as Doctor attributes

• "I'm sorry. But the power of these creatures [the things I fear about myself] is so vast that the whole world could slide into the pit"

• "Doctor. I know you're clever, and all that. But the world did not end in 1963" (when you abandoned Susan)

• So the Doctor has to prove her wrong by showing her that her life & loved ones are in ruins/irrecoverable too. Like he did for Rose when he took her to the end of earth, and like he tries to do by discouraging Ruby from speaking to her birth mom

• He lets her walk outside by himself, while he waits clutching the console with his eyes closed

• Snow Spotted (natural?)

• "Where's my mum?" (are you my mummy?)

• "I think without music, the human race goes sour. Without any way of expressing a broken heart, they'll go to war without even knowing why."

• Did the Doctor go to war because he didn't have any way of expressing a broken heart?

• "Then why am I still alive? Why don't I fade away?" "Because of me." Harry Arbinger, fading away. The tardis, looming behind them

• Ashes + snow + the dust of death

• Maestro says boo, the spotlights come on, the world fades away. Like the Rogue dance?

• The "daddy was so mean" thing seems relevant somehow

• So much Tardis Looming this season. Is there always this much tardis looming? Lot of her in dark colors & big & at the center of the frame

• "Every song that goes unsung feeds me. I get stronger and stronger." Self loathing and the unexpressed

• "Aeolian tones across the whole of creation. And that lament [bows] will be my symphony supreme." The tardis and her grand finale

• How did Maestro get into this world? "A genius. A single silly man..." 👉 the Doctor

• I've heard people say Maestro plays the "Saxon theme" here (I think more for the 4 beat rhythm than the melody?). It also actively freaks the tardis out and makes her start flickering. tbt her growling at Rogue

• The Doctor assumes Maestro is controlling the tardis, like he'll assume Sutehk is controlling the tardis

• The tardis will only let him go back to 1963 (where Susan is)

• He kisses the tardis while whispering "I'm sorry I'm sorry" and (odder?) "don't hate me"

• She growls at them as they leave

• They keep doing dutch angles for some reason

• In a crisis, he falls back on old habits and underestimates Ruby (assumes he must be the genius who can bring back music and not her)

• The guitar as throwback to 12

• The infamous "I thought that was nondiagetic"

• And the infamous "hidden song deep inside her soul," which I still think is the tardis trying to make Ruby a mystery. But how much does Maestro (consciously) know about that? To what exent are they their own person? Do they know who the "mother and father and other of us all" is?

• "This creature is very wrong" + the songs for lovesick lesbians. Music homophobia strikes again

• Something about pianos in this ep as tardis analog? The Doctor assuming the beatles' piano, a machine used for great things (and by his friend Mrs. Mills), has some ambient energy that makes it the key to saving the world. Ruby's "How could they be inside the piano? It wouldn't work!" and the illogic of Sutehk and the tardis. Maestro's piano suit (and blue suit in this scene, matching the Doctor's disneybound)

• Ruby pushes in for a piano duet (collaborative art instead of lone genius)

• "Are you enough of a genius?" "Oh, I would never call myself that Maestro [yeah he would lol]. But I have lived. And I have loved. And I can only smile like this because I have lost so much. And if that's where music comes from...I can find the chord to banish you."

• But he can't (because he hasn't expressed his love and faced his loss?)

• Ruby has a small reaction where she looks like she wants to add a note, but restrains herself. Failed because it wasn't collaborative? The beatles yaoi succeeds because they were?

• Doctor gets trapped in a drum (the Master instrument). idk if there's any significance to Ruby getting trapped in a cello and/or bass

• The door between them and the beatles also kind of has the tardis windows/silhouette. But I might just be having door pareidolia now

• Beatle has a flashback to "I just wanna go home." "But we need you!" "Why? I'm no good at anything." Doctor mirroring/twice upon a time vibes

• And then Maestro gets sucked into the piano (our possible tardis instrument) while warning them about the one who waits (the tardis)

• There's Always A Twist At The End (and have we like. meaningfully gotten one yet)

• (Don't think I can blame this song being mid on the tardis though)

• Tardis prominently in the shot as the crosswalk lets them play giant piano

• Final shot: piano notes as we zoom in on the tardis and her door shuts. And then opens and shuts a second time, by itself, for emphasis

[realperson022]

I got more sonadow content! It's another unfinished piece, but I think it's funny enough to share it :)

Title: Love in Slow Motion

Rating: Teen

Summary: A misunderstanding leads to unexpected decisions and feelings.

"What the hell did I just walk into?" 

Tails wasn't supposed to be home early, but somehow everything was just going downhill since this morning. Today was not shaping up to be one of Sonic's best days, not at all.

"Uhhhh, heeeey buddy," the hero smiled awkwardly, very aware of how his brother's wide eyes were glancing in every direction and seemingly trying to understand why his big bro was stepping out of the hallway bathroom with Shadow at his heels. 

Nope, this wasn't even remotely possible to appear as something the two rivals would do on a random Tuesday afternoon. 

"So…" Tails cleared his throat, blushing at the implications behind the sight in front of him. "Um…I–sorry for interrupting, I r-really didn't mean to–"

Sonic was utterly horrified at this point, watching in embarrassment how Tails avoided his gaze and hastily turned around to head back downstairs. 

"Wait, dude! No, this isn't what—Tails! Come back!" The hero tried to go after his brother, but with his predicament, he didn't get very far. 

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I'll leave you both alone now!" Tails' hurried words matched the speed at which he bolted out the front door, a slam echoing in the now dead-silent house.

"Well, now your brother assumes there's something between us."

With cheeks still burning up from the embarrassment, the blue hedgehog glanced over his shoulder to glare at his rival. "Wow, really? I hadn't noticed."

Shadow scoffed, "May I remind you it was your fault we ended up like this!"

The agent brought up their handcuffed hands into their line of vision, harshly waving them from side to side for emphasis. 

Sonic growled, tugging his hand back, and as a result, Shadow's too. "Quit it will ya?! And yes, I know! Don't have to rub it in my face every chance you get, jeez."

"Well, get used to it because I'll keep doing it until we figure out a solution," the striped hedgehog grunted, pulling back his hand. 

"I forgot how much of a dick you are."

Another tug in the opposite direction, and another grunt came.

"And I am always reminded of how reckless you are," the hybrid sneered, yanking his hand back. 

Fuming, the hero attempted to make the last move, claiming the final say in this needless discussion. "You know what? No, this thing is our fault. As in, you and me. So you better accept it if ya don't want me to drag your face through the dirt at Mach 1 speed."

Sonic watched as his rival's eyes narrowed dangerously thin, rubies barely peeking from under thick eyelashes. Nothing else came, no verbal response or a flurry of punches to his face. For a brief moment, Sonic thought Shadow finally understood, turning away from the dark hedgehog and thinking of how he would explain to Tails that he got it all wrong.

"Hey–! What the hell?!" Sonic was tackled to the ground from behind, groaning when he felt pain shoot up his nose at colliding with the floor unceremoniously.

"How dare you–" Shadow grunted, trying to climb on top of the hero while maneuvering their handcuffed hands to an angle that gave the agent the upper hand. "Tell me what to do!"

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and his weight was pushed off the speedster, growling as Sonic mirrored his attack. 

"You're really getting on my nerves, dude. Stop this before we actually get hurt!" The blue hero gritted his teeth, fighting against the hybrid's wrestling hands—well, hand. Pinning someone to the ground when you shared a limb with them was difficult. 

This went back and forth, pushing to be on top and rolling across the hallway floor a second later. Their argument didn't carry many words except for their names and the occasional curse, but their grunts of effort were heard throughout the house. Eventually, they reached the end of the hallway, emerald eyes noticing too late as Shadow rolled on top of Sonic. 

"Wait, Shadow! We're gonna–"

Staring down the blue hedgehog with a venomous glare, the agent snarled, pinning fawn hands to the ground. "I'll make you eat those words, hedgehog."

Not wanting to receive a nasty punch to the face, Sonic glanced around at his surroundings, quickly realizing the only way to dodge it was to twist away as his handcuffed hand lifted from the floor as Shadow readied his into a fist. 

"Damn it, Shadow," was all that Sonic breathed out as he shoved at the white chest with a harsh push. 

Then, they were falling down the stairs.

The clinking of their metal cuffs rang loudly as they tumbled to the first floor, groaning and left with aching backs. So much that the anger and determination to fight had left their systems, too tired to do anything but lay there on the floor.

In a rather compromising position, however. 

They didn't notice until the front door opened again, the fox reentering to freeze upon seeing the two hedgehogs resting there just a few feet before him. 

"Oh my god…"

A blue ear twitched at hearing the familiar voice.

"Tails? Buddy?"

Sonic perked up, raising his upper body to glance at his brother with a wide smile. "Tails! You came back–" he thought this was his opportunity to clear things up, but as everything that's been happening today, it all went sideways. 

"Soooonic," Shadow's groan came loud and throaty from where he lay under the blue hero. 

It was then that Sonic noticed how exactly his brother found them. Was the world against him today or what? He couldn't help but think so as he closed his eyes and let his shoulders sag, defeatedly. He was cradling his rival's lap, the striped hedgehog nestled quite intimately between his blue legs and his arms caging an ebony torso, and if that wasn't the worse yet, the fox's next observation was.

"Are those…handcuffs?" Tails gawked at the silvery thing wrapped around both hedgehogs' wrists. 

"Look, bro. You got this all wrong—me and Shadow were just–"

"I interrupted you again, didn't I? Ohmygod. I'm so sorry, Sonic. I just came back for—you know what, I'll just stay with Amy for today and leave you–"

Staring at the fox with wide eyes, the hero scrambled to inform him of his misunderstanding, of everything being thrown out of proportion, but Shadow's next words did not help.

"Fuck, Sonic…You pushed too hard again."

A hot blush bloomed across the fox's muzzle at hearing the Ultimate Lifeform's words, seeing him lean up with his arms braced on the carpeted floor. And because their hands were restrained, the little movement had Sonic stumbling forward to be inches away from Shadow's dazed face. 

"Dude, seriously?" 

Shadow raised an eye ridge at noting his rival's flushed face and looked away to see the fox standing by the front door, sporting the same color across his face as his brother. 

This was perfect timing for Shadow to clarify things for the hero's brother, maybe even going as far as throwing in a hefty speech as to why he would never see Sonic in that way. 

The blue hedgehog wished that had been going through his rival's mind as he waited impatiently for the agent to say something to Tails. He almost thought of doing a head start for Shadow when finally the striped hedgehog spoke. Definitely, not favoring Sonic's wishes. 

"Hmm, learn to knock unless you want to see something you shouldn't next time."

No. No. Nononono! 

Realization dawned on the hero, paling immediately at checking his bro's face for his reaction and oh god, why was Shadow doing this?! They just had a whole fight about this! Now, the hybrid was feeding these scandalous insinuations—did the fall do some serious damage to the Ultimate Lifeform's head?

"U-uhm…I'mma head out now…" Tails was beet red, coughing awkwardly and shying away from both hedgehogs' gazes. 

"Tails, wait! Don't go–Miles!" It was fruitless, the speedster watched in mixed horror and humiliation as his best friend zoomed out the front door almost at a speed similar to his. 

"I thought you taught him some manners, at least."

Hearing the mirthful comment on Shadow's part, one of Sonic's eyes twitched and his lips curled into a nasty snarl. 

"Why did you do that?!" The speedster snapped at his dark counterpart, one of his hands reflexively curling into a tight fist. He was seconds away from wiping away that stupid smirk off Shadow's face, regardless of knowing the violence wouldn't go unpunishable and he'd end up in the same position as his striped rival later into the day. 

"I dragged your face through the dirt. Metaphorically, of course."

Gawking, Sonic took a few seconds to properly process his rival's words, blinking rapidly once a conclusion settled over him. 

"Wh…that—are you serious? Payback? Really, Shadow? You understand this doesn't make things any better for you too, right?" The hero sighed, exasperated by the hybrid's scheme. 

Shadow shrugged, a smirk still plastered across his lips. "It was worth it. Besides, if your brother spreads the news about us, it'll get Rouge off my back about going out on a date with Silver–"

"Silver? Wait, you're dating?" 

The dark hedgehog noticed how a frown came across the hero's face, his blue ears drooping slowly. If the agent didn't know any better, it appeared the news of his personal life dampened Sonic's mood. 

"No, but Rouge is persistent about it. That woman and her nosy habits," Shadow rolled his eyes at remembering his friend's failures to convince him to go out with someone. 

"Sooo…you're not dating?"

The agent dared to make the hero wait, observing closely how emerald eyes flickered between two things; hope and disappointment.

"Not yet."

It was an implication, a reminder that it was only a matter of time before the dark hedgehog was taken. For Shadow's first intimate conversation, first embrace, first kiss, and all that came with first dates to be stolen by someone else regardless of the love being there, or not. Because even a creature like Shadow was tempted to get a taste of all that, a bit of what a life like with someone at his side could be. 

However, it seemed Sonic wasn't so willing for his rival to go around and do that with just anyone. And maybe it was the protective side he had for his friends in him that made him act, or…it was more. Something else that went beyond the thought of helping Shadow. 

Sonic didn't know exactly, but he was taking his opportunity. "What…what if we do tell people we're dating?" The hero spoke, avoiding crimson eyes directly. 

Shadow almost laughed, amused by his rival's awkwardness. 

"Weren't you just against it, hedgehog?" 

Chuckling nervously, Sonic shrugged and looked down to meet Shadow's eyes before shifting his gaze to the front door. 

"Well, yeah but like you're onto something with the whole fake relationship thing."

Oh, of course. Shadow should have known. It was obvious there wasn't any other ulterior motive for the hero to agree to something like this. 

"I assume you're speaking of your situation with Rose," the agent barely held back the instinct to roll his eyes at the mention of the pink hedgehog. One way or another, from his mouth or Sonic's, the girl's name always popped into the conversation, leaving a palpable tension between the rivals. 

It wasn't necessarily the bad kind, but its simple existence was a constant variable in their friendship. An invisible wall that grew thicker with every advance Rose took in pursuing Sonic.

[beevean]

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if someone made a post celebrating just as genuinely that a Sonic character has a white voice actor because it means they are white. Which I am pretty sure concerns the entire game cast, by the way.

Of course, I know what will happen (that person will either get eaten alive or just laughed at for being a reaching tryhard), but it does nicely show that the whole "The character must have the same race as the voice actor" is just a whole lot of nothing woque hot air that only goes for when that voice actor is the correct race, aka the poor oppressed black people. And when a character is voiced by a white person, obviously that does not count and they're actually also black!! There's just no way to win here, not with people who will twist anything to support their agenda, no matter how hypocritical, ridiculous, or only applied to what they deem is the correct cause.

I am forcibly and painfully reminded of Steven Universe discourse.

There was this huge ass article that complained about SU's racism, and one of its points was "Sugilite, the fusion of a Black-coded Gem (Garnet) and a Latina-coded Gem (Amethyst), is savage and violent, while Sardonyx, the fusion of a Black-coded Gem and a white Gem (Pearl), is refined and elegant".

Oh, so we're assigning races based on voice actors? Then by this logic Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis, Peridot and Ruby are all Filipino-Americans. Oh? That's not how it works? You actually don't care about Filipino representation? You'd rather see Pearl as white, so that you can complain about her ballerina aesthetic and her problematic yet forgiven behavior? You'd rather see Ruby as Black because of her afro, so that you can cry racism at that one silly gag of her writing Sapphire's name too close to the edge of the letter, because you chose to see it as "Ruby can't write" instead of the much more obvious "Ruby has relied so long on Sapphire's Future Vision that without her she doesn't even know where to start to write"? Okay :)

I don't know bro I see technicolor characters as technicolor characters. Then again, I was the weirdo who was genuinely confused at people calling Bismuth Black-coded because "but she's liliac???", so clearly I am not American enough for this.

[dominustempori]

SPOILERS FOR THE NEW DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!!!

15 (see what I did there?) observations/comments on “The Church on Ruby Road”

1. Duuuuude Doctor crying in the first scene…omg my heart. He’s gonna be so much more sensitive, more than 11 and 13 combined. I’m very much down with that.

2. Time-riding goblins looking for dinner…bit too fairy tale? I mean sure, lighten the mood a bit after the other 2 specials, I guess. Not the strongest villains in the Whoniverse…still, made me cringe a bit in the right moments

3. LOVE me the Doctor’s sneakers.

4. and He can RUN in them! (I ran track for 6 years in school, and I ref for the sport. I appreciate good running form 😁)

5. Like others have recently said, thank you RTD for keeping on the ‘Timeless Child’ story line.

6. on that…the Doctor more or less bonding with Ruby, one “foundling” to another, will just add all that much more to their relationship, as Doctor and companion, I feel.

7. Bravo to having one of Ruby’s friends/bandmates being trans. Props to that actor.

8. Ncuti in a kilt…clubbing. Booyah.

9. Also bravo to the actresses flipping personalities after the “crack in time” sequence (also also…where have we seen THAT before? hee…)

10. Kinda wishing the sonic was just a little more…screwdriver-ish. But I’m cool with the new design. Hoping the toy version does have that little flashlight included 😋

11. Always love me a Doctor Who episode with a baby. (Father’s Day, Closing Time, Return of Doctor Mysterio…you get the idea.)

12. Anyone else get the slightest “Labyrinth” vibe during THE song? Just me?

13. Kinda weird that I liked Russell’s goblin king much more than the one we got in the first “Hobbit” movie? Yes/no/maybe?

14. Yes I am buying that Mrs. Flood is Iris Wyldthyme or another past companion. Didn’t see that 4th wall break coming…PLEASE let us get a reveal before the new season ends.

15. Ruby’s real mum…or whoever dropped her off on the church step: did no one else see below the cloak? the boots, the short cut of the trousers? Remind anyone of someone, possibly?

WHAT IF IT WAS 13?????

I SWEAR it was her! That could explain the lack of any sort of DNA match! And…Millie has hints of Jodie in her, to me at least…

Another long post…I had feelings 😎 Comments welcome, nothing negative please 🙏

[soncrunning]

What happened to Sonic when he was with Eggman? Infinite dealt with him so easily.

Buddy, I think you asked the wrong blog. It feels as if you're asking someone else the question, but I'll answer either way 🙌

Allow me to remind you I had to fight against FOUR people on my own. It wasn't that fair, you know? And even if they were just an illusion, they still has the strength of who they were fighting. And let me tell ya', their strength is no joke. Maybe I could've taken two, maximum three, but four was just too much.

Also, the Phantom Ruby was overwhelmingly powerful. Even I admit that!! 😆

[squeiky]

Another thing about how I might write eggman, have I had my paws on this guys character.

When I here "evil scientist" (but eggman is obviously an evil engineer but whatever) I think of lab experiments, and unethical testings. The type of shit that you'd BELIEVE would revoluionize or doing good by whom ever this testing and info is to "help" but in reality is only purposing yourself and doing harm.

Now, I think this is a little too far from what his character IS per say, but It just reminds me of how he calls sonic (at least in the english versions) a "rat". like.. a guinea pig. a lab rat. a scoundrel.

While Sonic is gunning for his throat, Eggman only perceives him as nothing more of a pest, and a nuisance at best. (though he's definitely obsessed with defeating (or even killing) the guy in the same way a chef would be obsessed with eliminating a mouse in the kitchen who keeps eating and ruining his shit.)

I think that saying that is important because it helps remind me that throughout all the fun and games of this universe, eggman probably wouldn't hesitate to make sonic suffer. (just as one would let a rat slowly starve to death in a trap.) He is after all, the sole guy who keeps getting in his way.

I also enjoy to idea of Eggman being very opportunistic. Something about that makes it seems like he's always going to the next best thing. (that might be the one endearing trait of his, that stubbornness. Either way both the spikeball and the eggman wont give up till the other is out of the picture.)

uhh something something something, If given the chance eggman would probably do some experimental shit on sonic because he's done it multiple times and honestly I need that arc where sonic actually gets to have deal with effects of that.

ALSOALSO Eggman and infinte. What??? Personally, I believe Infinite to be more of a cyborg (half bot half live) but if he's not fully bot, then I'd have to consider that fact that either eggman got someone (idk who or how) to do actual surgical operation on this guy and implant a fucking magic ruby into his TORSO (y'know like where you MOST IMPORTANT INTERNAL ORGANS ARE) or eggman just knows how to rip people open and insert (or take out) shit into them using whatever bots or his own hands like a classical surgeron.

either way, the idea that Eggman has medical knowledge of anatomy and can perform or at least have access to that kind of levels of bodily fuckery is scary. Because I have no idea what the hell created Infinte the jackal, or even WHO or WHAT Infinte is.

but if he wasn't a bot to begin with, then everything gets a little darker... and straight into my writing territoy.

[biscuits-of-bagend]

DnDoc, Artificial Intelligence #2 - Steely-faced

Part 1

Previous stories: DnDoc, Coming Home DnDoc, Space Band DnDoc, A Man's a Man DnDoc, The God of Rock 'n' Roll DnDoc, The Loch o' the Lowes DnDoc, The Mushroom Planet DnDoc, The Flowers We'll Remember

Reminder if you haven't read the novelisation that Art is Rogue's person he lost, and they used to work bounties together.

---

"Run!" Rogue hissed, springing back to his feet and at the same time ducking back into the alley. He shoved his friends further down the alley, trusting the Doctor to find some sort of path to take at the other end.

   None of them made a noise as they ran, except for the occasional stumble into a computer bank, but that was understandable given the unending darkness. Occasionally their pursuer would shoot its gun again when it thought it might be catching up to them, and that at least gave them a split second view of the room, like lightning in a forest.

   One time, Rogue happened to be checking over his shoulder when this happened, and he saw the figure round the corner of the alley they were currently running down. The person was tall and had broad, solid shoulders. They seemed to be wearing armour of some sort of thick, heavy steel, though for some reason the helmet had a metal band going from ear to ear, right over the top of the head. Maybe a headset? Maybe they had someone tracking the three travellers by means other than visual and feeding the information to this individual?

   All of that Rogue got in the half second before he shot backwards, took his weight onto his hands, and did a backwards roll to stay under the height of the laser fire. The Doctor and Ruby wove from side to side until they were around the next corner, and Rogue continued his low, backwards movement until he got there too, scared to waste a moment standing up.

   The Doctor scanned with the sonic as they went, until it beeped to tell them that they were near the doorway and that it was in the process of unlocking it.

   "Where is it, where is it?" the Doctor muttered.

   "Oof," Ruby grunted. Rogue heard her footsteps stop. She groaned, "Found it. Just got the handle in the hip."

   "Sonic says it's unlocked. Go for it," the Doctor whispered.

   There was a quiet hiss as the door opened, but thankfully no more. The miserable blue light peeked out of the gap, though in comparison to the pitch black it felt like a bright doctor's office, and the TARDIS team hurtled through into the corridor beyond. Rogue closed the door behind him and the Doctor locked it with the sonic.

   "I'm sure they can unlock their own door," said the Doctor, looking one way then the other along the corridor. "But any extra time is good. This way I think."

   As they ran left and right round the twisting corridors, pressed up against the wall in single file, the Doctor asked Rogue if he had seen it clearly. Rogue told him what he could remember of the metal suit. The Doctor seemed particularly interested in the headset.

   "Sort of like… could it have looked like a handle? Like, for picking up a basket?" said the Doctor.

   "I guess?" said Rogue.

   Suddenly another of the figures appeared at the other end of their current corridor, wearing the exact same armour - so, presumably, equipped with the same weapons. They hadn't long taken their last turn, so Rogue turned to lead them back round the corner. Maybe there would be a secondary corridor they hadn't noticed. But as they turned the corner, back the way they had come, the Doctor yanked on Rogue's jacket and pulled him into a room right on the edge of the intersection, only just out of view of the figure. He locked it with the sonic once they were all inside and, with all three of them holding their breath, the footsteps passed. They were wheezing, mechanical footsteps, Rogue thought. Like something hydraulic or pneumatic.

   Once it was quiet outside, the Doctor whispered, "Rogue, it will not surprise you to know that Ruby and I have met our metal friends before."

   Ruby was clinging to the Doctor's arm, her fingers scrunching up the light red knitted fabric of his jumper.

   "Doctor, I'm so scared," she said, her voice cracking.

   Oh gods, this had to be bad.

   "What are they?" said Rogue.

   "Cybermen," said the Doctor. Ruby let out a whimper, then blushed bright red. The Doctor shook his head. "It's okay to be scared, Ruby."

   Rogue put his hand on her shoulder. "Seconded." He thought about his mounting terror at the Loch o' the Lowes. This had been immediate, a crisis response to a present threat.

   "Okay, let's see what we have here," said the Doctor.

   Ruby nodded and wiped her eyes, following the Doctor to the walls of the room, which were once again lined with screens - and this time with keyboards too.

   "If it's that bad," said Rogue. "Should we be trapping ourselves like this?"

   The Doctor shook his head. "You don't beat a Cyberman by running. They never tire, ever. You can't outrun them. Best you can do is outrun the power on their guns. But gods know how many more there are of them in here."

   "So how do you beat a Cyberman then?" said Rogue.

   "By going cyber." The Doctor cracked his knuckles and placed them on one of the keyboards. "I think it's time to request the help of Agent Alexa Holt."

INPUT: hey, Alexa?

OUTPUT: Incorrect Bank. Present Bank: Bank 4. Bank of requested Resource Agent: Bank 3. Resource Agents in Bank 4: Resource Agents 40-50.

   The Doctor rolled his eyes.

INPUT: fine. Computer, explain origin of agents.

OUTPUT: Deceased agents in Bank 3 uploaded 45.3.982

INPUT: Deceased agents???

INUSTRUCTION: Re-phrase question.

INPUT: How were deceased agents acquired?

OUTPUT: In the moment of death, knowledge and skillset were captured.

INPUT: What was the purpose of this?

OUTPUT: To provide support to Cyber Agents.

INPUT: And what is a Cyber Agent?

OUTPUT: An Agent who has been integrated from a point of life into the Cyber Network. Cyber Agents use knowledge, skillset and physical abilities to complete missions on behalf of the Cyberium.

   The Doctor put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes.

   "I know it sounds horrible, but this is pretty standard Cyber stuff," said the Doctor. "Although I am a little worried about an old friend who would be a prime candidate for getting grabbed by them. I reckon they'd probably quite like a little immortality. But he's probably fine. He'll have vworped away, or outwitted them. He's always outwitting things. Gods… the thought of him turned into one of these." The Doctor shuddered. "The idea of Jack Harkness without his sense of humour - absurd. A big, hard, metal man following orders and completing missions with no sparkle, no dashing one-liners, no ability to grow, no emotion at all…"

   Rogue put his arm around the Doctor's waist and squeezed him tight. He had some understanding of who Jack was, but wasn't sure if he was an ex or whatnot. In any case, clearly the Doctor was shaken by the thought. He smiled a little and said, "Kinda sounds like me when you met me. It was awful."

   The Doctor turned to face him and nestled his head into Rogue's neck.

   "Agreed," said Rogue, "Life is better now."

   "Uh, Doctor," said Ruby, "I think the computer wants to talk to you."

   The Doctor sighed and turned back to the screen.

OUTPUT: Voice recognised: Agent Rogue.

INSTRUCTION: Report for Integration.

   The Doctor's eyes widened and he spoke out loud to the computer, "What do you mean? Who recognised him?!"

OUTPUT: Origin of knowledge: Resource Agent 43.

   "Who is Resource Agent 43?" Rogue asked. Never mind the Doctor; he could hear his own voice wavering now.

OUTPUT: Resource Agent 43 Name: Resource Agent Art.

INSTRUCTION: Agent Rogue: Report for integration.

---

Part 3

@off-traveling-in-the-stars @casavanse @monster-donut @randomwholocker (let me know at any point if you no longer wish to be tagged in each post)

[inf1nyxw0rlds]

no but actually it's so sad how like... one scene caused people to declare that infinite is a pathetic, weak and whiny villain. i understand why the infamous "i am not weak" thing first got memed, but whenever i hear these jokes five years later, and i'm reminded this is his legacy... man.

infinite, canonically, was a mercenary captain; he was the leader of his own team and not only that but alledgedly, people refered to him as the ultimate mercenary, which i'm actually inclined to believe. he had a reputation. he had to have trained, built up a lot of skill, and bear in mind, he's also almost inarguably half blind (doesn't need to see out of the blacked out side of his mask, wields sword in left hand-- is he naturally left handed, or was this an adaptation, meaning he could, theoretically, be self-taught ambidextorous?-- and overall facial trauma is referenced and drawn attention to frequently) ... this would imply, for his position, a large amount of dedication in my opinion, as he would have had to adjust his combat strategies and the like to this in order for it not to disadvantage him. he was (is) strong, and capable. this isn't some kind of stretch. and losing one fight to the ultimate lifeform doesn't automatically negate this.

moving foward, if we're to acknowledge that infinite was a well-known, feared mercenary, then it's likely that losing wasn't a common occurance for him; hence the shock, especially when combined with, oh, yeah -- the death of his entire squad. you might believe that infinite was selfish based on his reaction, and how he carries himself, and i really can't say that he's decidedly not selfish... but selfishness doesn't inherently imply his team meant nothing to him. characters can have complexities, and i believe that this is super important for infinite as a whole -- more on that later, but it's ill-advised to take a character who's theme is masking himself at face value.

in further regards to his breakdown, i think that the reason there was so much heavy emphasis on his weakness was because of pre-existing trauma -- or if not outright trauma, then an issue that was apparent prior to his defeat at shadow's hands. there's a decent amount of evidence to support this, and i think it would also serve to explain how he became such a force to be reckoned with as a mercenary -- he was constantly pushing himself to be better, better, better, because weakness wasn't allowed in his eyes, losing wasn't allowed. and then he does. catastrophically. he loses that fight, but he also loses just about everything else. his squad, his entire squad, are dead. all at once, just like that, there then gone in a single night. and, i think, how could he not blame himself? how could someone like that not come to the conclusion that, this is because i was incompetent -- this is because i was weak?

anyhow, i digress lol. all this to say that infinite is a skilled combatant. infinite captured sonic. infinite trapped shadow in virtual reality. infinite's illusions had real world impact. infinite talked back to eggman. and even if the phantom ruby "wasn't his power", that still doesn't mean he's useless without it. i don't think you could achieve these results with just anybody; it's not just about the power itself, it's about who uses it and how it's used.

i genuinely don't think infinite is weak. i understand that he talks big game, and many people walked away from sonic forces feeling underwhelmed by him, but i mean this wholeheartedly. there is so, so much i want to say about him as a character after the past five years i've spent rotating him in my mind and analysing him to my friends haha, but it's hard to formulate my thoughts into something more coherent and... y'know. makes-sensy. doesn't sound totally unhinged. yeah.

i'm gonna just go ahead and post this now as i've been sitting here for far too long (longer than the length might suggest). in conclusion umm. dog. sure that'll do

[viacursecasting]

Sonadow Scenario #62

Broken Edges.

Stars freckled the blanket of the vast night sky. The breeze carried the sweet scent of pine and echoed the melody of crickets. The moon beamed its fullness upon the blue hedgehog, who was dozing on the tallest bough of the lush forest.

A bush rustled, making his ear twitch, though he still snored away. Another rustled, and his ears folded back as his snoring faltered. With yet another rustle, he finally stirred awake.

Groggily, he peered into the darkness below, rubbing his eyes to help himself adjust. He expected to see a family of opossums foraging, or perhaps a couple of beavers gathering wood. But instead he saw—

"Shadow?"

With perked ears, the agent seemed a bit confused, scanning the branches until he spotted the hedgehog. He sighed. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"Nice to see y—whoa!" The hero suddenly slipped off the limb, hurtling toward the ground.

With a single dash, the lifeform skidded across the grass to catch him bridal style just in time.

They could feel each other's racing hearts, though Shadow assumed it was just the adrenaline. "You need to be more careful," he scolded.

"Sorry," Sonic replied sheepishly. Then he batted his eyelashes playfully. "I was just so distracted by your handsome face."

Shadow scoffed, quickly setting him down in an effort to mask his blush. "You're an idiot..." He turned to take his leave—

"Wait!" Sonic cried. When the agent did so, he uttered. "I... Thank you..." He averted his gaze.

Shadow noticed that his mind seemed elsewhere. "Is something troubling you?"

Surprise flashed in Sonic's eyes before his features melted into a defeated smile. "Am I that readable?"

Shadow leaned against the tree, crossing his arms. "Like a book," he replied, gesturing for the hero to continue.

Sonic took a minute to gather his thoughts. Then he shook his head. "Honestly, it's going to sound like nonsense."

"As opposed to everything else you say?"

"Hardy har har," Sonic chided, though the humor did ease his nerves. He explained, "So, it turns out when you save the world so often, no one needs saving anymore."

"Is that not a good thing?"

"Oh, of course!" Sonic agreed. "At least, for everyone else. But for me..."

Shadow surmised, "You're... bored?"

Sonic groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I told you it would sound like nonsense."

"Well," Shadow elucidated, "you've seen all the world has to offer. It only makes sense you'd want to experience something more thrilling."

At that, Sonic felt a slight weight lift off his shoulders. He was glad to have someone understand.

Sonic continued, "In fact, I like coming out here at night to listen to all the creatures. It reminds me that the world is always at work, no matter how still it may seem."

Then he piqued, "What were you doing out here, if you don't mind me asking?"

Shadow considered whether or not to confess. "Truthfully I think I have the exact opposite concern."

"What do you mean?"

Shadow sighed. "I've gone through so many changes, taken so many paths." Something glinted in the corner of his ruby eye. It was the moonlight reflecting off a caterpillar, busy making his cocoon among the flora. He continued, absent, "I often wonder if I'm making the right choice, if I'm fulfilling my promise."

He gazed upward. "I find comfort here because the stars are my one constant."

Sonic followed his line of sight before his gaze covertly returned to the lifeform. While the view of the heavens was breathtaking, he was more enthralled with a different dark entity.

The hero then chuckled. "Maybe we should hang out more often. Y'know, to balance things out."

Shadow didn't disagree, smirking. "Our broken edges do seem to match."

[shadowzmod]

4+1+1

Random gay fluff for Shadow because I can

Kissing Death Star, that first time, is like kissing the sun. Fiery hot burning light, flames licking at his fur as he rips the Phantom Ruby out of his chest and ends it. He knows he will never kiss anyone like that again: it is blazing hot and fast and dangerous and solely a distraction and nothing more.

He can't help but wonder what it would have been like, had the ending been different...if Death Star could have been reasoned with, in those last moments. Whether they could have burned together.

Kissing Sonic shortly after is completely different. There, it had started as an accident: both of them eating the same gummy snake, and Shadow had pulled away, embarrassed, before Sonic had carefully pulled his head back and kissed him again—they were both ruined, emotionally, mentally and physically destroyed, and both seeking any kind of comfort; it had been soft and quick and a reminder that they really did always have each other.

Kissing Devil Horns is like making out with a tornado. Fast and rough and dangerous—both of them always walking a tightrope as to what the other one wants, and yet somehow figuring out the balance in the end.

He has a tendency to get carried away and make very poor choices around Devil Horns, with any given situation, and this is no exception...

Kissing Sunflower is...soft. They both have no idea what they're doing, shy and quiet and with an underlying current of sadness that they both try and lose in the other. They have both loved and lost so much; they have both believed themselves to be monsters, and to find someone with that level of understanding, well.

It's. Nice. It's comfort. It's them finding solace from a world of madness that surrounds them, hollowing out a single moment into a safe little cocoon where nothing can hurt them.

And when night falls, and Sunflower becomes Moonflower...well, then it's comfort in another way. Shadow promising him that he still sees him, isn't scared by the monstrous form—in fact he can't help but snuggle into the ridiculous amount of fluff that makes up the werehog.

Kissing Cobalt, once he's better is desperate: that's mostly on Cobalt though. He's wanted for so long, and, now that he's no longer infecting everyone with the metal virus, Shadow is happy to oblige.

[stardusted-hearts]

chaosworthy asked:

👶 - As a kid, what were they like? (sonic) & 🔎 - Random detail about them (shadow)

The Little Things - Accepting

      👶 - As a kid, what were they like? (sonic)

      Some might say he was, what you might call, a “little shit.” :p Others might say he was a thief, a criminal, dangerous. And more would say he was doing what he needed to do to survive and was horrifically misunderstood.

      Sonic was alone, abandoned so young it’s nothing short of a miracle that he survived. Which is entirely in thanks to the Flickies and Critters that raised him. They kept him safe, warm, brought him food, and eventually showed him how to find it himself. They gave him the love he otherwise never would have had, and he loved and protected them in turn.

      With his critter friends Sonic was very sociable, fun loving, hyperactive, and adventurous. But no Mobian or Human could get near him. Not while he had his wits about him, and due to his circumstances he did steal food. A lot. Usually so quickly that one could turn around for one second, then turn back and the food and Sonic were already long gone.

      Bad experiences with Mobians and Humans led the speedy hedgehog to live almost the entirety of his childhood being wild. Living in the jungles and forests, only showing up in civilization when curiosity or hunger got the better of him. He was harmless, of course, but some didn’t think so. Which led to more bad experiences.

      Until he met Tails. The fox’s persistence in following him, and his surprising ability to keep up just enough to always find the hedgehog, eventually got Sonic’s curiosity going enough to let the fox get close. Tails being so much younger made it easier to trust him, and once Sonic realized that the kit was alone, just like him, that was it. Sonic took Tails under his wing and from there their bond grew, and the two went on to get into plenty of mischief and go on countless adventures. Tails was able to get Sonic to open up and start speaking, and show his hyperactive fun loving nature as well.

       And Tails also taught Sonic about the concept of money (Rings) and that stealing from villages and small vendors was bad LOL

      🔎 - Random detail about them (shadow)

Shadow may still be in denial of it most of the time, but he actually cares WAY too much. About his planet, about his promise, and about his friends. There was a time he would have scoffed at the idea of having “loved ones,” but despite his best efforts... he has them now.

And it terrifies him. He hates that he somehow let himself get attached to anyone, but what he really doesn’t understand is that he’s been attached to his two closest friends, Rouge and Sonic, from almost the beginning. In a rather odd sort of way, sure, but it was there.

He lashed out at those feelings at first. Tried to chase and fight them away. Even now he still wrestles with it sometimes, but after all these years he’s finally learning to accept it. He has a lot more worldly experience now, has been able to live his own life, take time to heal, and learn a variety of lessons... including those relating to the heart.

It still scares him though, and that fear now manifests in him being extremely protective. Especially toward Sonic after the Phantom Ruby war. Bearing first hand witness to what Sonic went through reminded Shadow in a pretty terrible way of the fact that Sonic is mortal. All of his friends are.

But apart from the fear, Shadow is also coming to realize that his friends are responsible for piecing his heart back together. They’re the reason he’s as “well adjusted” as he is, the reason he’s been able to heal at all, and they’ve even helped him improve his skills. He’s learned to trust them, and as a result he’s just that little bit more willing to get to know someone new.

[realperson022]

I know somewhere @/viacursecasting tagged me when she referenced this song for what we like to call a kpop-sonadow analysis :) but I’m bringing it back to go over it with little drabbles of sorts to go along with the lyrics that speak to me the greatest.

Definitely recommend to give the song a listen in general! 

Drabbles under the cut:

In this world of zero I know you're my one and only In this endless darkness like Oh my god, so holy

Drabble #1:

There was always this unspoken understanding of what Sonic was for Shadow. 

Full of surprises and overly enthusiastic for races, the hero was a worthy match for the Ultimate Lifeform, meeting the striped hedgehog’s strength, speed, and agility in equal countermoves. 

His cockiness and confidence came hand-in-hand to the GUN agent’s displeasure, but those qualities brought forth an even playing field with the enemy. Sonic’s nonstop talking was a great distraction, especially for a wildly tyrannical man that could compete with the blue hedgehog for who loved hearing themselves talk the most. But such annoyance was an overlooked source of entertainment for many of Sonic’s friends at this point, not for Shadow, though.

Almost counterintuitively, the hero withheld aspects regarding patience and empathy when needed in times of hardships and darkness. For that, Shadow always offered his silent gratitude toward his rival on his teammates’ behalf. And when the fight was long won with every ounce of determination and effort, Sonic was running off to another adventure, and only then did Shadow give his own quiet thank you to his counterpart who was long gone. 

Down to its bare meaning, Sonic was something for Shadow, but it was in moments where the fights became wars that everything was crystal clear for the hybrid. 

If the world needed a hero, it was Sonic that came running to protect it. 

If the world didn’t need a hero but someone to blame, it was still Sonic that came running to protect the planet despite the world being against him.

But it would never be the entire planet against one hedgehog.

It was always Sonic and his friends, and if god forbid it, his friends gave up on the blue hedgehog, too...then, Sonic still would not remain alone. 

Because down to the last defense, to the last hope, Shadow would stand by Sonic and fight against any evil thrown their way.

The two of them versus the end of the world because Shadow always knew from the very first moment that he was meant to be Sonic’s one and only even when everyone stood against them. 

It would always be Sonic and Shadow till the end.

--

From this bottomless pit You're the only (one) shining gold Now I can't stop thinking 'bout you When I'm sinking alone Angel who one day appeared to me Take me away to your hometown

Drabble #2:

“Shadow.”

The black hedgehog awoke with a silent gasp, standing up and immediately knowing he was nowhere familiar. His surroundings were practically...nothing; just endless black in every direction. Even the ground under his feet looked nonexistent as he glanced down.

“Shadow.”

And yet somehow, there was a light that penetrated all the darkness around Shadow, casting a glow over the alarmed hybrid.

Scarlet rubies looked up at the source of light, widening at seeing a familiar face.

“Sonic...?” 

The usually blue fur was bathed in a blinding gold shine, and what Shadow remembered as emerald eyes were now a mix of reds that reminded him of cherries, burning fires, and blood. 

“Shadow,” the striped hedgehog’s rival called out to him again, descending onto the invisible surface the hybrid stood over. It was when the gilded hedgehog now was in front of him that Shadow finally put the pieces together, taking note of the upturn quills and thrumming chaos energy now sensed in the air.

Super Sonic.

“How are you feeling?”

Blinking away his shock, Shadow cleared his throat. “I’m fine, but where am I?” The striped hedgehog took another view of his surroundings, finding nothing in the distance regardless of his sharp eyesight. “Where are we?”

The hybrid returned his attention to the other hedgehog, wary by Super Sonic’s conflicted gaze. 

“You don’t remember?”

Shadow frowned, “Remember what?”

The ethereal-looking hedgehog sighed, seeming to run through his next thoughts on how to approach this; after a minute, Super Sonic extended a hand to Shadow, gloved palm facing up. “May I?”

Regardless of this being his rival, Shadow gave the outstretched hand a cautious glance, extending his own out when he didn’t sense any grave danger. Upon contact, the infinite environment around the two hedgehogs morphed into something else, something visible.

When the lines and shades of blue and green below became clear, Shadow instantly recognized where they were now, his eyes looking up to see blinking stars and a pale round moon staring back at him.

“The Space Colony,” he whispered, whipping his head around to see where the station was. To his relief, the colony was still in its orbit, no alluding signs of it possibly crashing into the planet below anytime soon. “Why are we in space?”

Super Sonic met Shadow’s gaze, striking red meeting its match in the other hedgehog’s eyes. “I’m not, Shadow...you are.”

Confusion kept washing over the striped hedgehog, trying to decipher his rival’s words. “What do you mean I...” Shadow gazed down to see where his hand was still in Super Sonic’s own. Then, another - the last - piece of the puzzle came into the hybrid’s grasp. 

His inhibitor rings were missing.

“This is after the chaos control,” Shadow realized, looking up to the other hedgehog to see if he was correct. 

Super Sonic nodded, brows furrowed. “Yes.”

“Hm.” Shadow hummed, averting his eyes from the unbelievably shining hedgehog to look over at the planet he came from. “If I’m still in space, are you referring to me simply floating around here?”

Super Sonic’s hold on Shadow’s hand tightened; the striped hedgehog didn’t need to hear the hero’s words to know what the gesture already gave away. 

“I’m sorry, Shadow.”

At this, the hybrid glanced at Super Sonic over his shoulder, huffing with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t apologize. These are consequences of my actions, not yours.”

“You don’t understand,” Super Sonic argued, meeting Shadow’s gaze with all the guilt the black hedgehog had never seen come from the hero before. “I was supposed to hold on to you.”

“You are,” Shadow motioned with a vague swing of their conjoined hands. “So, don’t begin to blame yourself for something you don’t need to.”

“But I let you go...I let you fall, Shadow.”

The heartfelt words echoed around Shadow as their surroundings morphed again into a new scene - the one Super Sonic was mentioning. In a painful silence, Shadow watched as Super Sonic and Super Shadow saved the world again before him, the figures in the distance resembling the outline of ghosts. And as if to remind him of what was currently happening, Shadow watched as all the energy in his doppelganger seeped out of him and fought to hold onto the other Super Sonic, who with sheer determination in his eyes attempted to save the slipping hedgehog with his hand.

When the scene finished, Shadow took a moment to collect his thoughts and turned to the Super Sonic holding onto his hand in the present. 

“You think I’m falling to my death...”

One nod later and Shadow was snickering to the super transformed hedgehog’s surprise. 

“Please, Sonic...the last thing I need is for your ego to grow any bigger.”

“What are you on about? I’m being serious here! You’re dying, Shadow!” Super Sonic growled, tugging at the hybrid’s hand to bring him closer face-to-face. “You’re dying.”

Crimson eyes looked into two brilliant red and remorseful eyes, thousands of words exchanged in just one long stare. And if Shadow had the time, he would stay here and explain them to Sonic...if this really were his last moment with the hero.

But it was not - Shadow knew deep down.

“I’m not dying, Sonic,” Shadow let go of his rival’s hand and cradled Super Sonic’s face, gently and reverently because this was the closest Shadow had been to a god. One that he believed in forever from now on. 

“And I’m not falling...” Shadow assured his rival. “You’re returning me to my rightful home.”

“I am?” Super Sonic whispered, the touch of Shadow’s hands on his face emitting more warmth than the excessive chaos energy swirling in his body.

“Earth is my home, the home of Maria...you’re letting me say goodbye to her one last time, Sonic.”

Swallowing the despair lodged in his throat, Super Sonic let out a trembling sigh, placing his hands over Shadow’s cheeks, the two hedgehogs mirroring each other. 

“You’re not dying,” the hero accepted this, pressing his forehead to Shadow’s and smiling. “I’m saving you.”

“And for that, I thank you, Sonic,” Shadow’s breath fanned over Super Sonic’s muzzle, their words kissing between the distance of their lips. 

“I’ll see you, again, Shadow.”

The Ultimate Lifeform smiled at hearing the steadiness in Sonic’s voice, giving one last nudge to the hero’s forehead. 

“Sooner than you think, hedgehog,” and finally, Shadow let go of Super Sonic, losing consciousness once again.