I call this one 'Everything is pretty much the same except Knuckles is a gender queer butch and refuses to acknowledge it due to Problems™'
Some character info/headcanons under the cut if you're interested
Spends a concerning amount of time laying awake wondering if it's inherently selfish to neglect his duty by putting time and effort toward figuring out his own identity. She's so, so tired
Found one (1) well made comfortable hoodie and refuses to take it off because being covered up helps a small bit (I.E: gives pause to people attempting to determine gender characteristics). It smells and is full of holes but you can pry it from their cold dead hands
Said Personal Problems result in a fair amount of internal anger. He tries to get most of it out in battles and whatnot, but it's difficult when he refuses to address the actual issue and as such he still has quite a short fuse, despite loving his friends so, so much
Is so mixed up about how he feels toward girls - can't discern whether he respects their unapologetic femininity with a slight jealousy, or if it's attraction, or what
Same with guys, really. Sonic and Rouge are in a constant duel in his brain with their constant flirting, and it is Not Helping At All
Knows damn well she could talk to literally any of her friends about these things, but he's a self-sabotaging shit in every universe so it's not gonna happen let's be real
So he sits, and he stews and he suffers because he is, at his core, built to believe he's unworthy of yknow. Quality of life of any kind. So he knows something is definitely wrong but is not going to deal with it thank you very much. Dealing with things is something people do, and he is merely a Guardian for what's left of his culture
And oh god, what would his ancestors think, knowing he didn't accept the form he was given? The one that they designed for him to survive the death of their people? If he chose to pursue pleasure for the body that was gifted to him for work and nothing more?
No Thank You, simply easier to suffer as was intended. This is fine and surely will not have consequences down the line.
Doesn't seem to be aware of how much attention her friends are paying to the struggle. Hard talks in her future, I'm sure. Everyone loves him so much and wants him to be happy
No I'm not still mad at him for taking over the year of Knuckles. And for replacing Knuckles as Sonic's go-to rival. And for taking the key points of Knuckles' personality and leaving him as the 'dumb one'. And for over-shadowing every other character. And for appearing in QnAs for games he's not even in for engagement bait. And fo-
So @chaos-and-echidnas brought up the topic of game Knuckles being called 'brother' for the first time and of course that kicked me off in a long breakdown of how it happened.
I think for a while, even after they helped him rescue the ME from Eggman, Knuckles would still consider himself separated from Sonic and Tails. They're allies, or they were for that one time, and then he returned to his isolated life on the island.
But then they just . . . keep showing up. For no apparent reason. He keeps telling them he doesn't want them here, they don't have to come, there's no danger, but they still show up. Maybe to help remove the stuff Eggman built. And Knux is appreciative, but he just doesn't understand why they keep trying to talk to him.
Oh, it's nice, he supposes, to have someone to actually talk to. But he doesn't get it.
The days pass, and there's less and less Eggman tech to remove. Okay, he thinks, they'll likely stop coming once it's all gone. But that thought makes him feel strangely sad.
But then Tails asks if they can come back again, so he can study the ME a bit more, and Knuckles bristles. So that was their plan. They just want to get closer to the ME and steal it away from him. He gets angry and snaps at Tails, causing the kid to retreat. Sonic stands between them, bristling himself, and tries to calm Knux down, but he's been bitten before, he won't be fooled again.
So Sonic and Tails leave and maybe don't come back for a while. And Knux feels like "I knew it, they only wanted to trick me like Eggman, they never really liked me" and grumps around for a while.
One day Sonic comes back up, alone, and talks to Knux. Explains that Tails didn't mean any harm, they don't want his old Emerald, he's just a curious kid and likes to know how things work. And hey, maybe they can help keep an eye on the Emerald, Tails is smart, he could set up something so they can come right away if there's any trouble up here.
Knuckles is hesitant—another trick? Eggman pretended to be his friend, too. But Sonic assures him that he and Tails aren't going to be moving to the island or anything, and they'd only come if Knux calls them or if it looks like there's trouble.
That . . . that sounds okay, doesn't it? Knux agrees, reluctantly.
Because if he were honest with himself, he kinda missed them.
So, Sonic and Tails return, and Tails does his little studies on the ME—taking energy readings and such. Knux watches like a hawk, but Sonic eventually pulls him away for sparring and whatnot, to help loosen him up.
Time passes, and Knuckles becomes more comfortable with their presence. But he still feels separate. It's Sonic and Tails together, and him on the outside. He's just someone they know. That's all.
But one day, he's remarkably relaxed with them as they're there—Sonic's exploring the island and Tails is studying the Emerald. Knuckles leans against a tree in the shade, eyes closed and listening to the sounds of the flickies around him.
Suddenly there's a heavy fwomp against his side, and he opens his eyes to see Tails leaning heavily against him, his laptop open in front of him.
"What are you doing? I thought you were examining the Master Emerald," he asked, brows furrowed.
Tails shrugged. "It's hot up there in the sun. I took my readings and now I'll sort through them here, where it's shady."
Knuckles gave a soft snort. "Plenty of other shade. Gotta be right next to me?"
Another shrug from the kit. "Big brothers always pick the best places to rest."
And for a moment, Knuckles almost missed what he'd said. Almost convinced himself he'd misheard. Because in all the time he'd known Sonic and Tails, he'd never considered himself one of them. Sure, he'd helped them fight Eggman's bots and such, and they helped him remove all of that doctor's tech and filthy machinery from his island, and they'd brought foods from the surface and he'd shown them around the island, but that was just . . . well, that was different. That didn't mean they were . . .
A jab in his side drew him out of his thoughts, as Tails elbowed him and scooted closer.
"Move over a bit," he said, adjusting his laptop. "The sun's peeking through some of the canopy and landing right on my screen."
Numbly, Knuckles did as ordered. He shuffled a bit, allowing Tails to pull further into their shady cover. Then the kit found a comfortable position, leaning against Knuckles' side and becoming engrossed in whatever was on his screen.
Brother. Tails considered him a brother. He'd seen what that word meant to him and Sonic—a bond, one that made them dedicated and devoted to each other in a way that Knuckles hadn't understood fully.
He was still ruminating over this development, when Sonic arrived back, a cloud of dust trailing behind him. He came to a stop before the two, hands on his hips and an eyebrow arched.
"Well, look who's found the best spot on the island to lounge?"
Without giving Knuckles a chance to respond, the hedgehog moved forward and plopped himself down on the echidna's other side. Sonic folded his hands on his belly, brought one leg up to rest on the other's bent knee, and let out a long exhale as he closed his eyes.
"Nice spot, Knux," he said, rubbing a finger beneath his nose. “Nice perk for guardian duty.”
Knuckles was stunned silent. He opened his mouth to respond, closed it. Opened it again.
I call this one 'Everything is pretty much the same except Knuckles is a gender queer butch and refuses to acknowledge it due to Problems™'
Some character info/headcanons under the cut if you're interested
Spends a concerning amount of time laying awake wondering if it's inherently selfish to neglect his duty by putting time and effort toward figuring out his own identity. She's so, so tired
Found one (1) well made comfortable hoodie and refuses to take it off because being covered up helps a small bit (I.E: gives pause to people attempting to determine gender characteristics). It smells and is full of holes but you can pry it from their cold dead hands
Said Personal Problems result in a fair amount of internal anger. He tries to get most of it out in battles and whatnot, but it's difficult when he refuses to address the actual issue and as such he still has quite a short fuse, despite loving his friends so, so much
Is so mixed up about how he feels toward girls - can't discern whether he respects their unapologetic femininity with a slight jealousy, or if it's attraction, or what
Same with guys, really. Sonic and Rouge are in a constant duel in his brain with their constant flirting, and it is Not Helping At All
Knows damn well she could talk to literally any of her friends about these things, but he's a self-sabotaging shit in every universe so it's not gonna happen let's be real
So he sits, and he stews and he suffers because he is, at his core, built to believe he's unworthy of yknow. Quality of life of any kind. So he knows something is definitely wrong but is not going to deal with it thank you very much. Dealing with things is something people do, and he is merely a Guardian for what's left of his culture
And oh god, what would his ancestors think, knowing he didn't accept the form he was given? The one that they designed for him to survive the death of their people? If he chose to pursue pleasure for the body that was gifted to him for work and nothing more?
No Thank You, simply easier to suffer as was intended. This is fine and surely will not have consequences down the line.
Doesn't seem to be aware of how much attention her friends are paying to the struggle. Hard talks in her future, I'm sure. Everyone loves him so much and wants him to be happy
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