i wrote a fic for the @sthbigbang !! it was my first multi-chapter AND my first time writing something other than h/c so i got to push myself waaayyyy out of my comfort zone which was super super fun and rewarding. honestly i actually feel as though i learnt a lot about writing while doing this, i've never done an event like this before so everything was very new. thank you to fenn, ellie, summer, joy, frosti, and chaz for hosting and modding the event! yall did a wonderful job <33
i got paired with three artists: @0vergrowngraveyard, @aqspec, and @soupsnspoons! they all did SUCCH a wonderful job and their pieces are so incredibly fantastic. i will link their art as it is posted but pls do check out their other works as well!!! thank you as well to @axtrip27 for being my beta reader. the patience it must have took to not go crazy when i threw scene after scene at you 24/7...... your edits and suggestions were absolutely vital to this fics completion.
aqspec’s art
overgrown’s art
soup’s art
summary below:
A character and relationship study explored in 5 snapshots.
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Tails is, in many ways, a surprising child. As a small child living out in the woods, it’s easy to underestimate exactly what he is capable of- a mistake even the most well meaning of people make upon first meeting him. Whether they underestimate his intelligence, his insightfulness, or even how far he will go to protect the people he loves, there is always something new to learn about the kit. As he grows, each person he meets will make a discovery about him that changes how they view him, for better or worse.
here's my piece for the @sthbigbang based on @escapismblue's fic sowing seeds!
check out the other artists: @skelenova (piece) @fettiowi (piece)
ive been somewhat stressed about this event and scared i wouldnt be able to finish, but in the end im really happy with how everything turned out and the fic and art our group made has been wonderful! im gonna try to do more events like these after ive done my a-levels because its been great (but art gcse did contribute to most of the stress). thank you and have a good sonadevening.
Sonic handed her eldest son the knife she had. “Just cut them up into, hm, about one inch slices?”
“Yes ma’am!” Emerl said excitedly. The robot was focused heavily on the task he had been given which Sonic found simply adorable.
Hey-o, long time no see!! This is my piece for the @sthbigbang of 2024!!
Pleas check out the darling fic this was inspired by from @escapismblue HERE, and be sure to give some love to my fellow fic artists, @jupitercl0uds and @fettiowi!!
Thank you to all the amazing artists, writers, beta readers and mods for this project; it was a delight to work on and be apart of. 💙
Also: happy birthday Sonic!! 33 years and still running! 🥳
Summary:
Sonic lives on a farm with her two kids Emerl and Tails. Struggling to keep up with upkeep on a farm with her disability, she puts out an ad for someone to move onto the property free of charge as long as they help. Maria, terminally ill and wanting to live out her remaining days in peace convinces her sister, Shadow, to move to the farm with her.
Over the year, the occupants get closer and closer, learning more about each other and themselves.
Tags:
Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog, Emerl & Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog, Maria Robotnik & Sonic the Hedgehog, Maria Robotnik & Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog Needs a Hug, Trans Sonic the Hedgehog, Trans Female Sonic the Hedgehog, She/Her Pronouns for Sonic, Parent Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog is Miles "Tails" Prower's Parent, Sonic the Hedgehog is Emerl's Parent, Shadow the Hedgehog Needs a Hug, Protective Shadow the Hedgehog, Trans Shadow the Hedgehog, She/Her Pronouns for Shadow the Hedgehog, Caretaker Shadow the Hedgehog, Kid Miles "Tails" Prower, Maria Robotnik and Shadow the Hedgehog are Siblings, Chronically Ill Maria Robotnik, Alternate Universe - Stardew Valley Fusion, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, it was inspired by Stardew but really they just live on a farm, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, More comfort than hurt, Getting Together, Disabled Sonic the Hedgehog, forgot to tag that fuck, death is a main theme but no death happens in fic
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Christmas is, at best, a slightly complicated holiday for Shadow. (At worst, just one day out of 365)
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merry christmas!! ive wanted to write a christmas fic since late november but only actually got round to finishing it last night lmfao. i wanted to explore a handful of christmasses in shadows life- his first with maria, his first without, his first after his 50 year ice bath, and then his first as a free man.
ty for @escapismblue for beta-ing this in the middle of the night on christmas eve!!!
grah I have such mixed feelings about the Twitter Takeovers. on one hand they can have genuinely good tidbits about characters or genuinely funny stuff but.
some of it is really they would not fucking say that.
hi hi! so I'm currently making a PowerPoint going over all the data I go (thank you so much to the people who took it) and while it's taking a bit, a lot of progress has been made. (it's the holidays but also I'm working on Runaways which is another big project at the same time. I promise it'll be worth the wait.)
I plan to link another survey with revised questions and new questions I wish I had added the first time. I would love to hear suggestions for questions!!
hi hi! so I'm currently making a PowerPoint going over all the data I go (thank you so much to the people who took it) and while it's taking a bit, a lot of progress has been made. (it's the holidays but also I'm working on Runaways which is another big project at the same time. I promise it'll be worth the wait.)
I plan to link another survey with revised questions and new questions I wish I had added the first time. I would love to hear suggestions for questions!!
Whether or not she wins the @sonic-oc-showdown, Mira will always be a champion to all those "cringey" ocs and fankids and fusions to me. Her popularity has been a joy to see (even with all the controversy lol)
So why not give her a vote? Vote for her to say yeah, maybe I am cringe. But hey, whatever! I'm having fun!!
Chimera Baby is a chimera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)) and the oldest child of Sonic and Shadow. Mira was raised in the Chao Garden where she ate fruit and engaged in frequent karate matches and races and was very happy. As a young child she was very sweet and loving to her fathers but as she got older she has begun to experience latent Black Arms patricidal urges (exclusively towards Shadow).
Mira is the slowest in her family (but faster than you!), but has a very strong connection to chaos energy making her quite the powerhouse. However, she still has a long ways to go before she can actually hope to defeat Shadow. In her teen years Mira has become somewhat of a delinquent, speaking very little and preferring to get her messages across through action alone. She is the older sister of Mochi, who often acts as a mediator whenever she randomly tries to attack Shadow in the Costco.
Squabble the Pigeon:
incredibly cheerful untrained pilot and mechanic for a trio of freelance postal workers/hitman. LOVES airplanes and explosives and tinkering and package delivery, is a chronic pipe bomb maker, and has a boundless joie de vivre. she operates on cartoon physics, and has a messenger bag that functions as a hammerspace where she keeps her exposives, revolver, second identical revolver that pops a flag, bazooka, and everything else including the kitchen sink. incredibly cheerful and completely lacking in common sense or a coherent moral compass. about twelve, and on the short side.
chimera baby fact of the day: why you should vote for Mira aka Chimera Baby. An essay by me.
@sonic-oc-showdown
TLDR at end.
When it comes to original characters on the internet, there is perhaps no example more infamous that those of the sonic the hedgehog franchise. Since the franchise’s very inception, original characters have served as a cornerstone to the series’ identity, and everyone who could call themselves a web-user during the 2000s/2010s knows exactly what I’m referring to when I say “Sonic OC.”
Sonic, in general, has had gained infamy on the internet for being one of its favorite punching bags, and nothing exemplifies this attitude more than the reaction to the hundreds of thousands of original characters for the franchise that exist across the web. Everyone knows them, and everyone knows the common tropes: traced Sonic-X screencaps, crude deviantart bases drawn over in MSPaint, mary-sues that our main characters are hopelessly in love with, characters that are just mish-mashes of existing characters, and of course, fanchildren.
To the average person, the existence of Sonic OCs is a spectacle, a hilarious and cringe-worthy spectacle to the point where it’s become a game to search up “(your name) + the hedgehog” and spend a couple minutes laughing at how bad the results are.
Now, I’ve been a casual sonic enjoyer since I first watched Sonic X back in the mid-2000s, but I didn’t really get into the series as a fan until around 2015. If you don’t know, the early to mid 2010s was a point where Sonic’s reputation was straddling the fine line between “complete joke” and “complete irrelevancy.” The disastrous Sonic Boom had just dropped following a lackluster reception of Sonic Lost World, and the social media and marketing angle of Sonic had shifted entirely into “they’re not laughing at us, they’re laughing with us!” territory. The official Sonic Twitter account became a meme in itself during this time, and I believe is one of the earliest examples of a corporate social media account taking a “How do you do fellow kids” approach of using popular internet memes and hip lingo to appeal to an internet-savvy generation.
(^this last tweet is still up, btw. i will be getting back to this)
With the social media going full “sanic, gotta go fast, haha kissing princess” and the games mostly abandoning its serious tones and stories for a greater focus on meta-humor, Sonic had official entered what has been come to be known as the “Meta Age.” The public may see Sonic as a complete joke, but it’s okay because we’re in the know that he’s a complete joke! Wink wink. (—Sega marketing circa 2015-2017)
I’m getting away from myself. “John Fleetways,” you’re asking right now, “what does this have to do with Chimera Baby or Sonic OCs??”
And to that I say this; I am currently soaking in the bathtub and thought I would use my day off from work to finally air some of my thoughts regarding the era of Sonic the Hedgehog I’m most familiar with. But also I think providing context is helpful in understanding why I think it’s so cool Chimera Baby made it this far in a poll like this. Moving on.
In 2015 I was in middle school, a horrible period in many of our lives. Middle schoolers are at that perfect age where they’re old enough to know cruelty but haven’t quite fully grasped empathy yet, so as the “Sonic Kid” during this time I’m sure you can guess how popular I was. Genuinely, I was very ashamed of my love for Sonic. This very blog I’m writing on now started in 2015 as a quarantine for me to keep any inclination of my fondness towards the series hidden away under lock and key. I reblogged fanart with no commentary, lest others think I was some kind of weirdo who had OPINIONS on SONIC THE HEGDEHOG. It took months for me to work up the courage to post my own art, and any shipping art was absolutely out of the question (because now THAT was cringe!!).
With time, I became more involved in the Sonic Tumblr community around 2016-2017 leading up to the release of Sonic Forces (which could be a whole essay in itself). There was one thing above all else I noticed at this time—something unique to the Sonic Tumblr scene as opposed to other Sonic communities on the internet. That is, of course, how much less homophobic it was.
Homophobia (and transphobia) has been a notorious problem in the Sonic fanbase, particularly in the mid 2010s. It’s an issue I’ve talked a little about on this blog before, but it’s really hard to describe just how prevalent it was on every site outside of tumblr unless you were there at the time. Folks, it was bad, especially in comparison to other fandoms. Much like the simple act of making a Sonic OC, “making Sonic characters gay” was “cringe” in itself. Hugely popular Sonic fanartists and bloggers (some of which are still active on Tumblr to this day) would openly express their opposition to “homosexuality” and the depiction of it, and this was a fact no one seemed like they wanted to address (or if you did, you’d be accused of “starting drama.” Sonic Tumblr was better by a long shot than any other site for queer fans, but it definitely wasn’t perfect).
The worst part was that the official Sonic social media team seemed to have no problems reinforcing these attitudes. For those unaware, “identifying as an attack helicopter,” as seen in the tweet above, is a transphobic joke that was used by right-wingers and edgy 4chan users to invalidate transgender and non-binary identities.
The Twitter takeover following the release of Sonic Forces included questions regarding two Sonic ships. When proposed with the concept of Sonic and Amy in a romantic relationship, the voice actors act coy, embarrassed, but in a good-natured manner. It’s a clear hint-hint wink-wink nudge moment trying to appeal to the fans of a popular pairing. As for the equally popular gay pairing, though, it doesn’t quite get the same treatment. No, when presented with a question about Sonadow (one they did not have to answer, they chose to answer this question out of hundreds of others) the actors can only respond with disgust and horror.
There was some backlash on tumblr following this exchange, but for most people it just made sense that Sonic Official would treat it like a joke. After all, this was Sonadow! A lot of people hated Sonadow because it was gay! Sonadow was a joke because it was gay! It was hilarious to a lot of people that Sonic Official seemed to know just how weird it was, and in turn those people felt validated by the company for their hate! And just to cover my ass here, I am not saying that people who don’t like Sonadow are homophobic. didn’t even like Sonadow that much at the time this stuff was happening, but no one is gonna tell me it wasn’t homophobic as fuck for them to pull that shit. And as a young queer fan who was deeply hurt by a lot of the homophobia surrounding a series I loved, it left an impact on me that I feel to this day.
Luckily, today things are much brighter as far as lgbt-friendliness goes than they were a few years ago, from both the fandom side and the company side of things. The days of Sonadow being treated as only a joke are pretty much gone, and regardless of your opinion on the pairing, it’s awesome to see that the official sonic sources seem to be taking steps to treat their queer audience and queer pairings with respect. In addition to this change, mostly gone is the era of self-referential, punching-down humor of the mid 2010s, and instead what I’ve seen is a new resurgence in genuine love for the franchise and it all it has to offer, including original characters!
And now, we have the Sonic Oc Showdown—a tournament whose purpose is to celebrate the original characters that for nearly 30 years have been considered the butt of the joke of the internet, aka “peak cringe.” Upon examining my history with the fandom, starting off as a kid horrified by the prospect of enjoying Sonic even in private, I’ve recently begun to strive to wear “cringe” as a badge of honor. Yes, I am cringe, but in the words of some tumblr user at some point: “I may be cringe, but I am free.”
This year has been particularly freeing for me. Like a lot of people, I made fanchildren back in the day. There’s something undeniably fun about taking two blorbos and shoving them together and drawing the resulting hybrid. There’s a reason fusions, like fanchildren, are such a popular trope in the Sonic fanbase. One result of there being so many fanchildren, however, is how tropes begin to emerge within the tropes. For example: A lot of Sonadow fankids look the same. It’s just the truth. Black hedgehogs with blue stripes or blue hedgehogs with red stripes, an amalgamation of recognizable traits from both parents that immediately tells you exactly all you need to know about the character (but still manages to be more creative than the offspring present in official sonic media [looking at you Archie]). I am no exception to this rule.
Circa 2018, I had made my own Sonadow fanchild. She was a blue hedgehog with red stripes named Maria—it really doesn’t get more cliche than that. Over the years I had completely forgotten about her, only to remember her once I stumbled across some crude sketches of her on some scrap paper I found while cleaning my room. There was an earnestness when I looked at them, a nostalgia I think we can all relate to when we look at our old art, and I took some time to whip up some redesigns and leave it at that. “Maria” faded to the back of my mind once more. I moved on.
“Maria” c. June 2022. Like Shadow had Terios and Silver had Venice, this was Mira’s beta design in a way^. Yikes. Look at those McDonald’s shoes.
And then, everything would change at the end of 2022 when I first found that image of the bootleg sonic and shadow plush. It was incredible: a design that perfectly encapsulated every cliche I could think of when it came to designing Sonic x Shadow fanchildren. The concept of a chimera character followed shortly after, and mainly on a whim I took some old sketches of “Maria” and turned her into the chimera baby we know today. I decided to post her on my blog, and to my shock, the post blew up. And soon, I found a familiar feeling creeping over me as more and more people gazed upon her.
“Uh oh, am I gonna be known as the sonadow chimera kid guy now?”
Suddenly I felt 14 again, hiding all my sonic stuff in a side blog where no one could see it. It was a little embarrassing, but the thing is, a lot of people liked her! Just half a decade ago, I could see this concept being submitted to one of those “cringe” blogs dedicated mostly to making fun of mostly young and beginning artists trying their hand out at an oc for the first time. But instead what I got was a lot of love! People saw this oc i made based off a joke, a bootleg plushie of Sonic and Shadow sewn together designed to be a parody of all the common fankid tropes and said “this rules.” And you know what? It did rule.
I would now like to address the elephant in the room. I know there are some who are not happy Chimera Baby made it this far into the competition, and that’s fine. As a fankid, and a “joke” one at that, some may not see her as being worthy as some of the ocs she beat. It’s tough to see, but that’s the thing about tumblr polls—you never know how or why people are gonna cast their vote. Over the course of these weeks, I’ve had to root against some fantastic characters, and now, Mira is here, but she’s not the same character as she was at the start. Yes, she is still a parody sonadow fankid based off a bootleg plush, but before she was just a concept more than a character. Now, I can say she’s a character with a backstory and hobbies and skills and weaknesses and a personality and relationships! This is the first time I feel like I’ve ever had a fully fleshed-out oc, and it’s been a blast to share her with the world. She’s become real—you, dear voters, have made her real.
In a tournament like this, a tournament celebrating Sonic ocs rather than making fun of them, I think it’s incredibly cool that a character who epitomizes a lot of the aspects considered by many to be “peak cringe,” (fankids, fusions, and lgbt shipping) managed to make it this far. I want chimera baby to be a bastion for all those who like me, were once too embarrassed to share their oc designs, fankids or otherwise for fear they would be seen as cringe. I’m here to tell you that no, you are NOT cringe. It rules, and I want everyone who ever made a silly little fankid especially to know this.
So while Chimera Baby making it this far is already a big win for folks like us, I think her winning this would genuinely be a great Fuck You to the years of fun and whimsy cringe-culture tried to take away from us. Also I think it would be really funny.
ANYWAYS THATS ALL VOTE FOR CHIMERA BABY SONADOW NATION AND ALLYS AND PPL WHO WANNA CAUSE A LITTLE CHAOS RISE RISE RISE!!!
Tldr: sonic OCs have been the poster child for “cringe” for like 30 years so it’s cool that a fankid based off a lot of these “cringe” concepts has made it this far in a tournament celebrating the positive side of sonic ocs, and I think it would be a great fuck you to cringe culture if she won and also really funny
Chimera Baby is a chimera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)) and the oldest child of Sonic and Shadow. Mira was raised in the Chao Garden where she ate fruit and engaged in frequent karate matches and races and was very happy. As a young child she was very sweet and loving to her fathers but as she got older she has begun to experience latent Black Arms patricidal urges (exclusively towards Shadow).
Mira is the slowest in her family (but faster than you!), but has a very strong connection to chaos energy making her quite the powerhouse. However, she still has a long ways to go before she can actually hope to defeat Shadow. In her teen years Mira has become somewhat of a delinquent, speaking very little and preferring to get her messages across through action alone. She is the older sister of Mochi, who often acts as a mediator whenever she randomly tries to attack Shadow in the Costco.
Squabble the Pigeon:
incredibly cheerful untrained pilot and mechanic for a trio of freelance postal workers/hitman. LOVES airplanes and explosives and tinkering and package delivery, is a chronic pipe bomb maker, and has a boundless joie de vivre. she operates on cartoon physics, and has a messenger bag that functions as a hammerspace where she keeps her exposives, revolver, second identical revolver that pops a flag, bazooka, and everything else including the kitchen sink. incredibly cheerful and completely lacking in common sense or a coherent moral compass. about twelve, and on the short side.
in this contex: https://www.tumblr.com/escapismblue/733197739172773888
[sorry for adding so many]
you're fine!
💙: gonna be honest, don't read IDW. however, from what I have seen of Whisper she is very cool.
🏝️: grah this is a bit hard. I played a lot of the games I've played as a kid so it's hard to remember specific levels. (currently replaying SA2 and Unleashed but god I am Busy with projects.) so I will probably have a different answer once I've replayed more games, but for right now I have played 4-1 in Frontiers more times than I can count.
🎧: aaaa this is also hard. so many slap. I don't know if it's my favorite favorite but I've listened to the Forces' soundtrack more times than I can count. Unleashed is also really good. (this is a cruel question. /j)
🍡: okay one that's easier. I'm one of those "weird" Sonic fans that likes the boost style games but I think mixing it with Adventure elements would be peak. basically: as they are now - boost. I find they control more consistently. at their ideal - Adventure. lot's of potential.
📉: can I say Emerl? I would consider him underrated and definitely overshadowed by Gemerl. even though imo Emerl is much more interesting than Gemerl.
✨: oh my. I don't even think I've given myself the chance to daydream about my ideal Sonic game. god, that's hard. I'm literally just at my desk pondering. I'd really like to see a game where Sonic and Shadow are working together again. specifically where they're working together well. but I'd really only like to see that if Shadow is written more like his Battle counterpart. not SA2, he's developed past that. my ideal Sonic writing would also him being written like his SATBK/Unleashed self. I guess just a more story focused game. maybe expanding more on Sonic/Shadow's connection because that was kinda dropped after 06. maybe like a tag team style game. like you can switch between Sonic and Shadow to get through levels? I guess like a puzzle game? or maybe we could get another RPG. honestly would probably like that better but RPGs generally have bigger casts. this is a bunch of nonsense. I really have not thought much about this before. I'll probably think of something later and wish I could change my answer lol.
❣️: story wise? Battle. 100% there is no contest. it's so good and it has no right to be. game play wise? I honestly have put too many hours in Frontiers to not crown that one the favorite. (though Unleashed might take the crown we will see.) Frontiers is strictly game play wise though. (and is about the base game not the DLC)
