#nine's shadow

[scrunglepaws]

Mangey against ads + other magma doodles

[scrunglepaws]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

After Sonic left, Nine was left alone in the Grim as promised. Alone to wallow in his guilt and loneliness. But after weeks of isolation, he starts hearing things- jumping at shadows. Is he really alone?

Created for @nines-week // Day 3: Nothing Alike (Ch1) + Day 4: Energy (Ch2) + Day 6: For a Friend (Ch3)

[scrunglepaws]

Stales mood board: "loading", normal, scared, and sleeping

I drew the colored ones for @kelpr who asked about him after reading Nine's Shadow. (friendly reminder that you can get me to draw almost anything from my aus if you ask/comment/ect)

Stales is a lot of fun to color because he's so messy/scrunkly that you can flop down colors/lines wildly and it always looks right. I have my own coloring process just for him: super light sketch, color right on top of the sketch, then add the lineart last. There's usually hardly any sketch lines peeking through to erase, either. I doodled him with Oshi because they kind of have similar vibes. :]

[scrunglepaws]

Tried to fit all my fic ideas on one page, but I still forgot some because they're like... scrawled on random pieces of paper all over my house/in different notebooks/ect. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I tried!

The little branchy-offy things are prequels/sequels of that particular series. Bleeped out things I thought might be spoiler-y to ongoing series. Things with * are super WIP-y titles because I dunno what to call them.

More ramblings under the cut! (Nothing spoilery for the ongoing series; just vague things!)

No Heroes Zone // - I have a lot more generalized worldbuilding, character notes, ect than actual stories. The story ideas are mostly vague/short... Though, I suppose I could stand to write some super short fics. - The exception is an angsty sonighty fic that's basically done, but I just have to fill in all the inbetween, connecty bits. And decide how sonighty-y I really want to go with it. That ship came outta nowhere, I tell ya. - NHZ is really mostly Tails (and Metal) angst, tho. The other day I was thinking about how he tries to latch onto Shadow and even Metal in the absence of having Sonic and was like "Wow, Tails, clingy much? What are you, Nine???" then I felt really bad. T-T; He just misses his brother...!

Kaleidoscope // - The name of this fic is based on an art piece I've been wanting to do for forever: A kaleidoscope of Tails/Nine/Mangey, looking at each other and seeing them each from their own perspective. Because that's the theme of the whole story, funky scifi weirdness aside. But uh, 1) didn't have a decent digital art program for a bit and 2) I'm not good enough at drawing the subtle differences in their appearances to really make it hit how I wanted. Also 3) Tails looks basically the same to all three of them, lmao. - "Mangey Remembers" is Mangey's backstory and "Loneliness*" is... Less of a backstory for Nine, more of a brief showcase of his character in general. Because we already know Nine's whole deal from canon. Same reason Tails doesn't have a backstory- he's supposed to be canon Tails. - "Starless Sky" and "Ruination*" are both poteeeential sequels, but I'm not set on doing them. Ruination would just be a short, noncanon "what if?" bad ending for the heck of it.

Someplace AU (Aquarius) // - Also halfway calling it Aquarius for now because I ended up continuing the first part of the story under that fic name.

- It was originally more focused on Sails, hence Someplace being a play on No Place. But now it's about equally Kit and Sails. I ended up getting SO MANY effing ideas for these dudes, man. ;w;

- "Hollow Existence*" isn't a specific story, but just a sprinkling of scenes/backstory bits that detail why Kit is the way he is. Mostly his relationship with Surge growing up.

- "Sails' Tales" is likewise a collection of random Sails backstory bits. I have a lot more specific/fleshed out things for him, though. BUDDY, did I have fun with the No Place lore. Also, his relationships with Catfish and Black Rose are so cute... ;A;

- The bits to the right are basically going to be chapters in Aquarius. They're vague enough not to be spoilery (other than the blipped ones...)

- "=D?" is a sequel that I'm very excited about. Probably shouldn't say much beyond that.

Everything Else // - CaveTails is a Journey to the Center of the Earth-esque silly, silly thing. That could maybe become a bit more serious? BAsically, I was thinking "Huh, kind of weird that my main kittails fic is with Sails. That'd be funny if I did ones with Nine and Mangey, too. Just for the lulz. Especially the Mangey one." This is the Mangey one. xD Except he's sort of like... Tails AND Mangey at the same time, character-wise? So? :? Also, potentially some wholesome Sonic+Tails moments because I weirdly haven't written any of those yet.

- "Kids" is just a continuation of that goofy Tails Doll+Cream oneshot. Just small ideas for another chapter or two. Cute friendship, fluff, and lots of comfort to make up for the hurt in the first chapter. :3;;

- "Alien*" is what it says on the tin. I have a couple different ideas for how it could go. One of them boots out Silver entirely and had Metal in his place. xD But I might have enough material to write an alien Silver AND alien Metal fic. We'll see whenever I get around to it. :3

- "Nine's Shadow*" is something I've wanted to write ever since I made that joke oc, Stales the Fox aka Zombie Tails variant from the Grim. Probably just a oneshot (or a few short chapters) fic that mostly focuses on Nine being "all alone" after the ending of Sonic Prime.

- "Why is Babies?*" is the second idea I had for a fic. It's just Shadow being awkward and not knowing how to look after a chunk of the main cast that are suddenly tots for unknown reasons. It's very lighthearted, comedic, and cute. Originally a Shadow+Metal fic until I learned more about Eclipse and just HAD to include him. Dude is literally a struggling single parent in canon, how could I not include him in a story about his brother going through something similar? xD Also, I might call this fic "Rascals" as a reference to that one Star Trek episode with a similar premise. Because! Star Trek. 8D

- "The Fifth Element" ... I have put off posting anything about this fic idea for so long because I'm EMBARRASSED IT'S SO STUPID AND CORNY DON'T LOOK AT ME,,, In case you're totally lost, the 1997 film of the same name is my. Favorite movie. So naturally, this was my first idea for a fic. It's so all-over-the-place tonally, though. Obviously, got a LOT of silly, especially the parts that follow the movie almost exactly. But I also added a lot of original bits that help flesh out the characters' relationships. The protag is Shadow, who is very, very soft and introspective in it. Which, like, how did that happen??? But I love it. Metal is his co-lead and is mostly goofy because he's a fish out of water. Sonic is VERY, VERY goofy like goddamn (he's Ruby Rod- if you know, you know). Then there's just the silliest shit ever like Silver. Silver is Shadow's cat. It's stupid, but it's also fun, and maybe even matters to the plot. You don't know. Blaze is the president. Dr. Starline, Surge, Eggman, and The End are in it. Tails has the smallest part of any of my fics, but I think I cast him well. I need to stop now or I never will. Don't look at me. xDD

~

But yeah, as I said, I forgot a lot of other ideas. A few more (still forgetting some, I'm sure): - "Creature from the Black Lagoon" ft. kittails - Steam Powered Giraffe-vibes 50's thing w/ Tails, Cream, and automatons of Kit, Surge, Metal, Belle, Gemerl, ect - Tails Doll trying to be a Real Boy(tm) - Kittails-focused folklore AU with Kit as a kelpie and Tails as a normal mobian. Bunch of other people as fae creatures and villagers, including Starline as the main villain. - Maybe a whispangle oneshot from the above au (Tangle is a mobian, Whisper is. basically a magic wolf? xD) - Knuckles/Tails role-swap

[scrunglepaws]

Thing I made for my own reference to compare all my boys' color palettes. I also want to make some of these guys ~official~ references that are all shiny and pretty. But for now all I have is a bunch of critters (because I like drawing critters!). Some of the colors are still iffy (because I'm indecisive), not just the WIP ones. Those guys are more just, the entire design is still a WIP. I feel a ramble coming on, so I'm going to initiate a READ MORE-

Oh, but real quick- the names are funny because I have nicknames for some of them instead of just saying "Kaleidoscope Nine," "Folklore Tails," ect.

Okay, under the safety of the read more, I will blather. For reference, these are the aus everyone is from:

Kaleidoscope: Mango, Tails, Nue Folklore: Cloudpuff, Nine, Silas, Manny Someplace: Jingle (<333) Second Chance: Sunny CaveTails: Scrungy "Garrison": Punk The Last Fox: Moon Nine's Shadow: Stales No Heroes Zone: Urchin

RAMBLING ABOUT NAMES: I actually made alternate names for all the Boscage variants because I sort of can't stand most of them (except Thorn Rose; great name). I call Mangey Bramble because his fur is kind of spiky and he can match Thorn in being named after a prickly plant. I thought it was cute, especially in the context of their bond in my au. :3 But... Irl, I just. Am always referring to Mangey as "my sweet little mango," so that's the name that stuck for him. xD Nine even called him that once, I think (in Kaleidoscope). It's still very cute, so I ain't mad!

Nue is pronounced like you're starting to say "nueve" (nine in Spanish). So it's like: noo-ay. Which is weird and I don't even know how you'd spell it to get the pronunciation across. Not that it matters because it's just my nickname for him, but.

Tails is just Tails because he's the closest to canon variant and. Weirdly, the most boring of them all, imo. So he gets to be boring with the OG name. fsdjksd

By favorite boy Someplace-Sails got the name Jingle while I was listening to the Django theme, which reminds me of him A Lot. I was like "What would be a good OC name for Sails... Django... Jingle? Omg, that's cute! Because he loves music! :3" Later I remembered the freaking chill af wanderer musician hamster from Hamtaro is named Jingle and I exploded with glee. It's perfect. And I can contain it no longer- one of sP-Kit's special interests is Hamtaro. Do you see? Do you seeeeee? 8D

Folklore Tails is such a soft-hearted, sweet little guy- and he's literally just POOFY and ROUND. I call him all sorts of things- Softy, Softheart, Cloud, Puff, Poof, Fluffy, Scruffy. He's just my sweet little guy. <3

Sunny seems pretty dang self-explanatory, but I'm going to explain it anyway. 1) Look at him. 2) When I was designing him, I kept listening to Sunshine in the Rain over and over and over for some reason. (I call his version of Kit "Rain" because of his, jejejeje). 3) That's actually it, I just wanted to mention that song. 83

Scrungy is also self-explanatory: look at him. I literally just named Moon because he was sad looking and below Sunny. Stales was a mouth-typo (can't remember if I was trying to say Sails or Tails). So I made a zombie. He is expired. Urchin seemed cute, idk. Punk is a punk (alt name: MULLET). Silas, Manny, and Nine are just their names from the story they're in. Nine's alt name is Girl because that's my favorite video game personality for a character /stupid

RAMBLING ABOUT COLORS/DESIGNS: I am so happy I made Folklore Tails dark brown because now I can finally stop fussing about whether or not I want Kal-Nine to be really dark or really pale. I love brown Tails and wanted to have at least one, so yeah (it suits my PUFFBALL so well, too <333). Anyway, I'm happy to make Nine pale because he's literally a basement dweller and that's funny as hell to me. As a lifelong basement dwelller myself, I love that for him. fdjkgldfg Although, I'm still fussing with him a BIT because... I mean, that is reaaaaally daggum pale. I might make him a tad more yellow like in this pic. I thought that color palette was pretty solid, too. I also have two other Nine variants to play around with now! I tried out the Tailszilla-inspired palette on Punk and I think he looks pretty cool? I dig the dark metal tails.

I had different ideas for Sunny's colors, but I think I should just stop while I'm ahead. It's a cute palette and he looks cheery as hell. Also, he's the only yellow-yellow boy of the bunch, so. Gosh, I adore him. He's so ridiculous. He's like, as close as Tails can be to a himbo while still being Tails. Precious smart-dumb fox. <333

Moon looked just like an adult canon Tails, so I thought I might give him a more unique design. I've been getting more dramatic with my redesigns, so there's a lot of potential to have fun incorporating his story's themes of loneliness into it. Also, he's like, essentially Knuckles in his au, so the moon motif actually fits really well. Still a major WIP and I'm not really thinking about that au much at all, so it's way on the backburner.

I'm STILL fussing with sp-Sails' colors ever so slightly. 8| Mostly because he's got sooo many browns (in his clothes, and now his ear, too!). My brain gets confused trying to make all these blocks of browns look pleasing next to each other. But that's more his clothing's fault. I circumvented this issue with Silas because he's more well off, so I got a bit more fancy with his threads. Eh, idk.

Speaking of Silas, I started worrying about him and his siblings' fur colors being so freakishly different. I almost made Manny more brown, but then I was like... Heck with it. They're minor chars and it's just for fun. I at least made their ears somewhat match-y, so that's good enough for me.

I'm also waffling on CaveTails' design. I thought I had the colors down, but now they kinda look ugly to me? Maybe because the "whites" are too pink? I dunnnoooo. @_@ I sorta don't like his eye color either, but everything I try looks unsuitable. I like his markings and body shape (when I manage to draw it correctly), at least. But he just looks super ugly in general in this drawing and idk what it is. Forehead too small? Just doesn't translate to chibi? Blaaahhhh!

[scrunglepaws]

My April's Fools gift to myself: joke oc I definitely won't get attached to

He's the result of a mouth typo while proofreading out loud- the words tails and Sails got mooshed into stales. "Who's that? The zombie version of Tails? Lololol" Yes. Yes it is.

So... the first time we saw the Grim, I got the feeling it was supposed to be a truly post-apocalyptic setting where everyone had existed... but were now wiped out. If... if it actually said as much in the show, I already forgot. xD; But anyway. Dumb lil Stales made me think of that again and like. He just shambles around aimlessly in-between hanging out with his family which is just. Skeletons of the other characters. dhvshncxj Why is he a zombie when everyone else is dead-dead? Idk, it's a joke chatacter; don't look at me xDDD

[scrunglepaws]

Zombie Tails is a real dingdong. But to be fair, he is technically braindead so I think he's doing pretty well considering.

[scrungleclaws]

I finally read Nine's Shadow and I really like Stails, so I'm wondering if you just so happen to have some drawings of him?

I do, thanks for asking! :3 Fair warning that he is a bit unsightly (but also cute, imo), being that he's a zombie.

[x] - First Drawing + Main Ref Image [x] - My first attempt at Nine+Stales meeting (comic) [x] - Stales being silly [x] - Expression Chart (new art I made for this ask :3)

Some other posts that have doodles of him included: Tails au design masterpost, fic promo, magma doodles