You Need to Read This.

It (Re)Started In The Cafeteria

I'm going to do something I've yet to do on this blog - something I don't intend to do ever again as it's not really the point of what I think I want to do here. However, I really need to talk about this - both for myself and for the people I think this will benefit. That said, please bear with me on this.

StarryScarstar's It (Re)Started in The Cafeteria is a Sonic the Hedgehog Sonamy high school AU fanfiction rewrite I stumbled upon a while ago and never really paid attention to by nature of what it was. AU work, in general, is usually not something I hold an interest in. I vaguely remember seeing/reading some of the original from 2012, but I don't remember a thing about it. Recently, curiosity got the better of me (you can see the significant praise and audience this piece has), and I started reading.

The first entry in the piece is an author's note, in which Starry explains why they wanted to rewrite this work and where their inspiration came from. Seeing their perspective and hearing their thoughts, I told myself that I would see this through to the end, no matter what.

Like I said, this is a Sonamy high school AU fanfic... but it turned out to be so much more than that. For the plot alone, this is damn near one of the best young-adult narratives I've ever read because what it does and what it stands for is so fucking important.

If you are a young person, you need to read this.

If you are struggling, you need to read this. I don’t care if it takes you 35 hours like me. I don't care if it'll take you longer.

I don’t care if the idea of an alternative universe weirds you out.

I don't care if you found this post by accident and don't even know what the fuck a Sonic is - that doesn't even matter here, to be honest.

I don’t care if the (admittedly egregious, at times) continuity errors frustrate you. I don’t care if you struggle to get invested through the first five chapters, where things are, naturally, still falling into place, and Starry is still world-building in their head. You need to read this. This is a narrative about anxiety, depression, PTSD, loneliness, self-loathing, partying, peer pressure, sexual, emotional, and physical abuse, divorce, orphanship, eating disorders, transitioning gender identities, sexual identities, teen pregnancy, classism, sexism, LGBTQ+ navigation and discovery, daddy issues, mommy issues, appearances versus reality, conflicting feelings, feeling suppression, tricky teenage relationships, and genuinely so much more. If you are in a headspace to handle these topics, or if you want to learn and/or safely challenge yourself, then you need to read this.

trigger warnings, for those who use them, are often written at the top of sensitive chapters.

The things you will learn - the solace you will find here - is worth the investment and perseverance. I’m twenty years old, now, and this is a story I wish I had when I discovered this franchise at age twelve and wanted to get involved, or at age fifteen when shit at home got complicated. If not an interesting alternative take on this franchise (with a LOT of fun references), it is a whole-heartedly, genuinely GRIPPING story with characters who blossom and grow and thrive with each other. The writing is phenomenal, if unpolished at times, but the story is beautiful, important, challenging, and needs to be shared. You will laugh, cry, scream, and have your expectations subverted left and right. Cliche tropes and popular fanon, who? I promise you won’t regret it. This is easily the best high school AU out there for StH if you’re looking for that. But truly, if nothing else but a young-adult fiction piece, you need to read this.