#lemur writes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Tumblr was named as a finalist in Lead411’s New York City Hot 125 in Aug 2010.

lemurious · 11 months

Text

(Very belatedly,) in memory of the Glorious 25th of May.

Vetinari, in the shadows.

Second part of this is here.

----

There is an extra shadow in the graveyard.

There is an extra shadow on the wall, though nobody has time to look up. There is a smell of blood and lilac.

He wakes up every May, smelling the lilac, and knows which day it is. His mind supplies the blood.

He sneaks through the gate once the graveyard is empty, Reg fast asleep under the earth, the rest are back to making sure the city keeps going.

He’s learned what it takes to make the city keep going, and what the cost is when it screeches to the stop.

He’s learned what it does to the people, having a leader who doesn’t care, and what these same people can be capable of, when they feel they could matter.

Behind the awnings, flat on the rooftops, crouching in the doorways, he watches, and he follows, and he learns, and he turns off his analytical mind with great deliberation, and runs, jumps, skitters across the cobblestones, darts ahead, slashes and stabs, eyes half closed, the bitter, burning taste in his mouth coming from the lilac branch, and lilac alone.

After the battle, he brushes past the body, and melts into another doorway. Not for him the whip-round and the wreath, though his aunt helps him get a small bag of unmarked gold coins to Sadie, for the headstone.

How do they rise up?

He still hums it, sometimes, when the great wheel of the city starts creaking under its own weight.

All the little angels… is he worthy, now, of singing it? Would Keel be proud?

There’s no place for wishful thinking in old soldiers’ songs, and nobody but Reg has come out of these graves.

He is supposed to be alone, those are his precious hours to weigh what he has achieved in the past year, to consider on which side of the barricades he would find himself, when another figure shambles in, and he sees –

But it’s only Vimes, his Vimes, the Commander, the Duke of Ankh, bristling with titles like a very patrician porcupine. Except that the scar, and the eyepatch, and the way he sits down, just folding into himself -

Suddenly, he understands, and has to bite his fist to keep quiet.

The city, his city, is demanding and crooked and precious and brutal and exasperating, because it is made of people, no better nor worse than that, criminals and saints and everything in between. The city, which will chew him up and swallow him without as much as a burp of gratitude, but perhaps, he hasn’t been quite as alone at it as he’s been imagining for the last twenty years.

How do they rise up?

When the city needs them, they rise up from an empty grave.

#gnu terry pratchett #havelock vetinari #sam vimes #lemur writes #my fic #the glorious 25th of may #the night watch

107 notes · View notes

whimsical-sonic · 5 months

Text

the sillies

[ID: A digital, colored piece of Whisper and Tangle. To the left, Tangle's eyes are closed with a big, open-mouthed grin. She is posing, doing jazz hands with one foot in front of the other. She is wearing a maroon-colored jacket and black sweats, her shoes reminiscent to her typical ones.

Whisper is facing away from the viewer at a 3/4 angle. Her head is tilted down, smiling. She's wearing a black hoodie, one hand in a pocket with the other holding her cane, obscured by her tail. She's wearing jeans and black sneakers with white laces.

End ID.]

#cosmic chatter #whisper the wolf #tangle the lemur #whispangle #sth #whisper #tangle #my art #had the energy to write an id this time! i need to get better about it

244 notes · View notes

emerald-antssss · 1 month

Text

“Hey guys! Look at this stick I found!”

Sonic turned, and laughed. “Tangle, that’s not a stick, that’s a whole tree branch.”

Tangle waved the birch branch in the air with her tail, its remaining leaves falling to the ground. “If there were any badniks around, this would be a great weapon.” She thrust the branch forward as if she were fencing.

Whisper opened her eyes slightly to glance in Tangle’s direction, but what really caught her attention was Tails.

The kit’s orange fur was bristled, his small frame ready to run. Tails’ ears were flattened against his head, and his blue irises had taken over most of his eyes, as his pupils were shrunken in fear.

Whisper had seen Tails when he was afraid before, like when he watched Sonic get badly hurt by Surge. But nothing like this.

Never like this.

“Tails.”

The fox did not move. Not even an ear flicked.

He stayed focused on the stick.

Whisper raised her voice.

“Tails.”

Tails turned his left ear toward her, but no other movements were made.

And then he turned and ran into the forest.

~~~

“Tails! Tails! Wo bist du?”

The blue hedgehog was met with silence, and he groaned. He didn’t know where his little brother had run off to, but it had to be because of something traumatic.

He knew some of the things his village had done to him, but not all of them. But he knew they were all bad.

Sonic had been told that kids called him a freak and a curse. People beat him up, tried to drown him, burned his flesh, ripped his fur, starved him…

Heck, the poor kid still had a bullet in his chest because somebody shot at him. It all made Sonic angry.

The hedgehog sighed. “Tails! Little buddy? You can come out now! Kleiner Kumpel! Hallo?”

He heard whimpering and crying from a bush. Sonic split it so he could see inside.

The kit had tears streaming down his face, and he was asking in big, heaving breaths. They were so… irregular. When Tails saw Sonic towering over him, he froze. And he stopped breathing. Sonic hated when the kid did that, but it was a habit.

“Hey little buddy,” Sonic said softly.

Tails just pulled his knees close to his chest. “Hallo,” he whispered.

Sonic carefully sat down next to him. “Geht es dir gut?” Tails closed his eyes and whimpered. “Ich weiß es nicht.” And Sonic hugged him.

And Tails began to sob.

They sat there like that for a couple minutes until Tangle and Whisper came crashing through the brush.

“Hey… what’s wrong?” Tangle inquired.

Tails cleared his throat. “W-when…” The kid hesitated.

Sonic gave him a soft smile. “Take all the time you need bud.”

“When I l-lives on West S-s-side Island…” The kit sickens in a big breath. “They liked to beat me with sticks. W-well… not really sticks. Um…”

“Branches?” Whisper asked.

Tails whimpered, and nodded. “They would beat me with them. Hard. A-and they would d-do it u-until I bled. Or…” Tails began to cry harder as he tried to finish his sentence. “T-they w-w-would k-keep going…”

Sonic growled. Tails had never seen his big brother so angry, but that was to be expected of Sonic.

“I found a scar this morning… and Tangle had t-that branch…”

Tails flopped down into Sonic’s lap. The trio surrounded him, and hugged him.

And they stayed like that for a while.

#ooof #that’s gotta hurt #I wasn’t sure how to end it so this is what you guys got #I’ll put it on AO3 later because I don’t have time rn #Maybe I should drive comes soon!#emerald-antssss #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #my writing #unbreakable bond #fanfic #ao3 #sonic and tails #tangle the lemur #tangle and whisper #whisper the wolf

29 notes · View notes

whispangleblogger · 8 months

Text

I am not somebody that hops onto the "comic discourse" a lot. I usually prefer to talk things through with my friends and share opinions in private.

But since Tangle more or less got ignored so far i take the chance and talk a bit about her appearance in 64

She jumps in as a supportive character towards Whisper and helps her to prevent another breakdown. While yes, there was a scene in Urban Warfare that did the exact same thing, i feel like with issue 64 we finally see how strong of an impact this support actually has on the page. (I talk a bit more about Urban Warfare further down this post.) I don't even dare and call this bait (Edit: Not my words btw. i saw this used in another heated post. I personally never felt baited in any form. If anything, the girls relationship is one big highlight in these comics.) because it simply isn't. Here is a character that cares for her partner and also is uncomfortable with the whole situation to begin with. She has to decide where her priorities lie. Her reaction is to be expected to be focused on a trembling Whisper and all i can say is i'm glad we finally have a good depiction of that.

Tangle has the right to approach Whisper in ways i think no other character is able to, she earned it and it pretty much shows on this page. Softly taking down Whisper's mask and checking on her, the body language in these panels is chefs kiss. She's truly a bouncy girl, but it's good to see her being serious every now and then, i feel like it's a side of her that people usually tend to ignore. (And i really don't know why that is.) Evan Stanley does always an amazing job if it comes to showing Tangle in a different light or how she cares about her friends and loved ones. In regards about the current arc and even the last one, i feel like this post is a good chance to add my personal take to it as well, since it's been on my mind for a good while now. I feel like 64 finally makes a step into the right direction again.

To elaborate a little on that, i wasn't really a big fan of Urban Warfare, simply for the fact that it's pacing is all over the place. There were a lot of things that needed to be covered, to name a few: - new team building - Whisper's trauma - Lanolin introduced as a new character - a LOT of other teams jumping into the scene - the city itself all squeezed into a 5 book arc. One more book compared to a mini series that usually gives full focus to a set of chosen characters.

To make this clear, there are also good things in Urban Warfare as well but thanks to the fact how rushed the whole story felt in it's core it's a bit hard to enjoy the good bits as well...

Misadventures still deals with the same pacing problem and i believe that is where the real issue lies. As a reader/collector of the books and longtime fan of them, all i can say is:

I wish the comics would get their old, well cared, time for details back. Yes, a story like the Metal Virus was a long run but in the end it was a fantastic read. Mini arcs like Trial by Fire (Still one of my favorites), that focus on other things instead of the usual action, are also very important for character development and add a lot of depth to them. Endless Summer is a great example for such addition as well. These books provide insight into character interaction we usually don't see otherwise. Of course i have no idea how much SEGA is involved into everything if it comes to general decisions like how long one arc is supposed to last and when the next one should start.

(The next part is based on my personal taste, this has nothing to do with the general narrative of the books. I just want to share my thoughts about this since i really don't write them down a lot.)

As a little side note, i feel like Lanolin is a great character so far. Her stubborn and rule book like demeanor as a leader is refreshing to say the least. She also seems to be really close to how her creator ABT imagines her to be and i really appreciate that. But i can't help it and feel like her team dynamic with Tangle and Whisper comes of as rather… rocky ? On a combat level of things it works really good but on a friendship level it's somehow lacking atm. There is this boss and coworker relationship going on that feels more like real work. Obviously though she's new and needs more time to get better established. I guess we will see how this plays out in the future. I'm all in for a good or funny team dynamic but i also can't help it and feel like she works better as an addition to Jewel, running the restoration, the navigator typ that sends intel via com instead of a field combatant. Even if she proved she's good at close combat as well during her encounter with Whisper in 64. That being said, i am all open for surprises and more character development on her part. This is really just a "now" opinion and can easily change over time. I like the sheep, i really do.

#IDW Sonic #Whisper the Wolf #Tangle the Lemur #Whispangle #Just some thoughts i wanted to get out of my head #long opinion posts always take forever to write - language barrier demands extra brain juice - cries in german #Thanks to my friends SomethingSonicRelated - Honeydew - DillyWolf and ScurvyPiratehog for looking over this post #providing some additions as well #64 was a good read overall #the Whispangle moment was soft and needed #not adding more details about the issue in general since i still try to keep the theme of the blog as it's focus.#I think the post speaks for itself :>#There are still moments i hold really high and dear to me from the last arc #best example's probably my pinned post heh <3

122 notes · View notes

promptcorner · 4 months

Text

I’ve been having this thought for a hot minute, and I can’t hold it in any longer.

You all know the number one rule of ghosts? Don’t ask a ghost how they died? Well, let’s expand on that!

What if ghost stories are put in a similar vain? When a human tells a ghost story that is actually true in front of another ghost or in their haunt, or it’s completely fake but the story is about said ghost, they get mad.

Like how in those ghost hunting videos where the hunters share the story near or in the haunted forest or something and the ghost gets pissed. They will either ignore them out of spite or haunt their butts in response.

The thing is, they’re fine with telling people their stories. But only their own story and only if they want to, because it’s still their death story. Unless they know about another ghost’s story and for plot reasons the ghost in question can’t tell it themselves, think the Pariah Dark episode where everyone is sitting around a plug-in camp fire, then they’ll share it.

It would be funny if Danny just never tells a ghost story, especially his own. He doesn’t know what stuff he makes up could be true and make a ghost attack him. Danny is also just tired of hearing ghost stories because of his parents at this point.

So, he goes around it by telling people internet movie/TV/book theories. I’m thinking the Mort Theory.

Just imagine Danny telling a group of people around a campfire in a haunted forest who have NO clue what Madagascar is and sully focusing on Mort in the Theorizer’s tone. He summarizes the first hour or so of the theory (the part where the Theorizer just goes episode by episode and explains the plot and points out all the weird stuff that happens) and it does the job.

It pokes fun at telling ghost stories while not insulting anyone and scaring everyone in the process. And bonus! Danny doesn’t have to share his story for a while!

37 notes · View notes

pocketscribbs · 1 year

Text

my favorite thing is when Sonic artists get creative and consider the characters’ abilities/personalities when drawing them in action

my personal favorite example is Tangle the Lemur and her fabulous tail

she ziplines down grind rails, she’s probably fast enough to spin dash regularly but she instead uses her tails to create her own “spiral dash”(this is what i’m calling it)

just one of the many reasons why I think Tangle is such a fun character, her excitable and thrill-seeking attitude mixed with her powerful, stretchy tail makes for some creative and entertaining visuals

#petition to have every sonic character’s wiki page have an ‘in action’ section #where it just describes the character’s fighting style/techniques #and basically their overall aesthetic in battle #like for sonic you’d talk about his quick feet and quick wit #and tails likes to outsmart instead of overpower his foes #i just think this would be great reference for anyone writing these characters #idw sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #tangle the lemur #sonic comics #sonic #sonic comic #sonic characters

186 notes · View notes

qqhoneydew · 1 year

Text

In Defense of Tangle

I and many of my peers had a pretty heated response to IDW 57 after Tangle's "Big OOF" moment. Given everything we know about their friendship up to this point, it almost seems like character assassination, but after letting it settle and putting more thought into it, I don't think it's as bad as I initially thought. Where I think things went wrong is that the audience didnt have enough context for Tangle's perspective up to this point. When we last saw her, she parted ways with the Resistance to go on a solo search for Whisper. And now all of sudden she's plopped back into this new situation. We have to remember that Whisper was the one that initially left Tangle. This parting that as we know, caused a lot of emotional disruption for Tangle.

And later in 57, Tangle is clearly put off by the mere idea of Whisper trying to separate herself again. Whisper keeps trying to run from her and I'm sure as someone who thought she was the other's closest friend, this would cause a lot of pain and confusion.

I think this would have all hit more effectively if we had gotten a glimpse of Tangle's search. Going out of her way to find someone she truly cares about and with a much more optimistic view of their reunion and future. Her search would be come to a halt when Jewel gives the call to action and possibly even mentions that Whisper is there? This is something that should be good right, she's going to see her best friend again! Looking back at the RI cover, a lot is told that we definitely didn't realize right away. The colors are bright and poppy, there's a cute pose going, and the girls are finally reunited and clasping hands! This issue should be all about fun and cuddly things right? But their expressions spell uncertainty! On the surface everything feels so bright, yet something is wrong. That's kinda how I believe Tangle felt reuniting with Whisper again.

Tangle and Whisper aren't in sync anymore. They've had a lot of time away from each other, Whisper just went through another horrid moment in her life that re-opened a lot of wounds. Tangle seemingly didn't know this from the beginning, and despite the past, the Diamond Cutters aren't an untouchable subject to Whisper. Tangle isn't stupid, she honestly comes off as one of the more emotionally intelligent characters, so I can only believe her namedropping the Diamond Cutters again was an attempt to get positive affirmation from her. She doesnt understand why her friend is acting so coldly around her and she continues to cut her off. I feel Tangle has done more than enough to try and understand Whisper, but now I think it's time for Whisper to understand Tangle.

Still though, I think there was a lot missing from the narrative to properly set this all up and have it not feel so sudden and out of place. I think a filler issue was definitely needed to see Whisper recovering from the Surge dilemma and Tangle on her search to get a good feel of the contrast in their state of minds.

Also even if you still think Tangle's comment were insensitive, I don't know how Whisper gets a pass for this.

#1AM and trying to distract myself from dumb thoughts so this might not be my most coherent write up #tangle the lemur #whisper the wolf #idw sonic

191 notes · View notes

themightyhumanbroom · 5 months

Text

Just had a really funny idea that a lot of the IDW original cast has a lot of weird or alarming misconceptions about humans on account of the only human they've met being Eggman.

Amy decides to educate them about humans after hearing Tangle say with way to much confidence that humans have to eat a dozen eggs everyday or they melt and everyone (Jewel, Whisper, Lanolin, Surge, Kit) didn't question it. This group lesson goes off the rails and the only conclusion the six of them came too, much to Amy's frustration, is that humans love guns but are all terrible shots.

#might have to write a fic about how they reach that conclusion.#amy rose #dr eggman #jewel the beetle #tangle the lemur #lanolin the sheep #whisper the wolf #surge the tenrec #kit the fennec #idw sonic #sonic idw #sonic #sth #sonic the hedgehog

51 notes · View notes

rxttenfish · 5 months

Text

decided to throw my hat in the ring, though this is going to pretty solely have to stay a sketch for tonight. i may have forgotten how many spoons certain things cost, you know how it goes.

#all the care guide says is 'biomass'#monster prom #art #the main tag can handle a sketch. youll have to handle a sketch #the great secret to my miri writing: shes kind of an asshole actually #decided not to use my redesign werewolves because sometimes the lemurs get too freaky with it

28 notes · View notes

lemurious · 7 months

Text

they dream of legions

A short piece inspired by Crassus's Parthian campaign, the wars that are still fought in the desert two thousand years later, and the idea of armies haunting each other across history.

Everything outside the parentheses fits both generals and both armies.

----

He has never expected the desert to be so cold.

The ground is covered in frost in the morning, and spiders the size of dinner plates rush into their tents for warmth. Their bite isn’t lethal, but it hurts like hell, so the soldiers don’t sleep well. They complain of ghosts in the morning, of another army just like theirs, lost behind the dunes.

The sand and gets into the folds of their armor, their weapons are blunted by the sharp crystals, they eat sand with their dried rations and drink sand in their beer and have to shake it out of their hair every night despite the close-fitting helmets.

What, exactly, are they fighting for?

The pride of the empire, he tells his soldiers.

The hunger of the empire, devouring land after land.

It calls itself a republic still. He curses it and bleeds it dry and takes and takes and takes from it, riches and fame and power, and yet he loves it, he always has, he wouldn't blink before offering his life for it.

The republic has now demanded its sacrifice. It will open him up and read the future in his entrails, and his failure may not even make it to the histories that will be written about this war.

(His soldiers say, they dream of legions, dusty red cloaks and breastplates glimmering in the sunrise.)

(His soldiers say, they dream of legions, a line of heavy machines emerging from the sandstorm.)

They sleep during the day, it is too hot, but not for their enemies, who are vexing them, ceaselessly, picking them off one by one in hunting parties. How do you fight a war when an entire country has turned itself against you?

What will they consider a victory? And how long will it last?

They’ll settle for another vassal state. And gold, he thinks. In any form. In the end, the spoils of war will let the citizens back home breathe just a little easier, he tells himself.

The desert is unforgiving, and he knows that he will be lucky if any soldiers of his will make it back. As for himself, he doesn't expect to. (They meet their enemy in the field, and what was supposed to be an easy victory turns out to be a feint, a trick, so similar to those he had read about before, but somehow, it has escaped him this time.)

(They meet their enemy in the city, in a white haze of the dust, their best troops still coughing, half-blind, rushing into a wrong district, a trick of the enemy or his own mistake.)

He hopes it won’t cost too many lives, but it is shaping to be the deadliest battle since the last big war of the republic. A general is not supposed to make this kind of mistake.

Little awaits him at home, except for the political intrigues, the games of power, and wars and more wars stretching towards the horizon. They will keep him away from the government. He is safer over the sea. He is tired.

Before he falls, he tries to remember the name of this benighted place that will soon become his tomb.

(He thinks: Carrhae.)

(He thinks: Fallujah.)

#lemur writes #my fic #lemur romanus #marcus licinius crassus #carrhae #allusion to iraq war #war #roman republic #fallujah

18 notes · View notes

feralen8y · 9 months

Text

not gonna post this on ao3 bc i'm not sure how to end it but uh. I remembered how to write decently.

#feral screams #feral writes #i just had the idea of this while explaining whisper's backstory to a friend #n slammed it out in like 20 minutes or so #whisper the wolf #tangle the lemur #whispangle #sonic idw

47 notes · View notes

pjb1234 · 4 months

Link

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tangle the Lemur/Whisper the Wolf Characters: Tangle the Lemur, Whisper the Wolf, Jewel the Beetle, Lanolin (Sonic the Hedgehog) Additional Tags: Christmas, Holidays, Mistletoe, Almost Kiss, Love Confessions, Poisoning, stomach pump, Emergency room, Hospital, Tangle does something very stupid, Whisper is very concerned, Jewel has seen this all before, Lanolin frankly is glad she doesn't have to deal with any of this, Vomiting, just a bit though, it's mentioned later on Summary:

Tangle and Whisper spend their first Christmas together, but not a girlfriends quite yet. While they both wait for the other to take the initiative to take their relationship to the next level, Tangle decides to show Whisper a particular tradition of hers involving a plant famously associated with the holidays. Things go predictably wrong before going surprisingly right.

#whispangle #sonic the hedgehog #idw sonic #sonic idw #tangle the lemur #whisper the wolf #pine presents writing #fanfic #jewel the beetle #lanolin the sheep #vomiting #just a bit though #mistletoe #almost kiss #but not yet though

18 notes · View notes

sage-nebula · 2 years

Text

STH - Had My Ducks in a Row, Now They're Slowly Falling Out of Line

Notes: I had intended to work on Beyond Oblivion tonight, but ever since I made that post about Metal Sonic calling Tails an unworthy child the other night (and then also made a post about Tangle being a good big sis), I've been thinking about this . . . and so this ended up coming out instead. Originally it was meant to be just Tails and Tangle, but as I finished up their section Sonic's came to mind, so I couldn't resist adding that in too.

Credit for the idea that Sonic has a little unease about Tails making so many weapons goes to @chaoxfix, because that headcanon is just too perfect to pass up. Hope you don't mind that I borrowed it!

Also, this is my first time ever writing for Tangle, so I hope she sounds all right, because I love her to pieces.

Summary: Months and months ago, Neo Metal Overlord called Tails unworthy. And he knows it's stupid to keep thinking about it, but it's been living rent-free in his head ever since. [Post-Chao Races & Badnik Bases, pre-Trial By Fire]

- - -

Tails scowled at the schematic spread over his work bench, and pressed his pencil lead a little harder into the paper.

Unworthy child!

His pencil lead snapped, the crack echoing with the words in his head, and he let his forehead hit his workbench with a groan.

It had been months since that day—months since the battle of Angel Island, though after the Metal Virus pandemic it felt as though it had been so much longer. But it really hadn’t been; everything happened so quickly nowadays, one crisis right after another, that there were times when Tails felt out of breath even when he was standing still. It wasn’t all bad; he genuinely liked adventure, especially when he could help Sonic save the world. But that was the problem, wasn’t it?

He chewed the inside of his cheek, and squeezed his eyes shut.

He had helped, during the battle of Angel Island. No matter what Neo Metal Overlord said, he had helped. He crashed the ship straight into Metal Overlord—he took him down! Sonic was so proud of him. Tails couldn’t say he wanted to do it again (in fact he’d say the opposite since he’d ached for days after that, not that he’d admit it), but he would say, would insist against the nagging voice in his head, that he had helped that time. He’d helped save Angel Island, and the world.

But . . .

But then the Metal Virus pandemic happened. Sonic got infected, and Tails couldn’t help him. Oh sure, he’d come close to working out a cure. But one set of infected Chao had been all it took to sabotage his data and make him lose everything. And though he had managed to retrieve one of the Chaos Emeralds from Zomom with Amy’s help, not only had he not been the one to come up with the idea to begin with, but at the end, all he’d been able to do was cower and hope against hope that Sonic would pull through and save the day. Sonic, who had been fighting off the infection for the duration of the pandemic. Sonic, who was already at the limits of his exhaustion. Everything had fallen to him, again, and Tails had been able to do nothing to help except retrieve one lousy Emerald.

(Well, that wasn’t fair. The Emerald wasn’t lousy. The Emerald helped Sonic achieve Super form, which allowed him and Silver and Metal to save the day. That was more than Tails could say for himself.)

Sonic hadn’t held it against him, of course. Sonic never did. When Tails was too scared of lightning to pilot through a storm, or revealed that a Chaos Emerald was fake and got Sonic ejected into space in a soon-to-be exploded capsule—no matter the situation, Sonic never blamed him. For all his spiky quills, bravado and the way he could snark at their enemies, Tails knew the truth: Sonic was a softie, and way nicer than most anyone gave him credit for.

Tails lifted his head so he could fold his arms on his desk, his chin resting upon them. He laid his pencil in front of him, and gave it a light flick so it rolled up the desk, and then back down to his waiting finger. Another flick sent it rolling up again.

It wasn’t like Tails had accomplished nothing in the interim. He had found schematics to fix Omega . . . even though he couldn’t read them. And Sonic had trusted him to go raid an old Eggman base to try to find the cipher he needed so that he could read them, and that was where they found Belle. And later, when they went to help Amy and the others at White Park . . . well, Tails had gotten kidnapped by Starline and tied to a rollercoaster to emotionally blackmail Sonic. But Rouge had, too, although she’d managed to cut her ropes and free herself faster than he did. But that was all right, wasn’t it? Because then he’d helped her alert the others so they could evacuate the tourists. And though Starline had tried to grab him again, this time Tails managed to protect himself . . . through using Belle’s kicking reflex, albeit without her permission to do so.

Unworthy child!

Tails huffed a sharp sigh to try to dislodge the twist in his gut, and flicked his pencil hard enough that it zipped off the back of his workbench and tumbled down to the floor.

“Whoa, buddy! Is this a bad time?”

“Huh?” Tails sat up and twisted around in his seat, blinking in surprise as he caught sight of Tangle in the doorway of his workshop, her fingers gripping the top of the doorframe as she swung lightly inside. “Oh—no. Do you need something?”

“Nah, not really. I was just kinda bored, and in the area, so I thought I’d drop in.” As she spoke, Tangle skipped over and hopped onto a stool beside Tails’ workbench. It spun halfway around, but she caught herself on the side of the desk, and swung back around to face him. “What’cha got goin’ on?”

“Nothing much.” Tails glanced back at the schematic he’d been working on, a half-finished design for a new rocket launcher. There was no need for it, really, but there wasn’t not a need for it, either. That’s what Tails told himself, anyway, or told Sonic whenever Sonic questioned him about why he was building so many different weapons. Maybe they didn’t need rocket launchers right now, but who was to say what would come in the future? There was no telling when Eggman or Starline or whoever would attack again. It was better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Unworthy—!

“Helloooo?” Tangle waved her hand in front of his face, and Tails jumped a little, blinking as he refocused on her. “Everything okay in there? You seem a million miles away, little dude.”

“Oh—yeah! I’m okay,” Tails said, and he forced a bright smile. Tangle smiled back, but not all the way; her forehead was creased, her brows pinched in the middle. “Sorry, I was just . . . thinking.”

“About what?” Tangle asked. When he didn’t answer right away (he was never good at coming up with lies on the spot), she nudged her calf against his shoe, and gave him a cajoling smile. “C’mooon, tell me! We saved the world together, right? A couple different times! You can tell me things. I promise I’ll only beg to try out whatever cool new invention you have up your sleeve a total of three times if you tell me about it.”

Tails couldn’t help it; he cracked a smile, despite himself. “It’s not that. I—the rocket launcher’s not coming along as hot as I’d like. It’s nowhere near testing stages yet.”

Tangle’s eyes lit up. “Rocket launcher?”

Tails cast a glance askance at the schematic. Solar power was the way to go, he thought; there was an endless source of energy right there in the sky, just waiting to be used. But none of the batteries he’d built could build up a charge quickly enough, or hold enough of a charge for long enough, to be used in something like a rocket launcher. He’d been working on solar power batteries since even before Metal Sonic’s coordinated badnik attacks, and yet—

Unworthy . . . !

“Do you ever—” Tails began, then stopped. This was stupid. It was stupid to still be thinking like this. If he told Sonic—

Sonic wouldn’t say it was stupid. Sonic would never say something like that. He’s too—he’s not mean enough for that. Even if he thought it, he’d never say it.

“Do I what?” Tangle kicked her feet back against the leg of her stool, and when Tails said nothing, she swung her tail around to poke him in the head. “C’mon, don’t leave me hangin’. Finish what you were gonna say, I’m all ears.”

Tails ran a hand across the back of his hair, smoothing down the fur Tangle’s tail had tousled. “It’s nothing. It’s stupid.”

“Stupid? From you? Mr Kid Genius? I highly doubt that.” Tangle put her elbow on his workbench, and leaned her cheek into her palm. “Come on, just tell me! Whatever it is, I promise I won’t tell a soul. Cool tail buddies honor.”

It was stupid. There was no way to explain that he was letting something Neo Metal Overlord said rot in his head for months without sounding stupid. But the thing about Tangle—the thing Tails liked about Tangle—was that she was unapologetically sincere. She wasn’t afraid to be enthusiastic about things, or embarrassed even when she was clumsy and made mistakes. She said they were cool tail buddies, but Tangle herself wasn’t concerned with being cool. With being a hero, sure. But not with being cool. And she was best friends with someone who was just as much of a nerd as Tails himself was, albeit about different things. It didn’t matter that Jewel’s wardrobe consisted of nothing but pantsuits and that she unironically loved organizing. Tangle still thought she was one of the coolest people in the world.

So maybe, even though what he thought was stupid, it would be okay if he told Tangle. Maybe she wouldn’t think he was any less cool himself. And she probably meant it when she said she wouldn’t tell anyone; he hadn’t known her to ever lie before.

“Okay,” Tails said at length, and Tangle’s eyes lit up. “But I’m going to hold you to that. If you tell anyone, you’re out of the cool tail buddies club.”

Tangle put two fingers to her forehead, and popped them off in a salute. “Yessir! So, what’s got your tails all twisted? In the bad way, I mean.”

“It’s just . . .” He’d resolved to tell her, but even now, the words felt stuck in his throat. Tails wished he hadn’t flicked his pencil off the desk; he needed something to fidget with. He took a deep breath. “Do you ever wonder if—if maybe you’re . . . if despite anything, you’re just—holding people back? Or not . . . contributing what you should be?”

Tangle blinked, and sat up straight on the stool. “What?”

“I mean—” Tails swung one of his own tails up so he could fidget with the tip; he couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore. “You do your best. And you do contribute some things. But it’s—when it matters, when it really counts, you just . . . fall short. You have to rely on someone else for help, to save the day. And you—no one’s mad about it, and they’d never say it, and you do some things so you know you’re not totally useless, but you wonder if, if maybe . . .”

“If, maybe . . . you made one mistake too many?” Tangle offered, and Tails’ ears flattened against his head, his shoulders hunched as he cringed. “If maybe at first it could be passed off as you just being inexperienced, and not really knowing what you were up against, and so you underestimated the enemy and he got the jump on you because of that. But then later, after you knew better and could be trusted, you still got careless and your zombified best friend got the jump on you and turned you into a zombot, and so she realized she really couldn’t rely on you after all. And so the real reason she left you behind wasn’t because you were working with the Restoration and she felt that your place was with them, but was actually because she felt she couldn’t count on you as her backup anymore because you’d already let her down once, so who’s to say it won’t happen again? And you can’t even fault her for that, because you did let her down once and, anyway, if she wanted you along she would have let you go with her, but she didn’t and that means that if you go after her now, you’re disrespecting what she wants and are just going to get told to go home again because she doesn’t want and can’t count on you at all.”

Tails furrowed his brow halfway through Tangle’s speech, and by the time she was finished, confusion clouded his anxiety so thoroughly he could hardly feel it anymore. “Huh?”

Tangle blinked; for a moment, it looked as though she’d almost forgotten he was there. Then she laughed loudly, and waved a hand through the air as if dispelling smoke from burned cookies. “Just as, you know, a totally random and totally not specific or in any way real scenario.”

Tails frowned. “Right . . .”

“But, anyway. My totally random and not specific or in any way real example aside—am I hearing you right? You think you’re not contributing enough? You?” Tangle reached over with her tail again, and this time gave him a light push on his shoulder. “Have you seen all the stuff you’ve built? You’ve got two whole workshops filled, plus all that stuff at Restoration HQ. You’ve got a crazy amount of inventions! And you’ve saved the world, several times! And you’re only eight! You know what I was doing when I was eight? I was parkouring off cliffs, and not even on purpose. Jewel didn’t get those guns of hers by hauling rocks around her museum, let me tell you. She got them from hauling my sorry butt back up from the cliff I threw myself down for the third time in a week.”

Tails chuckled. “Yeah. But—”

“But nothing.” Tangle flopped her tail on top of Tails’ head, and he brushed it away. “You are hands down the coolest eight-year-old I’ve ever seen in my life. So what if you need help sometimes? Everyone does, and you should know; you help people all the time. So why’s it bad for you to get helped back, huh?”

“It’s not bad. I just . . .” Tails flailed a hand, gesturing to nothing. “I’ve been doing this for a long time now. I just feel like maybe I should be . . . better, by now.”

“Well . . .” Tangle tilted her head side to side, considering. “That’s not a . . . bad thing, maybe. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re totally awesome and should have way more confidence in yourself. But if you were totally satisfied, then you couldn’t get even better, right? You’d stop trying. And there’s no way this world would be able to handle it if you stopped trying, so that would be no good.”

Tails gave her a wry smile. “The world would be fine. I mean, there’s Sonic—”

“Sonic can’t invent the things you do,” Tangle said. Her tail poked him in the chest. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s amazing and a hero and we’d all be doomed a thousand times over without him, and if I get to go on another adventure with him tomorrow I’ll have waited too long—but he’s no scientific genius, y’know? But you are, and you’re cool and nice and not evil or bonkers like Eggman or Starline. So we definitely need you in our corner.”

Warmth flooded Tails’ cheeks, and he looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks, Tangle.”

“Don’t mention it, li’l dude. What are cool tail buddies for?” Tangle winked, and Tails felt his smile grow. “So, what’cha workin’ on? You said something about a rocket launcher? Please tell me you have a rocket launcher.”

“Not yet,” Tails said, and Tangle’s shoulders slumped in exaggerated disappointment. “But I have been working on a few other things, like a new set of prototype missile gauntlets.”

Tangle sat straight up in her chair, eyes shining. “Missile gauntlets?”

“Yeah—well, I was thinking about Knuckles, you know? He’s a brawler, so he specializes in close-quarters combat. But Eggman knows that, so if he sent badniks to Angel Island, they’d probably be ones that are built for long-range combat.”

As he spoke, Tails hopped off his stool and crossed the room to the workbench along the back wall, where the prototype gauntlets—having just had the finishing touches put on them the night before—sat. Tangle followed close at his heels, her eyes the size of dinner plates.

“So just in case he gets attacked by long-range badniks and we’re not near enough to help, I figured these might be able to give him an extra boost. They can function like normal gauntlets in close-range combat, but if he presses this button here by curling his wrist—” Tails indicated a button on the inside cuff, “—then it’ll deploy missiles from the knuckles of the gauntlet, here.” He tapped his fingers along small, barely visible missile compartment doors along each of the four knuckles. “Of course, right now each gauntlet only holds four missiles, so it’s not exactly practical for a long fight, and I haven’t figured out how best to reload them, especially since Knuckles isn’t exactly the greatest with technology, but—”

“Those. Are so. Cool!” Tangle squealed, and Tails jumped yet again, his tails spinning this time to keep him a few inches off the ground until his heart rate slowed. “Can I see them in action? Can I try them out?! Please, please can I try them out?!”

“Well, I made them for Knuckles, so they’re a bit big, but . . .” Tails eyed Tangle’s clasped hands, and then her pleading eyes and wobbling lower lip. He grinned. “Gimme ten minute to adjust the size, and then we can go out to the target range out back.”

Tangle let out another delighted squeal, and scooped him up in a bear hug. For the second time in under five minutes, Tails felt his feet leave the ground. “Woohoo! You’re the best, Tails!”

Tails laughed as she set him back on his feet, his own tails swishing behind him. “Heheh, well . . . I try.”

- - -

It wasn’t too uncommon for there to be reports of explosions in the general vicinity of Tails’ Mystic Ruins workshop. Tails was a super genius, but he was a super genius who often worked with explosive materials and way too much electrical charge, and so every now and then, things were bound to get a little explode-y. So when there was talk of an occasional kaboom heard in the Mystic Ruins, Sonic didn’t usually get too worried.

But sometimes it wasn’t just one kaboom. Sometimes it was multiple kabooms. And when those multiple kabooms were accompanied by talks of missiles and rockets and lots of yelling . . . that’s when Sonic’s quills got set on edge.

It wasn’t in his nature to panic right away. Multiple kabooms, rockets, and yelling didn’t necessarily mean that Eggman had decided to strike again, targeting Tails’ workshop directly this time. But when Sonic tried calling and got voicemail—well, that still didn’t necessarily mean Tails was in danger. Maybe he was just caught up in whatever he was working on, and didn’t hear his communicator beep. So Sonic tried again, and once more, got voicemail. And when he tried a third time . . .

Well, he didn’t try a third time. Kabooms, missiles, yelling, voicemail. All four things combined meant it was time to pay the Mystic Ruins workshop a visit.

Fortunately, he wasn’t too far away. He made it to Tails’ home in record time, picking up the pace when he caught sight of the wispy spirals of smoke rising in the sky from Mystic Ruins’ border. As he wound his way through the Ruins, he spied no badniks—but then, that was probably intentional. Ol’ Egghead was probably laying a trap. Not a very good one, considering how fast word spread that something was going down in Mystic Ruins, and how obvious the smoke was visible against the sky, but—

Another explosion rent the air, and rocked the earth enough so that Sonic stumbled as he reached Tails’ front door. Immediately following, he heard a whoop of delighted laughter from behind the workshop.

He blinked, and stood up straight. Was that . . . Tangle?

Seeing as how nothing seemed to be happening inside the lab, Sonic looped around to the back, where Tails’ outdoor testing area and target range was. Upon reaching the back, three things immediately became clear:

One: His ID of the voice he heard was correct; Tangle was indeed in what remained of Tails’ backyard.

Two: Tails was just fine, and not under attack at all. He had his tablet in hand, and was surveying the wreckage with a grin from his vantage point up in the air.

And three: Rebuilding the testing area was not going to be fun.

To say it was in ruins was an understatement. Every single target, from the ones that had been pinned to the trees, to the stationary standees, to the ones that Tails had built into moving tracks in the ground, had been blasted apart in some form or another. There were little embers smoldering in the grass in different parts of the yard. Several trees had been knocked over. A pair of rickies were staring at the carnage with horrified awe from the roof of Tails’ workshop.

Tangle spotted Sonic as he rounded the corner, and while she had already been sporting a manic grin, her smile somehow grew even wider as her hand shot into the air and she waved at him. “Hey Sonic! What’s up?!”

“Seems like that’s what I should be asking you,” Sonic said, as Tails swooped down to land beside him. Sonic raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at Tails. “Some people were saying they heard explosions out this way, so I figured I’d swing by to take a look. Everything okay?”

“Yeah! Tangle’s just helping me test some new gear,” Tails said, as Tangle zipped over to them at speeds Sonic didn’t know she was capable of. She still wasn’t on his level, of course, but he did have to step out of the way as she blazed by, a trail of fire sparking on the grass behind her.

“Rocket boots,” Tangle said, before Sonic had a chance to ask. Her eyes were shining brighter than a pair of suns, and she pumped her fists in front of her. “He made rocket boots!”

Sonic laughed. “No kidding?”

“They’re for Shadow,” Tails explained, and he held out his tablet so Sonic could glance over the schematics on the screen. “I know his are still in okay shape, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be better. And I’ve added extra propulsion to these ones to add more force to his kicks. You know, since he likes to kick people.”

“He does like doing that,” Sonic agreed.

“I mean, who knows when we’ll see him again. But if something does happen, I figure it might be nice to give him a boost. You know, as thanks for helping us out. I’m thinking about making some for his Chao, too, so it can keep up with him.”

“Not sure he wants to be bringing that little guy into battle. Though you never know, maybe Cream and Cheese’ll inspire him.”

“Right? So it won’t hurt to be prepared, just in case.”

“Okay, as absolutely freaking adorable as the idea of Chao rocket boots sounds, I’m ready to try out the next thing,” Tangle said, already slipping out of the rocket boots she’d lit the grass on fire with. “You got anything else, little guy? Please tell me you have something else. You’ve gotta have something else.”

“Hmm . . .” Tails tapped his finger to his chin in thought, and then grinned. “You know, I did finish a prototype for a magnet gun last week. It works by using magnetism to attract and repel metal, theoretically turning anything used against us into possible ammunition to—”

“Is it in the same area of your workshop as the other things?” Tangle interrupted, eyes bright. Tails nodded, and Tangle pumped her fist into the air. “Heck yes! I’m on it!” With that, she turned and dashed back into the lab.

Sonic shook his head, smiling as he watched her go, and then looked back at Tails. Tails was already skimming through the schematics on his tablet again, no doubt searching for the magnet gun’s folder so he could make notes based on Tangle’s tests. Now that he knew the workshop wasn’t under attack, his quills settled back into a more relaxed position, his heartrate returning to its usual fast, but not supercharged. Tails was safe. He was having fun with Tangle. His yard was destroyed, but they could deal with that later. Sonic would help, and he would only be a little melodramatic about it.

But it seemed like everything they had tested so far was some kind of weapon. Even the boots for Shadow—didn’t Tails say something about adding more firepower to them, to help Shadow in combat? And a magnet gun, while it didn’t have ammunition of its own . . .

So much had happened so fast. Eggman had successfully taken over the world, and kept Sonic in captivity for six months, during which Tails was alone. Then not long after that, Metal Sonic had tried to take the Master Emerald, and the world with it. Then there was the Metal Virus pandemic, and the incident at White Park . . .

Sonic loosely crossed his arms, his head tilted as he examined Tails. Tails was still scanning through the blueprints on his tablet, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth.

He was such a smart, strong, brave kid. But he was also, well . . .

“Hey,” Sonic said, and Tails looked up, his ears perked in question. “You doing okay?”

“Huh?” Tails blinked, as though caught off-guard, and for a second—just a second, so quick Sonic almost missed it—it looked like something clouded his eyes. But then he smiled as the door to his workshop opened again, Tangle bounding back out into the yard. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

Something was there. Sonic didn’t know what it was, but he did know he didn’t like it. Tails was so smart, and strong, and brave. But . . .

“No reason,” Sonic said. “Hey, doesn’t that new AGES game come out this weekend? How about we give it a spin?”

Tails grinned, and wagged his tails in a hard enough circle that he lifted a little off the grass. “Really? You want to?”

“Definitely,” Sonic said, and he grinned as Tails beamed, and did a delighted little loop in the air.

“All right, I’ve got the gun,” Tangle said, and Sonic took a step back as she hefted a heavy, dark blue-grey weapon in her hands. Once again, her smile was manic; it was not at all hard to believe that she had destroyed all the targets in the yard with glee. “Show me how to work this thing!”

“You got it!” Tails dropped back down to the grass, and leaned closer to Tangle as he started to give her a detailed run-down of the gun: the trigger mechanism, magnetism strength modification slider, the whole works. Sonic shook his head, and as Tangle nodded fervently along with Tails’ instructions, bounded up onto the roof to sit beside the rickies and watch the chaos that was about to unfold.

Tails was a smart, strong, and brave kid. But he also was still a kid. More specifically still, he was—and always would be, no matter how old they got—Sonic’s kid brother.

Tails indicated a hunk of scrap metal on the other side of the yard. Tangle took aim and fired. The magnet gun’s magnetic beam worked as intended; it secured the scrap metal in a vibrating grasp, and propelled it straight back at Tangle at alarming speed. Heeding Tails’ shouted warning, Tangle spun herself in several circles, swinging the scrap metal around her, before she released it and sent it flying. It crashed clear through a tree, and made a strong dent in the tree behind it. Tails, delighted, saved the video on his tablet as Tangle crowed in triumph.

No matter how much he wished he could, Sonic couldn’t stop the bad things from happening. And no matter what he said, he knew he couldn’t make Tails feel like he could slow down on making an armory big enough to outfit the entire world—at least, not for long. But whatever nightmares bugged Tails at night, or spurred him to develop new guns and rockets during the day . . . well, maybe Sonic couldn’t dispel them completely, but a chill weekend of video games and junk food definitely couldn’t hurt.

Tails retrieved the scrap metal and set it out so Tangle could give the magnet gun another go, and Sonic leaned back comfortably against the roof to watch the show.