I honestly think 90% of the storyline issues in Sonic Forces could have been fixed if they'd made Tails the player character.

So obsessed with the first Sonic Prime season 2 episode that I almost forgot

HAPPY WHOLESOME SONIC AND TAILS WEDNESDAY!

Here's a little art I made of Classic Sonic and Tails keeping each other safe while camping out:

Happy Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesday!

I wanted to share a cute little oneshot I wrote about Sonic and Tails not long after they first started wandering around together. This story is based on/inspired by @skimmingmilk's wonderful origin story "Chart a Course to Second Chances" from their Sometimes the Picket Fence Isn't Perfect series. I loved the portrayal of Classic Sonic's mutism and Tails's backstory and trauma. This oneshot is mostly just fluff, though. Enjoy!

A Little Fox with Messy Fur

It had been a busy day. Sonic and Tails had destroyed a whole batch of Eggman robots and chased him out of a nearby town. Now they were making their way back to their latest campsite in the woods.

Tails gestured to a small creek they were walking past and made splashy motions and sounds. He liked to swim around to relax sometimes. Sonic's chest tightened slightly at the thought of water, but he nodded and they walked over. Anything for his buddy. It wasn't deeper than wading height, even for little Tails, but Sonic still opted to stay on the bank while he jumped in and splashed around.

Sonic kept a sharp eye on him to make sure he didn't end up in any trouble. Honestly, Tails was probably a better swimmer than him. Mostly since he couldn't swim at all. But something could still happen.

Tails soon grew tired of splashing and finished by rubbing out his fur a bit in the water, something akin to a bath without soap. He crawled out of the creek and shook vigorously. Sonic jumped out of the splash zone, wrinkling his nose. Water. Bleah.

Tails wrung himself out. Once he was sure there was no more threat of getting wet, Sonic reached into his backpack and pulled out their shared towel. Tails was content to let Sonic rub him dry.

As he dried his little buddy, Sonic noticed how tangled up his fur was getting. A few tufts came off in the towel, which was... probably normal? It was shedding season. At least, he thought so. That really only applied to animals with fur, so he wasn't sure. He occasionally lost and grew back quills, but he didn't really shed.

Sonic frowned as he finished drying him. The "bath" really hadn't done much good. Tails's fur was too matted to really clean it well. Even when Sonic had first met the little guy, his fur had been dirty and matted.

How long had he been on his own before Sonic came along?

Sonic paused. He'd never thought about how hard fox fur must be to take care of. His own quills were quick to bounce back into place with a shake or two. Sometimes things got stuck in them, little twigs or leaves or debris, and then he'd have to sit and pick them out, but besides that his pelt was pretty low-maintenance.

Tails, on the other hand... he looked a little scruffy. Part of that was that his fur was now sticking out in all sorts of directions from Sonic's rubdown. But even in general, all the robot battling and sleeping in the woods was taking its toll.

Well, if his little friend needed more care, he'd just have to help him out. No one else was looking after him, so he'd made that his job until he could find someone else. Someone who'd be able to care for him right.

Truth be told, he didn't really want to think that far ahead. He would miss the little whir flying along behind him.

He shook his head. This wasn't the time to worry about that. Right now he needed to get this taken care of. He motioned Tails to follow him towards a village he'd spotted on his last scouting run. Surely they could buy a fur brush there.

Tails trotted happily along beside him, making little noises to himself. Some of them sounded almost like words. Sonic felt a small pang as he realized that surely the toddler should be talking by now. Maybe if he had a real family, someone who talked to him, he'd have picked it up already.

Sonic hadn't talked in a while. He didn't really feel like it, although he kept up such a loud monologue in his head it felt like spilling over a lot. But even when he tried, he found his voice just wouldn't come. Part of it was that people overwhelmed him a little. They asked too many questions and never seemed to like his answers for some reason. Part of it was everything he'd been through with Eggman. He hated to admit it, but yeah, having to deal with all the horrid stuff Eggman put him through was a lot for an eleven-year-old.

But Tails should have a chance to talk. Maybe Sonic'd try a little harder to get the words to come out. Sometimes he almost felt like he could speak around him. It was the first time he'd felt truly comfortable with someone.

They reached the village. As they got closer, Tails slowed and cowered behind him. Sonic understood. He wasn't super keen to be around a lot of people either. Plus, he knew Tails hadn't really had great experiences with others. When he'd met him, some older kids were bullying him, and he'd had to step in to stop it. Even after the kit started following him around, it took a while to get him to actually come close, or to let him touch him at all. Now Sonic could give him gentle shoulder pats or fur ruffles or even carry him sometimes, but they were still working on it.

Speaking of... Sonic paused to look at Tails, still hiding behind him. He wouldn't make him go into the village if he was scared, but he also knew he didn't like being out of his sight for long. Maybe... He held out his paw and grinned. Tails smiled a bit and put his own tiny paw in his, a little reassurance that Sonic'd be looking after him. They walked into the village together, making their way to the square.

Once they'd walked around a bit, Tails felt safe enough to let go of his hand and wander around a tiny bit. He got distracted by some sort of organizing machine nearby. Sonic chuckled internally. By the time he'd finished shopping, Tails would probably have the whole machine figured out and could build his own. He was such a smart little dude.

Sonic made sure to keep an eye on him as he wandered through the market stands. He still had to make sure no one would mess with his friend. If they did, well... there would be trouble.

He finally spotted a brush at one of the stands. He waved to get the attention of the person who ran it and motioned to the brush. He also decided to grab a comb, just in case. Maybe it'd help him with his quills too.

He gave the guy a handful of rings and glanced back at Tails, who was still watching the machine in awe. Sonic started to walk over to him, but paused. He still had some rings... and he'd walked by a stand selling candy a few minutes ago. He grinned. While Tails was still distracted, he bought a small bag of mints. They were the kit's favorite treat. He tucked them away before Tails could see. It'd make a nice surprise later.

He waved to Tails and motioned him to follow. They left the village. Tails bounced happily along, moving his fingers and drawing in the air to make what looked like could be math equations? He was probably still figuring out the machine and making plans to improve it.

Man, if only everyone knew how awesome he was, he'd have folks lining up to give him a home. It was so stupid how no one could see past his extra tail.

They got back out to their campsite. Tails sat down in an soft patch of grass. Sonic pulled out the fur brush and held it up. Tails' eyes flickered between him and the brush and he pulled back a bit, curling his knees to his chest. Had he ever seen one before? Maybe it looked threatening. Sonic smiled reassuringly and mimed brushing his own quills. See? It's okay.

Tails remained curled up, but he relaxed a little. Sonic knelt down beside him and reached out with the brush slowly. He intended to give it him and let him use it, but the kit simply stared, making no move to take it. Right. He was still a toddler. He probably didn't really know how to do it himself anyways.

Sonic softly touched the brush against his shoulder. Tails eyed it suspiciously and pulled away from the contact. Sonic pulled the brush back, and gave him another friendly grin and a thumbs-up. Tails relaxed and allowed him to reach the brush out again.

Sonic touched the brush against him again. Once Tails was okay with it, he moved the brush over his fur slightly. Tails stared curiously as he ran the brush down his arm a few times before moving to his back. Within moments, Tails was purring and leaning into the brush like a kitten getting petted. Sonic smiled.

It took a bit, but the tangles started coming out. Sonic had to slow down for the really knotty bits, switching to the comb for some parts. Tails was surprisingly patient with the process, especially when Sonic made little motions to let him know he was getting to a rough spot so the tug wouldn't surprise him.

As he reached Tail's tails, the little fox pulled away. He clutched them tightly against his chest, staring at Sonic with his forehead furrowed.

Oh yeah. He was very protective of his tails. Sonic'd seen the bullies yanking on them when he'd first rescued him. Even now people looked at them funny. To be fair, it was unique, but that was no excuse for anyone to be mean to him.

Sonic stepped back, nodding to show him he'd respect his boundaries. Tails glanced down, then stared up at Sonic with complete and utter trust in his eyes. He uncurled slowly and moved his tails where Sonic could reach them. Sonic smiled. He'd be extra careful.

He finished brushing him and stepped back to survey his work. Still not perfect, but definitely better. He didn't look like a stray anymore. He looked like someone was taking care of him.

Sonic grinned and gave Tails a thumbs up. Tails looked down at himself and ran his fingers through his fur. They didn't snag or anything.

Tails smiled at him. "T'anks!"

Sonic almost jumped at the first real word he'd heard him speak. He was picking things up. Good for him!

He wanted to reply, to say something, anything back. His lips formed the words "You're welcome," but no sound came out. He bit back a feeling of disappointment and tried again. This time, something did come out. It wasn't words, and it stung his throat a little, but it was a noise. A cheerful grunt. And it was more than he'd said in a long time.

Tails blinked his big eyes. A tiny purr rumbled in his chest. He'd seemed to understand that Sonic was pleased with his speaking. Sonic gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up and pulled out the bag of mints. Now was as good a time as any.

Tails squeaked and happily sat back to stuff the candy in his mouth. Sonic grinned. Man, he loved this little guy.

Wait, love?

Oh shoot.

He was attached now.

For today's Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesday, may I present:

Tails having friends doesn't mean he's not autistic, or, How Having Zero Social Skills Will Accidentally Get You Adopted

Okay so I read a comment by someone basically saying that Tails can't be autistic because he has social skills and I? just? can't?

First off, yes, autistic people can have social skills. While it is a common symptom to not understand "normal" social cues, autism is a spectrum, and some autistic people have skills which others don't. Along with that, many autistics have learned to mask and imitate neurotypical behavior because of being bullied/punished when they act differently, or because they're trying so hard to fit in. So that in of itself is not proof someone isn't autistic.

Second, where are you getting that Tails has social skills?

Tails doesn't have social skills. Tails has FRIENDS. There's a difference.

You might ask, "How can someone make friends without having social skills?" Well for starters, I think there are a lot of decent people who are willing to be accepting of people who have a little trouble with social skills.

But the main reason Tails has made so many friends without social skills is that NO OTHER CHARACTER IN THIS WHOLE FRANCHISE HAS ANY. Most of the characters are neurodivergent coded, and even those who aren't still have zero social skills. You're telling me that in a world with Sonic the ADHD king, Knuckles the "a punch in the face is a warning" Echidna, and freaking Shadow, Tails is the one going to have trouble making friends? The entire Sonic the Hedgehog crew has exactly one social skill between them, and generally Amy has it. The characters just understand that people have trouble socializing. Maybe that's why they found each other. In my experience, we "odd" people tend to flock to each other. And once we've formed our weird little groups, who needs social skills?

But to show that Tails has very little social skills (and to prove you don't need them) let's analyze his first interaction with Sonic.

To start with, before meeting Sonic, Tails is just wandering around alone and bullied. Little guy, all alone, can't make a friend to save his life.

And then comes Sonic.

Depending on the version of backstory we're looking at, we have:

Tails spots Sonic, decides he's cool, and starts following him around until he finds his plane, which he then fixes and repaints without asking. Sonic shows up and is like, cool, you can come with.

Or Tails being bullied, Sonic runs by and stops it, and then again Tails just starts following him around until Sonic decides he can come with.

And the there's the movie version, where Tails, who's been remotely spying on Sonic for a years, shows up and HITS KNUCKLES WITH A STOLEN POLICE CAR, tells Sonic to jump in, and Sonic does because he's afraid for his life, upon which Tails proceeds to excitedly rant about how excited he is because he's literally meeting his special interest.

Also the version where Tails just falls on Sonic's head:

Does any of this scream "social skills" to you?

And in all these situations Sonic, who has zero social skills himself, just adopts him on the spot because that's just... who he is? This dude just wants to help everyone. Half his friend group have introduced themselves by trying to kill him, but he's willing to make friends anyway. And then those friends become Tails's friends, because he and Sonic give off classic "extrovert adopting an introvert" vibes (I'm not sure that Sonic is actually an "extrovert", but he's def. more open and better at making friends).

TL;DR: Having social skills doesn't make you not autistic, but even if it does, Tails doesn't have social skills, he just has a great big bro and a group of people with even less social skills than him

IT'S WHOLESOME SONIC AND TAILS WEDNESDAY! 🥰

Today I'd just like to recognize the absolutely awesome ADHD/Autism solidarity between Sonic and Tails. They are my favorite ADHD/Autism duo EVER and they are just so sweet and supportive of each other and such perfect brothers.

I specifically wanted to point out how they are aware of each other's Special Interests and find ways to support each other

Example 1: Sonic realizing Tails is about to go into full-blown Special Interest Chaos Mode over finding an entire robot society (Scrapnik Island comic miniseries)

Just look at that endeared big bro grin ☺️

Example 2: Tails using his special interest (science and technology) to support Sonic's special interest (Gotta Go Fast). (Sonic Boom episode "Alone Again, Unnaturally")

Also may I point out the hyperfocusing here. I'm willing to bet none of them have taken a break except the time it takes to get Sonic bandaged up after each failed attempt 🤣

I'm sure there's tons of other examples but these are the first ones that came to my head. Anyway I love these bros and they are such great representation and have the best dynamic 🥰🥰🥰🥰