Hi. Sorry to bother you, i have a question. Do you still draw antoine? I love your stylistic take on him and wablnt to see him more along with his relationship with sonic and others. Cheers
I’m so glad you like the pretty boy!!!
Truthfully, I’ve been thinking about this guy and his interpersonal relationships for a good few years so I apologize if this comes out as a word vomit.
So, starting with Antoine’s most important and formative relationship, that’d probably be with Sally Acorn. I have so many pages of Sally’s own history and placement in my Archie and IDW mash up cesspool— but the basic gist is that they were best friends.
Sally protected him fiercely as children, and that most definitely fueled his infatuation for her. They grew up very close, with Antoine holding a torch for her all throughout. He was very much shy and highly insecure as a child, so he opted to better himself first before confessing.
Speed that up to now where they’re reunited and haven’t seen each other in YEARS. They’re not strangers by traditional means, but they struggle to connect. They both blame themselves for how the other turned out, and instead of effectively communicating that, they’re stuck in limbo.
Sally still thinks that Antoine needs her protection. She can’t separate him from that scared little kid, and thus is unintentionally condescending. Antoine desperately wants to be someone he’s not. His sense of self has been warped, beaten and bruised by Eggman’s war. He’s not deserving of anyone’s grace, much less a runaway princess.
Sonic and Antoine’s dynamic fascinates me. It’s banter, it’s teasing, it’s whatever. I love how easily they can get under each other’s skin.
I do make it pretty obvious that Sonic has an interest in Antoine. Not inherent feelings, or desire, just a slight curiosity. Sonic’s not experienced in crushes. I think he’d go overboard with his teasing, just to not give any hints of attraction.
I like a version of Antoine who’s SO desperate to be accepted that he’s just overly nice. I think that he would find Sonic annoying and even a little bit mean-spirited, but doesn’t make any meaningful attempt to engage with him. In his mind, Sonic is stepping down on him because he’s inherently weak and cowardly (both things that are definitely not true). And Sonic in turn, gets frustrated because most people would’ve fired back or blown up in response.
Overtime they’d probably figure that they have heavily skewed opinions of each other.
I wished that Rotor and Antoine had a closer dynamic in the comics lol. They scream platonic soulmates to me, idk why.
But yeah, opposites who are drawn to each other. Rotor’s cool-headedness is something that Antoine severely lacks. Antoine is someone with a lot of self-hatred and constantly doubts his abilities. He looks to other people for direction, which I think is why he and Rotor would mesh well together.
Rotor is someone who values his solitude very much. He doesn’t feel the need to make connections so he buries himself in his workshop. He relies solely on himself for emotional fulfillment which in the long term is exhausting. Antoine would very much seek his approval at first, but over time would grow to value their relationship.
All in this to say, they’re extremely close.
Also them unabashedly saying “I love you” just because is probably my most fave hc for them omg.
Antoine and Bunnie are very dear to me lol.
Them instilling the confidence and courage to be better people together is the sweetest shit. They’re comrade in arms, they’re partners in crime, they work so well together that the connection lingers even when they’re apart.
Antoine’s admires her very much. She’s everything he’s not: powerful, versatile, and most of all, brave. I think he’d even be envious of how easily she adjusts. I think he’d even resent her at first. Again, in Antoine’s overthinking mind, she’s his antithesis. He puts distance between them because to even suggest that their equal erodes his self-perception.
Bunnie very much enjoys Antoine’s company. He speaks a little funny, but so does she. And, of course, she’s in awe of his swordsmanship. She’d definitely be confused as to why he keeps her at arm’s length. She can tell he likes being with her, so why does he try to run away?
Now, these two had a very rocky start.
Tails definitely found him annoying and overly saturated. While, they share the same people-pleasing tendencies, I don’t think Tails would like how quick Antoine is to fawn for approval. Tails argues that earning respect comes from showing off/being competent rather than brown-nosing. It’d be a few uncomfortable years before the two developed a mutual respect and hesitant friendship.
I like Tails wanting attention/praise for his abilities and simultaneously hating himself for it. He feels the need to prove himself because he’s the youngster, an upstart, and people already talk down to him because he’s still a kid. He’s faster to let his guard down around Antoine. They’re both meticulous, they prefer order, they apply their lives to systems that other people might find… unconventional.
They might even find camaraderie in the masks they choose to wear.
Omg, best people together.
I love, love, love them as a combo. Amy’s hotheaded and passionate, but overall is very in touch to her own desires and feelings. She’s the unabashed face of pure love and compassion, which would absolutely earn Antoine’s admiration. Compare that to my poor French boy who represses his feelings so much, I love him following Amy’s example and learning to embrace his more bombastic emotions.
They’re both excellent cooks; Antoine’s specialty is spagonian cuisine while Amy loves to bake. They’d experiment together and swap recipes hehehe. And Amy being Amy, she’d clock just how much Antoine holds himself back. Which is why I think she’d really make an effort to hang out with him.
Hokay, this one is purely for my enjoyment.
Idk if I mentioned this, but my fave HUMAN character is probably Snively. Sue me, I like men who are wet cats. Though I did give him a significant redesign, someone younger and more good-hearted then the repeatedly failed anti-villain.
But yeah, these two have SUCH fuckin’ potential to be narrative foils to each other omg.
Antoine, whose more courageous then he lets on vs Snively whose more ruthless then he lets on. They both believe themselves to be cowards, they both have the worst case of “I hate myself” anyone’s ever seen. And while Antoine starts to unpack/break free, Snively is basically stuck in the company of Eggman (his abuser).
Eggman fulfills Snively’s assumptions about himself and gives him that special attention he craves. I could go into a whole other post of why Snively’s and Eggman’s dynamic fascinates me but anyway, Antoine projects himself onto Snively and naively believes that he can be saved (and perhaps he can, but that’s not up to poor Twan (> ~ <) ).
Snively, on the other hand, repeatedly shuts down Antoine’s attempts. He’s too afraid of Eggman to really consider his own feelings on the matter, but always goes out of his way to NOT hurt Antoine and anyone for that matter. Underneath his fear and complacency, he doesn’t like hurting people. He’s just a nurse, nothing more, nothing less.
Whew! This took a while, but I had fun ^^! Thank you so much for asking!!
