=Scade=

To me, the character with the most influence on Sonic's morals and upbringing has always been his Uncle Chuck. I see the same in both Moebius and the No Zone! While I'm slowly making character refs for small comics I plan to do to accompany the au, I figured starting with the "Chucks" would be the best approach 😂

Prime Uncle Chuck bears no changes to what lore has been established already for him (go read/watch about him!! He rocks!!). He's an incredibly intelligent scientist, inventor, and older brother to Jules Hedgehog. He was knighted by the crown for his services to the Acorn Kingdom. He took in his nephew, Sonic, after Jules's accident in the Great War and roboticization, and raised him to be a kind-hearted force of good to protect the people of Mobius just as him and Jules had dedicated their lives to.

Moebius's Charles Hedgehog, formerly Master Mason to the Kingdom of Acorn, is a semi-exiled member of the royal circle that once assisted King Maxx in constructing the very walls of his castle. He's a master at his craft, specializing in architecture and dabbling in rudimentary mechanics. After being accused of plotting a mutiny against the king for his own selfish gains, he was nearly chased from the kingdom. Though, because of his younger brother's close relations and service to the Acorns, he was able to secure a deal to reside in the castle's dungeons to continue his service to the crown from the shadows. Charles is the brains behind Jules's success in politics, though he resents his brother for his cowardice and lesser intelligence. Often, Jules's son, Ogilvie, was dumped on him to watch while his father tended to his duties. Charles grew close to the boy merely to spite his brother and taught him everything Jules neglected to teach him about, like how to fight and intimidate. He gave Ogilvie his first jacket and shades. On the surface, Ogilvie looked up to Charles and saw him as the only relative who truly loved him. Charles never really reciprocated that, exploiting that belief purely for his own whims.

Warden Zhuck of the No Zone is one of the few appointed Wardens to man the various jail facilities within the Zone. He's very hard-headed and renowned for his ability to enforce the intended ideals of containment and rehabilitation upon captured criminals. He is also responsible for the invention of the trans-zonal television screens often seen within the facilities. While technically retired, he serves as a mentor for newer recruits, such as his younger brother Zules's son, Zonic. Zhuck has an incredibly close bond with his brother and is, at first, a very patient and knowing mentor to Zonic. Following Zules's death, however, he loses that kindness and falls into a stony depression, becoming far more strict towards Zonic in means to prevent any chance of accident befalling him too. The majority of Zonic's stoicism and strict adherence to the No Zone stems from Zhuck's treatment when raising him.

On a side note, I'm about to reach a huge milestone here on this account!! Thank you so much to everyone who've supported my art and writing here! It means the world to me to finally find a space to share what I make. I don't think I've ever interacted with such a kind and supportive part of this community before, and it's been a really huge motivational boost to continue to do what I love. Thank you so much for all of your kindness!!💚

Scuff has a tendency to stick out his tongue when either very relaxed or feeling a big emotion that he doesn't fully understand. He eventually breaks the habit as he gets older, though it occasionally slips through...

Enter... Zhadow and Zouge!

Upcoming exams have been draining me of all my free time, but in the meantime, I've been doing a lot of writing for the side characters in my au. They're not in it for long, but for whatever reason they now have more developed lore than the main plot💀

A lot of people seem to headcanon Zhadow as an attorney in the No-Zone (I assume because of @chauvel 's amazing comic!!!) but I've liked to humor the idea that he's also a therapist alongside Zouge! I've had some concepts for a while, and it seems about time that I've gotten around to finalizing them.

Omega's No-Zone counterpart is Zeta! He's essentially a glorified polygraph machine. I still need to work out some details with him-

CW: Mentions of blood and suicide below

I've been doing a lot of writing on Zhadow, specifically regarding his version of Maria and Gerald, and how he ended up employed at the No-Zone prison in the first place. Since Zonic canonically doesn't have super speed, I've adopted the notion that ALL No-Zone occupants have something negated from their Prime counterparts. For instance, Zouge has a serious case of butterfingers as opposed to being a master thief! This Zhadow isn't as in-tune to Chaos energy as his Prime counterpart is. He can't use Chaos control or many of the other Chaos abilities.

Zaria was still very sick in this Zone, yet her case of NIDS was much more severe than Prime Maria's. She suffered from insomnia, very serious hallucinations, and was prone to violent outbursts because of such. She had none of Prime Maria's compassion and was rather a very paranoid and wistful individual.

Her grandfather, Zerald, was a great inventor like Gerald was, though most of his innovations came in the form of containment units rather than weapons. He designed the original blueprint of what'd eventually become the No Zone prison. He went mad amidst his creations, mostly due to the fact that he knew that his beloved granddaughter would inevitably be housed within one of them if her condition did not improve. Desperate, he created the ARK as a way to separate Zaria from all the stresses of Earth and to contain her before she had the chance to do any harm.

Zhadow was created to be Zaria's only friend and confidant. After extensive research on alien life, Zerald assumed that the Black Arms' advanced intellect would lend assistance in his goal to figure out the workings of his granddaughter's mind before it was too late. He trained Zhadow in all forms of psychology and therapy so he'd have the proper toolset to help Zaria, but it hadn't shown much success. Zhadow considered Zaria to be a friend, and wanted nothing more than to see her well as Zerald wanted, but Zaria became haunted by visions of less friendlier Black Arms when she'd see him.

Eventually, catastrophe occurred. Rather than GUN agents breaking into the ARK, it was Zaria herself who caused the tragedy. After suffering from a particularly vibrant and violent vision, she snapped and murdered Zerald as he'd tried to help her out of it. Distraught after realizing what she'd done, she took her own life, leaving Zhadow alone with the aftermath.

Zhadow was traumatized by the events but vowed to carry on Zerald's wishes to help those who needed it, like Zaria. He made a promise to never let such a mistake happen ever again.

Presently, Warden Zobotnik tracked Zhadow down after assuming command of the No-Zone prison. Obsessed with control, he figured that employing the Zone's highest regarded therapist would do well for his inmates' rehabilitation. Zhadow is selective, however, and only chooses to take clients that he deems need it the most. He's incredibly good at his job despite appearing closed-off and apathetic on the outside. He took Rouge under his wing after she, too, was hired and helped to train her to manage general group therapy sessions with the inmates.

Of course! I'd be honored! It makes me so happy that people like him 💚

Who's better to learn parenting from than another version of yourself? Totally won't have any unintentional consequences...

The interaction came to me randomly, haha- It felt like a crime NOT to doodle it...

Absolutely!! While I haven't read the entirety of Archie yet, I've read every issue featuring his story specifically, as well as other characters I like write with, like Zonic. I've certainly taken some liberties and filled in gaps with headcanons, but for the most part, I always prefer to stick as close to canon as possible when making justifications on characters. Alongside the comics, I've also taken into consideration Ian and Kyle's old version of their Bumblekast podcast. While not explicitly canon, they've spoken on what was intended for his character, at least. The au I'm currently writing is actually based on a question they answered there!

Archie is most definitely a trip, haha😅 I've found myself skipping around the Echidna lore parts for now, as they're a little hard to fully absorb at first, but my goal is to eventually go back and read everything 100% in order. Same with the other series, like Sonic the Comic and IDW!

Scuff predominantly is presented as a hedgehog, though he's a hybrid of an unknown mix. He has fluffier fur and more pointed ears. Scuff is selectively mute and is suspected to have alexithymia due to the circumstances of his earliest formative years. As a consequence, he's developed a wide, blank stare that unfortunately tends to unsettle others.

At heart, he's a curious soul who cares a lot about those who've grown closest to him.

Abandoned by his mother on Mobius-37, he was somewhat taken in by local townsfolk after they discovered him buried in a large pile of rubble. Despite their best efforts, the boy refused to leave the rubble and would bite and scratch at anyone who attempted to lift him out. This earned him the name "Scuffle," or "Scuff," for short. Not wanting him to starve or freeze, several kindly townsfolk would leave out food and blankets near the pile that he'd thankfully take when no one was looking.

The Zone Corps were dispatched to Mobius-37 in pursuit of a dangerous criminal about a year after Scuff's arrival. Zonic, the head of that particular dispatch faction, took notice of Scuff in the rubble pile right before he was about to leave after the criminal was apprehended. He chose to stay behind, feeling that it was his duty to ensure that the child was safe from harm. After removing his helmet to coax Scuff out, he was surprised when the boy suddenly clung onto him and didn't let go. Zonic was the first hedgehog Scuff had seen, as none lived in the town.

No one stepped forward to claim ownership of the child. His parents simply didn't exist in the Zone. Zonic couldn't bring himself to leave Scuff without a family and resolved to use what resources the No Zone had to help locate them. He decided to take Scuff under his wing in the meantime, seeing as he was the only person the boy seemed to be comfortable around.

Unfortunately, the only DNA database that Zonic had access to was No Zone's prisoner profiles. On a whim, he decided to test Scuff against it anyway, not expecting any results. Needless to say, it came as quite a shock to the Cop as soon as the test returned with an almost 100% match to a certain green hedgehog he was familiar with...

I have a confession to make...

Clutch may be baby.

That is all.

He's literally only on four pages, the poor thing-

Aaaand bonus preview of these two dudes because I'm very happy so far with how they're turning out!! I can't wait to finish the whole piece!