Stay Home With Sonic Fanzine

Purchase a copy of the zine here.

When covid-19 first brought the world to its knees, I was very lucky in that I was able to isolate at home for a while. During that time, I caught word of a group of fellow Sonic the Hedgehog fans looking to bring some positivity to those in crisis: A fanzine aimed toward entertaining and consoling those in crisis as a result of the pandemic, while also raising money for Doctors Without Borders via the cover charge. Given that this zine included written works and I obviously had a lot of time on my hands, I was eager to help with the cause.

Although the zine was obviously meant to be a fun project, it definitely wasn’t all fun and games. I first had to apply to participate at all, which included samples of my previous works for consideration. Thankfully I was approved to join, and was then given a list of guidelines for my role in this project. I had total freedom to use any characters or continuity within the Sonic franchise I wanted, but my story needed to relate to the pandemic in some way (preferably in a way that encourages good behavior in the reader). The project was scheduled to take three months in total, wherein I was required to check-in with moderators on my progress approximately every 30 days. The biggest hurdle of all, in my opinion, was the word count limit: Each writer had a maximum of 2,000 words to tell their story.

The word count limit was tight, but more than anything I considered it a good opportunity to exercise my storytelling management skills. I knew I could tell a story within that limit, without a doubt. Hell, I knew I could tell a really good story; the question was, could I accurately predict how much story I can tell within that limit? It was a challenge I was excited to take on.

My first step, of course, was to identify what exactly I even wanted to write about. I knew I wanted to hit on several well-known issues that’d arisen due to the way covid-19 changed our lives, because I wanted as many readers as possible to relate to the story I was going to tell, even if just in passing. I wanted to touch base on everything from having food delivered at home, to finding creative ways to communicate with neighbors, to the massive shortages in cleaning supplies, to the pressures felt by those in the service industry. I also wanted to acknowledge the problems many were experiencing with managing boredom and feelings of isolation, frustration at the lack of control over the situation, and the justified fears of those at high-risk. More than anything, however, I really wanted to show empathy for essential workers, and demonstrate just how chaotic and thankless their jobs are, and how we all contribute toward the endless demand for them to keep working without rest.

And somehow, I had to make all of that fun, too.

With my storytelling goals in mind, I brainstormed what characters would be most appropriate for each issue. This ultimately led to my decision to set the story in the Archie comic continuity. The core characters of this setting fit perfectly into the situations I wanted to write about, and they allowed me to reference other memes and elements within this branch of the franchise to give the story even more punch.

More than anything, however, my decision boiled down to a single character: Nicole. Although in SatAM she was only an AI with a voice, in the Archie continuity she could project a body for herself and physically interact with the other characters. I realized that, in a covid-like situation, Nicole would absolutely be the most essential worker, because she’s the only character for whom infection is impossible. That means she can interact with all of the other characters without being a carrier and can also perform any and all tasks. I imagined a situation wherein the rest of the cast is calling on Nicole constantly, over and over again, without realizing just how much they’re demanding of her time and attention.

The next challenge came in terms of pacing. I needed enough time for each beat to have a chance to land, but I couldn’t linger on any one situation for too long, or I’d risk using up too much of my 2,000 word limit. In a perfect world I probably would’ve fleshed out each beat with more detail, possibly exploring more of the points of view of the secondary characters, but I had to sacrifice that to keep moving forward. This ultimately culminates in the needs and demands of all of the characters colliding at once in the end, with Nicole so overwhelmed with work from so many sources that she literally can’t function anymore. In the end, it actually worked out really well that I couldn’t spare much time for each individual scene, because jumping from one to the next built a lot of momentum in leading up to the climax.

In the end, I successfully told the story I wanted to tell without having to cut any scenes. The final product balances between the seriousness of the issues we’re facing in real life to this day, but presents it in a format that we can use to escape from those very issues. The story is something that can be laughed at and lighten the mood, yet it still demonstrates just how inconsiderate a lot of pandemic behavior is to the people around us.

Please consider purchasing your own copy of the Stay Home With Sonic Fanzine to help us support Doctors Without Borders. The base price of the zine is $10, but buyers may increase that amount if they’d like to donate more!

 

Obligatory Legal Crap

Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters and settings are the property of Sega. All works contained within the Stay Home With Sonic Fanzine are the property of their respective creators, and may not be reposted anywhere without the express consent of said creators. Although the zine isn’t free, it is expressly non-profit, as all money earned goes to Doctors Without Borders; the individual creators have received nothing aside from the satisfaction of helping others.