If your Twitter feed is at all video games or character art adjacent, there’s a pretty high probability you’ve seen art of Sonic the Hedgehog characters walking into various stores and emerging decked out in accessories that embody both the character and the store they entered. The Sonic the Hedgehog fandom has never been a stranger to extremely specific trends and themes. Part of that is because of just how large its following is, but the all-ages series has also been a pillar of a lot of fans lives at multiple points of their development. So it’s pretty common to see the blue blur and all his friends as part of some wild fan art. But Sonic characters walking into a store and leaving glammed up is a relatively tame, wholesome trend. And it all started with a drawing of Shadow the Hedgehog walking into a Claire’s.

Shadow the hedgehog walking into claire’s pic.twitter.com/Y8TQlGTVrd

— ama ???????????? (@Amasc0met) April 29, 2022

Ama, or @Amasc0met on Twitter, tells Fanbyte they drew the Ultimate Life Form headed into Claire’s without any specific inspiration. Though, they say Shadow’s characterization in the Sonic Twitter Takeovers may have played a part in conception of the idea. These are Twitter Q&A’s where voice actors from the series answer questions sent in by fans, and are often silly, memey, and based in the banter between actors. So even as Sega has done some heinous things to Shadow the Hedgehog in recent years, these takeovers have given fans a chance to see him in a sillier light. Ama says this is why they chose to give Shadow some cute accessories in their follow-up drawing, such as heart-shaped glasses, rainbow bracelets, and a little backpack. All of which are real merchandise available at Claire’s.

“I think the real answer is a lot of us had really edgy phases where we were broody but still liked super cute things,” Ama says. “I like interpreting Shadow being the same way. All the items are real things at Claire’s. There’s a rainbow backpack covered in like emeralds or diamonds. It felt perfect.”

Update: shadow the hedgehog has emerged from the claire’s pic.twitter.com/bzqBhy09wa

— ama ???????????? (@Amasc0met) April 30, 2022

While the final product of Shadow’s shopping spree was posted a little over a day later, a lot happened between the setup and the punchline. Ama’s art went viral, and spawned a new trend in the Sonic fandom. Ama hadn’t intended to draw Shadow in everything he bought at Claire’s for all of Twitter to see, and was planning to “draw him in a cute lil outfit just for [them] personally,” but the reaction prompted the follow-up.

“I was already in shock when it hit 1k, I’ll be real with you,” Ama says. “As soon as it hit 10k and just kept going my jaw was on the floor. I’ve had couple art pieces blow up quite a bit but nothing like this. And then seeing more people draw their faves walking into whatever store I was ecstatic.”

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Why Twitter Artists Keep Drawing Sonic Characters Walking into Stores

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