There is no shortage of Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction on the Internet. You take a quick look at the usual suspects - fanfiction.net, DeviantArt, Archive of Our Own - and it doesn’t take long to find thousands upon thousands of stories featuring that speedy blue hedgehog. Back in 1995, it was a far different story. Sonic fanfiction was scarce. There were a handful of authors who would step up to the plate, many of them being showcased in Bookshire Draftwood’s archive. Those early writers would go on to inspire others, but at the time, anyone who produced enough content in the small pond that was the World Wide Web would gain a degree of notoriety. Even if their skills could be called into question later.
That was the landscape in which David Gonterman wrote Blood and Metal. As mentioned elsewhere, the origins of these stories came from America Online, specifically their proprietary message board system. For a man who so loved classic roleplaying games as a kid, the chance to engage with like-minded individuals in a fresh, modern landscape made total sense. Creating the character “Davey Crockett,” it wasn’t long before his fan character joined the ranks of those AOL users, original hedgehogs and foxes fighting alongside Sonic and the Freedom Fighters in their quest to defeat the evil Dr. Robotnik.
As was the case for most Sonic fandom at the time, the focus of these mental exercises was not on the video game universe, but the world of Mobius as depicted in the Saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog show. When Gonterman wrote up the first part of Blood and Metal, it was a no brainer to keep it squarely in that landscape. And when it was released? It may seem surprising now, but the story was met with praise. Gonterman was embraced, encouraged to continue the tale. Heck, it wasn’t long before other burgeoning fanfic writers slipped Daveykins into their own Knothole adventures. For some, he was as ubiquitous as Commander Packbell or Sandra Nightweaver.
However, it wasn’t to last. By 1997, the people whom he had considered friends became turned off by his behavior. His relationship with Emily Smith had ended. His reaction to Princess Sally’s “death” in the Archie comic was met with utter confusion. The content of his stories were scrutinized, including the characterizations of his fellow roleplayers. Though he tried to remain relevant in the Sonic fandom with his fan comic Sonic: The Mobius Chronicles, as well as rehosting of the original Sonic resource page, it was too little, too late. The comic had its fair share of ridicule and contempt, and as the Internet grew, the old rat.org content just didn’t hold the same shine it once did.
During the later half of 1998, his Sonic fandom was buried in an old index of files, and by 1999, the “FoxFire Archive Whearhouse” was wiped from the Internet. Trying to disown his previous work, even the mention of Sonic from Davey was a rare sight.
At least, until he decided to try and rewrite it all...
When the Blood and Metal saga first began, the title of the series was simply that - Blood and Metal. However, as the original storyline wound down, the first seven parts were renamed Blood and Metal Alpha. This was to denote the end of the first “book” in the series, and that following “books” would have the next letter in the greek alphabet appear in the title. This was sidestepped with the release of Haunted Fantasies, and completely dropped with what could be called “book four,” Blood and Metal Restart.
If you assumed Gonterman only worked alone, you’d be wrong. In addition to being inspired by those he roleplayed with, David also teams up with a number of his fellow AOL compatriates, writing a number of stories that helped flesh out the world of Blood and Metal.
The world of Blood and Metal was not written by Gonterman alone. Those who were part of the AOL Toon Talk message boards, and beyond, also chose to write adventures featuring Davey Kintobor as a Freedom Fighter. Many of those stories ended up on the original Foxfire Studios website. Courtesy of the now defunct ETEXT Archives.
Sometimes, a story would be released that David Gonterman would seize upon, utilizing its concepts in his own work. A smattering are below.
For the uninitiated, guides were created of the many characters swirling about in the world of BAM. Both by the hand of Gonterman and the fans, these are what remain.