Once in a while, an Underdogs fan shows me something they did which adds to the series’ universe. I am always quite touched when someone does this and lets me know: as someone who used to write Sonic the Hedgehog fan fiction, I know how much of a compliment it is to the characters’ creators when someone cares about their work enough to express their appreciation creatively.
If you happen to have done any of your own fan works, please feel free to show me via Underdogs’ Facebook page (or to Chris Bonnello – Autistic Author on Facebook, or to Autistic Not Weird on Instagram)- and let me know if you want it posted here too!
Thanks a lot to everyone who has sent me these- each of you has made me very happy.
Chris Bonnello
Art works
Billie made this digital art piece of Ewan! As well as the amazing artistic talent, I also love the fact that she made it look so “Ewan-like”, despite there being deliberately few physical descriptors of him in the book.
And Billie’s even made this follow-up, which is also extremely Ewan-like – although much closer to who he becomes as the books progress. Just brilliant.
Julie made a welcome sign for Spitfire’s Rise, which makes me laugh – especially that last line.
And speaking of Oliver Roth… Jenny made this brilliant picture of him feeling contemplative during some down time.
happy_nd_lady on Instagram recently wrote a book recommendation for Underdogs, and drew this awesome picture of its cover as part of her review.
Mair made this absolutely beautiful piece of embroidery, which would fit right at home in Spitfire’s Rise.
Julie did an art piece and turned it Warhol-esque! (Original version in the bottom-right corner.)
And finally, seven-year-old Noah became the youngest person ever to draw Underdogs fan-art for me. The orange object in the corner is a podcopter!
Fan fiction
As an author who started off as a teenager writing Sonic the Hedgehog fan-fiction, I always feel deeply, deeply honoured when somebody writes Underdogs fanfiction. I see it as an enormous compliment. (Both stories, like everything else here, have been uploaded with permission.)
Lorraine, new to nursing, is called to a mysterious meeting with her Matron.
An Extra Tale of Ba Sing Se – Jenny Sweeney
An Underdogs/Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover… with Joseph McCormick and Uncle Iroh sharing a cup of tea together.
I would also like to give a warm appreciative shoutout to Cookies_and_Chaos for writing TEN pieces of Underdogs fanfiction at Archive Of Our Own (otherwise known as Ao3). Thank you so much.
Other works
James sent me a twelve-page storyboard for a theoretical Underdogs movie trailer! This is one of its pages, and the very fact that people are dreaming up movie trailers makes me excited for what may one day end up happening…
This here is a “litera-sea” from Caryn, where the sea in the picture is comprised of the artist’s favourite Underdogs quotes.
During the early stages of the 2020 lockdown, Sarah was listening to me reading through two chapters of Underdogs book one per night (the videos are here on YouTube). Given the large cast of characters – who are easier to keep up with in printed versions of the story but not necessarily in spoken versions – Sarah made this cheat sheet to refer back to and made it look pretty too!
And to finish off… Julie made a pair of Underdogs fan-trainers!!
Penguin sponsorship
Yes, you read that right. This is an old picture of the real-life Shannon, a yellow-eyed penguin in New Zealand who grew up and lived in the real-life Spitfire[‘s] Rise. Hoihos, or yellow-eyed penguins, are very much an underdog species themselves, surviving and thriving in Penguin Rescue’s sanctuary in the face of being endangered. Huge thanks to those who sponsored Shannon – it was hugely heartwarming to see.
And in a more recent update, Shannon is now with her second mate… who has now been sponsored himself by Sandy, and given the name “Ewan”! It is utterly beautiful to see a real-life Ewan and Shannon together. Can’t wait to see their chicks!
And a few lovely photos.
This, from Helen (who ironically has an autistic child called Ewan and a non-autistic child called Oliver!), made me laugh far, far more than it should have.
And thanks to Ilja, it turns out Underdogs makes a nice dog toy! …Hopefully not a chew toy though.
And finally, Jade sent me this lovely photo of Underdogs’ youngest fan: her three-year-old son who for many nights refused to go to bed without it! (Disclaimer, Underdogs is unsuitable for three-year-olds. Thankfully though, I don’t think he read it.)
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Again, if you happen to have done anything you’re happy to share with me, please feel free to contact me via Underdogs’ Facebook page (or to Autistic Not Weird on Instagram). Thanks again to everyone who has sent me all of these!