#11) life with archie (both timelines)

[fernsnailz]

when did Tails become a wanted criminal? istg archie's timeline is bananas

you’re right about those bananas because the tails enemy of the state lore is kinda wacky wild!!

in terms of timeline, tails became a criminal in issues 178-179 which is nestled between a BUNCH of other crazy arcs (including my beloved tommy turtle sacrifice arc). however, all of the important context regarding HOW and WHY tails became an enemy of the state is a little all over the place. this is gonna be a long one

TL;DR: tails the fox helps overthrow a monarchy (sorta)

heads up i'm going to be spoiling most of the "tails enemy of the state" arc (aka House of Cards), so read it on your own if you're interested! it's a pretty good read

ok so the main thing we gotta start with are tails’ parents in archie sonic: amadeus and rosemary prower.

tails’ parents met when they both served in the military for the acorn kingdom, which is the furry monarchy that serves as the government for sonic’s home. they get married, rosemary gets pregnant with tails, and everything is going swimmingly for them until eggman (named julian kintober at this time), stages a military coup against the acorn kingdom and starts to take over the world.

eggman’s main resource in taking over the world is an invention called the roboticizer, which can take living creatures and turn them into mindless robots that serve him. unfortunately, tails’ dad gets roboticized at the time of eggman’s coup.

before rosemary is roboticized though, something kinda wacky happens.

both of tails’ parents get abducted by aliens, unroboticized, and spend the next 11 years on an alien planet without any contact back to sonic’s world. yeah.

(the aliens are called Bem, they're all scientists and have cute eyelashes.)

11 years pass, and our pal sonic the hedgehog gets lost in space due to Reasons and Events that would take literally forever for me to explain. during his funny little space adventure, he finds himself on the alien planet tails’ parents are on and is reunited with them!

while sonic is there, though, the Bem are hosting a democratic trial for a Bem scientist named Ceneca-9009, who is the alien that transported tails’ parents away from their home in the first place. she's being sentenced to death for kidnapping tails' parents and doing other science experiments related to eggman's roboticization that i don't remember the details of

shenanigans happen, sonic and tails’ parents save Ceneca from execution, and sonic gets back home (unfortunately without tails’ parents - his spaceship was too small). the most important takeaway here is, interestingly enough, the democratic nature of the Bem alien government.

remember, sonic’s home is under rule of a monarchy, specifically the acorn kingdom. on the Bem planet, however, their government functions through democratically elected officials and judicial trials. and tails’ parents REALLY like it compared to the monarchy they know.

eventually, amadeus and rosemary are saved from the alien planet thanks to the help of sonic, knuckles, tails, and tails’s wizard uncle named merlin. i will not be explaining merlin here i honestly have no fucking clue what his deal is

this is REALLY important for tails, because he lived his entire life convinced his parents were gone. in the archie comics, both sonic and knuckles manage to reunite with both of their parents, and tails finally gets that chance as well.

when tails’ parents return, however, it’s clear that they have something big in mind for the acorn kingdom, which is currently going through… a lot. the king, maximillian acorn, is having trouble with Old Man Disease which has previously endangered a lot of his royal subjects (like he tried to order mass genocide once sorta endangerment. dude kinda sucks). because of this, the kingdom is in a transition of power from him to his son elias acorn, who previously ran away to avoid his royal responsibilities. elias is just kinda bad at his job

with the monarchy weakened, the kingdom still recovering from an eggman attack that nearly wiped out their entire population, and two democracy-loving foxes back in town, it’s the perfect setting for a lovely little coup.

(i always get amadeus and elias confused - amadeus is the one with the eyepatch.)

amadeus leads an army of restless citizens to try and overthrow the government, but is very quickly imprisoned. meanwhile, there’s a lot of trouble brewing between sonic and tails for... a number of reasons. sonic insults tails’ dad, sonic had previously dated a girl that tails liked, and tails is kinda getting sick and tired of sonic’s bullshit.

so tails sides with his parents and helps break his dad out of prison, thus making himself an enemy of the state.

when sonic shows up to stop the jailbreak, he and tails have a McFreaking Showdown and yell about their feelings n stuff. meanwhile, tails’ parents go straight to elias acorn and challenge him to a duel for the kingdom.

then like two seconds later sally acorn shows up and makes them talk it out over tea LMAO

so yeah, the coup is very abruptly cancelled and the gang decides to create a democratically elected council to govern alongside the royal family. and oh boy does that constitutional monarchy cause some problems later

and thus concludes the tails enemy of the state lore. House of Cards is a good read imo and there are a lot of good character moments that i skipped over! i think the biggest takeaway here is that sally acorn is the only emotionally intelligent sonic character lmao

[thankskenpenders]

going off the sonic's rivals ask, where would you say scourge and jet fit into sonic's list of rivals? imo scourge is thematically archie's fill-in for metal sonic since metal has a more reduced role, but jet feels a bit redundant (also does blaze count i feel like she does)

Scourge definitely has some thematic overlap with Metal since both are evil doppelgangers of Sonic, but both have their differences. Where Metal is an artificial duplicate meant to match Sonic's abilities, Scourge is quite literally an alternate timeline version of Sonic himself where his life went differently and he ended up being a bad guy. Both of them also riff on Sonic's personality in different ways. Metal inverts Sonic's playful, fast-talking attitude by being mostly completely silent and singleminded in his goals. Scourge, on the other hand, takes all of Sonic's existing flaws (particularly Archie Sonic's flaws) and cranks them up to 11. His snark becomes cruel, his ego turns into pure selfish greed

Meanwhile Jet is the guy who really wants to beat Sonic at hoverboard races. That's probably not a great assessment of his character, but I've gone on record saying that I don't really care for Jet. I guess you could say he has some of the same personality traits as Scourge, dialing up Sonic's snark, arrogance, and competitive nature as high as they'll possibly go

I'd say Blaze also counts as one of Sonic's rivals, although she only really served as one briefly. (It might be more accurate to just call her a character foil instead of a proper rival since the two stop competing so quickly, but maybe that's splitting hairs.) Blaze is a character who fills Sonic's role in another reality, but she's designed in many ways to be his direct opposite. Not in a dark way like Metal or Scourge or Shadow, she's just a different type of hero who initially butts heads with Sonic. Sonic is brash and outgoing, Blaze is stoic and reserved. Blaze was born into royalty and given her role as the guardian of the Sol Emeralds from birth, Sonic is Just Some Guy who happens to be very good at saving the world. Sonic fights for his friends, Blaze was a loner who was ostracized by other kids. But over the course of her debut story she learns from Sonic's example and begins to open her heart (har har)

[infizero-draws]

BLS talk about your backstory hcs id love to hear all of them 🥺

aaaaaaa okay so here are all of the ones i have so far. this got pretty long so it’ll be under the cut:

sonic: two moms: bernie and aleena (from archie and underground respectively) they were the leaders of the first war with eggman (eggman is old dude, he’s definitely been doing this for way longer than sonic’s been alive). sonic spent his childhood years in the rebel’s base, but he didn’t like being cooped up so he would often sneak out. 

eventually one of eggman’s cameras caught him running around super fast (similar to the first ep of underground) and so he wanted to catch him to use his powers and stuff. so he got sent to live with his uncle chuck in knothole in order to hide/be protected. unfortunately this would be the last time he would see his moms, as they would go MIA after a mission to eggman’s base and would be presumed dead. he lived with his uncle until he was 8, when chuck was captured and roboticized :(

he wandered by himself alone for a while before coming across sally and the rest of the satam freedom fighter crew. by this point he was going by his uncle’s nickname for him “sonic” full-time, although he wouldn’t realize why until a bit later. when he was like 11 he and sally dated for like.. a few weeks before they were like uh. this isn’t working. this was also both when they realized they were trans. i have a comic about this which you can find right here!

sonic left knothole to start fresh, eventually coming to south island where sonic 1 takes place, around age 12-13. (eggman realized he was presenting as male now and switched pronouns - he may be evil but he respects his nemesis ok, it’s basic human decency) sonic proved to him that even though his moms may be gone, he was gonna continue their fight and put a stop to his plans!

(also: he later finds out that his moms didn’t die! they didn’t want to put the rebels in danger after their mission and went into hiding. they went to uncle chuck’s place after a while but found no trace of chuck or sonic, and fearing the worst, simply went back to their hiding place and started a life there, adopting two kids (sonia and manic!!) sonic saves their house from being attacked by badniks and then he’s like WAIT- they catch up and he meets his new sibs and it’s great!!!)

(bonus: sonic gives his old dress to amy near the end of the classic days, which is the one she wears from adventure 1 and onward!)

knuckles: (these are based on @bbgatile‘s knuckles headcanons) he had two moms, but then a disease wiped out the entire echidna population, leaving only knuckles, who managed to survive due to not having hatched out of his egg yet. he had never met another mobian or anyone other than the normal animals on angel island prior to meeting sonic and tails.

tails: i dont remember where i read this, but i saw someone come up with the idea that radiation or toxic stuff or whatever from chemical plant zone is what caused his two tails, which i thought was an interesting idea. i dont have any hcs really on what his life was like before meeting sonic, but it’s definitely not like his parents in the archie comics. i also hc he met sonic when he was around 5. yes that would mean a 5 year old was going on all these adventures but listen. this is sonic. why wouldn’t he be doing that kind of stuff at 5

amy: agggh i dont really have any family hcs or whatever, but i hc that amy was a little troublemaker as a kid, leading to her nickname of “rosy the rascal”. i also have no idea about the whole cd nonsense of her being from another dimension or timeline or whatever, but i think that makes her character a lot more interesting, so when i come up with backstory stuff for her, i definitely want to incorporate that!!

shadow: shadow’s backstory is obviously pretty well explained in canon but for additional stuff, see my development chart and ARK fic!

blaze: i have a whole fic of blaze basically just explaining my backstory for her to sonic over on AO3 called “tell me something nice”!!

silver: i definitely am a supporter of the idea that shadow is silver’s father. again, i have a comic (excuse the weird old silver design) sort of explaining this right here!!

rouge: i dont have that much for her either, but i hc that rouge grew up in a very poor household and began stealing just to survive, but she got addicted to the thrill of it. combine that with her love of jewels and all things shiny and you’ve got a masterclass jewel thief on your hands

that’s about it!! sonic is really the only who i’ve planned fully, everyone else is a little more vague. i’d love to hear other people’s hcs too!!! thanks for asking!

[gibelwho]

Top 5: Best Films of 2019

2019 was another momentous year for me - spent the first half of the year living at my in-laws house while we waited to move into our forever home, then spending the back half of the year doing house projects as we slowly unpacked. We weren’t consistently heading to the cinema, but we’ve done a race to fit in many more films before the Oscars, which was held this past weekend and where Parasite made history as the first foreign language film to win Best Picture. This is my second year in a row publishing my thoughts on ranking the past year in cinema, so despite the many life changes, excited to keep the tradition going.

Gibelwho Productions Presents Best Films of 2019

5. Marriage Story

4. Parasite

3. Little Women

2 Jojo Rabbit

1917

Marriage Story (November 2019): The film, written and directed by Noah Baumbach, explores the unraveling of a marriage, where the two people are navigating their way through divorce and must forge some sort of ongoing relationship for the sake of their son. The story is an exploration of identity - being part of a couple, emerging as an individual, surviving as a parent, and balancing one’s career. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver shine in their performances, finding the truth in each scene, displaying the humanity of flawed people, and really going at it during their epic meltdown fight. The supporting cast is stellar as well, delivering moments of humor, ugliness, and empowerment - notably Laura Dern’s speech about society’s different expectations placed on mothers and fathers. Filmed on location in New York and Los Angeles, the story casts a devastating eye on how two people who have separated can still retain some love in the face of heartbreaking agony.

Parasite (October 2019): A film that starts off as a comical exploration of a poor family slowly infiltrating the house of a rich family in Seoul, then shifts halfway through to become a suspenseful thriller with sequences of violence. Co-writer and director Bong Joon-ho explores the nature of the upstairs / downstairs dynamic, not only having the story center on those in service of the rich family, but also with the production design of the two houses featured in the film. The rich family lives far above the main streets in a multi-level home, with stairs that lead up to a beautifully manicured garden; the poor family’s living quarters is in the lower section of town, they live below the streets, and must contend with the danger of flooding. Avoiding spoilers, a third set of staircases hold a secret that ultimately spells danger for both families. This film has made Oscar history and has opened more people up to the world of International cinema; as Joon-ho said so eloquently in one of his acceptance speeches: “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

Little Women (December 2019): Adapting a classic novel for the modern era, especially one that has been relatively recently brought to the silver screen, one must insist on bringing an original take - or why else bother. Writer and director Greta Gerwig not only took on that challenge, but elevated the material to a higher degree than has been achieved in previous adaptations. Splitting up the linear story into two timelines allowed a commentary on the past and present that gave more life to the characters and depth to their journeys. Having never read Little Women, I was enchanted by discovering these characters brought to life by a terrific ensemble, including Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Timothee Chalamet. Additionally, Gerwig pens an ambiguous ending that will satisfy book readers who felt betrayed by character turns that Louisa May Alcott felt pressured to deliver for publishers in 1868, but that didn’t feel true to her character’s spirit.

Jojo Rabbit (October 2019): Imagine writer and director Taika Waititi pitching his adapted screenplay to studio executives: a story that centers on a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany, who attends the Hitler Youth camp, and whose invisible friend is Adolf Hitler himself. Oh yes, and it will be a comedy, tragedy, hopeful, heartbreaking, hilarious, and shocking - dancing between the shades of tones and the audience will follow along with each beat. What makes this film succeed is the casting of Roman Griffin Davis, who despite his love for swastikas, steals the heart of the viewer with his earnest innocence and hilarious delivery, along with his interaction with his little friend Yorki (Archie Yates), his Hitler Youth leader (Sam Rockwell), and the Jewish girl he finds hidden in the upstairs bedroom (Thomasin McKenzie). Waititi is a genius filmmaker, who took all his Marvel Cinematic Universe clout and made a film about the dangers of youth growing up in the time of fascism, preaching an anti-hate message that the world needs to be reminded of in these nationalistic times.

1917 (December 2019): A film that centers on one technical conceit - that a full length feature film is constructed as one continuous shot - could fall under the weight of that enterprise, but 1917 delivers on all fronts - artistically, emotionally, and yes, technically. While the film is not actually one long shot, whole sequences are sustained for minutes on end, an environment more accustomed to theater actors than those working in film and one that brings a weight of reality to the character’s journey. Due to the story - two men must cross No Man’s Land to deliver an urgent message to a general that could save thousands of lives - the leads are constantly moving, through trenches, across the muddy no man’s land, through fields and streams, and finally the battlefield. The camera follows them through tight interior spaces and open fields, finding inventive ways to track their movements in the war zone. The two leads (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) deliver incredible performances as they slog through the countryside, encountering incredible British actors for short, yet powerful, scenes along the way. Co-writer and director Sam Mendes leads an incredible team that achieves cinematic glory and Roger Deakins proves for the second year in a row that he is producing the best work of his career. 1917 is not a traditional war film - through its formal choices, it endeavors to place the viewer directly inside the experience of soldiers in the First World War.

Honorable Mentions: 

Knives Out (November 2019): A classic whodunit that involves a twist of all twists - solving the mystery halfway through the film; what can the movie possibly spend the rest of the runtime on? This is the genius of writer and director Rian Johnson - he somehow manages to ratchet up the tension and reveal deeper twists and turns that subvert genre expectations. A stellar cast supports the murder mystery, led by Ana de Armas, a lighthearted Jamie Lee Curtis who is chewy the scenery, and a broad performance by Daniel Craig as the lead investigator. Chris Evans’ winter sweater became the breakout star of the film and the production design included an epic knives sculpture that plays a vital role in the climax of the film. 

Terminator: Dark Fate (November 2019): I am not a huge fan of the Terminator franchise - I’ve seen the first and second installments, but have skipped the rest of the sequels and never went for the television shows. I entered the viewing of this film with low expectations, and thus was pleasantly surprised by how feminist this film is. Linda Hamilton commands every moment of screen time, the enhanced human protector from the future was an incredible mix of strength and vulnerability, and even when Arnold enters the picture, he knows when to stand back when the women are in command. Yes, there is a totally ridiculous action sequence in a falling plane that defines reality and physics, but there are more moments of women communicating intelligently and emotionally and also women taking command and driving the action forward that fully impressed for what could have been a throwaway addition to the Terminator canon. 

Avengers Endgame (April 2019): With this film, the MCU has concluded its first major story arc, wrapping up a 10 years long buildup of the Avengers and affiliated heroes fighting the Mad Titan Thanos in an epic battle. Yes, the film does build up to a climactic final battle, but it takes it’s time getting there, choosing instead to focus on how the character’s we’ve grown to love over the past decade deal with the Snap that killed friends and family and left the world a broken place. The plot really gets moving when a time travel element is introduced and, in one of several lovely tributes to my beloved Star Trek, brings the viewer back through memorable moments in the MCU’s history, layering on meta commentary or radically changing the shape of the past. This film was a bold risk to focus on character over spectacle (at least for a while) and to craft a fitting tribute for the two titans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.

Apollo 11 (March 2019): The American space program of the 1960s has long held a fascination in our household and so we rushed out to see the documentary that promised new footage for the seminal event that landed a man on the moon. To our delight, the film revealed itself to be a cinematic achievement as well. Director Todd Douglas Miller chose not to narrate the film with an omniscient voice; rather, choosing to fill the audio landscape with diegetic sound from contemporary source material - journalists asking questions in a press conference, back and forth between the astronauts and NASA headquarters, and newscasters reporting the progress to the nation. Some of the shots included in this film, all archival footage and some newly released 70mm material, are so beautifully composed and complex shots; it's an astonishment that this thoughtful filmmaking was done to capture one of the nation’s greatest achievements and this documentary honors that effort on its 50th anniversary.

[mobius-prime]

180. Sonic the Hedgehog #112

Welcome to a very special issue! Nearly every page is packed with really interesting and relevant information, dealing with the emotional issues of a few important characters, and also containing not one, not two, three, or four, but FIVE different character profiles! This is a really meaty one, so let's get busy!

Mistaken Identity Crisis!

Writer: Benny Lee Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Josh & Aimee Ray

So we got a little bit of a hint about it last issue, but ever since his free will has been restored, General D'Coolette and Antoine have been spending a lot of time together, making up for lost time as father and son. They're strolling through Knothole one day when out of nowhere, a dimensional portal begins to crackle above their heads, and Sonic, recognizing the look of the portal, rushes over just in time to catch Zonic as he falls from it.

Aww, don't feel bad, Antoine! Weirdly enough, for most of this issue, the artists seem to have forgotten that Zonic is supposed to be affected by sideways gravity, and so when Sonic rushes him off to the hospital he's just lying down in an ordinary bed without any problems. It's honestly not too big of a deal, but it is weird, especially given that later issues that go further into the concept of the No Zone actually incorporate this idea of sideways gravity into the story in some quite fascinating and unique ways. Dr. Quack begins looking after the injured Zonic, but until he wakes up from his stupor, they'll be unable to find out who attacked him, so for now Sonic heads back out of the hospital to go talk to Antoine and his father once again. The general is clearly very impressed at Sonic's heroism and valor, but while Sonic is initially happy to receive the praise, he notices Antoine is looking troubled behind his father's back, and, realizing that he's feeling unappreciated, decides to help him out.

I mean, while I disagree that Antoine isn't a hero, it's incredibly sweet of Sonic to go out of his way to ensure that Antoine can look good in front of his father. I would actually say that Antoine is the definition of brave, as bravery isn't just feeling unafraid in the face of danger, it's actually being afraid, but stepping up anyway, which is exactly what Antoine always does when he's faced with something terrifying. Sonic strolls away after explaining his plan, and Antoine goes back to his father feeling confident and excited about whatever Sonic might be cooking up, but as soon as Sonic is out of earshot he's called back to the hospital to speak to Zonic, who is waking up.

So one of Sonic's "worst enemies" is hanging around here, huh? Meanwhile, Antoine is giddily describing a somewhat-embellished fight between him and Robotnik to his father when none other than, who else, Evil Sonic shows up to ruin their day! Antoine is certain that this is in fact Sonic Prime, merely dressed up and putting on a performance to give Antoine the chance to show off by beating him up in front of his dad, and thus immediately karate chops him on the head, knocking him out. Sonic and Zonic exit the hospital and come racing up, pleased and amused to see Evil Sonic already out cold, and Sonic knowingly congratulates an oblivious Antoine on his victory…

See, Antoine? You're a courageous hero after all!

All right, now before we dive into the backup story for this issue, we've got a lot of character info to cover! Our first character to look at is Sonic himself. Since he's what I used to get my measurement ratios, his height and weight are the same as those from the games. He's 100 cm or 3'3" tall, and weighs 35 kg or 77 lbs. We already know he's sixteen, though by now I'd imagine he's a little closer to seventeen as it's been a while since he celebrated his last birthday. But when is his birthday, exactly? Well, it's actually not the same as his birthday in the games - in the Archieverse, his birthday is on June 11. Now, remember how I said several issues ago to keep in mind the date of Robotnik's death during Endgame? That date was June 13… and Endgame took place over the course of three days. Which means that, yes, the mission where Sally supposedly died took place on Sonic's birthday.

This changes goddamn everything. Can you imagine? Sonic isn't so bigheaded that he would expect all operations against Robotnik to cease just to celebrate his own birthday, so of course he wouldn't be too fazed over having to infiltrate Robotropolis on his big day. He probably expected a successful mission and a happy return to Knothole, where he and his friends would have a little celebration of both the mission and his birthday. Instead, he was abandoned at the city, and returned on his own to Knothole to the news that his childhood best friend was dead and he was suspect numero uno. What was supposed to be a day of celebration turned into his worst goddamn nightmare. Two days later, of course, everything was resolved and Robotnik was dead, but still, what a horrible thing to deal with while it was all still going on! I will also note that this gives a little more perspective to the amount of time he and Tails were away from Mobotropolis while in search of Naugus. They returned (and Elias was brought back from the Floating Island) on his sixteenth birthday, meaning that in between defeating Robotnik and returning to Mobotropolis after defeating Naugus, an entire year had passed. The comics are finally starting to really solidify the timeline of events and pay more attention to the passing of time, and we can see it all coming together by the inclusion of these dates.

Apart from all of that, the rest of the page doesn't tell us much that we don't already know. It hasn't been mentioned in a long time, but yes, Sonic's middle name is still officially Maurice. His real first name is listed as being "unknown," but luckily, I have the power of internet research on my side! He never got a chance to include it before he stopped working on the comic, but Kenders originally intended to eventually reveal that Sonic's birth name was in fact Ogilvie, which is a real-world surname that is Scottish in origin. Apparently, he was named after one of his grandfathers, but quickly picked up the nickname Sonic due to his running everywhere as a small child, and eventually legally changed it to such, because no one wants to be stuck with the first name Ogilvie. I mean, come on! Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog? That's the worst name I've ever heard in my goddamn life! Actually no offense to Kenders on this one though, I'm not meaning to imply that I disagree with this idea on his part, as the entire point of it is obviously meant to be that Sonic was born with a horrendous name and was eager to change it to something better as soon as he grew old enough to choose for himself. With that context, it's downright hilarious.

But Sonic isn't our only character file to look at! Next up, we have Knuckles, who actually gets two whole pages to himself due to how much content there is within his own backstory. First, his measurements. He's 103 cm or 3'5" tall, which is a little bit shorter than his game counterpart, and he weighs 37.4 kg or 82.3 lbs. He's also sixteen, though with a birthday of September 8 he's a few months younger than Sonic, as we already know. His actual file, though it mostly again just covers info we have already received through past issues, gives us some more context for how his earliest years of life went. He was in fact taken out to the Floating Island for Guardian training at the age of only three years old, and his father essentially homeschooled him in basic things like math and science while also training him in his inherited duties. We also find out that in fact he was only ten years old when his father left for Haven through the wall of fire, which even given his accelerated development as a child is still quite young to be left with the impression that one has been abandoned by the only parent one has ever known. Over the five or so years before he met Sonic, Knuckles became quite sour and bitter in attitude, seeing as he knew nothing of why he was abandoned and why he was even here, and his only friend on the island was Catweazle, who as we know isn't exactly the kindest or most reliable of friends. Of course, once Sonic and Robotnik showed up, and he met the other members of the Chaotix, he began to lighten up more and enjoy life, as well as learn everything about his race's history and as his own personal destiny, but it's honestly quite sad just imagining this lonely, near-friendless ten year old Knuckles wandering the island, listlessly doing his duties because that's all he's ever known while believing himself to essentially be an orphan. Even in the games, Knuckles at the very least knows nothing of his own past, so there's nothing for him to feel sad about, no real sense of personal loss - he's just alone. I'd say it's worse for preboot Archie Knuckles, as he does have those memories of loving parents and a sense of purpose - he just doesn't have those things anymore. Again, he did eventually get back everything that could make him happy, but still, it's sad to think about.

Okay, onto the next one! This time we're looking at Miles "Tails" Prower. He's 80 cm or 2'7" tall, and weighs 30.6 kg or 67.3 lbs. His height is actually exactly the same as his game counterpart's, but he weighs significantly more - about 50% more, in fact. I'm going to attribute that to his older age, as in the games he's only eight, while in the comics he's currently eleven years old, with his birthday being on October 24. His original backstory explained that his father was roboticized the same day he was born, but we find out here too that at some point after Robotnik's coup, his mother mysteriously disappeared as well - not roboticized, mind you, as otherwise she and Tails would have reunited after the sword restored all the Robians' free will. For whatever reason, neither of his parents have shown up at all ever since their disappearances. Most of the rest of the info is, again, stuff we already know, but we actually run into a bit of a discrepancy with the reiteration that the Tails we've currently been following in the comics is actually a false duplicate, with the real Tails missing somewhere. The initial issue that revealed that he was a duplicate made it seem like he was replaced somehow when he was in transit with Athair from Knothole's public school to Knuckles' location, but this page claims that instead the switcheroo happened all the way back in freaking StH#56, which was the very first time he ever transformed into Turbo Tails. If this was true, then we wouldn't have seen the real Tails since very shortly after Robotnik was first defeated all the way back in Endgame! It would mean that the entire, nearly-year-long adventure with Sonic around the world in search of Naugus never happened with the real Tails, and that for all intents and purposes the real Tails would not even be aware of the renewed war against Eggman. This is definitely a mistake, as every other issue that acknowledges his replacement with the duplicate indicates that he was indeed replaced when Athair teleported him away, but it's still such a bizarre mistake to make given how much time has passed since the first Turbo Tails incident.

Okay, next up, we have Amy Rose! She's 92 cm tall or 3 feet exactly, and weighs 28.7 kg or 63.1 lbs, which is actually less than Tails despite being a good bit taller than him. As we know, she's a bit of a special case in terms of age - mentally she's ten years old, while the Ring of Acorns aged her physically to about the equivalent of a sixteen year old. Interestingly, her birthday is on July 5, which if you'll remember is also Sally's birthday! I kind of like that two characters share a birthday, honestly. Amy's page actually does give us quite a bit of background info on her that we've never heard before, unlike many of the others'. Apparently, she actually lived in Mercia her whole life, which is why she was merely Sonic's pen pal in StH#25 - she lived overseas. She was born to Mercian nobility, but her extremely rich parents became overwhelmed with sympathy after witnessing the plight of so many of those less fortunate during the two back-to-back wars, and decided to give up the entirety of their wealth to charity, officially making them the coolest rich people that have ever existed. However, unfortunately, soon afterward both of them were lost in the fighting against General D'Coolette and Robotnik's other agents in the area. She was taken in by Rob - who weirdly enough is described as her "father's brother" here despite every other source saying they're cousins - and once she had recovered somewhat from the loss, he sent her to live in Knothole with the hope that it would be safer for her there, apparently not being aware of the extremely close proximity the village had to the literal center of the war. From there, we basically know the rest, including her sudden age-up from wishing on the ring. Apparently she still has plans to marry Sonic someday, but unlike her game counterpart she keeps these intentions strictly hidden, understanding that Sonic isn't the mushy type and hoping to wait for the right chance to win his heart in the future. Man, it actually kind of seems like she understands exactly what I was talking about last issue about his lack of romantic attitude, huh?

Okay, last off we have a file for not a single character, but the entirety of the Brotherhood of Guardians! Unfortunately for this post, it really doesn't tell us anything new. We do get a look at a picture of every Guardian in their prime all lined up together, and a brief history of the formation of the organization, all the way from scientist Kayla-La's discovery of the incoming comet bearing down on their city, down to Knuckles today in the middle of his evolution into a living Chaos Emerald. Athair is included in the lineup, as even though he ultimately rejected his role as a Guardian, he still was part of the bloodline beginning with Edmund. Other than that, we really got nothing new from this, so it's time to finally end our journey through this issue's numerous profiles and move on to our backup story!

Forgiven

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Josh D. Ray

So we haven't actually heard anything about Lupe and her pack for some time, but with every Robian's free will restored, she and her family are back to normal, albeit still roboticized. They've been staying in Knothole for the past few days, but now everyone is throwing them a going-away party as they plan to head back to their own homeland once more. Sonic goes into Uncle Chuck's lab to invite him to the party, but Chuck, seeming uncomfortable, uses the excuse that he's too busy to go right now. Sonic leaves, but a few minutes later returns… having brought the party with him. He seems pleased by his own genius, obviously not having noticed Chuck's mood, and while Chuck tries to smile for his nephew's benefit he's actually torn up inside at seeing everyone so happy.

Lupe notices his mood and follows him, claiming that she's noticed that he's been avoiding her and her entire family ever since they regained their free will. At first he attempts to deny it, but it becomes apparent that he's actually wracked with horrible guilt over it being he who roboticized them in the first place.

It's honestly so sad to see Chuck like this. He's a genuinely good person and a great character whose past decisions inadvertently led to some of the worst tragedies this world has seen, and he clearly blames himself for all of it, despite having no way of knowing how things would have turned out. He quietly says that all he truly wants is to be forgiven by those he's wronged… but while he and Lupe were talking, everyone else in the party has come out as well and overheard his last statement. Sally says to him that they can't do that unless he's willing to forgive himself first, and Lupe, determined to show him that no one blames him, announces that the celebration is no longer just about her family, but about honoring Chuck as well. He becomes overwhelmed with emotion and embraces her, thanking her profusely, as everyone cheers. Hopefully, this encounter will allow him to finally put some of that guilt to rest, poor guy. He's suffered enough.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 14 October 2019

Quick Bits:

Absolute Carnage #4 is pretty damn big as we head towards the conclusion. Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Jay Leisten, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles set up near insurmountable odds for Eddie and Spider-Man to face, as Carnage inches closer to victory. It’s very daunting, especially as we potentially see hope fade as other dominoes fall into place. Though a shock revelation might lead to something good for the conclusion. The tension mounting and the continued blend of the rest of the tie-ins to the main story are very entertaining.

| Published by Marvel

Absolute Carnage: Avengers #1 gives us a lead-in to how the previously symbiote-afflicted heroes got to Venom in Absolute Carnage #3 in addition to a bit about beacons in New York and San Francisco calling all symbiotes to feed something. It’s more elaboration on some details between panels for the event, but it’s rather entertaining and covers an element that was otherwise glossed over in the main series. Great art from Alberto Alburquerque, Guiu Vilanova, and Rachelle Rosenberg.

| Published by Marvel

Aquaman #53 reveals more about Thomas Mauer and his history in the founding of Amnesty, complete with some really weird powers regarding manifesting beasties. Then, a reunion of Arthur and Mera is basically aborted as Black Manta attack. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha, Eduardo Pansica, Daniel Henriques, Julio Ferreira, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles continue to deliver one of the best stories from DC.

| Published by DC Comics

Archie #708 sees everything start to come together as all of the disparate story threads begin to converge somehow with Fox Forest. Nick Spencer, Mariko Tamaki, Sandy Jarrell, Matt Herms, and Jack Morelli really build tension here, with a rather spooky feel for what’s going on.

| Published by Archie Comics

Batman #81 continues this next stage of Batman’s assault on the “City of Bane” as all of his “kids” work together to try to take down his father and he attempts to bring the fight to Bane himself. Tom King guides us through a narration essentially putting together some of the missing pieces in Gotham Girl’s story and further protections that he left in the city after Batman’s “breaking”.

| Published by DC Comics

Bettie Page Unbound #5 serves as a coda to the first arc, from David Avallone, Moy R, Ellie Wright, Sheelagh D, and Taylor Esposito. It gives a bit of perspective on Bettie’s trip through alternate realities, while dealing a bit more with the spies who’ve been chasing her.

| Published by Dynamite

The Black Ghost #2 is firing on all cylinders. The story that Alex Segura, Monica Gallagher, George Kambadais, Ellie Wright, and Taylor Esposito are telling here is incredibly compelling, going deep into Lara’s downward spiral following the death of the Black Ghost and all of the mounting problems in her life. There’s a very interesting theme of the intersection of solving a mystery and obsession, complete with the black hole of alcoholism, that just grabs you.

| Published by New Wave Comics

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #2 concludes this opening arc from Jim Zub, Lan Medina, Craig Yeung, Marcio Menyz, and Joe Sabino. We get an interesting mix of Okoye and Janet facing their greatest fears, while elaborating further on the current state of the Sentry. I like this quick, two-part introductory arc structure, further giving this title the feel of a specialized group for certain threats.

| Published by Marvel

Captain Marvel #11 concludes the “Falling Star” arc, revealing more fallout from the first arc and the sheer damage that it’s done to Ripley after she fell into the Nuclear Man’s reality. Kelly Thompson, Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, and Clayton Cowles develop a rather demented look on “heroism” here that is quite disturbing.

| Published by Marvel

Chastity #2 unveils more of the human trafficking operation that Chastity has found herself in. It’s not very pretty, but there are some nice funny moments to break up the dark subject matter. Leah Williams, David Maine, Bryan Valenza, and Carlos M. Mangual are telling an interesting story here.

| Published by Dynamite

Contagion #3 continues to escalate the terror of the fungus plaguing New York, and now possibly beyond. There are appearances here of some very interesting near forgotten characters that are nice to see. Great art from Mack Chater, Stephen Segovia, Veronica Gandini, and Andrew Crossley.

| Published by Marvel

Cult Classic: Creature Feature #1 is an interesting start to this second series. You don’t need to have read Return to Whisper before this, but I still highly recommend that series. Here Eliot Rahal, John Bivens, Jerrie, Monahan, and Taylor Esposito kick off a rather hectic beginning with alien creatures. The art from Bivens, Jerrie, and Monahan is wonderful.

| Published by Vault

Dark Red #7 continues to develop the current state of the vampires after taking out the Nazis who were trying to take over, while Chip works to get the little were back to her werepeople. Definitely an interesting society that Tim Seeley, Corin Howell, Mark Englert, and Carlos M. Mangual are creating here.

| Published by AfterShock

Excellence #6 concludes the first arc in rather spectacular fashion. Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett have been doing some excellent character and world-building in this story and it really pays off here as we get a confrontation between Spencer and his dad, followed by one hell of a revelation that practically changes everything. Great stuff here.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Gideon Falls #17 begins “The Pentoculus” as things start to coalesce again into a sort of “normalcy” in both of our “main” Gideon Falls realities, even as something horrible takes hold of Sheriff Miller’s father. Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands establish even more horror here and the feeling that something more is very, very wrong.

| Published by Image

Guardians of the Galaxy #10 catches up with the new baby Magus as we find out that the new incarnation might be as dangerous and deadly as the earlier ones. Also, what Donny Cates is doing with Rocket just cuts to the core.

| Published by Marvel

Hit Girl: Season 2 #9 is the first part of “India” from Peter Milligan, Alison Sampson, Tríona Farrell, and Clem Robins. It sends Mindy off to the street of Mumbai where she’s trying to deal with a bizarre child trafficking/labour ring, and finding out that her actions may have caused more complications than good. There’s a very different feel to this new arc so far.

| Published by Image

Inferior 5 #2 sure is...something. I’m still not entirely sure of the experiments or the characters or the setting, but Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, Michelle Delecki, Hi-Fi, and Rob Leigh are doing something that might be interesting here when we see a broader picture. It’s very “huh?” issue to issue so far. The back-up featuring Peacemaker, though, continues to be very compelling. Especially as it reveals that he may well be completely insane.

| Published by DC Comics

The Island of Doctor Moreau #2 concludes this adaptation of the HG Wells story from Ted Adams, Gabriel Rodríguez, Nelson Dániel, and Robbie Robbins. Other than a few minor changes, it’s fairly faithful to the original. The story here is mostly told in double page spreads from Rodríguez and Dániel and they’re absolutely beautiful.

| Published by IDW

Justice League #34 reminds us that revenge isn’t necessarily the correct path to take all the time, or possibly any time, as the endgame plays out across the different timelines and the combined forces gather for one final push against Perpetua. Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Bruno Redondo, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi, and Tom Napolitano lay out a wonderful tale of the final battle and a stupid, selfish act that has possibly doomed everything.

| Published by DC Comics

Killer Groove #5 concludes what has been an excellent crime tale from Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. There’s an incredible nihilism here that feeds into a very fitting end.

| Published by AfterShock

KI-6: Killers #4 gains a bit of a title change with the “KI-6″ bit in this penultimate issue of the series. Not really sure why, but it doesn’t ultimately make a difference for the story being told by B. Clay Moore, Fernando Dagnino, José Villarrubia, and Jeff Powell. We get a nice bit of the Jonin’s history before the two rival groups of former Ninjas show up.

| Published by Valiant

The Marked #1 begins a new series from the Sonata team of David Hine, Brian Haberlin, Geirrod Van Dyke, and Francis Takenaga. It blends magic and tattoos as we learn of the history of a group of magicians who have defended the world from evil through the eyes of their newest recruit Saskia. Beautiful art as usual from the Haberlin/Van Dyke team.

| Published by Image / Shadowline

The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask #1 is kind of a strange return for the property, in a story from Christopher Cantwell, Patric Reynolds, Lee Loughridge, and Nate Piekos. It’s dark and deranged, which fits very well overall. While it does follow on from the previous stories, all that you really need to know to enjoy this story itself is revealed here. The political element adds an even greater feeling of being put off-balance.

| Published by Dark Horse

Midnight Vista #2 very nicely develops what Oliver remembers of his abduction and the fallout that has been happening in the ensuing years since he’s been missing. Eliot Rahal, Clara Meath, Mark Englert, and Taylor Esposito are doing some interesting things here, especially as other forces are trying to guide Oliver’s story.

| Published by AfterShock

Psi-Lords #5 elaborates a bit further on the societal structure of the Gyre and the various gangs on it, while we see one of the Starwatchers try to turn Steve. It’s interesting as we get a little bit that gives us more of an insight into the ties to the broader Valiant Universe here and some very nice character building. Renato Guedes art remains phenomenal.

| Published by Valiant

Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons - Chapter II: Painscape #2 guides us through some of Rick’s history with D&D, creating some horrible characters that anyone who’s played the game will be familiar with, and an entertaining dungeon crawl. I’m still loving how perfectly Jim Zub, Troy Little, Leonardo Ito, and Crank! are integrating D&D into Rick and Morty.

| Published by Oni Press & IDW

Rumble #17 follows a similar format as last issue’s selection of three stories, only this time there are only two stories, with one split between two different creators. That two-part story is a wonderful crossover between Rumble and Head Lopper, with Andrew MacLean and James Harren handling the line art. It’s pretty great overall, with a natural melding of the two properties, and very nice to see Harren’s return. 

| Published by Image

Savage Sword of Conan #10 begins a new arc from Roy Thomas, Alan Davis, Cam Smith, Chris Sotomayor, and Travis Lanham. It’s wonderful to see a new Roy Thomas story and the art from Davis, Smith, and Sotomayor is great. The story itself is interesting, drawing from some traditional Conan elements of a tavern fight and being hired as a bodyguard.

| Published by Marvel

Savage Tales: Red Sonja Halloween Special is essential if you’re reading the ongoing Red Sonja series. It works well on its own as well, but for readers of the series it builds on Sonja’s trip to the tower of sorcerers in her youth and gives some great insight into her past. Wonderful work here overall from Mark Russell, Jacob Edgar, Dearbhla Kelly, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

| Published by Dynamite

Something is Killing the Children #2 is even better than the first issue, fleshing out our monster hunter a bit and causing all sorts of complications for her. There are some great characterizations here, nicely capturing some of the reactions from people experiencing the tragedy of a lost or murdered family member. James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, Miquel Muerto, and AndWorld Design are doing something great here.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #3 gives us a central story of Ventress hunting a quarry, illustrated by Nick Brokenshire. I’m still very much enjoying how Cavan Scott is using the central tale and its context to elaborate on what he, Francesco Francavilla, and AndWorld Design are doing with the framing story.

| Published IDW

Steeple #2 features all of the charm and humour of Giant Days, but then adds some rather over-the-top supernatural elements that just manages to elevate that charm and humour further. John Allison, Sarah Stern, and Jim Campbell are delivering a rather wholesome look at monster hunting and finding common ground with your local hooligans and Satanists.

| Published by Dark Horse

Strayed #3 advances towards oblivion, as Lou finds the flower-maker and the Premier enacts another piece of his plan for total control. Carlos Giffoni, Juan Doe, and Matt Krotzer continue to tell the heartbreaking tale of this brave little kitty being used and abused by his humans. It’s really sad as to how monstrous humanity is.

| Published by Dark Horse

Superman Smashes the Klan #1 is really damn good. Inspired by the radio serial of the same name, Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, and Janice Chiang present a wonderfully nuanced tale of the struggle that a young Chinese family have moving to Metropolis and the overt and casual racism that greets them. The characterizations of the family are impeccable, giving us what feels like very real people, and it makes the story even more heartbreaking when you see what’s happening to them. Especially through the gorgeous art from the Gurihiru pair.

| Published by DC Comics

Tales from the Dark Multiverse - Batman: Knightfall #1 is the first of these one-shots examining some of the most popular events of the DC Universe as they played out in dark reflection. Your enjoyment of this will definitely be predicated on how much you enjoy the grim and gritty Batmen who went wrong during Metal. As a story, though, Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Javier Fernandez, Alex Guimarães, and Clayton Cowles give us an interesting one, with some nice twists, and a suitably bleak Gotham. The art from Fernandez and Guimarães is really good.

| Published by DC Comics

Teen Titans #35 gives us new perspective on the traitor to the team, with Adam Glass, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo, and Rob Leigh building up sympathy for their decisions, even if they are somewhat demented. It also continues to point that what Damian has been doing is rather villainous. The shades of grey are fairly interesting.

| Published by DC Comics

Trees: Three Fates #2 delves a bit more into the mystery of the dead man and also a great depiction in the past of the romance blossoming between Klara and Sasha. Warren Ellis, Jason Howard, Dee Cunniffe, and Fonografiks are building a very compelling story here, complete with some interesting big ideas to make you wonder about Sasha.

| Published by Image

Vampirella #4 is still rather odd, told in a rather disjointed way that’s pretty much Priest’s style to its natural extreme. Weird stuff with the nuns and all sorts of temptation. The art from Ergün Gündüz remains a huge draw for this story.

| Published by Dynamite

X-Men #1 begins the first wave of the “Dawn of X” titles in this next stage of the brave new world the X-Men have found themselves in, from Jonathan Hickman, Leinil Francis Yu, Garry Alanguilan, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles. It’s much more “normal” compared to the HOXPOX event, operating more standard hero/villain conflict and setting up the continued threat of Orchis, but there are still moments to bask in the new with Magneto and the potentially unsettling as we see Corsair react to all of his family together and the strangeness of Krakoa. This feels like a way to make more traditional X-elements work within this new framework, giving us a great start.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Absolute Carnage: Scream #3, Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #3, Aero #4, Analog #9, Ask for Mercy - Season 2 #3, Captain America #15, Crazy #1, The Crow/Hack/Slash #4, Dead Beats, Death-Defying Devil #3, Firefly #10, History of the Marvel Universe #4, Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Alliance #2, Lucifer #13, Marvel Action: Black Panther #4, Once & Future #3, The Realm #15, Sparrows Roar, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #4, Titans: Burning Rage #3, Wonder Woman: Come Back to Me #4

Recommended Collections: Bad Luck Chuck - Volume 1, Black Hammer: Streets of Spiral, Calamity Kate - Volume 1, Coda - Volume 3, Critical Role: Vox Machina - Origins - Volume 1, Gideon Falls - Volume 3: Stations of the Cross, Goddess Mode, Gogor, Justice League Dark - Volume 2: Lords of Order, The Life & Death of Toyo Harada, Ms. Marvel - Volume 1, Planet of the Nerds - Volume 1, Robots & Princesses - Volume 1, Runaways - Volume 4: But You Can’t Hide, Spider-Man: City at War, Star Wars: Tie Fighter

d. emerson eddy still thinks that Pumpkin Spice was the most underutilized of the Spice Girls.

[idonthavehusbandsihavelovers]

Love Wasn’t in the Plan - Part 11 (Sweet Pea/OC)

Riverdale AU

Chapter Summary – Being in a relationship is harder than Angel, and Sweet Pea first thought can love really win when people can’t let go of the past.

Pairing – Sweet Pea / OC

Warning – Swearing, little Fluff.

Author Notes – Again this story is a little different from the show storyline so that I could fit my character in, I want to thank you for your likes, comments, and re-blogs they mean the world to me and help me keep writing.

A huge Thank you to my lovely  @lukeevansandjdmobession for checking over my story.

.Story Summary & Preview , Part 1 ,  Part 2 Preview , Part 2 ,Part 3 Preview, Part 3 ,  Part 4 Preview , Part 4 , Part 5 Preview , Part 5 ,Part 6 Preview , Part 6 , Part 7 Preview , Part 7 , Part 8 Preview , Part 8 ,Part 9 Preview , Part 9 , Part 10 Preview, Part 10 , Part 11 Preview

Chapter 11 – New Love & Old Love.

Angel was in a good mood the play has been put on a break because of half the cast and crew mainly the serpents were helping Jughead with his protest at south side school. Her boyfriend included, so she decides she play the supporting girlfriend teasing him and co with food and then going to Toni to have a look over their final photo they are sending Tommy for the charity show which is only a few weeks away.

Tommy had guilted her into singing as well because she ran away and made him sick with worry, so she owes him one. Angel had just finished getting ready, giving her a quick once over and made her way downstairs. Archie was at the door on his way out himself.

He smiled when he saw her, “Going to mess with Jughead and Sweet Pea?”

She laughs and just resorts back “Going to study with Veronica?” She used air quotes when she said study, knowing there wouldn’t be any studying going on with them two. Archie laughs, he was going to resort back, but their mom shouts them from the Livingroom.

“Archie, Angelica can you come in here please your father and I would like to speak with you.”

The twin look at each other panicked, Angel mouths to him “What have you done?” Archie shake his head no and mouths back “What about you?” she shakes her head, shrugging and makes her way into the Livingroom to see both her parents sitting on the chair, her dad looked uncomfortable at whatever their mom had planned to speak to them about.

Mary smiles and motions to chairs in front of them, “Why don’t you have a seat.”

Both cautiously sat down looking at each other and then their parents, Angel had to ask “Are we in trouble or something?” Mary laughs “No, Angel you’re not in trouble, it just we don’t talk much, so what are you both up to today?”

Still feeling suspicious as to where this conversation was going Angel was the first to answer “I’m going to see Jug and Sweets at the school to see how the protest is going, then I’m going to work on Tommy project with Toni.” Her parent nod and look at Archie, who shrugs and says “I’m going to Veronica to study for our English exam.”

“Studying?” Fred asked raising an eyebrow at his son, Archie smiles and nods back. Angel was fighting back a laugh, hiding her face, so their parents don’t see her smile, Mary clears her throat.

“Well I’m glad you’re both being honest with us, but now you’re older and both in a somewhat serious relationship…”

Angel grabs Archie hand, he squeezes her back, both with a panicked look on their face.

“Oh my god, she isn’t?” Archie said.                                                          

“Oh my god, I think she is, she going there,” Angel said back.

“She wouldn’t, would she, we might be jumping to conclusions?”

“No, Arch, I don’t think we are.”

Fred smile, he loved the little duo they did, it made you believe they were indeed twins when they finished each other sentences. Mary just rolled her eyes at her children, they can be so immature at times.

“Pack it in, the pair of you, I’m trying to have an adult conversation with you.”

Angel laugh and smiles at her, “Mom I love you, but you’re a bit late for the sex talk.”

The boys cringe which made the girl roll their eyes, Mary carry on “I know sweetie, but your father and I just want to make sure you’re both being safe, we don’t want…”

��An unwanted pregnancy,” Angel answered, the room went quiet, she scolded herself it just came out, she keeps forgetting it’s still early days with her family. She let out a sigh, standing up and smile at her parents, “Sweet Pea at the moment is chained to a fence so we won’t be doing anything for a while but don’t worry we’re always careful. I’m on the pill, dad stops cringing mom started this, and I’m just trying to be honest.”

He parents nodded, it was silence for a moment, Angel coughs “Erm can I go now and I’ll be staying at Toni tonight as well.” Fred smiles and nods “Of course princess, stay safe, and we see you tomorrow.” She smiles, walks around the table and kisses her parents on the cheek, “Love you both.”

“We love you too,” Mary said back, with that Angel walks out of the house and hoping this was the last awkward family conversation for the next year.

(At Southside School)

“Hey, little one, what are you doing here?” FP asked as he saw her get out of the car, she smiles and holds up Pops takeout bag. “I thought you might be hungry.”

“You’re the devil incarnated,” Jughead stated, with his usual scowl, Angel gives him her most innocent smile. “I don’t know what you mean, I’m here to be a supporting friend and girlfriend, and I just happened to be hungry, so I went to Pops for something to eat.”

FP laughed, knowing she was lying but didn’t say anything, Fangs was looking at the bag in her hand practically drooling “Did you get us anything?” Angel giggled, taking the burgers out the bag handing one to FP and shakes her head “No Pretty Boy, you’re on a hunger strike right, fight the power!”

Fangs let out a groan, which made her laugh more, she turns her attention to Sweet Pea looking him up and down, biting her lip, Angel not going to lie he looked good in chains. She slowly makes her way up till she met his eyes, he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at her.

Angel smirks and shrugs, “I just thought once this is over maybe you can keep those chains?” Sweet Pea smirk back and winks “Maybe I can?”

“Eww, you both make me sick.” Fangs said in disgust, FP and Jughead nod in agreement. Sweets wink at her, and she giggles before she could tell Fangs to shut up, Sheriff Keller come over.

“Hey Angel, I’m glad your back and safe, but I need to ask you a few questions.”

Angel stood up confused, “Erm sure Sheriff, have I done something wrong?”

He smiles and shakes his head, “No Angel, don’t worry. It just have you heard about the car we found in the lake.”

Angel still a little confused about where the conversation was heading “Yeah, I don’t know how I can help?”  

“The CI’s have been able to give us a timeline of when it was pushed in the lake, and according to Kevin you were in woods by the lake taking pictures, and I was wondering if you saw anything out of the ordinary?”  

Angel tried to think back it was a while ago and a lot had happened since then, “I can’t remember to be honest Sheriff, but I might have caught something on my camera I could go through them and give you any I think will help.”

He smiles at her and gives her a quick hug “You a good kid, Angel, thank you, nip to the station if you find anything ok. Also, you need to come over for dinner soon it’s been too long.”

She pulls back and smiles at him “Of course Mr. Keller.”

She turns back to the group, her smile turns to a frown when she sees FP’s and Jughead faces, Jugs had gone white. What the hell is wrong with them?

“Jughead, you ok?”

FP was the first to recover, “Yeah sweetness, you know Jug, and this is the longest he’s ever gone without a burger or any food to be fair, he didn’t think this hunger strike out properly.”

He smiles at her but he knew deep down Angel would still be suspicious but she let it go she learnt years ago, the Jones boys weren’t ordinary. She shrugs accepting this was the only explanation she was going to get, Angel turns back to Sweet Pea, walking up to him and give him a quick kiss, after a few minutes she pulls away and smiles at him.

“Try not to get yourself arrested Serpent boy.”

Sweets smirk back “I can’t promise anything, but I try for you, Princess.”

She laughs and begins to walk back to her car “Have fun boys, see you later.”

They watch her drive off, FP looked at Jughead who was still pale “Calm down Jug, you got that project with her for the play just say its been a while and ask her if you can see her pictures, let stay level-headed about this.”

Jughead raises her eyebrow at him “You make it seem easy, she been avoiding me since she came back, we don’t spend time together unless we’re with everyone else.”

FP raise an eyebrow at the slight sadness in his son's voice, when he talks about Angel. “Jug is there another problem, I should know about.”

Jughead avoids his dad’s eyes and shrugs “I just miss our relationship before all this, we were so close, and now it’s awkward, and I just want us to be us again.”

FP knew there was something else but he didn’t want to push his son, he let out a sigh and place a hand on his shoulder. “Give it time boii, that all I can say.”

Jughead nods agree but still thinking how much time will it take.

(At Toni trailer)

Toni had all her picture on the kitchen table, Angel smiles, she was right from the start Toni was incredibly talented, she picks a photo up of Cheryl, turning to Toni and raise an eyebrow at her.

“Who would have thought Cheryl Blossom falling in love with a Southside Serpent.”

Toni laughed “Remember what I told you all those months ago, life works in mysterious ways. Who would have thought the Northside Princess Angelica Andrews would fall head over heels for Southside Serpent Sweet Pea.”

Angel laugh at her comment, turning back to the table and picking up her favorite picture of Sweet Pea. She smiles slowly stroking his face, “I would never have thought that was possible like I told you months ago I wasn’t looking for love.”

Toni smile, she saw how happy the pair of them made each other, but there was a giant blue elephant in the room, who happens to wears a beanie.

“I know you don’t like talking about this but have both of you spoken about your old feeling for Jughead?”

Angel let out a sigh, placing the picture back on the table and turning to Toni giving her a sad smile. “No I know it bad but I think we’re both avoiding that conversation, it going so good and I don’t want to ruin it because let be honest there no solution I can’t change who I use to have a feeling for. Also, Jughead is one of my oldest friends I can’t imagine my life without him, but I can’t imagine my life without Sweet Pea.”  

Toni leans her head on Angel's shoulder, rubbing her upper arm trying to comfort her a little. “I know Angel but remember this I’ve known Sweet Pea my entire life, and I’ve never seen him look at a person the way he looks at you. He’s mad for you girl so when it does come to a head remember no matter what he says he loves you.”

Angel smiles, leaning her head against Toni and place her hand over hers. “Thank you Pinkie, I hate growing up.” They laugh and pull away from each other, Toni still smile thought it better to change the subject.

“Less about our relationships, have you decide what song you be singing at this event?”

Angel smirk and looks back at Sweet Pea picture, “Yeah I’ve got a few ideas, and I hope people will like it.”

Toni smirk and raise an eyebrow at her wondering what Angel was thinking about doing. “I’m sure people will love anything you sing, you're an extremely talented person, we’re lucky to have you.”

Angel smile grew “Oh believe me Pinkie, I’m the lucky one.”

(A weeks later)

Well to say the friendships in Riverdale have strained and tested the last week would be the biggest understatement of the year. Angel couldn’t keep up with what was going on and who was mad at who anymore but the play was back on and like it or not everyone had to work together. Only out of fear at what Kevin would do if they ruined his play.

Angel was waiting for Jughead in the Black & Gold, she was so nervous she avoids this all week, but Kevin informed her not so nicely that she needs to grow up and find a way to work with Jug or he will disown her as his best friend.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

Angel looked up from her camera to see Jughead walking in, she smiles put her camera down. “No, it ok, I’ve only been here five minutes myself, because I was watching Sweets and Reggie play basketball and got distracted.”

Jughead smile at her “How was trying to cheer for both of them?”

She laughs, “Not easy but they now know better to make me chose between my husband and boyfriend.”

Jug laugh and sits down next to her, “Well anyone would be stupid to go up against you.” She smiles, they look at each other for a moment, god this was awkward, but their friends were sure the more time they spent together, the easier this would get.

After five minutes, Angel chose to look away cough a little to cover up the awkwardness “Maybe we should get started.”

Jughead nods and takes his camera out his bag “Yeah I think that be a good idea.”

(An hour later)

They had nearly finished sorting out what so far they will defiantly add to the final copy of the video and the photo book Kevin had asked Angel to make for the play for the cast and family.

“I think we make a good team.” Jughead looked up smiling at her, she looks away smiling and bite’s her lip “Yeah but nothing compared to you and Betty.”

He nods “Yeah she one of a kind.”

Angel laughed, “Yeah that an understatement but I’m being honest I think your good for each other and Kevin told me you'd got a new mystery someone threating Cheryl?”

Jughead raises an eyebrow “Yeah but it not easy Cheryl has a lot of enemy’s.”

Angel scoffs “Yeah she does but what do to expect when you torture half the school, but she doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment.”

Jughead nod in agreement and then it was silent again for a few minutes, Angel closes her eyes and lets out a sigh. Maybe this was enough today they’ve talked a lot more today than they have since she came back, you know one day at a time.

“Well I think we made a good start, but I promised to meet Sweet Pea, and I don’t want to be late.”

Angel got up to leave, packing her stuff back into her bag and throwing it over her shoulder, but before she walks out the door, Jughead says something that makes her stop in her tracks.

“It wasn’t unrequited.”

She felt her heart skip a beat, Angel knew what he was talking about but need to make sure she heard him right.

“What did you just say?”

Jughead closes his eyes, take a deep breath and opens his eye to look at her, he’s been wanting to say this since she came home.

“Your love for me wasn’t unrequited, remember before you went to New York, I asked you to meet me at Pops.”

She nods her head, afraid of her voice. “Yeah, but you had to cancel because your mom left and your dad went off the wagon hard.”

Jughead nodded and carried on “I wanted to tell you before you went to New York and found a guy better than me. That I’ve been in love with you since the second year of middle school when you punched Chuck for calling me a weirdo.”

Against her better judgment, she laughs at the memory. Jughead takes this as a good sign, “After you left I felt angry at myself for how that night turned out, but with time I thought maybe it was fate. You know I fell in love with Betty, and you were a big hit in New York.”

Angel just looked at him, confused where this conversation was heading.

“However when it came out what Nick did for you, I just kept thinking this wouldn’t have happened if I had talked to you that day if I had told you about my feelings. Angel you would have never gone to that party.”

Angel let out a shaky breath and leans over to grab his hand. He didn't look at her now.

“Juggie look at me please.” He takes a deep breath and looks up at her, he had a blank face, but she could always tell what Jughead was feeling through his eye, they always gave him away.

“Jug listens to me, you need to stop blaming yourself, and it wasn’t your fault. We can’t change the past and I wouldn’t because it lead me to Sweet Pea but thanks you now I feel a little less awkward.”

Jughead squeezes her hand back, “Anytime Angel, I’m glad we got this out in the open.”

She smiles at him, next minutes there was a knock on the door. They both turned to see Sweet Pea standing there with an unreadable look on his face, staring at their entwined hands. Angel moves her hand away, Sweet Pea now looked up at her face she could tell he was trying hard to hide the anger building up inside of him.

“I thought I would come and pick you up, you ready Princess?”

He sounded sweet, but she knew where this was leading. Well, its time to face the music “Yeah.” Angel turned to smile at Jughead “See you tomorrow Jug.” Walking over to Sweet Pea who grab her hand as soon as she got close enough and stormed out of the room only slowing down when they got to his bike.

He turned to hand her the helmet, “Phone your dad and tell him you won’t be home tonight, tell him you’re staying at Toni or something.”  

Angel take out her phone and texts her dad. Afterward, she climbs on the back of his bike wrapping her hand around his waist. As he takes off, she couldn’t help but think this was going to be a very long night.

Part 12

I just want to say, Thank you guys for your patience and support during my writer block but I’m proud of this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it. 

Tag list -  @lukeevansandjdmobession , @mlvgren , @kayleidoscopicworld , @mantleandpea ,@kingbouji3 , @randomfanficreader29 , @princess-of-the-fandoms , @everheart12 , @stitchattacks   , @jullamy   , @misskarynie , @superhalsteads ,@lolabean1998 , @chicagoblackhawkslover96 , @its-sweetpea , @riverdale-enthusiastt ,@lightwoods-look-better-in-black  , @riverdalesserpent , @topstory21  , @helplessquotess , @sweet-jughead , @lilybellsworld  , @inlovewsweetpea  , @potato384 , @soff-ie @happydaydreamersoul , @marifromtheneighborhood , @northbulldogssouthserpents @xrosegoldwolfx , 

[aj-reblogs]

Well, there you have it. A solid week's worth of effort on my first mostly non-crappy piece of digital art. Good grief, I'm exhausted. As usual, this was done on FireAlpaca, which I still love even though it currently doubles as the bane of my existence. (Omega is SO HARD) Wondering about the actual backstory of this image? Well, that's a long story... Meaning that I mispronounced Team Dark as "Cream Dark" (heh heh, geddit?... I'll show myself out) and had the thought of "Hey, what if shenanigans happened and Cream somehow joined Team Dark?" And because the drawing process takes awhile and my ADHD brain just can't find it in itself to focus on only one or two things at a time (and I'm addicted to character development), I was able to figure out a sort of-reason of how this could work. Warning: Angst. *** (TL;DR) Once upon a time in the land of the Post-SGW Archie timeline, Cream was content to stay to the sidelines and support the Freedom Fighters. However, she couldn't deny that she felt slightly envious of these heroes as they regularly dashed off to save the world and wished that she could do her part. Flash forward a couple years, and Cream is about 10 or 11. By now, she has received some very basic combat training as the world grows even more dangerous. However, her mother and the other Freedom Fighters are still inclined to shelter her, which at this point is seriously pissing her off. But seeing no other options than to stay on the Sky Patrol and support them from afar, however ill content she felt about it. Dr. Eggman's hold on the world had steadily been growing tighter, despite the FF's varied attempts to take him down. Westside Island was no longer safe, and Vanilla had moved into the Sky Patrol at the request of both Cream and the FF. However, life on the Sky Patrol wasn't exactly fun and games either. Eggman had been finding new ways to infiltrate or short-circuit the dirigible, which Rotor and Tails both struggled to combat. To compensate for being rather short-staffed, Cream was taught how to pilot and operate the Sky Patrol (much to her delight). However, she was still only used as a stand-in in case a situation arose where one of the other Freedom Fighters weren't able to take the wheel. During a particularly vicious battle with Eggman where all the Freedom Fighters were called into the fray, Cream had the opportunity to take hold of the Sky Patrol, and with her help operating the weapons system, it looked like a victory for the FF. But Eggman had a few tricks up his sleeve. He sent a powerful virus to Nicole that temporarily short-circuited the controls in the Sky Patrol, leaving it vulnerable for a strike. And strike he did. The Sky Patrol crashed. Eggman had won this battle. Luckily, everyone had been outside of the Patrol, fighting... everyone, that is, except Cream and Vanilla. It took almost a week for Cream to wake up. She had suffered a bad concussion and had fractured a few bones, but they were assured she'd make a full recovery. It was a tragedy the same couldn't be said about her mother. After the funeral, everyone expected Cream to become depressed or withdrawn, but instead, her attitude made a complete 180°. She wanted to fight. She wanted to punish Eggman for the death of her mother. This was unforgivable. But the Freedom Fighters were frightened by this new Cream. They tried and failed to coax her into toning it down, and any talk of Eggman getting his recompense someday only irritated her more. She didn't want to wait until "someday". She wanted vengeance now. Several months passed, and sure enough, Cream did manage to calm down enough to think logically, although the thought of revenge never strayed from her mind. It also wasn't long before the FF paired up with Team Dark for a strike mission, which Cream begged to help with. As she watched this team, she grew more and more in awe with them; their fighting styles, their ruthless, to-the-point strategies... especially when she compared them to the Freedom Fighters, with whom she held the angry paradigm of a group of paranoid babysitters determined to tie her down. She became obsessed with Team Dark and dreamed of someday fighting alongside them them, or at least joining GUN- an organization which she viewed as much less restricting than the FF. About the time she turned 12, Cream had had enough; leaving an angry note next to the Sky Patrol's tea set with no promises of ever returning, she struck out on her own to the United Federation. Along the way, she had several life-threatening adventures that almost made her turn back, but she pressed on until she reached GUN's headquarters. She begged Commander Tower for any kind of job that involved actively helping take down the Eggman Empire, emphasizing her idolization of Team Dark. Tower, having been previously informed of her mother's death, took some pity on her and offered her a spot in a small aerial strike team, which she gladly accepted. She excelled rapidly, learning how to hack most electronics and moving Tower to promote her to a more serious squad. By the time she was 13, she had become one of GUN's best junior pilots and tech operators, and had significantly improved her combat prowess (although she still had a lot to learn). Finally, she felt as if she was really doing her part to take down the man who was responsible for taking away her mother. It wasn't long before she attracted the notice of Team Dark, who had requested a pilot for an upcoming mission and had been sent Cream. At first they were apprehensive of her, but her down-to-earth professionalism both surprised and impressed the team. They began requesting her assistance whenever they needed a seasoned pilot or hacker, finding her rather charming, and much more mature than they remembered. On the flip side, Cream was absolutely thrilled to be fulfilling her dream to fighting alongside her idols. Soon, she was practically one of the team, if unofficially. She is still aligned with GUN and Team Dark, though she has made amends with the FF for running away. She still continues to help fight Eggman in any way she can, alongside Cheese, her Hero Chao. *** DANG, that was long. But I wanted to give this AU justice. I dunno. Maybe it's cuz I wish Cream had a more active role in the series, maybe it's cuz I love seeing her with Team Dark, or maybe it's cuz I like angst way too much, but the point is, I could see something like this happening in the comics if SEGA would ever allow it. But who knows, maybe Cream will get a more aggressive role in the IDW comics.

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[yourpalral]

Blog 90 - Pokémon Ultra Sun Adventure - Day 11

The start of the post game story! Major spoilers here since I do the entirety of the Team Rainbow Rocket plot!

I started the day by meeting with the Ultra Recon Squad and catching Blacephalon for them. I caught one for myself and one for my living Pokédex. After returning home Sophocles told me that the Festival Plaza was hijacked by Team Rainbow Rocket. I then battled them through the Battle Agency, which was interesting, and kicked them out. Back home there was a press conference on TV where Lusamine addressed the Ultra Wormholes that opened up, but as that was happening the broadcast was interrupted by Team Rainbow Rocket. Lillie then showed up at my place and asked me to help out. We headed over to the Aether Paradise where we fought Rainbow Rocket Grunts that were guarding what used to be Lusamine’s mansion. Right in front of the entrance I was confronted by Faba who teamed up with an Aether Foundation employee against Lillie and I. Turns out Faba betrayed Lusamine. Also, battling with Lillie was a thing I was very surprised at! We won the battle and gained access to the mansion. Also love the remix of the GSC Team Rocket battle music and the remix of the Team Rocket Hideout from RBY.

I stormed the mansion. The first notable thing is that I teamed up with Guzma against a couple of Grunts. Turns out there’s a lot of the mansion to explore. I started by going through the left side of the mansion and found, in true Team Rocket fashion, a warp tile maze. I made my way through and found Archie from Team Aqua! Turns out that in his timeline he succeeded in controlling Kyogre. I battled him (the remix of his battle theme was pretty good) and it eventually ended with me defeating his Kyogre. Also, all of his Pokémon were caught in Master Balls. After pressing the switch behind Archie’s picture I warped back to the lobby. I then went to the right of side of the mansion. The puzzle here was a Simon Says-esque memorization puzzle. After clearing all the rooms there I confronted Maxie at the end. I won the battle and took out his Groudon. I then pushed the switch behind his picture and that opened up the way to both sets of stairs in the lobby. After warping back, Guzma was hold back two Grunts with his bare hands. Maxie and Archie then confronted each other and were about to duke it out but mysteriously vanished before that.

I then entered the top left stairs in the lobby and found myself in a maze full of spinning tiles, another Team Rocket staple! At the end of the puzzle I encountered Cyrus. He was whisked away from the “perfect world” that he created and ended up here. I battled him and eventually took out his Dialga. He cave me the Galactic Key to open up the mirror that was hiding the inactive warp in Lusamine’s bedroom. After returning to the lobby I made my way to the last set of stairs. The puzzle here involved turning Meowth statues, similar to the Persian statues that would sound an alarm in GSC (we’re just referencing everything involving Team Rocket, aren’t we?). At the end of the puzzle I confronted Lysandre. He was planning to activate the ultimate weapon here, but let me push one of the two buttons and see if I was a chosen one that can turn off his death laser. Turns out it doesn’t matter which button you press since it doesn’t change the dialogue (I saved and checked because I was curious). I had to press both buttons to stop the ultimate weapon, but of course I battled Lysandre before that could happen. He posed the biggest challenge, especially since I didn’t have a good way to fight his Xerneas, but I emerged victorious. I pushed the last button, stopped the ultimate weapon, and activated the warp in Lusamine’s room.

After entering Lusamine’s room I was stopped by Ghetsis before being able to take the warp. His plan to use Giovanni as a pawn to rule multiple worlds himself is the most Ghetsis thing ever. Also I’m pretty sure his offhanded comment about how Giovanni is easy to manipulate compared “freaks without a human heart” implies that he killed N in his world, which makes this personal seeing how N is one of my favourite characters in the series. After beating him and N’s Zekrom (Ghetsis most certainly his not a hero of ideals and definitely killed N for it) Ghetsis was left claiming he was PERFECTION. He then attempted to murder Lillie if I didn’t surrender my Pokémon. Before anything could happen, Colress teleported out of nowhere and warped Ghetsis to who knows where. Turns out he did the same to Maxie and Archie. The only reason he showed up in person for Ghetsis is because he does not like him at all, which is understandable, even if this is a different Ghetsis than the one he knows.

I then warped to the last room and confronted Giovanni. It turns out that his plans for world domination have since moved on to wanting to rule multiple worlds with an Ultra Beast army by using Aether Foundation technology. Giovanni challenged me to a battle, which for the most part wasn’t challenging since the bulk of his team shared many weaknesses that I could exploit. The real challenge was his Mewtwo, which he evolved into Mega Mewtwo X. It pretty much took out my whole team except for Kallian, who barely survived a Zen Headbutt and retaliated with a Sinister Arrow Raid, resulting in me being victorious. And with Giovanni’s defeat I put a stop to his plan and Lusamine woke up. Giovanni disappeared into another world, with no intention of stopping his plans. And that’s the end of the post game story, probably. If anything else is new it’ll be tackled tomorrow! I’m really impressed with what they did here, even if it was fanservice to the extreme with fighting the old villanous leaders.

Current Team:

Kallian (Decidueye) Lv. 62 - Decidium Z - Spirit Shackle, Leaf Blade, U-turn, Work Up

Kurow (Raichu) Lv. 61 - Alolaraichium Z - Thunderbolt, Psyshock, Brick Break, Thunder Wave

Lupin (Lycanroc) Lv. 62 - Lycanium Z - Stone Edge, Drill Run, Accelerock, Stealth Rock

Weevil (Golisopod) Lv. 61 - Waterium Z - Leech Life, Liquidation, Iron Head, Sucker Punch

Yuki (Ninetales) Lv. 62 - Icium Z - Ice Beam, Dazzling Gleam, Psyshock, Calm Mind

Domon (Kommo-o) Lv. 62 - Fightinium Z - Clanging Scales, Sky Uppercut, Flamethrower, Flash Cannon