#but i've changed stuff about emerald's story since i did this and i feel like i could do it better now agghghhh

[thatdistantconstellation]

anybody remember me saying i was gonna make a comic called "fusion pains" for emerald in 2019 and then proceeded to not say anything about it? well i got a portion of it done back in 2020 and then completely lost the motivation to outline and color the rest of it, and then i started focusing on my other characters lol

i know i'm never gonna finish this so i thought i would just post what i have of it now because why not? so, finally, after 3 ish years, here's the slightly finished "fusion pains"!

[kittygamer2888]

Hello, I’m one of the contestants of the AU Sonic Smackdown, @delightrolls, the creator of the Sonic Thunderstorm AU. I was trying to decide who to vote for between you and @chopp-6467, but the decision is proving to be difficult. Would you kindly tell me more about your Evil Sonic AU? Anything and everything you feel comfortable sharing about your phenomenal story! And if you want some more specific questions I would like to ask:

Is there anything that could convince Sonic that what he is doing is wrong or change his worldview?

Is there anyone on Sonic’s side after Tails leaves him?

Does Sonic ever manage to lure anyone else over to his side like Shadow?

What does Sonic intend to do to change the world? Assert a Totalitarianistic government? Kill anyone they deem as rotten? Something else entirely?

How did the Master Emerald go missing? Are the Chaos Emeralds also missing?

Why did Sonic’s “friends” betray him? Was it for him now being blue? For his Superspeed? For something else completely?

Do Sonic and Tails’ robots look like Badniks or like something else?

Thank you for your time and regardless of whether you win or lose I think your story is phenomenal :)

Holy crap, I am SO sorry for the late answer, i had school n' other stuff, fu--

Anyways, yea, for the questions- I don't think Sonic will be changing his view on the world any time soon, but if there was anyone to try and attempt to convince him once more, it would either be Amy or Robotnik, but other than that, he just doesn't want to listen to anyone since he's too far gone at that point when Tails isn't there anymore.

-question 2: Yea, no, there's no one there for him when Tails leaves, but he eventually makes a Metal Tails, maybe even make some Metal versions of the rest if he ever felt like it.

-question 3: When he means by taking over the world and 'changing it into a better place' that is straight up Eggman behavior, lmfao. If anything, he mostly wants **revenge (sorry) against the world and make it his own so that there would be no one there to stop him if that time was ever to come, and because of his bias towards the world, he wouldn't hesitate to attack innocents by then.

-question 4: The Master Emerald didn't exactly go missing, more like.. it's there, it's just that Sonic will do anything to get it, and once he gets the power from the Master Emerald, he wouldn't hesitate to take it out of Angel Island with the power of his machines if he succeeded. But, as for the Chaos Emeralds, they are in this universe, they're just currently scattered, but Sonic could care less about the Chaos Emeralds since he only wants the Master Emerald, It contains the ultimate power, so of course he would go for the big and shiny and more powerful Emerald. This right here, will eventually become a huge problem for Sonic later on! :P

-question 5: Sonic's friends were fake friends from the start, so eventually, they were going to leave him behind at some point when he was still a normal hedgehog with super speed, because they saw him as a really annoying and hyperactive hedgehog to them. But once he broke the sound barrier, you could say that they were secretly jealous in a way and picked on him, and soon, left him behind. Sorry if i wasn't too specific with this part ^^'

-question 6: As for the badniks, it's pretty much just your regular badniks like the ones you see in the og Sonic games (For example: Buzzbombers, Motobugs, crabmeats, etc), but I have been thinking about maybe making some custom ones just for this AU, so far I can only come up with 1 which I forgot the name of, but i think i have it saved somewhere in my gallery, idk though.

Aaand, ye, that's all.

Again, i am so sorry to answer this late, I'm currently in school answering this ;-;" but thank you so much qwq♡

I'm glad you and some others like the story so far, it's currently a work in progress, but I've tried to come up with some stuff here and there during these questions, so.. yea👍

Tbh, i thought the story i did for this AU would be silly, i didn't think people would actually like it, so weh.. thanks for that, too 🥲❤️

Also also, I've seen how this can somewhat count as propaganda, so.. hope you don't mind if i tag the @au-sonic-smackdown account

[magicalgirlmindcrank]

would you ever do a rant what each generation or your preferred ones did better then the others?

im an Emerald stan at my heart but hearing your shinnoh thing was very interesting

I mean my preferred gen is Gen 4 all the way- IMO No games before or since have matched The Peak that was Platinum and HGSS and I've played almost every single mainline game mutliple times- but I think every generation did at least some stuff better than other gens or have something to love about it.

As for RSE, I think the whole dive mechanic was fun as well as having two bikes, the Climax of the story is great in the way it envelopes the entire game world, and May is one of my favorite pokemon heroines.

RBY Has maybe the most exploits you can take advantage of, both bugs and combat system wise (Wrap+T wave or Toxic are ridiculously op) and as someone thats been playing since Red its impossible to beat for nostalgia.

GSC Is notable for having just a ton of content, and being the first to actually expand the lore of pokemon with the legendary beasts and pokemon tower and such. Fighting yourself from the prev game is still the basically THE hardest fight in mainline pokemon and an absolutely epic inclusion. Crystal specifically is where we got the gender select and is one of the most responsible parties for transing my gender.

To further expound on Sinnoh, besides just how immaculately designed it is as a region, the way it included and explored the religion of the pokemon world is just... *mwah*. So good. Cynthia is the hardest champion fight in the series and claiming the title from her makes you feel like you really earned it. Also HGSS is possibly the Ideal pokemon Experience. Whenever I think of the best of pokemon it is Platinum and HGSS.

Gen 5 had fun low hp music.

I think XY and ORAS had the hands down best addition to the combat system since DPPT's Phys/Spec split with Mega evolution and while XY's story was a bit lacking, Kalos was a legitimately fun region to romp through!

I loveddd how different the Islands felt in Alola and the trials were nice change of pace. Alola is honestly some of the hardest games to Nuzlocke due to them. Theres also an immensely diverse selection of pokemon even right from the get go that enables a lot of fun and different runs. The unique Z moves and Z Moves in General were a great counter part to Megas. Lily, Gladion's and Lusamine's dynamic in SuMo specifically were really intriguing, though USUM shat all over it instead of expounding on it.

The Open area in Galar was really cool to see and explore! I really like how Leon was basically a mainline protagonist himself. The Fossil pokemon were absolutely Hilarious.

As for Paldea... I've yet to get my hands on ScarVi actually! But Im sure I'll find plenty to love there as well~

[crystalelemental]

I've finally had the time to read through your Pokemon Team characterization! Gen 5 was when I realized that, maybe the Pokemon team and the arrangement actually had something to tell about the characters, but reading through your characterization made me realize that perhaps that already happened a lot sooner than I thought! Thank you for writing all of those, I had fun reading them.

Steven was the trainer that made me want to add Skarmory to my team. Raising it was rough since it's purely defensive, but I had a good experience having it. The Claydol setting the screens...I still remember my Emerald team almost getting defeated because my 10-years old brain didn't understand why his Metagross took less damage from my Blaziken. But yeah, Steven's Emerald battle was so much fun, and I agree his ORAS fight is kind of a downgrade.

I also like your analysis of Cynthia's team, and I very much agree with them. No matter what team she's using, she'll always be a challenge and difficult to defeat...that Double Team-spamming Spiritomb, I hate it. And the fact that I had to raise my own Garchomp just to counter hers in my Shining Pearl playthrough said a lot about how strong her ace is.

And your Hop team analysis...I love it so much! I think the story and characterization behind his team composition are more apparent than the others, especially because he takes center stage in Gen 8. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, I like it. He's one of my most favorite rivals alongside N and Hau, so I am very happy when you did a post of him.

I read through Whitney and the Poison specialists too, they're all great! This makes me want to request some as well, but feel free to take your time and do it whenever you want to. I was going to request N's BW final fight team and B2W2 seasonal teams but realized that'd be way too much to work on, so...Morty and Zinnia! For Morty, you can do his GSC or HGSS, or B2W2 version, your choice.

I'm honestly interested to see what your characterization analysis of their team will tell about them, especially Morty (other than the fact that Johto doesn't have that much Ghost Pokemon selection he resorted to the Gengar line).

There's a lot, so I'll respond fully under the cut.

In completely fairness, I'm making up a lot. None of this is confirmed, but the idea is to showcase that you can make stuff up, and that's the basis of developing a character back in those times. Gen 5 was the first character-centric game where they really had a lot to work with, and Gen 7, oddly enough, really emphasized character moments to the point you have a pretty effective idea. But before that, you just cobbled together, and I really wanted to see more of that than just the Red and Blue favoritism stuff, so I decided to try my hand at this. I'm glad it seems to be at least somewhat popular, given how some of them got a decent response outside of my immediate sphere.

I was kinda surprised that his first ORAS fight is exactly the same. Like, it's almost the same movesets. Which is kinda funny, the way things change just by mechanics and movepools. But yeah, I really love the Emerald team, definitely my current favorite fight.

Cynthia's generally tough. I haven't done the BW or BW2 fights in a long time, so I don't remember them too well, but I can't imagine it's any easier. And...yeah, my opinion on BDSP is low, but I think as a good example of "Cynthia is always really weak to setup," Cresselia swept both of her big rematches in my game. Cresselia is stupid good as a Calm Mind setter.

Hop's felt slightly like cheating because we know so much about him, but it seemed to go over well with Hop fans, so I'll take the win.

Whitney's...might have been my favorite so far? Because there's so little to go off of. Well...okay, no, Geeta's was my favorite because I have an ulterior motivation (being contrary), but Whitney felt the most cobbled together from stuff we don't know. Which I think was more fun.

I can do all three. No promises on turnaround time, but I'll give each a try. And hey, great news! Morty's in a similar bracket to Whitney, and I don't actually know much about Zinnia! So this will be cobbling together nonsense real good.

[astroninaaa]

Hot take a talk about technoblade:

Okay look I've been part of this fandom since August(thank god cuz i watched it all live and it woukd be a nightmare to caatch up) I bring this up cuz i want to discuss my problem with technos character. I have watched every single techno livestream that he made on dream smp and believe it or not i used to be a techno sympathiser that is until doomsday. (By techno apologist standards i am qualified to talk about his character hooray..)

Now techno like every character is flawed if he wasn't he would be boring fandom. One of his biggest flaws is being a hypocrite. That is not something you realise until you compare what he says all the time so you need to look a little deeper to realise it and i don't blame people for not seeing it.

This wouldn't be that much of a problem because that is a character flaw among with many others but the problem that his character has faced is that he doesn't develop much.

Now i hear techno apologist jump at me every single time noooo he isn't a stagnant character he has developed a lot. I am not saying that he hasn't developed at all the problem is that he has developed very little especially when you consider everything.

His goals his ideas his perception of the world what he believes him everything that makes his character him hasn't changed much and that is not a good thing from a writing perspective. Now why do i bring this up. Firstly I'm not saying this to say techno is a bad writer far from it he can be very good when he puts his mind to it. The problem with keeping a character in this state is that it's very harmful for said character first and to the story and other characters second. Look even at yourselves i can guarantee that you aren't the exact same person you were like five years ago for example because during that time you made mistakes learned from them and you grew. Just like in real life you also can't stay stagnant in fiction.

Okay so that's the main problem with technos character that he is stagnant as a character. Now this wouldn't be as big of a problem if he didn't have the role that he has.

You see techno both c! and cc! are very good at the game basically. Now why do i bring this up. The reason why i bring this up is bc of where this places techno whuch is at the very top of the chain don't try and seny it. This means that he is one of the most powerful people on the server if you are going to try and go against this point just look at lmanberg guys that's living proof of how powerful and how terrifying he actually is. I know a lot of you are gonna say but every can get stacked or play the game but you guys forget that even if you are stacked you just don't have the skill and cc! Techno of the best people when it comes to that which bleeds into his character. Saying that is like looking at the upper class than looking at the lower class saying just get rich like it doesn't work like that.

Because of his role techno is literally the 1% by rl standards which means he can a lit of things free of consequences bc no one can give him said consequences. The butcher army was ig an attempt at that but they failed miserably let's be real here.

Because he is in the 1% is incredibly skilled at pvp and can do anything bc no one can challenge him this places him on a pedestal and creates a power imbalance a very big one at that.

And that leads to his biggest problem he has practically everything as said by Techno himself and is never challenged, but that's not an interesting character. An audience gets tired for a character that always wins or loses. Because if it happens repeatedly it just takes all the suspense oh he will win immediately. He will go and slaughter them problem solved. That's it every time. Something that techno himself confirmed is then when he has a problem he just stabs it (both of these were said during the egg stream).

And if you are going to bring the things he went through to say he's changed don't cuz as long as he doesn't act on it it means nothing. Like examples Red festival killed tubbo an ally. Traumatic experience right? This is a good moment to develop his character and give us more insight. What happens? Techno tries to dismiss it and shows us his anxiety and gives us insight on his character Great! Character development? Starting to question himself just a bit or any sign of that event having an effect on him? Nope! Why? Cuz he doesn't act on it instead he tries to hide the fact that ever happened and changes to a different topic bc there is no justification there and he knows it. Nov 16th c!technos pov he just got betrayed caused some damage wished death upon his former allies and left. Quite a dramatic scene. He feels betrayed time for some good old character development. Him thinking about himself and his actions. Reflecting on them. Great moment! Problem: literally everything that shows this is done off camera and now suddenly he's retired... Okay you know what fine it's alright he would probably expand upon and did a timeskip to explain the ling time he didn't stream. I see where it's comming from. The butcher army ge gets hunted down bc actions have consequences techno and you can't just run away like that not after doing that. Great point from the butcher army. Go give him some consequences his character needs it. And then he gets executed alright a bit too far but i guess that's how it goes in this server. Techno gets his life back immediately.. well that was a bit pointless but alright a cool scene for the animatic fair. Then he kills quackity.. the butcher army lost.. this.. what? But this was the moment of consequences... and quackity didn't get it back like techno the butcer aemy lost more than techno what? Moving along he teams up with tommy aannnd the 50 withers are up and ready of course you didn't fully retire what was i expecting. And now team up with tommy perfect way to learn about dream and give more insight on lmanberg and how dream is a tyrant and everything techno is supposed to stand against. The green festival tommy chooses tubbo over techno techno feels betrayed understandable.... and then he teams up with dream lmanberg is destroyed and the underdogs are beaten to the ground loose everything they ever worked for and are taught to be scared of the anarchists?!?!?!?!

Okay now hold up a sec I'll have to stop you right there. What. did. you. just. do. Cuz there is a limit to the amount of stuff you can let a character get away with. The line was crossed months ago this is not good at all.

Also what are yoi guys talking about consequences. Lives? All 3 home? Right there pets? The ones that died were the ones he brought expecting to not live he brought them there on purpose so they don't count. He is one of the most wealthy peoole on the server (no one beats ranboo lol) what did he exactly loose? Friendships? Was that all the hardships you guys have?

Lmanberg lost their home their lives their wealth their pets their friend everything they loved and lived for everything they stood for they lost a part of themselves in the end.

Look at the last 2 paragraphs and how imbalanced that is. How are you guys blind to this How?! And why did doomsday happen? Because the butcher army failed. And if anything techno proved them that they should have punished him harder with this.

So what was the lesson of doomsday?

That you shoukd obey the people on top and never go against them or you will loose everything you love.

Great lesson guys this is exactly the lesson the rich class and every single tyrant tried to teach society and this lesson is being told by the anarchist great job....

Do you see the problem now. This is the reason techno needs a consequence bc if he keeps going like this he will become a Mary Sue. And that is a horrible direction for a character that has a lot of potential. That potential is why i liked his character that much in the beginning but now it's almost non existent. Anyway I'll end this now cuz this went on for too long. That's basically my opinion on it feel free to share your thoughts.

okay. okay. i read this like three times bc. because look

i agree in some very specific points, but i disagree in very broad manners.

(this entire......... essay is all /rp and /nm!!!!)

anyways. send me hot takes!!!

i like c!techno. i personally think he's one of the most fun characters to watch because i enjoy the mess, the crazyness, the chaos of it all. watching doomsday through c!tommy's eyes was painful. watching doomsday through c!techno's eyes was just so fucking hilarious and exciting and fun. he's just a fun character to watch. he's just Funny. i am a fan. however

for starters: ctechno is, 100%, out of the park, an stagnant character. he has little to no development throughout the story. we see no changes in how he acts. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but considering the type of character he is, watching him develop (be it to an actually full-fledged villain or towards a redemption arc) would be ideal to keep him a character people can actually support.

i wouldn't say he's a hypocrite. c!techno has a very strict moral code and he follows it with no hesitation, with no doubts. the point is that his moral code is flawed and skewed. that doesn't make him a hypocrite, that makes him someone with bad morals.

calling c!techno "the 1%" is a stretch. for one- c!ranboo has as much resources, if not more, as c!techno does. he has dozens of totems, thousands of emeralds, and probably has one of the higher counts of diamond and netherite on the server. why is that never brought up? because it doesnt matter. c!foolish has so much gold and diamonds and netherite and just everything, really, and it's also never brought up/a reason for people to be afraid of him. the dream smp isn't a capitalist universe, there's no "1%". specially bc there's, like, i don't know, 20 players? that makes c!techno 1/20 OR 3/20 if we count c!ranboo and c!foolish. but that's not the point at all: the point is that ctechno is feared bc he's skilled and has a relevant personality, not bc he has resources. c!wilbur has no shit and he's still terrifying, there's no character willing to oppose him. not because of resources, but because of who he is. when c!techno first fled from l'manburg into "retirement" he had no shit either, it took him a while to be rich again. no one attacked him either way.

why, you ask? bc he fought against c!quackity with a fucking pickaxe and won. that's why. c!techno doesn't need resources to be feared. the power imbalance doesn't come from his resources, it comes from others’s fear. and they have a reason for that fear, bc c!techno hasn't been defeated yet. that has nothing to do with "upper class" and "lower class". because, one, not a capitalist system and class disparity isn't as simple as that, and two, even without his "riches" he still wins, bc he's got the skill. if you take out the skill, him being rich means nothing and he wouldve been easily killed by the butcher army or c!tommy or whoever decided to kill him. a good example is, once again, c!ranboo: if he wasn't friends with everyone and someone decided to actually fight him like was done with c!techno, he would've died. easily. being rich in the smp is relative.

c!techno will be challenged when we have a character strong enough to challenge him in a way that matters. it's important to be smart about it. that's why i'd love to see, out of everyone, c!philza turn against him, but that's a how other discussion (WHICH I'M WILLING TO TALK ABOUT.......... everytime i make these and i add little point i dont elaborate on and then say i'm willing to talk about them and no one ever asks me to <//3 PAIN /nm /lh).

i do think he's a character that just Always Win in narrative ways and that's very frustrating. he does need to get pulled a few notches down. again, that will only happen when we have a character that can step up to him and challenge him in a way that matters (woooo c!philza you want to hold c!techno accountable for his bullshit so bad woooo........)

now, onto c!techno's trauma. he doesn't need to show it. he- he doesn't. that's........ not how trauma works, and that's one of the points that make his trauma so forgettable for the viewers. c!techno is, from inside out, a character that hardly shows his emotions, but that doesn't mean he doesn't display symptons of trauma. he does, they're just a lot more subtle than other characters's. that doesn't mean he doesn't have any or that he isn't affect by it. c!techno is, in a lot of ways, a lot like c!tubbo: both of them don't mention the shit they've gone through and don't react to it and bc of that some of the viewers don't see how important some traumatic events were in their characterisation. that's why you analyse those characters's trauma through behavior, not through easily seen displays of trauma.

i do think it's taken a little too far with c!techno. the way he reacted to c!tommy's death was...... disappointing, to say the least. c!techno is an underwhelming character in many ways. as said before, it's because he's stagnant. that definitely needs to be worked on.

about the syndicate? yeah, no. theyre not teaching others to fear them. others just Do That bc of their history on the server, but they have literally talked about how they want to better their reputation, bc they don't want to be seen as murderers or oppressors in any way. are they flawed? yes, very much. they have no indicators of what is or isn't a government and they show no regard around the importance of a difference between an oppressive and a democratic government.

they had no right to show up at c!tubbo's door and interrogate him, because they can't appoint themselves as government police. for starters, that's not how anarchy works (they should've had everyone's permission for that. they obviously don't), but also it's just... stupid. it makes it seem that they're trying to boss everyone around so that they live like the syndicate wants them to, which goes directly against the syndicate's own ideals. however, c!techno thinks he has that right. he thinks this is what he's supposed to do. he's just following his moral code - his moral code is just deeply, deeply flawed. what he says and what he does contradict each other but not for him, not to his interpretation. to his interpretation, he's following his strict moral code.

what happened at doomsday was horrible and c!techno has to be held accountable for it, yes, but, again, no character knows how to work around c!techno enough to hold him accountable for it. that's not c!techno's fault.

l'manburg just deserved better, honestly, but to be fair c!techno has been taken advantage of time and time again (sometimes purposefully, sometimes not) and he's fucked up in the head, god bless LMAOOOOOOO

i agree that things need to change otherwise he's just gonna keep being a stagnant character who can get away with everything. i do think he has more to him than meets the eye, tho. meh idk that's still just analysis!!! we have no way of knowing the intent behind c!techno's characterisation, at least not for now. i hope for the best tho cc!techno don't let me down <3

[mashounen2003]

Chaos Emerald - Summarized | Chapter 0: Preface

[link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31143266]

混沌緑柱玉・要約した | Konton Ryokuchūgyoku - Yōyakushita | Chaos Emerald - Summarized

In mid-2018, I had started writing my own Sonic fanfic series. As my writing skills improved and my personal ideas changed with them, I began to regret how I had written the first stories in the series -a series that was still really far from finished, to top it off- and I tried to “remaster” my work at least three times. Besides, I’m currently having many problems to keep writing since November 2019 more or less: I lack time, I have college studies and other real-life stuff to focus on, my ideas are running out, I’m not even as motivated as when I started with this... So I decided to not post my next fanfics but only a list of ideas I had for them. I'll just leave that list of ideas here, waiting for someone within a long time to find them and feel inspired to turn those loose elements into a somewhat decent story.

--------------------------------------------------

序文 | Jobun | Preface

[link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31143266/chapters/76955417]

Alright, before starting with the summary of the ideas I had for future stories, I'd like to start by making some clarifications, sharing some opinions (which have mostly turned out to be rants when I realized), talking about some things I did in my work, some of which I'm proud of, and some of which I regret having done.

--------------------------------------------------

[Last edited on March 25, 2023. I've decided to leave here just the link to read this on Archive of Our Own, since it got too long for a Tumblr post.]

[another-sonic-blog]

The Dark Prince:  Chapter Two: The Way He Is

"Alright, so where do we start?"

"Well, our only clue as to right now is that 1. This person had something against the Commander and 2. This person also wanted to incriminate you. So think, who might hold a grudge against you?"

Amy and Shadow began to walk into the forest with nowhere in specific to go. The night and stars were at full bloom and with that the vast cold surrounded them.

"I... I don't know. It's honestly been such a long time since I've done the whole 'heroin' kind of stuff...the farthest I can go is when I pulled out Infinite's eye."

"You what?"

Shadow looked at Amy in disbelief. How could something so small and... innocent do things he, himself was capable of?

"Yeah, it honestly wasn't my intention, I must have hit him really hard that time. Not like it matters, we haven't seen him in years since Sonic defeated him."

Oh, that's right Sonic.

"Maybe it's not about you... but about him. This wouldn't be the first time they use you as a bait to get him."

"I haven't seen Sonic in a year. I doubt that what you say is true."

Shadow noticed that the air around them had changed now. It would seem like talking about the blue blur affected Amy in some way or another. He wished he could of know more, but he was one to blame as well since he wasn't one to start conversations with her about her feelings.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to have more allies around. Believe me, I am not a big fan of this idea either but having the world's hero on our side could be of great advantage."

Shadow stood up in front of Amy and she could instantly feel the warmth radiating from his body. It calmed her down, once again she knew that he was right and that she needed to put aside her feelings for the blue one for the benefit of both of them.

"...you are right, Shadow. You always are."

"Damn straight I am"

"Alright but where are going to start looking?"

"Last time I checked on G.U.N's database, people of the city of Hvalsey have reported seeing the blue one running around their city. So we will check there first...with my speed, we can get there in a day."

"Wait, no running!", Amy was now the one stopping Shadow on his tracks. Delicately touching his chest with her gloves and for one moment Amy stared into his eyes, taking dominance for a second.

"I am aware that running is more convenient but it's also very...flashy. Just like we know Sonic's location, there will be reports of you running around and G.U.N agents and whoever else is following us will keep getting a track on us. So for now, I suggest walking...to be discrete."

Shadow nodded in agreement. Amy was right on this one and if they were going to be a team, they were going to have to listen to each other's ideas and respect them. He didn't want to admit but right now he was more focused on Amy's small hand placed on his white chest fur.

"You are right... if only I had my Chaos Emerald... We could be there right now."

"It's ok Shadow we will figure something out. Meanwhile, we should think about a place to sleep."

Shadow didn't notice until now but Amy must be freezing to death at this point. Shadow could tell that it was going to snow at any second now even if his body was made to be resistant to high and low temperatures, he still was one that could be affected by it.

"Since my house and yours is out the question, I think I know of a place where we can rest for the night."

.

.

.

"A cave?"

"What were you expecting?"

"Knowing you? At least something similar to the Bat-Cave"

"Toucheé"

Amy took a sit on what it seemed to be solid ground. In no matter or another, she was comfortable, it was cold outside and humid on the inside. Shadow noticed this and with no further due went outside to look for rocks, sticks or anything that might start a fire. When Amy noticed his absence, she went outside to follow him. The white snow made small cracking sounds as her boots made contact with it. A few minutes later she found Shadow on his knees, looking around underneath the snow.

"Shadow?"

"Amy, you should go back"

"Let me help you"

Amy bent down to see that Shadow had a deep cut around his waist that Amy didn't notice before. The blood must have blended with his black fur and Shadow acted so normally that she didn't think that he was hurt at all.

Noticing her concerned, Shadow moved away from her in disapproval. Finally founding what he was looking for he stood up again as nothing happened and walked back to the cave, expecting Amy to do the same. Amy sighed in defeat and quietly back with him.

Once again in the cave, Shadow took two minutes to turn on a bonfire with two Flint rocks. After that, both of them stayed quiet. Looking through to the dancing flames until Amy decided to break the silence between them.

"Why don't you let me help you?"

"There's nothing to help with. The wound already healed, it was a pretty deep cut so my body took longer to heal it. I am alright now."

But that answer didn't satisfy her. Amy still had questions about everything. Including the most important one.

"Why bother so much Shadow?"

"Speak clearly"

"Why bother yourself with me? We barely know each other but you still decided to help me."

"Because..."

Maybe because he was secretly in love with her. However, he still hasn't figured out his feelings completely yet. Shadow didn't feel it coming like in the books, he didn't think 24/7 about her. He didn't miss seeing her every second nor think of her as a goddess. What was it then? What was it about her that attracted him so much but still couldn't get a clue of? Shadow was never one of the words but of actions and so this thoughts never left his mouth.

"It was the right thing to do."

Amy's face changed. That was convincing enough. Shadow was just like that, a nice guy. He would go to any extent to help someone in need and that someone right now was Amy. Amy offered him a warm smile, in which Shadow return by looking away. She knew that it was just that, the way it works.

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Shadow woke up immediately at the smell of black coffee. He sure wasn't expecting to sleep that night but the low key was kinda glad he did.

"Could you walk a little slower?"

"...I thought I was going slow, my apologies."

"And usually, the guy is supposed to be the one who walks by the road."

"Sorry, I am not the gentleman you thought I was."

Amy waited for Shadow to change sides, but that never happened. Once again, Amy thought that this was very Shadow like as well. The ladies called him 'Dark Prince' but he clearly didn't know how to act like one.

"How long, until we get to the rabbit's house?.", Shadow was clearly annoyed, not being able to his speed for the simplest of things really got to him more than he thought he would.

"Just around the corner."

And there it was, Cream's house in its full cuteness. It was nice to see that her friend's house was still intact. The couple walked slowly towards the yellow door and rang the doorbell. From the inside an 'I am coming' was heard and seconds later, the door opened. Cream had for sure grow into a fine lady. Even after her mother died, she still found a way to keep strong. She was smart, strong and independent. It was not a surprise why the top world mechanic, Tails Miles Prower, was completely in love with her.

"Miss Amy! Mr. Shadow!"

"Hey Cream, long time no see"

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"I understand your situation, but how may I help the both of you?"

Amy and Shadow had taken a sit on the red sofa, facing the rabbit girl. "We wanted to ask you for some clothes...and even for some money...like you must know. When a government spy company wants to murder you, all money disappears from your account."

Shadow looks straight into Cream's brown eyes. In a sense, he wanted to intimidate the rabbit girl but was failing at it miserably. He felt nostalgic at the sight. But was strangely proud of it.

"For the Dark Prince anything, as well for his princess." Cream laughed a little as he saw the reaction on the couple. Which to her surprise they did not deny her comment but quietly blushed at it.

"Oh, but Mr. Shadow!" Cream's sweet voice stumble, on Shadow's ears as he came back to reality.

"Yes?."

"There's this box full of clothes on the room upstairs. Its the first one to your left. Can you bring it please?."

Shadow nodded and stood up from his sit. After Cream noticed that Shadow was out of sight, she went to sit next to Amy who was curious by friend's reaction.

"So, Mr. Shadow, uh?." Cream teased her with a smile and Amy blushed more intensely. "It's not like that!."

"Who are you trying to fool? Mr. Shadow totally likes you!."

"He doesn't! He is just helping me out.", Amy gave a slow whisper.

"Amy, let me tell you something about the Dark Prince.", Cream grabbed Amy's hand and began her story.

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If the entire world could crying, then it will be because of Vanilla's funeral. Nobody care enough to put up their umbrella to protect themselves from the rain. Everyone in black and flowers in their hands, trying to be strong enough for the young Cream.

Everyone was there but Shadow The Hedgehog.

So when Cream saw Shadow standing in front of her mom's grave, that really got her.

Not that she was angry at him but was deeply touched seeing him but countless of beautiful flowers all around her grave.

"Your daughter has always been there for the person I care the most and for that I am grateful. I promise to take her of her Vanilla and it's such a shame I didn't get to try your pie one last time."

Shadow turned around as he felt a presence near him. He saw Cream come out of the shadows into the moonlight.

"I'll tell you my mom's pie recipe if one, you don't tell anyone. And two, if you tell me who is that person you care for the most is."

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"Amy, that person was-"

"I have the box."

Both Amy and Cream jumped in a hysteric manner and Shadow appeared in front of them, holding a heavy-looking box on his left shoulder. A puzzled look rested on his face, wondering what were the two girls whispering about.

"Oh, great! Just pick whatever you would like to take. I have some extra backpacks you could take on your trip as well. Feel free to take food too.", Cream added as she calmed herself.

"Thank you so much Cream. I am can't take you enough."

Amy let go of her friend's hand to stand up and look into the box. Some of the things she recognized from Cream's closet and others she didn't. Some of the clothes brought back memories from the times Cream would help her do the heroin stuff. "Do you ever miss going on an adventure Cream?." Amy asked as she pulled out a small orange dress, that her friend used to love to wear.

"Sometimes, but my life is way happier now...I have my friends from school, Tails and you. That's all I need.", Cream said with a warm smile. Amy returned her smile and stood up. "I'll go change."

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Now the black and pink hedgehog were in their way to Hasvely. Having clothes on wasn't something Shadow enjoyed in all honesty. The long light brown coat made his arms movements complicated. The black under-sweater made his skin itchy and his tight skinny jeans made running impossible. And the worst part? He wasn't used to wearing clear round glasses.

"I need coffee"

"You just had a cup at Cream's!", Amy replied. Shadow stood quiet for a few seconds to appreciate her. She was trying to cover as much fur as possible. At the end of the day, it wasn't every day that you would see a pink hedgehog on the streets. Even for Shadow who had traveled the world countless times, a pink hedgehog wasn't something that he would see normally. She put her short hair in a small ponytail and put it under a hat. She wore a white sweater and a black skirt with black leggings to cover her legs and to top it all, a black long coat. Even when she wanted to look 'normal' she looks way too good according to Shadow's thoughts.

"I drink at least 7 cups a day."

Shadow closed his eyes and looked out the window but opened them as soon as he heard Amy's small footsteps come close to him. " Alright Shadow, as soon as we get to Hasvely, we need to do a cleaning."

"If you think I am going to stop drinking coffee, then you are completely wrong." Shadow turned around to find Amy looking at him directly at his eyes with her green emerald ones with a disapproving look.

"We will see about that, Dark Prince."

Amy moved her body and gave Shadow his space. Amy didn't want to admit it but, she would appreciate something warm in her hands right now. It was freezing and the train had no heating system whatsoever. A few minutes passed by and silence surrounded them. Then. Amy felt how Shadow stood up from his seat, opened the sliding door and walked int the train's small hallway. A few minutes passed and Amy began to worry about Shadow. Did he go to the restroom? Did he decide to jump from the window and leave her? Did he decide to go with G.U.N?

Amy was used to be alone, to deal with her problems by herself. But she was absolutely terrified of rejection, to not be enough. Amy had to admit that a few months ago she couldn't even stand to look at herself in the mirror. Whenever she would, she would always pint-point her defects. Like the small freckles on her cheeks, her round nose, nor her double chin. Her acne scars on her back, her stomach, and legs that were becoming bigger; which made her go to the hospital a couple of times since she decided that not eating was a better idea. Just everything about herself disgusted her. It wasn't just her looks. She doesn't remember exactly when everything went to hell. She used to not care about trivial things such as looks when she was a kid, and she certainly didn't have time to think about it when she was captain of the Resistance back in the day. But it wasn't just that, She wasn't good at anything, she wasn't smart, had a boring personality and didn't have any particular talent.

Although she was getting better, the thought that she would never be pretty enough, nor good enough as a person, still haunted her mind once in a while. Rouge would help her once in a while with this, and Amy was now regretting taking her for granted. And as far as Shadow has told her, she just disappeared after the events with G.U.N., which was usual for her to do.

Shadow has told her to not worry too much about her, that Rouge was that way and for her, she will try to be strong.

Amy heard the sliding door open once more and Shadow was standing there with two cups that looked like they came from a coffee shop.

"I am back."

Shadow walked past Amy and took a seat next to her handing her a cup, which she accepted gladly. "Enjoy it, this will be your last cup for a while."

"You know that's not happening," Shadow said as he took a sip from his coffee.

And there was Shadow. It may sound like those books in which the boy helped the girl feel better about herself. But this wasn't the case, because there was a big difference between fantasy boys and Shadow.

Shadow was nothing but himself.

Amy knew that she was being selfish, even towards Shadow. She still couldn't believe that Shadow would do all of this for her. She was asking too much and she knew that.

"Shadow...you can leave....whenever you want."

"If I didn't want to be here, I would have been gone by now."

What Rouge couldn't accomplish in years, Shadow did it in seconds.

He made her feel that she was enough. That she was worth all of this trouble. That someone cared for her so much, that they would put their own life at risk. And it wasn't because it was his duty as a hero, but because he was helping a friend out.

"Where did you get the coffee anyways?." Amy took a deep breath as she appreciated the smell of coffee.

"If I tell you, you will get angry."

"...Shadow...what did you do?", Amy asked in a monotone voice, to show her concern. She saw how Shadow looked up at the window and took a big gulp before answering her.

"I ran to the closest coffee shop and ran back here"

"Shadow, we said no running, what if someone saw you and called G.U.N?. We could be in serious troub-"

Amy said before getting interrupted by the Dark Prince...that goddamn nickname that the more time she spent with Shadow, the more sense it made.

"Fine then, I'll let your hands freeze next time."

...on its own way, it kinda made sense.

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Previous Chapter: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/185966609885/i-am-tired-truthfully-i-am-no-matter-how-long-i

The Dark Prince: Chapter One: Team

Next Chapter: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/185966895240/the-dark-prince-chapter-three-my-old-blue-friend

The Dark Prince: Chapter Three: My Old Blue Friend

[littlemisssquiggles]

So, I've read some of your, admittedly, amazing analysis posts about RWBY, and I just have one question. Now that V6 is over what are your thoughts on the future of our favorite villain duo, Emerald and Mercury? With the revelations and concerns brought up in Volume 6, what do you think is going to happen to them moving forward?

Hiya Cats! Thank you so much for the lovely comment. Pleased to hear that youenjoyed my RWBY Musings posts. To answer your question; prior to V6’s premiere,I shared RWBY Musing #49 voicing my thoughts and theories for what I perceived to be the futuregoing forward for the Jaded Duo.

After V5, I was under the impression that theFall of Cinder would’ve led to Emerald and Mercury going rogue with Hazeltagging along with them. I figured that these three would’ve decided to notreturn to Salem out of fear of her punishment, especially Emerald since hermonstrous apparition of her back at Haven clearly painted her terrors of thewicked witch.

I was later disappointed to learn that theydid indeed return to Salem in V6. Moreover, I was disappointed with how theseries left Mercury and Emerald’s story. At least in the case of Tyrian, Wattsand even Cinder who are all on their way to Atlas, nothing concrete was really setup for Emerald and Mercury.

The story touched based on them in V6 C9,sprinkled some interesting titbits regarding Mercury’s past and then…nothingelse. Tyrian interrupted their moment and gave them some advice, if you’d callit that, but beyond that---I’m not sure what is going to happen of these two.

If I had to guess, my safest bet is thatwhile Tyrian and Watts are at Atlas, Emeraldand Mercury would be deployed to Vacuo along with Hazel. Before being interrupted with the news of Ozpin’s reincarnation, Salemmentioned Shade Academy being her next target.

What’s interesting is that Salem wasn’t focusedon claiming the Relic of Creation. Heck she wasn’t even that much concernedwith the failure to obtain the Relic of Knowledge either. The only reason sheswitched gears was because she learned that Ozpin is back, leaving the windowopen for him to reunite with Ironwood.  To me it seems like Salem is more interestedin sparking conflict between the kingdoms by using Atlas as their scapegoatagain. In C9, Tyrian told Mercury and Emerald this:

“…There’sbeen a change in plans. Her grace must act swiftly if we are to prevail. IfGeneral Ironwood comes to his senses and calls upon aid from Vacuo, all may belost for us. So the Good Doctor and I are being sent to Atlas to prepare…”

My theory is that Salemplans on possibly using Atlas Kingdom to spark a second Great War starting withVacuo. Not only would another war provide theperfect cover fire for Salem and her forces to swoop in and claim the remainingrelics undetected, but it will also feed into Salem’s true scheme for thedamnation of humanity.

The cards have already been laid out for us.In the Lost Fable, the God of Light revealed to Ozma in the Realm Between Realms that thecombined power of the Relics doesn’t grant anyone God-like power. I mean magic is the closestin canon equivalent to the power of a god and unlike Ozma, Salem still has allof hers. Instead the Relics will summon the Brothers back to Remnant. Fromthere, humanity will be judged by the brothers. If it is shown that peacereigns throughout the lands then the brothers shall return to Remnant andhumanity will be ‘made wholeagain’ as the God of Light described. However if warand anarchy prevails then the Brothers will consider mankind irredeemable andRemnant as we know it will be wiped out of existence.

The God of Light provided humanity a secondchance to rebuild themselves with Ozma and the other Wizards throughout timeworking diligently to uphold that. However I believe Salem’s plan is to causethe destruction of Remnant. I believe Salem’s ultimate plan is to spark anotherwar between the four kingdoms, throwing the world into chaos as it was 80 yearsprior and once the war begins, Salem will complete acquiring the Relics and usetheir combined power to to summon the Gods back to Remnant.

Seeing humanity reduced to chaos, the Godswill provide Salem what she wants. The destruction of humanity and Remnant. Idon’t know if Salem’s other plan is to also take down the Brother Gods,becoming the Goddess she claimed herself to be and using her newfound status toremake the world in her image as well. But that’s another theory.

Returning to the Jaded Duo, I’d like tobelieve that Salem hasn’t abandoned pursuing the Relic of Destruction. I feel likeshe would send her remaining three pawns (Mercury, Emerald and Hazel) to Vacuo.

While it wasn’t how I pictured it, I’mactually a little intrigued by this possibility. Vacuo has been described asthis sort of place where anyone can make a home and start anew so long as theycan survive the desert. Before V6, my original theory was that Emerald would’vebecome the Fall Maiden, unintentionally inheriting Cinder’s power. Then amonstrous grimmified Cinder betrays Emerald completely and returns to try andtake the maiden magic back---Emerald would kill Cinder and together with Hazeland Mercury, the three would head for Vacuo to start anew believing it to betheir safe haven where Salem would never find them or something like that.

While Emerald didn’t become a Maiden as Ithought, Tyrian’s last words to her and Mercury definitely left me curious. Tyrian toldthem that if they do not love what they are doing then they are in the wrongprofession. Even though the option of leaving was immediately debunked, whyhave Tyrian say it if it’s not mean to be a hanging question that’s going to beon Emerald and Mercury’s minds going forward?

What would have been interesting is if theCRWBY Writers had had Emerald pursue Cinder. Like perhaps Emerald leaves on her own to find Cinder because shebelieved in her and the relationship they shared despite Mercury’s words. Thatcould’ve been an interesting subplot to follow.

However…it seems as if Emerald has gottenover Cinder; even after discovering that she’s still alive. If there’s onething I’m still hoping for with Emerald’s character, it’s the nature of herbond with Mercury and Hazel to grow.

I’m still banking on Hazel and Mercurybecoming the family that Emerald never got to have. I’m still hoping that Hazel will come to see a surrogate little sisterin Emerald. Be the version of Gretchen he failed toprotect. His willingness to accept punishment for Emerald during V6 indicatedthis to me. I loved that. I want more of it. I want more opportunities forHazel and Emerald to grow and develop a brother and sister type ofrelationship.

And since I am a Jaded shipper, I wantEmerald and Mercury to evolve in their dynamic as well. I’m not sure if romance is truly in thecards for these two. Nonetheless, I mostly want to see Mercury come togenuinely care for Emerald and see her as someone he wishes to protect and keep by hisside. Someone who can possibly love him or at least provide him the care and compassion that he wasunfortunately denied as a little boy.

“…I’m sorry youdidn’t have a mommy that loved you but I had a father who hated me…”

Mercury has only known hate. Hate breedshate. It’s funny, when Cinder first met Mercury, one of the first questions sheasked him if whether or not he was like his father. You can even say that partof Mercury’s drive as a character is to be someone who was better than his fatherand it showed during his monologue to Emerald in C9.

“…He neverwent easy on me. Every day of training was a beating and when I unlocked mysemblance, he stole it with his. This is a crutch. This makes you weak. He toldme I could have it back when I was strong so I got strong. But I never got itback.

 I’ve had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. You may not likeit here without Cinder but I think I’m right where I’m supposed to be…”

This single paragraph of dialogue revealed moreto me about Merc and how he thinks than anything else he’s said throughoutRWBY. That’s the proof in the pudding. Mercury isn’t with Salem because he generally believes in her cause.He chose her side because apparently it’s the side with the least amount ofeffort. To Mercury, siding with the forces of evil is the easy route.

After suffering a life where he spent more ofit working hard and pushing himself past his breaking point only for hisefforts to reveal no true payoff in the form of him never regaining his lostsemblance, Mercury had enough. I saw this scene as Mercury’s way of implyingthat he’s given up on hope. Why bother working hard to maintain peace and order when it’s easierto spark disorder since, as Jinn put it, the hearts of man are easily swayed.Why bother fighting to thwart an enemy that can’t be killed when you can justside with said immortal enemy and aid them in their endeavours to ensure yoursurvival.

In Mercury’s head, siding with Salem---theimmortal goddess who no one---not even the Great and Powerful Ozpin can kill(and still hasn’t figured out a way to kill in centuries, mind you) is the winningside. She’s the easy way and to a guy like Mercury who’s had to work hard for everything, that’shis best option.

In a weird way, Mercury’s justification in C9highlighted the other side of learning the truth about Salem. Throughout RWBY’srun, we’ve seen three reactions to main characters learning of Salem’s immortalityand invincibility.

On one end, you have our heroes who stillbelieve in protecting humanity from Salem and believe in working towardstopping her in spite the impossible odds. One another end, you have those likeLionheart and Mercury who sided with Salem because they saw her as the easy wayout as opposed to being killed trying to fight her and then there’s Raven endof simply running away from it all and doing your best not to get involved. Fascinatingdeep stuff, right?

Going back to Mercury. As I said, Mercury hasnever known what it’s like to care or be cared by someone else. He’s only knownto care for himself and look out for his own survival. But what’s intriguing tome about Merc is that there are traits that defy this selfish aspect of hispersonality.

Despite acting like he doesn’t care, Merc has been shown to care for Emerald. He’s even been shown to kind of flirt with a bit too hence why I started shipping them. His introduction lineto Emerald from V2 still gets me every time.

“…Whatever.You want me.”

Despite being raised by an abusive father,Mercury isn’t anything like him. Mercury hasshown to have a soft side forEmerald. It’s even highlighted in V6 C9.

Let’s all be real. Mercury could have easilykicked Emerald’s ass during that first scene especially in hand to hand combat.But I found it rather interesting that Mercury seemed to have gone easy on Emerald. Sure he acted callously towards her at first but…even aftershe struck at him in frustration, Merc held back.

Yes he countered Emerald’s attacks but as I’llsay again, Mercury can easily overpower Emerald in hand to hand especially sincehe can read her frantic movements from a mile away. Mercury is ruthless withothers but surprisingly lax with Emerald. In his own way, he cares for her. Sheis possibly the one person whose well-being he values as much as his own and itcould be exciting if the story tackled more on that.

Not to mention that I’m VERY interested inseeing Mercury interact more withHazel. I feel these two alpha males might clashover what’s best for Emerald but for the most part I think Hazel could providethe healthy paternal relationship that he never got to have with his real father.

At this moment, I don’t think Hazel is awareof Mercury’s abuse. Makes me wonder how he would feel toward him and treat himafter that. Could be very cool to see granted that we get to see it movingforward.

To concludemy answer: That’s pretty much my thoughts on Jaded. I hope this answers yourquestion Cats.

On one last note, I don’t think we’ll beseeing the Jaded Duo for V7 though or…most of the Atlas Arc. I wouldn’t besurprised if Emerald and Mercury fall into the pit of obscurity for the AtlasArc and we might not see them in the story again until the Vacuo Arc. Unlessthe CRWBY do a thing where they cut back and forth between Atlas and Vacuoduring the Atlas Trilogy. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did since they didcut back and forth between Mistral, Atlas, Vale/Patch and Menagerie between V4and V5.

Then again…this was mostly due to our mainfour girls being separated and in different locations. I mean in V6, the storydid take it’s time to hone in on our villains so perhaps we will get to Emeraldand Mercury’s story continued with Hazel going forward.

Like while the heroes are settled into Atlas,the story could occasionally cut to scenes in Vacuo where Emerald and Mercuryare with Hazel on pursuit for Shade Academy. And along the way, they can crosspaths with Vacuo heroes like Team SSSN and Team CFVY. That could be cool.

I’d actually think Emerald going to Vacuo wouldbe pretty great given her character inspiration. Isn’t Emerald not inspired byAladdin? Vacuo is technically the Agrabah of Remnant so…Emerald will be in herelement. Literally. In the desert among thieves and pickpockets like herself. Anyways,that’s my theory for now. I could be very much wrong about all of this but weshall see.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)