#i was worried that adding idw elements would make archie bloated but then i remembered there's like 70 echidnas so who cares

[fernsnailz]

Hey! Recently stumbled upon your stuff after one of my friends shared it with me and it's super cool!

I've never been terribly into Archie but seeing someone try to make sense of the lore is always fun. I'm wondering though, if the IDW characters and plotlines were introduced in Archie first and Archie just kept going, how would you incorporate them into Archie's world?

Would Tangle become a leading member of the Freedom Fighters? Would Whisper join the Secret Freedom Fighters? How would the Metal Virus play out in Archie's world? That kinda stuff! Would love to see your perspective of how it could be done

oh man um. i wrote a lot for this one LMAO SORRY

i think one big takeaway i have is that incorporating the idw plotlines and characters into post-reboot archie sonic probably wouldn’t be super difficult, especially considering some of the idw plotlines were ideas the archie writers had before the series was cancelled. the metal virus saga is the most notable of these ideas, and would probably play out in a similar way to how it did in idw if it were put in post-reboot archie (just with more characters available). there could be minor differences to the idw plots like how the freedom fighters interact with the idw cast, how silver and gold’s future shenanigans affect everything, breezie the hedgehog hosting the chao race arc, some small stuff like that.

i think the main post-reboot/idw character dynamic i would me most excited to see is between eclipse and surge (and by extension kit). they have commonality in being cruel reflections of other characters, but i doubt they would bond over it. eclipse is hellbent on destroying shadow to get revenge for his lost alien race - his destructive purpose is for reasons and people beyond him, not just for himself. surge and kit’s destruction is personal and internal, driven by grudges they were never in control of. surge wants sonic dead because she’s convinced he ruined HER life, not anyone else’s. i think eclipse would find them selfish, and surge would think eclipse is a moron. they could be at odds, which would be CRAZY ironic given their mirrors (sonic and shadow) are also usually at odds. ugh the irony of it all

however, the big challenge here is figuring out how the idw story and cast could fit into pre-reboot archie. if i tried to fit all of idw into pre-reboot i might go crazy, so i’ll just go over some concepts that interest me the most. pre-reboot ideas are below the cut because i have a lot to say <3

1. whisper is an ex-secret freedom fighter

this one feels obvious (especially since you suggested it lol), it would make sense for whisper to be a secret freedom fighter since that’s literally what she does in idw. however, i think whisper would actually stay AWAY from the freedom fighters because she lost everyone on her old team. this is an important part of her character in idw, and it would still be important here.

i think this could fit into archie if there were multiple secret freedom fighters (similar to how there are multiple freedom fighter groups, like the downunda freedom fighters). it could be interesting if whisper was a part of an older secret FF group in another location, but left the freedom fighters after everyone on it was killed. and it would be REALLY interesting if whisper’s group was ALSO formed by harvey who, and she fears the same fate might fall onto the new secret freedom fighters. idk that might be a bit of a stretch, but it could be interesting

i would want to keep the tangle and whisper dynamic, so i think both of them would reject the secret freedom fighters if they were invited and do work on their own or with jewel. it would be hilarious to see tangle talk to larry lynx tho

2. the metal virus is not robotnik's creation

the metal virus saga would be very strange to fit into pre-reboot archie because… it kinda already happened? the very long war between the mobians and robotnik was initiated by the roboticizer. archie robotnik has created touch-based roboticization before, and even brought back the roboticizer for operation clean sweep (which roboticized sally right before the reboot). so why go back to it again?

i think there are reasons to be found for robotnik returning to the roboticizer plot (especially since the metal virus is very unique in how it works). however, i think the metal virus saga could have an interesting archie take if someone other than robotnik created the virus. like what if it was created by the dark legion? maybe they wanted to come up with a way to create more robotic enhancements, but then somehow it got out of hand and broke containment. it would still be robotnik's problem since the dark legion works under him, but he would see it as an issue much faster than he would in the idw version.

or maybe it was created by doctor finitevus in a plot to take out the dark legion in the most ironic way possible? i dunno finitevus's motives are mostly just "i like being evil" so maaaybe it could work?

regardless of who created it, i think it would follow a similar format to idw where the severity of the situation would cause the entire cast to unite - ESPECIALLY if the virus reached across the multiverse. let's get zonic in here babey i miss him

3. SCOURGE AND SURGE BABEY!

this would be wild given that surge is kinda the spiritual successor to scourge. i think surge and kit should still be from mobius prime and created by dr starline (i could MAYBE argue that dr finitevus could make them, but i honestly don't know why he would). once surge and kit are on their own, it could be interesting to see them join the destructix - and then it would be great to watch them completely tear it apart.

surge and scourge Would Not Get Along. they're both green and hate sonic, but why the hell does sonic get TWO green reflections? which one is the BETTER reflection? which one is gonna be the one to finally end that little blue freak's miserable life? you can get a reflection from a mirror, but if you place two mirrors in front of each other you'll only get existential dread and a desire to beat the shit out of the other mirror.

4. idw shadow accidentally destroys the mobius 30 years later timeline (OOPS!!)

ok this one’s personal becuase the 25/30 year later future (aka light mobius) is something i Do Not Like, even after ian flynn took it over. it is a bad ending for the cast. even so, i really want the prime versions of these characters to see this fucked up future - especially shadow. and it would REALLY suck for shadow to see the light mobius future after all of his fuck-ups in the idw plot (failing to beat neo metal sonic, falling victim to the metal virus, you get the idea). time travel is an easy thing to work around writing wise, maybe my boy zonic could help them get there.

but yeah, main reason i want this is to send prime shadow through a moral crisis. a future with statues of a false deity maria and a tyrannical version of him hellbent on destroying everything would terrify prime shadow - but it wouldn't surprise him. he knows very well what previous versions of him were capable of. and given that idw shadow has some plot beats and character moments that are Not Very Good, i think it would be interesting for that version of him to get a wake up call from the horror of this awful future.

i would definitely want shadow to see light mobius, but i think it would be good to have prime sonic and possibly amy join him (sonic because he would also be horrified by light mobius, and amy because she's NOT EVEN IN THE 25/30 YEARS LATER TIMELINE??? where did she go???? did she fucking DIE??? sorry i hate light mobius lol)

this is something i've thought about even before getting this ask because i love making shadow sad. i'd love to make a comic about it some day but it's definitely too large of an idea for me to do within reason lol

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there are some smaller places where i think the extensive lore of archie would benefit the idw characters, like if dr starline was from downunda and worked as one of eggman's dozen. but otherwise that's about all i have! i am so sorry i did not expect to write this much but i kept getting ideas.

thank you for your ask it was really fun to try and tie some of these wack ass plots together lmao