#its like i am nothing without it. much how it is nothing without sonic

[squeiky]

The audacity of existence.

How dare you be concieved. To be blessed with the touch of angels, you golden haired goddess. How dare you force your reflection upon mine. The audacity to mirror me.

YOU.

I hate you. You are my purgatory, and hell resides within your dastardly light. You are the anthesis to my existance, my purpose, my life. Tormet me by image alone.

Do you know how much you have pained me? How much the mere sight of you, has distorted me? Ruined me? Hurt me? Questions your existance has plauged in my mind?

Look at you, my loathsome copy. You are nothing like me.

So then why?

Why does the universe kiss you gently upon a flushed cheek then heckle and spit on mine? Why are you the beloved golden duckling whilst i remain the unwanted black swan?

Why is it me who must rid myself of my body, blood, and mind. Discarding me of myself to end you? I have done nothing short of effort. I have given myself all to destroying you, to riding the world of you. Yet they love you. They do not love me.

We resemble eachother more than anyone else ever will. It is cruel a fate, to be devoted entirely to destroying a twisted reflection of myself. Burdened by both our images, drowning me in hatred made for both us. Yet you remain free, whilsy i remain prisioner.

It feels, as i seek to destroy you, i destroy myself. So i do. Over and over again. Yet you remain unscathed, bright and beautiful. Whilst i remain broken, left to rot in the mud. Helpless. Afraid. Alone.

Thinking.

What must i do? Who must i be to be kissed by the same light that dared to birth you?

Must i purge myself of all things to simply taste a fraction of it? How will i outshine you? Must I transform my body till there is nothing of me left, just to feel your light crushed beneath mine? Must i erase myself completly? Must i become you? Must i be you?  Must i place my hands against your neck? My lifeless material crushing your ugly flesh to finally hear the last of your breath. Must i feel everyones glare peirce through my unending spine, wishing nothing but breaking every metal bone instead of me?

Must i take their love and desire and rip it from their broken hearts, forcing them to kneel before me and drag your dead light upon me? Must i become king of all things, living, dead and unalive, before i get a fraction, a mere TASTE of your life?

Is that what the world desires of me?

Is THAT what it takes?

my loathsome copy. Your existance is what destroys me. You are everything without me but i am nothing without you.  Yet i am made to end you. To destroy the only thing, the only purpose i have in life.

You all look down upon me. Even my creator, cant seem to look at me without seeing you. Forever i am compared to you. Forever i think of only you. Forever i am destroyed by you. Forever i am devoted to destroying you. Forever i am afriad. Forever i am chained, cursed to this wretched body, reflecting you.

YOU.

I hate you. I loathe you.

....

What a cruel existance to be born, you and I.

I hope when i choke you death, you'll burn me alive.

[txttletale]

hi! what are your thoughts on the first 3 dr who episodes this season? your commentary was a highlight for me last year :)

overall -- pretty good! a huge step up from the first three episodes of season 14, in my opinion. robot revolution is really delightfully goofy and stupid in a way that encompasses a lot of what i like about doctor who--from the ridiculous robot design with their goofy faces, to their pizza planet spaceship, to the laugh-out-loud-stupid twist of the Al generator. i especially like the extremely classic-who-reminiscent 'we're going to indicate that a Time Thing is happening by flashing lights at the actor's face while blasting a weird synth at you'. i didn't even think the incel stuff was that on the nose, although the 'its like video game? I blow stuff up like video game?' scene made my eyes roll like sonic the hedgehog

lux is definitely the highlight: i think it's literally the only RTD2 episode where i think the disney money was actually put to good use to do something they couldn't do without it. mr ring-a-ding himself was obviously the highlight, great performance and great animation--the 'don't make me laugh' bit was a really fun reveal with a good payoff. the whole sequence with the layered fictions and the fans was delightful, i really liked how the episode managed to navigate a middle ground of acknowledging historical racism without having to make it the focus of the whole episode.

and the well! i loved the well. it's nice to have a good straightforward Scary One, i kind of think that horror is the tone that modern who is best at. the steadily building tension is great, the fact that we don't really learn much more about the SPOILERS and that it doesn't even play by the same rules is really fun, the extremely dark implications of the ending are really fun--it's just solidly put together.

some of the trademark RTD2 issues are still here though, i don't understand why this era struggles to desperately with pacing. every single one of these episodes felt too short or too long or like too much time was given to the wrong stuff. but overall i am much more invested in the belinda-doctor dynamic than i ever was in anything with ruby, because there's some real friction and tension there that actually draws me in instead of that saccharine conflict-free besties coffee shop aucore dynamic.

but yea good season one of the reasons im so mad about lcuky day is that up until here it's been nothing but bangers

[wolfcha1k]

I hate this scene and 06!Blaze. Also clearing up Blaze misinformation I've had forced down my throat for years 🙃

I'm gonna be a jerk for a second, so beware if this version of Blaze is your favorite or something. I am a very proud hater of Blaze’s portrayal in Sonic 06. It does her so dirty. So I'm gonna discuss the aspects of this incarnation that pisses me off and prattle about popular fan theories about this version.

"Good luck, Silver! I'm off to a better game: Sonic Rush Adventure!"

This scene sucks and reduces Blaze to "the woman in the fridge". She does nothing the entire game besides be a lobotomized emotional support animal for Silver and then she dies lol It tries being this big moment but it's really just a wet, stinky fart instead.

Its not a big grand finale for Blaze, just a middle finger to her entire character. She is nothing but a plot device, a tool for Sonic 06 reduced to nothing for the sake of forcing a companion on Silver. She is nothing and this scene impacts nothing, as regardless of what Blaze does, the scene is made pointless by the final story of 06.

Blaze has no character, nothing of her dynamic and emotional complex character in Rush, here in 06 she's just... calm, and does nothing. She is girl the character.

"Blaze, is murder okay????"

"Stop being a pussy and go kill that man, Silver."

And that's about her entire purpose. Exist, give Silver a friend, and then die with nothing at all in between or growth to her character. Like, there's so many scenes where Blaze should be involved but isn't, she might as well be imagined up by Silver since nobody acknowledges her existence.

Somehow Blaze knows aspects about the plot without being there, bitch where were you during the train station attack? Playing with your tail????

"Sonic, the least you can do is say hi to me. We did have a huge moment last game, remember?"

"No??? Okay."

This portrayal of Blaze’s is incredibly OOC. The fact she buys Mephiles story hook line and sinker is ridiculous when Blaze by nature is incredibly untrusting. We all give Silver shit when its Blaze we all should be shitting on for trusting Mephiles and enabling Silver to keep believing it! Silver looks to Blaze for emotional support and wisdom, she has a huge impact on what he ends up doing and believing in 06.

Also!

For someone who knows Silver is insecure when he's alone, Blaze sure leaves him alone a lot in this game. She's barely invested in anything going on around her in 06. In Rush, she is extremely involved in the plot and very much hands deep involved in progression of it. She doesn't sit back and do nothing.

Silver is like a little brother to her? I guess an annoying kid brother with how she treats him, they feel like awkward co workers instead of best friends.

It's lazy writing, we are told instead of shown and instead it comes across incredibly contrived. In Rush, we witness Blaze's bonds be tested and how they grow once she meets Sonic, Cream and party so it ends up feeling satisfying. It's especially heart breaking when you see Blaze has to leave them all. The moment is built up steadily for a heart felt finish.

Nowadays, thankfully Silver and Blaze are fleshed out much better as a duo but way back then and in 2006? Fuck off with that lazy writing.

In a world where Blaze was written correctly, Mephiles wouldn't have left the future at all because his ass is grass. She would have talked Silver down from attempting murder on Sonic and wouldn't have stood back to let anyone kill him. He's literally one of her most important friendships, she would have definitely heard him out and gotten to the bottom of this shit.

This line means nothing and no it is not a mistranslation of calling Silver naive. She is explicitly quoting Silver here in this scene. So unless Silver is calling Sonic a naive hedgehog, no, it doesn't work like that.

Additionally... this. Time to get my blood boiling 😤

The fact she would dump Iblis onto somebody else's world goes against Blaze’s character. I would HOPE it would be a desolate dimension but I'm gonna touch fan theory for a second since this one is so popular it has turned into misinformation.

Yall know the one, I am sure.

"Blaze didn't die, she just went back to her home dimension!"

Girl is dead regardless anyway, Blaze will be alone with an entire Temu!Fire Chaos. Ain't no way, so whether she dies via sacrifice or just by teleporting to a new dimension, Blaze is fucked lol

And another thing. Ain't no fucking way it's the Sol Dimension she's taking Iblis to. Blaze did not struggle and suffer and sacrifice to save her dimension in Sonic Rush just to destroy it via dropping Iblis there. Blaze has nearly died for her dimension twice in both Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure.

She even sacrificed being with the people she loved, being her new friendships with Sonic and company, because it meant it would keep her world [and Sonic’s!!!!] safe.

But yeah, sure, she definitely took Iblis to the Sol Dimension.

"She became princess after going to the Sol Dimension!"

First off, Blaze has an entire royal family. We never see them but we hear about them. So, no. They didn't take this random girl and crown her princess.

"She was reincarnated after the Solaris reset!"

Again. No. She was always the same Blaze that was in Rush. Several bios for 06 mention this.

Blaze being in the future is entirely a plot hole where Sega fucked up and instead of fixing it, kept sticking 06 on her like a tumor.

Fun fact. Shadow Generations removed this line! Finally, doing something right with Blaze by cutting off that 06 tumor off her.

And now with an official Sonic timeline, this theory is dead in the water like it needed to be since 2006.

Anyway, I think that about covers my rant lol Blaze is my special interest and anytime I see 06 come up I get very irritated so, it feels good getting this out of my system 👍

[bugs-with-webs]

genuinely i have not stopped thinking about the movies changing shadows origin

like. at first glance, its a small change. he went from: artificially made in a lab and experimented on, to: found in a meteor and brought to a lab to be experimented on, but the reason its such a big change is because of why he was created, im not gonna go into too much detail because we know why he was created, but like.

he was made as a cure and a weapon. he was made to be the answer to everything. he was made as sciences greatest achievement. he was made to be the ultimate lifeform.

and that last point is what i wanna talk about right now

in the games, shadow ‘catchphrase’ is ‘I Am The Ultimate Lifeform’, we all know it, we all love it

and in mostly canon game lore, sonic is the strongest character. in an all out 1v1, hed be the victor (though i do wonder how hed fight against shadows doom powers, but thats not what we’re here for). and, shadow himself, says that sonic is the ultimate lifeform at the end of sa2

but in the movies thats not canon. in the movies, shadow has never once even uttered the words ‘ultimate lifeform’ not about himself, not about sonic, not even in general. the only person to address shadow as the ultimate lifeform is walters, and that happens once. and considering shadow wasnt made in a lab, he was crashed in from a meteor instead, we dont know how strong he is. this is also only proven further by him being able to teleport withiut a chaos emerald, which he cant do in the games

and if movie shadow has all the abilities game shadow does, but hes able to use them without a chaos emerald, and if we include his doom powers…

i just think its really interesting that movie shadow might be a lot more powerful than game shadow and movie sonic, and just

JHEFBCJHEFVBEFJHBVF

THEY CHANGED ONE THING ABOUT SHADOWS PAST AND SUDDENLY NOTHING ABOUT HIM IS THE SAME

i will never not be losign my mind over this, thank you for coming to my ted talk

(ALSO I DIDNT EVEN MENTION SHADOW PUNCHING THE CHAOS EMERALDS OUT OF SONIC)

[ghosty-zero]

Sonadow one shot number #3: The Art of Self Anointing

Shadow stepped into Sonic's house for the first time and immediately wanted to turn around and leave. He was a perfectionist when it came to cleaning, but the sight before him was a chaotic mess. "How do you even find anything in here?" he grumbled under his breath, glancing around at the piles of tech manuals and video game cartridges scattered across the floor, sidestepping a pile of dirty laundry.

Sonic seemed unfazed by the disarray, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he dashed to the kitchen. "Want a chili dog?" he called over his shoulder.

"You invite me over to this...this...," Shadow searched for the right word, his gloved hands balling into fists at his sides. "Pigsty? Just to eat a disgusting combination of meat and bread?"

Sonic gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. "My house isn't that bad!" He glanced around, his eyes darting over the mess as if seeing it for the first time. "Besides, a little bit of chaos keeps things interesting, right?"

"I can't believe...how do you even function?" Shadow murmured, shaking his head as he followed Sonic into the kitchen. The counters were littered with half-eaten snacks and half-finished projects, a few pizza boxes and a couple of forgotten cans of soda adding to the chaos.

"I must be a miracle."

"Must be." Shadow grumbled.

He knew he should have declined when Sonic invited him over, but he really had nothing better to do with his time. If Rouge hadn't been busy with another heist and Omega wasn't stuck in maintenance mode, maybe he wouldn't have found himself in this predicament. Sonic had seemed pressed for company anyway, what with Blaze and Amy on a shopping trip, Tails tinkering in his lonesome, and Knuckles... well, doing Knuckles things. So, the two hedgehogs were the only company available.

But looking around at the mess, Shadow felt a strong sense of discomfort, like a knot tightening in his stomach. The clutter was greatly different from his own meticulously organized space, where everything had its place and his mind could work without distraction. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the smell of stale food and the occasional whiff of something that might have once been a forgotten science experiment.

Sonic, after making his beloved chili dog into a masterpiece of culinary disaster, turned to face Shadow with a proud smile. "Ta-da!" He exclaimed, holding up the greasy plate.

Shadow stared at it. "You actually eat this?"

"Every day, baby! Try a bite," Sonic said, holding out the chili dog. "You know you want to."

"I'd rather not clog my arteries with that," Shadow said flatly, eyeing the chili dog.

"Oh, and plain black coffee beans are so much healthier than this," Sonic quipped.

"In a way, it is," Shadow said, eyeing the chili dog with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. He had seen Sonic's diet before and was surprised the blue hedgehog had the energy to outrun a bullet train. "But I need to keep my reflexes sharp. Can't be slowed down by...whatever that is."

"A hot dog smothered in chili isn't going to slow me down!" Sonic exclaimed, taking a massive bite, his cheeks bulging with the food. He chewed with a grin, watching Shadow with a twinkle in his eye, daring him to try it.

Shadow wrinkled his nose in disgust before turning with a huff, snatching dirty plates and garbage off the counter. "If I am to be in this house, it needs to be clean. At least for my own sanity."

"It's not that bad. Besides, it's lived-in," Sonic said with his mouth full, waving the half-eaten chili dog. He took another bite, watching as Shadow began to methodically clear the kitchen. The clank of pans and the scraping of plates filled the air as the brooding hedgehog worked, his movements precise and efficient. He didn't ask Sonic where things went, he didn't ask him for help, nor did he complain—he just did it. Without even asking Sonic to move, Shadow had the kitchen clean in a matter of minutes.

"Dang...oh, that's where that went," Sonic mumbled, peering under a pile of newspapers to find his favorite mug.

Shadow moved onto the living room, his eyes scanning the chaos before him. The couch was buried under a mountain of cushions and blankets, a show of Sonic's love for naps and marathon video game sessions. The coffee table was a minefield of empty soda cans and game controllers, and the TV screen was smudged with fingerprints. "You're going to regret inviting me over," he muttered, grabbing a trash bag and starting to pick up.

Sonic just watched, almost too afraid to try and help, lest he mess up Shadow's rhythm. He'd seen the dark hedgehog's cleaning spree before, and it was nothing short of a whirlwind. "You know, you can sit and relax," Sonic offered, his mouth still full of chili dog. "This is a place for kicking back, not for...this." He gestured vaguely at the cleaning frenzy.

"I can tell. You don't own cleaning supplies," Shadow said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He looked around the kitchen for a broom or mop, his gaze landing on a dusty corner where a forgotten duster lay. "But I guess we can make do," he murmured, picking it up and giving it a disgusted look.

With a sigh, Sonic swallowed the last of his chili dog and took his plate to the sink. "You know, it's not that bad," he said again, trying to sound nonchalant as he rinsed it off. "It's just...comfortable."

"Stop defending this mess," Shadow said, his voice low but firm as he tackled the living room. He tossed a handful of crumpled-up papers into the trash bag. "A clean environment is conducive to clear thinking. And I can't think clearly when everything's a mess."

"Yeesh, sorry." Sonic said with a dramatic eye-roll, setting the plate aside to help with the cleaning. He picked up a random game controller, inspecting it for dust before setting it on the newly cleared coffee table with a clatter.

Shadow shot him a glare. "That goes there," he pointed to a shelf now apparently designated for electronics. Sonic shrugged and tossed it in the right direction, watching as it barely missed knocking over a pile of VHS tapes.

"Best you step aside, speed demon," Shadow said, his eyes on the dust bunny that had the audacity to scurry across the floor. He took a step towards it, his movements deliberate. The dust bunny froze, seemingly aware of the predator in its midst, before darting under the couch. Sonic chuckled, watching Shadow's intense focus.

"Alright, I'll...leave ya to it. I guess I should go shopping for some cleaning stuff, huh?" Sonic chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

Shadow ignored him, apparently now trying to snatch the dust bunny from under the couch with a surprising amount of determination. Sonic took it as a sign that he wasn't needed anymore, so he slipped out of the house to grab some supplies.

Finally alone, Shadow let out a deep sigh, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he surveyed the remaining mess. He began to pick up the cushions from the floor, his eyes scanning for any signs of life, like a ninja on a reconnaissance mission. The couch looked surprisingly clean under the layer of clutter, and he couldn't help but wonder if Sonic ever actually sat on it. He tossed the last cushion onto the now-bare sofa and took a moment to appreciate the order he had created amidst the chaos.

He sat down on the couch with a sigh, deciding that the dust bunny could wait. The fabric was surprisingly plush, and he found himself sinking into it, his muscles loosening. It was fairly cleaner now, at least more so than before he started. He looked around the room, his eyes lingering on the bookshelf, where books were stacked haphazardly, some with their spines cracked and pages sticking out.

For some reason, it made him itchy seeing them so disorganized. He couldn't help himself; he had to fix it. Shadow stood up from the couch, dusting off his gloves, and approached the bookshelf with purpose. Each book was handled with care, straightening out the pages, aligning the spines, and placing them back in their rightful spot. He paused at a title that caught his eye—a book on ancient civilizations. He pulled it out, flipping through the pages. It was surprising to find something so...intellectual in this mess.

He placed all the books in a line according to their size, the largest to the smallest. Maybe it was his compulsive need for order, but seeing them neat and tidy gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. He no longer felt that itchy feeling of chaos all around him, which was a solid start.

With Sonic no longer present, Shadow decided to roam around the rest of the house. The hallway was lined with framed photos of Sonic and his friends, each capturing a moment of victory or shared laughter. Shadow didn't see himself in any of them, which was perfectly fine by him. He didn't do well with sentimentality. Or smiling in photos.

When he entered Sonic's bedroom, he was actually surprised to see that it was somewhat organized. The bed was made, with a few pillows neatly arranged at the headboard, and the clothes were folded into a neat pile at the foot of the bed. The only anomaly was a single, crumpled sock dangling from the bedpost. Shadow picked it up with the tip of his finger and raised an eyebrow. He tossed it into the laundry basket in the corner of the room.

"What a pig." Shadow mumbled, poking the tip of his shoe at a pile of either clothes or blankets in the corner of Sonic's bedroom.

There wasn't much for him to actively clean in Sonic's room, so he sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling the bounce of the springs beneath him. It was surprisingly comfortable. He glanced over to the nightstand, where a photo of a young Sonic with a stern-looking owl caught his attention. He picked it up, staring at it for a second before setting it back down. He wasn't overly interested in the blue hedgehog's past, but it was a rare glimpse into his personal life—something that was usually as fast-paced and fleeting as Sonic himself.

He poked at the clothes folded at the foot of the bed, looking around for something to do. He could start cleaning again, but there was a smell that caught his attention, coming from the folded clothes. It wasn't a bad smell in any way; it was faintly sweet, and smelled strongly of Sonic.

Sonic's scent was faint but unmistakable. A combination of the outdoors, a hint of sweat from their many battles, and a faint trace of the soap he used in the shower. Shadow's curiosity was piqued, and he found himself holding a sweater to his nose, inhaling deeply. He frowned, unsure why he was so drawn to the scent. It was...comforting, in a weird way.

He began to purr, a gentle motor-like rumble in his chest. It was a hedgehog habit he hadn't realized he'd somehow mastered, a sign of his comfort. The sweater was soft between his gloved fingers, and he found himself stroking the fabric absently, the sound of his purr growing louder. It was a red sweater, faded and worn, but it was clear that Sonic had cherished it. It was brand new, aside from the scent that clung to it.

Without really realizing it, Shadow rubbed his quills against the sweater's fabric, enjoying the feeling of the soft material against his spikes. The smell was comforting, and he wanted, for some reason, to take the scent with him. He rubbed it against his cheek, feeling the warmth it held. It was a strange sensation for someone who had spent his entire life being cold and detached from others.

Quietly, with his arms full of cleaning equipment, Sonic watched from the doorway of his room. He smiled, slowly backing up so he wouldn't disturb Shadow. It was a rare sight to see his usually stoic and solitary friend looking so content—or at least, as content as Shadow ever did. He knew the black hedgehog wasn't one for messes, but to see him actively seeking out comfort in the scent of a worn-out sweater was something new.

"I should wear that sweater more often." Sonic muttered to himself as he tip-toed back down the hallway.

[writingtraumaforever]

Uncontrolled Chaos: Chapter 32

Notes: Guys, I suck at writing anything action sequenced. Apologies for my very obvious dodging of this.

Summary: Sonic interrogates Amy, but it backfires. Shadow and Rouge infiltrate Eggman’s Base.

UC Masterpost!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

“So..”

“Yes??”

“You and Shads talked this morning, huh??”

“Oh yes, it was very nice to hear about his world and his life!”

“Uh huh..”

Sonic and Amy have been flying for nearly twenty minutes, spending the first bit catching up. Amy has been enjoying her travels. Coming across new places, helping those in need, mending broken hearts with her kind spirit.. spreading her love to the world just like she wanted. It’s beautiful. And so painfully in character for her, Sonic thinks. She really is so great. He often wishes he was more like her.. able to speak and act on his heart so freely and boldly. Instead, he finds emotions difficult and overwhelming to process most the time, sticking with his classic trio of cocky, optimistic, and spunky.

No room for anything else.

There’s been nothing pop up on the energy radar yet, so they’re simply cruising currently and waiting on a reading. And why not ask about Shadow??? He’s the whole reason they’re here, after all. It’s not weird or anything.

“So he tell you all about yourself in his world??”

“Yup!” Amy grins, talking through the headphones Tails installed so they didn’t have to shout to speak, “Apparentlg were pretty good friends in his world. He considers me something like a sister.”

“That’s sweet,” Sonic smiles a bit softer hearing this, finding it kind of precious in its own way.

“Mhm, I like to think our Shadow sees me that way too. Even if he doesn’t admit it as easy,” Amy giggles with a roll of her eyes.

“He definitely seems to have a soft spot for you,” Sonic agrees with a little smirk, eyes staying on the radar for any signs of energy spikes.

“Of course he does. Everyone does. I’m practically a national treasure,” Amy teases with a sassy little flip of her hair.

Sonic grins at this, “And humble, too.”

“Oh, as if you’re one to talk!” she sways at his shoulder playfully over his seat, Sonic chuckling in response.

He really missed having her around..

“It was actually really interesting hearing how he’s a part of our team in his world, though. Didn’t realize how much that alone would change things,” she sighs a bit, “..As nice as it all sounds, I do miss our Shadow, though.”

Sonic nods a bit at this, “He may hate me, but I sure wouldn’t know what to do without him sometimes.”

“Oh Sonic, please,” Amy scoffs, “he doesn’t hate you.”

“He tell you that??”

“Well—.. no,” she stumbles, “But he never had to! While you may irritate him at times, he’s always spoken highly of you aside from the playful jabs here and there. He respects you a lot, always has.”

Sonic snorts, “Yeah. Okay.”

“It’s true!” Amy defends, “You don’t actually believe he hates you, do you?? I know you two have had your moments, but hate?? That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think??”

“You’re lecturing me on being dramatic??” Sonic huffs with a playful grin in his voice. He glances back over his shoulder to find her giving him a very pointed look. He clears his throat and turns back around,

“Look. All I’m sayin’ is if our Shadow found out I was hurt through that little dimension communicator thingy, he definitely wouldn’t be acting how Shads was.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Amy knits her brows at this, “He may not have been as panicked, but he would’ve absolutely been worried.. He would’ve likely been wanting to know you’re okay at the very least.”

“I dunno, Ames..” Sonic shrugs, “unless you know something I don’t..?”

There’s a long pause.

“…Like what??”

“I dunno,” he shrugs once again, trying to be nonchalant, “You got to talk to him all morning. Figured you might have learned somethin’ is all.”

“You’ve been with him longer than I have,” she replies, and Sonic can hear the way she’s forcing casualness, “Whatever I know, I’m sure you do too.”

“I dunno. You’re real easy to open up to,” Sonic tilts his head with a sly smile in his tone, “Might’ve felt more comfortable telling you things than me.”

“Doubt it,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes at Sonic’s obvious attempts to snoop, “Whatever it is you’re trying to pry out of me, Sonic, you’re just going to have to ask him yourself.”

“Me?? Pry?? Why Miss Rose, I’d never,” Sonic gasps as if her accusation had simply slain his heart.

Amy just snickers at this with a shake of her head, “See? Dramatic.”

Sonic chuckles at this, “Learned from the best.”

“As if!”

They both laugh a moment, and it’s really nice..

They use to do this a lot together.. just go for flights or random walks to chat or run errands..

“I’m more interested in what you’ve been up to,” Amy says after a moment, and Sonic suddenly feels nervous.

“Uh— what ya mean??” Sonic asks with a tilt of his head.

“Since we’ve all been gone!” Amy grins as if it’s obvious, “I figure with all of us out of you’re hair, you’ve been thriving! All that freedom and time, it’s all you’ve ever wanted, right??? Surely you’ve travelled more and seen new places and learned new things. Maybe even a few solo adventures?? I wanna hear all about it!”

Sonic swallows hard. He should’ve seen this coming eventually. There was a point in time where teamwork was a nuissance to Sonic. When having Tails and Amy chasing behind him felt more like being held back than anything. When he saw friendship as chains that kept him on the ground when he just wanted to fly. Commitment was a curse and a home was a prison.

Now??… In some ways, he remains this way. Still craving freedom and the unexpected twists life and adventure can throw at him..

But he couldn’t imagine any of it without his friends.

Not having Tails, Amy and Knux around has made him realize how truly alone he is.. how much he needs their presence, or he’s left with nothing. He’s become reliant on their companionship, their loyalty. And that’s not fair of him.. to ask them to stick by his side and go no further than that?? He’d be the one holding them back..

But without them.. he’s lost who he is. What he’s suppose to be.

If not a brother.

If not a friend.

If not a hero.

If not a rock.

If not a god..

Then what???

Amy is waiting for his response, and he has to give her something or she’ll become worried. And he doesn’t want that. It’s the last thing he wants..

So just as he opens his mouth to spew lies and toxins, a high beeping begins sounding from the radar.

Saved by the emerald.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to take a rain check on that convo, Ames,” Sonic replies, beginning to press buttons to set coarse towards the energy source, “We got an emerald to nab!”

—

“Ya’know, when I agreed to go on an incognito mission with you, I was thinking more along the lines of subtle espionage..,” Rouge huffs through her comms, watching through the vents as Shadow smashes and rages onto the poor helpless robots below down the halls of Eggman’s base.

“I’m providing a distraction,” Shadow grunts back, landing another air kick that slices right through all the wires and metal of the buzzbomber.

“Didn’t need a distraction to begin with,” Rouge rolls her eyes with a grumble. This Shadow is definitely not a spy in his world, that’s for certain. He’s got more similar fighting tactics to that of Sonic: rushed and instinctual. “Could’ve gotten in and out of here without being detected at all. Now we’re going to have to worry about having Eggman up our—“

“Tails is trying to regain contact! He needs this emerald!” Another grunt as he chaos spears the hell out of seven motobugs.

“He won’t be regaining contact if we’re too busy adding more problems to our current situation,” Rouge argues, crawling through the vents until she sees something shining through one of them. A wicked little grin curls onto her lips, “Would ya look at that..”

“Find it??”

“I found an emerald. Two, in fact. Looks like the doctor’s been busy..”

Shadow feels relief at hearing this. One emerald would be great, but two?? That’s even better odds for Tails to be able to connect their worlds.

Taking his frustration and anxiety-induced tension out on the last of the robots in the hall, Shadow skates towards Rouge’s location.

“I have your coordinates locked in. I’ll head to the emeralds. You take care of getting the intel on the Time-Eater.”

Rouge groans a bit, halting her work on unscrewing the vent with her manicured nails, “I can’t even get one???”

“Now’s not the time, Bat,” Shadow snaps, sliding under lasers that shoot out from the security system in the walls. There’s been no signs of Eggman. Not even his voice over the intercoms. He wonders if he’s even here. If he’s not, he’s surely been alerted to the infiltration.

“Calm your quills, I’m heading to the main computer he keeps his intel stored in,” Rouge huffs, rolling her eyes and yeah. He’s not her Shadow. Her and her Shadow work so well together. Trust each other. There’s none of this rushed and pettily planned out nonsense. She tries not to hold it against him, though. He has been trained by Sonic, not GUN. And he’s a bit emotional right now if his reaction to his world’s Sonic’s distress call is anything to go off of.

“I’m nearly to the emeralds,” Shadow responds, pausing outside the door of the room they’re locked inside and taking a few steps back to prepare to blast inside, “Any signs of trouble for you??”

“Nope. Been undetected so far,” Rouge replies, glancing down at her own watch that’s standard GUN tech. It’s currently jamming any radars or cameras that may pick up on her presence, “But you do know that when he sees his robots split in half or with giant holes in them, he’s going to know it’s a hedgehog’s doing.”

“I have more alarming things to worry about than the doctor’s vengeance,” Shadow remarks before pausing to charge himself up and then—

“Chaos Blast!”

An explosion sounds through the facility, Rouge jolting slightly at the initial shock before her eyes widen and she speaks into her comms, “Was that you???”

“Yes,” Shadow pants, walking a bit tiredly into the room he’s now busted into.

“Are you alright???”

“I’m fine,” he huffs, grunting slightly as he walks to the encased emeralds. Side by side and entrapped by lasers, “But the emeralds are closed in by lasers.. I need to shut them off.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem for—“ she then pauses, sighing a bit, “Right. No spy training. I forget.”

“I may be able to figure it out,” Shadow replies, moving to the control panel nearby, “I may not have spy training, but I have super fox genius training..”

Rouge smirks a bit at that, finally coming across the room she’s been looking for and kicking the vent in to hop down.

A blast like that will have more of Eggman’s reinforcements searching the facility, so time is of the essence.

The room is lined with large technical equipment, rows and rows of computer storage and blinking lights and flashing gizmos. She’s pretty use to these kinds of rooms. All big facilities have them. GUN does!

Taking out a USB drive, she walks to the nearest output and plugs it in. Pulling out a tablet sort of device from her bag after, she begins typing away and searching through files.

“Gaia, who the hell needs this many files???” she huffs in frustration, scrolling through all the intel with her eyes searching for ‘TimeEater’.

“Apparently a man who tries and fails to take over the world on the daily,” Shadow grumbles back, focused on trying to unlock the laser security around the emeralds still.

“I’d say you’re right, but I’m willing to bet half of this is just selfies of him, Orbot, Cubot, and the new one—“

“Sage,” Shadow corrects.

“…Right,” Rouge’s brow quirks at the fact he knows that bit of information, “So she’s in y’all’s world, too?”

“Yeah. Has been for about a year, now.”

“And you’ve come across her??”

“I was there when we first met her,” Shadow replies casually, not really thinking much of the conversation since he’s focused on getting those lasers gone.

“So you saw Starfall Islands???”

“Mm,” he nods. Rouge doesn’t see it, but she knows Shadow’s hums and huffs and grunts enough to know it was a yes.

She ponders this a moment, brows furrowed in thought..

Knuckles said that what happened on Starfall Islands was pretty intense. Especially for Sonic..

She can’t help but wonder if Shadow was with Sonic through most of that, or trapped in some sort of Cyberspace like Knuckles, Amy and Tails..

Now isn’t the time to question it all, though, her eyes finally finding the TimeEater files and opening them up.

“Got it.”

“You got the files??”

“Yup. And there’s a lot, so hopefully we’ll have enough for the kid to use,” Rouge responds, already transferring them to her hard drive.

“Any luck with the lasers??”

“I think I’ve almost got it..,” Shadow mutters back, resorting to instead fall more on his technical skills than hacking knowledge. Ripping the panel from the side of the controls, he reveals all the wires underneath. After examining them a moment, he finds what he’s looking for and pulls a few of the wires out.

“This will either work or really sting,” Shadow mumbles to himself, taking the two exposed wires and slowly touching them together.

There’s a spark.

And then the lasers shut off.

Smirking proudly to himself, he stands and walks to the emeralds, “I got ‘em. Rendezvous where we broke in.”

“On it.”

[our-love-forever]

You're Back - a Shadamy Fanfic

Hello everyone! Here I am, contributing to the Shadamy brain rot.

Below is a sample of my first chapter and if you like it, go ahead and read it on my AO3, "You're Back", both in English and Spanish. At this moment, there's only one chapter up while I work on revising the final version of chapter 2.

Sí debo informarles que con la versión es español... NUNCA he escrito un fanfic en español hasta ahorita (lo único que hice fue traducirlo lo mejor que pude), entonces tal vez no esté escrito muy bien. Se los he advertido.

Hope you guys like it!

Ch. 2 - Guilt and Doubt

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

You're Back - Ch. 1 At Your Doorstep

How long had it been now? A year?

Amy couldn’t pinpoint the exact number off the top of her head. Days blurred into weeks, weeks into months, and now a whole year. It had been that long since she saw – no, spoke – with Shadow.

His disappearance wouldn’t have cut as deeply if he hadn’t just vanished without a word. No goodbye. No heads-up. Nothing.

She had tried to get details from Rouge herself; anything of substance but to no avail… and that was after two full weeks of complete radio silence from Shadow.

“I’m sorry, Amy.” The bat's shoulders slumped as she sighed, defeated. “If he had told me anything, I would have reported to everyone by now.”

Even Rouge had been left in the dark, much to Amy’s worry.

Why would he leave without even telling her? Sure, Shadow was known to not be the talkative type. He wasn’t the type to let everyone know what he was doing or where he was going. That’s the way he is, yet he would let others know if he was to leave for something important or something that would take a long while. At most, he’d disappear for a week. Never two. And certainly not for a year.

Amy thought back to those first two weeks.

She had called Sonic. “Sorry Ames, he hasn’t been around either.”

She had visited Tales' workshop. “I’m sorry, even though Shadow doesn’t really come by that often, he hasn’t been over.”

Even Knuckles was a long shot, but still, she tried. “Nope, nothing to report here.”

At that point, she had started to lose hope – not in Shadow, of course not – but in the fact that nobody else would be able to give her more than what she already knew. He had left for some unknown reason.

Now after a year, Amy is in her kitchen humming a lazy tune as she dries her dishes with a white cloth in one hand, plate in the other. Her body moves out of habit but her mind drifts to those same questions she has had since the three-week mark.

Was Shadow alright?

Had he encountered anything to hinder this… “mission” of his?

Was he… ever coming back?

She hates the silence that follows those thoughts. It terrifies her.

No.

She quickly shakes her head to get rid of that dreaded possibility. How could she just think that about Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform that could withstand the worst of foes? There was no way; she knew better… yet she couldn’t help but give to distress.

That’s just who she is. She cherishes her friends and takes to heart their happiness, their safety – it all mattered to her.

Amy stiffens at the sudden, raspy knock at her front door.

She blinks and takes in the setting sun coming through her kitchen window, and glances at the clock above the sink: 6:42 PM .

She wasn’t expecting anyone today, much less at this hour, and that made her nerves flare the slightest bit.

She doesn’t let go of the small, porcelain plate or the dry cloth as she cautiously makes her way towards the door. Just two feet away from the door, her ears perk up to another sound echoing from it… like a hand dragging slowly across its wood.

Her eyes narrow. Now… that was suspicious.

Tucking the dry cloth into her apron pocket, she firmly grips the knob and cracks the door open.

And she gasps.

The door flies open.

The plate slips from her fingers, diving straight to the ground with a deafening crash.

“R-Rose…”

And there he was at her doorstep – Shadow the Hedgehog, barely able to kneel before her. Bloodied and broken.

“SHADOW!”

Continue...?

[infizero]

i talked about this in the tags of another post but yknow what it deserves its own - can we talk about the parallels between nine and eggman??? i'm dying to talk about the parallels between nine and eggman.

i am personally obsessed with the dynamic between tails and eggman and how they parallel each other in a lot of ways. i've recently been thinking about other possible similarities they could have, and then prime literally just came and proved my point.

it was this line that made me start realizing this:

SONIC: "Is this what you want, to spend the rest of your life alone with robots for friends?" NINE: "At least I can trust them."

i don't think i need to explain how Eggman that is.

tails and eggman obviously share the surface level traits of being extremely smart and gifted with technology. we know almost nothing about eggman's past, but it's likely he was very smart for his age the same way tails is.

but something that i've been thinking about ever since frontiers came out is a possible similarity between why these two are so drawn to technology. frontiers gave us arguably one of the biggest insights into eggman's character in the form of egg memo 17:

"I never really knew my cousin, Maria. Everyone spoke of her like she was very special. All that love for someone who was gone when I was! Right! There! But I have to wonder. Back then, was she anything like Sage is now?"

the implication that eggman felt ignored by his family/the people around him and that they paid more attention to his dead cousin than him has haunted me ever since the game dropped... the fact that so much of eggman's schemes have to do with having control, remaking the world the way he wants it to be, and always heavily center around his enormous ego, plastering his name and likeness everywhere........

...well, that need for control and personal recognition definitely has been recontextualized by this moment, to say the least.

recently i was thinking about this again and wondered if perhaps the reason eggman has such an affinity for machines and robots, and a dislike for living things, could stem from negative experiences with other people. and that perhaps the case could be the same for tails. "people treat me badly" -> "i don't like people" -> "machines are better"

the difference is that tails met sonic and gained friends fairly early on, while eggman assumedly didn't (whether by choice or not)

and now in prime, we have nine, a tails who never had friends. and what do you know! he's become an antagonist who is screwing over people and putting entire other worlds at risk in order to reshape the world into how he wishes it to be, and making robots to keep himself company. sound familiar?

a tails without friends results in essentially... eggman. so maybe there's little more to my ideas about eggman's villainous origins than just speculation.

NINE: "With the Paradox Prism, I'll be able to turn this world into a paradise... my paradise!"

[A picture of Eggmanland from Sonic Unleashed.]

[couch-house]

You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but I am curious, what were the things that bothered you with Sonic Rush’s writing in particular?

oghgg let me see if i can say it all in some sort of organized and concise way..

BIGGEST thing for me is that this is a particular kind of story you see in childrens media that is. so aggravating to me. character A inserts theirself into some kind of social situation belonging to character B--a friend group, a party, or in this case, being blaze's friend--and is obnoxious until character B accepts them as a friend. i hate it. i want character A to explode. cream is character A in this story. she just... *insists* to blaze over and over that they're friends without ever earning that title. i--ooohh it makes me so mad.

second, related to that, blaze is right. everyone is telling her to trust her friends (WHAT friends?? she just met you people!!) and she can't do everything on her own. but she can. she is. she's doing really important stuff and everyone else is just getting in her way. the fight between her and sonic at the end is sonic PHYSICALLY getting in her way of stopping nega from destroying her whole WORLD... leave her alone!!! shes busy!!

third, every character is saying "oh, youre trying to save your world? that's too much for you. you should as sonic to do it instead! ^_^" with NO irony. not even a WHIFF of acknowledgement that this is transferring the exact same expectations onto sonic.

which leads to point FOUR. sonic does NOTHING to bond with blaze. there is no moment of recognition between them, no easy "i know what its like blaze. but I know i can rely on my friends to help when its too much even for me. you don't have to do this alone, i'll be right here beside you." NOTHING!!! THIS is how their climactic interaction goes

BE YOURSELF??? WHAT!!! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!

like the PREMISE of the story is fine. but nothing in it is earned. and it has just general gaebage character writing you can expect of the time. amy is stalkerish boy-crazy "sonics girlfriend" just like she is in battle and riders, complete with sonic running away when she show's up. BARF. and knuckles..... he's talking to blaze about the sol emeralds and he says...

HE WOULD NOT SAY THAT. KNUCKLES LITERALLY WOULD NOT SAY THAT.

auughhg its so sucks. blaze deserved a better game. thankfully she GOT one when sonic rush adventure came out ^_^ i have literally no notes for rush adventure. marine best character ever. blaze so cool. everyone having fun boat adventures yay!!

^ YOU RIDE A DOLPHIN. ITS GOOD!!!!

[catiecat1320]

Sonadowtober Prompt 21: Reincarnation

For one of my AUs, Echoes

The reincarnates do use different names!! Relevant ones are: Synth - Sonic Echo - Shadow Ami (Amaryllis) - Amy And EGGMAN (Endo-Genetic Graft: Main Alternate Network) is an AI with the original Eggman's mind

Additional context in AO3 endnotes :)

Read Below🔽

Synth smashes through the last robot, cheering as sparks fly and its digital screen flickers out. “Score! I think I win this one, Echo.”

The black hedgehog rolls his eyes, flicking his bangs out of his face. “It’s not a competition. Be serious for a moment. I don’t think this is everything EGGMAN has up its sleeve.”

“Psh,” Synth scoffs. “That computer has nothing against us.” He ignores the way Echo shakes his head, blowing a raspberry at the nearest camera before opening his communicator. “Ami! We’re done!”

“That’s great! Just give us a second to wrap things up—” She’s interrupted by a sudden tilt of the shuttle, throwing everyone and everything not tethered off balance. Synth slammed into the nearest railing with a yelp, barely managing to roll aside as the bot he just crushed slid off the side to meet the sky. 

If it stopped at that, they would’ve been fine, but…

The entire ship lurched the other way, gaining speed until it flipped over entirely, leaving Synth dangling precariously on the railing lest he fall off. “W-what in Chaos was that?!”

“I don’t know!” Ami’s voice came through, crackled with static. “Are you all alright out there?”

“I…”

I am, he meant to say. But it’s then the realization dawns on him that it hadn’t just been him on the deck.

“Echo?”

The hedgehog is nowhere to be seen. Not as lucky as Synth to have grabbed on before their surprise roll, he’d likely been dumped on a trip through the atmosphere.

…an one-way trip.

“Echo!”

A sinking feeling of deja vu hits him like a truck. 

“Not again…” Synth breathes, shallow, panicked, “not again…” He combs the sky below for any sight of Echo. How hard is it to see—? 

Black, but a spot in a sea of blue and white.

Ignoring the concerned voices from his communicator, he lets go without a second thought.

By the time he’s freefalling, it’s too late to think about how stupid that was, so he zones in on his target. The more he focuses, however, the more other things overtake his vision. 

Funny how things worked, huh? Days spent watching his friends regain their past lives one by one, his lost far beyond him despite many attempts, and it takes this to kickstart it.

Not black among blue, but gold. A mere dot in space, but it grows, into a star, fading, backlit by the marbled Earth… horror floods his veins as he dives, reaching out with a hand that wasn’t his, at a hedgehog he does not recognize, only to receive a serene smile and be waved away.

He feels a sadness like he’s never felt, deep and hollowing, and even worse is the suffocating failure—

Synth slams into Echo, knocking the breath out of both of them as he wraps his arms around the other and flips them around from the force of impact. For a moment it’s just gasping and the ringing in his ears that Synth hears.

Memories from a life past fade into the back of his head, but the dread lingers. He attempts to remedy that by cuddling as close to the other hedgehog as he and the gravity pulling at them would allow.

“...Synth? Synth?”

“Mmph.” Synth buries his face in the crook of Echo’s neck, his heart beating far more rapidly than he would like. He hoped the other hedgehog couldn’t feel it. Which was likely impossible.

Eventually he pulls away with a broken laugh. “Sorry. I… uh…”

No longer hugging each other, the two hedgehogs link hands and fall back to a stomach-down position, the extra surface area helping slow their descent as much as possible.

Echo mouths something, unheard with the wind filling both their ears. When Synth doesn’t respond, he says it again, then again. “Are you okay?”

That’s sure a question. Synth doesn’t have an answer for that. “I… suppose?” 

Too quiet to hear as well, evident in the other’s still concerned face. He speaks louder. “As okay as I can be while falling to my death!”

Echo cringes and squeezes his eyes shut, threatening to snap a few joints in Synth’s hands as he tightens his grip. 

Fear.

Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned falling to their deaths. Synth’s thrown back to gold and black and blue again. “It’ll be okay, Shadow!”

Echo’s second name falls out of his mouth before he can stop himself. But it does the trick of catching the black hedgehog’s attention, and in the moment that he looks up, Synth sees someone else in that familiar face.

“You never use…” Echo trails off to something incomprehensible, the wind whipping in their quills carrying away his words before Synth could hear. But it’s something of surprise, if his expression was anything to go by.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?! The first thing I remember is you!” The beginning of a smile graces Echo’s face at that, but it’s immediately replaced by shock as a cyan glow envelopes the both of them and stops them mid-fall.

“Silver!” They jinx. The white hedgehog is far from amused, locking eyes with Synth.

“Why in Chaos would you jump?!”

“You jumped? Off the shuttle?” Echo stares at the increasingly sheepish hedgehog. “You jumped?!”

“Look—”

“Good Gaia, Synth, how stupid are you?! You could’ve died!”

“You could’ve died too!”

“And how was jumping after me supposed to help?”

“Can you two cut out the flirting for a moment?” Silver interrupts, deadpan, making both flush with embarrassment. “They still need help up there.”

“Right, right!” Synth jumps at the opportunity to change the topic. “Let’s go!”

[maskofnova]

PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SONURGE SHIP

Okay!! (So i am gonna bring up my Whispurge headcanon a tiny bit too just because they do go hand in hand for me, sorry lol. Just dont read past the dash if you dont care about it.)

The sonurge dynamic for me is kind of near entirely one sided as far as like actual romantic interest. Like for sonic its a case of wanting to challenge and tease her to keep her mind off things and rile her up in a friendly way. Maybe a little flirty but for him its nothing serious. He enjoys their banter and their rivalry is a fun one.

But for surge i think its a complete case of crossed wires. The internal battle with her programming that puts him in a place of fixation in her mind by default but now is fluctuating rapidly between “i hate him so fucking much” and “i think he’s clearly amazing and i think i like him”. But either way its a struggle with the thought that the only reason he’s on her mind this aggressively might just be because its what she was made to think about.

I don’t think sonic would know about this internal conflict for a hot minute since i think she wouldn’t explain until it peaked the boiling point but the second he figures out how deep this goes he wouldnt keep this going. Hes not an asshole like that so ultimately this is my Toxic Doomed Ship where they have to eventually keep distance anyway by the end.

Even still when its good i think its really good, its just never going to last without Surge having some kind of breakdown.

——————

Comparatively i think my whispurge headcanons also play on this rivalry dynamic between whisper and surge (definitely a more aggressive hands on one than the one with sonic. Fisticuffs followed periodically by adrenaline induced smoochin) but with those two its definitively, unquestionably a choice they’re both making of their own volition to interact like this. Even if it does carry some doubt or confusion on whispers part mostly about whether she really can trust Surge.

I think two commiserating aggro types can find some comfort with that and ultimately help each other be better than what they are by both of them having pretty tragic pasts they can relate to. (I think tangle and whispers dynamic is also extremely important but she could use another angle like that). Something i dont think Sonic is in a position to ever fully do. At least not until surge already gets all her shit sorted.

[randomthefox]

Weird compliment, but I like how you've seen other transformer media before the original, yet despite that you still like the original more and kinda have a sour taste for the others,

it makes all your sonic opinions hold more weight since it shows that even if you hadn't played the games first you would have still know they were better because they came first, as well as nothing has portrayed the characters correct but you can still find things to at least enjoy (Shockwave becoming more evil, and Maria having roller skates)

That's kinda what happens to me with most media tbh. I think it happens for most people. You end up seeing the spin off or adaptation or whatever first, and discover that it's based on something that already existed. That is actually supposed to be the purpose of having a multi media franchise in the first place, every product acts as a commercial for every other product.

And every single time, without fail, upon discovering the source material I end up preferring it. And souring on the thing I initially was exposed to for being too different from the source material lol. I can't think of anything that I enjoy where I prefer some adaptation or spin off over the original. If there is, it's probably because I'm still not aware of the source material for whatever reason. As far as I know, I always roll with the OG. Pokemon? Miss me with that anime and Adventure manga shit, I only fuck with the video games. Yu-Gi-Oh? I don't even acknowledge the anime, I only roll with the original manga as written and drawn by Kazuo Takahashi. Same with Dragon Ball, fuck Z, Toriyama didn't fuck with letters and neither do I, and don't even try and talk to me about Super that shit don't exist. Harry Potter? That's a series of books, my friend, the movies can sit on a tack. Death Note? I know you mean the manga, and not that gay ass anime with its weird additional foot fetish scenes and fucking up the second half of the story and busted ass ending. And so on. And there isn't a single super hero movie that I've ever seen that I thought wasn't a waste of time compared to the comic books it was based on.

Like Transformers, I mean, I was born in the 90s. Ain't never had an opportunity to see the original G1 cartoon. I, like most people my age, initially became exposed to Transformers because of the Michael Bay movies. And let me tell you. Not a good first impression.

Funnily enough Transformers Prime was the cartoon I had the most exposure to, because I was really into My Little Pony Friendship is Magic during the brony craze. And Prime was the cartoon they were airing on the Hub Network alongside FiM and Littlest Pet Shop and stuff like that. And even then, I thought "eww why do all their faces look like they skinned a mime and then stretched their flesh over the front of their head?" Also I hated how Megatron looked like how he did in the Bayformers movies, which I was never a fan of. I didn't watch MUCH of Prime, for these reasons. But it was the show I had watched the most of out of the Transformers property.

I discovered G1 in my thirties. And holy fuck. Am I pissed it took me that long lol. That shit is fucking gas. Like, from the very first episode I was like "yo this shit is fucking awesome." I fell in love with Starscream so instantly. I saw the Bayformers movies first. I saw TAS first. I saw Prime first. I even tried watching some of the Cyberverse shorts on youtube first. All of them were duds. Finally I decided to give G1 a try, and finally it hit the bullseye. I fucking love G1. I bought the toys. I am IN. The movies, Prime, and ESPECIALLY Earthspark all served to do little more than push me away and make the series seem unappealing to me. It took G1 and everything inspired by G1 such as the Cybertron games, Skybound comics, and now TfOne to reel me in. (Don't come at me saying Cybertron games are part of the Aligned continuity - they are G1 games. Fall of Cybertron literally ends with the Ark flying away to earth during the era of the dinosaurs just like the pilot of the show. The way that game ends is literally incompatible with what Prime depicts).

Anyway yeah I pretty much always prefer the source material no exception, but I do be looking at the spin offs and adaptations. And I am very happy to take the good and leave the bad if there's any good to be found. Of course my definition of "good" seems to be much different from everyone elses. Apparently lots of people thought that the Bayformers movies making Bumblebee into a character who can't talk was "good" considering how many shows use that. Which I personally cannot fucking stand. But stuff like Bumblebee and Starscream having a little somethingsomething going on, based on the whole Bumblebee's ghost thing in the IDW comics? That's fun. Shockwave being a twisted fucking psychopath mad scientist which Prime got the ball rolling on? Rad, I like it. Dark Energon? Also cool, why not.

To me, what makes something worthy of taking from an adaptation/spin off is whether it feels like it fits or compliments the source material. I hate hate hate HATE when people incorporate things from an adaptation/spin off because they view it as an "improvement" over the original. They incorporate stuff from the adaptation/spin off because they view it as something that "fixes" an aspect of the source material. No, absolutely not my philosophy. To me, stuff from adaptations/spin offs can be used if it feels like it belongs with the original.

Shockwave's characterization for example: in the G1 Transformers show Shockwave was left on Cybertron for millions of years running the show while Megs was taking a nap. He doesn't get all that much screen time and when he is around he's just as much of a lackey as everyone else. But there's quite a lot of time that isn't depicted in the show where Shockwave COULD have been running around pulling some bullshit, especially since he's usually not on Earth with everyone else. So it just feels like it could fit in without disruption.

Maria liking skates is something the movies made up, but it feels like it COULD fit in the games. She's the one who came up with the idea of sonic's airshoes after all, which are just rocket skates. And the whole thing of Shadow pulling Maria along by a rope while running through the halls of the ARK fits in with some dialog Maria had in Shadow the Hedgehog 2005.

So yeah, I don't hate adaptations/spin offs on principle or anything. I just always find them to be inferior to the source material, usually because they're too different from it. That's pretty much how it goes with everything I'm into, more or less.

[beevean]

Another Metroid hot take: The fans who endlessly complain about changes to The Atmosphere of Isolation™ and gameplay of newer Metroid games just want to relive their memories of Super Metroid and pretend that all the later games don't exist. They also don't want to see the world of Metroid grow in any appreciable way, as their narrow idea of Metroid is limited to Samus exploring a hostile planet before blowing it up, her only interaction with any other living creature being to shoot it.

Side note: This are also possibly the worst type of fan for a franchise to have. The ones that want to replicate what's already been done without even considering a change to the formula. They're non-controversial and genuinely love the franchise (in their own way) so they're usually seen as positive. But their desires will inevitably lead to the stagnation and decline of the franchise as they smother it to death.

I'm honestly not sure about how I feel about this one, as I don't interact with the Metroid fandom, but it's an interesting perspective.

How much can a series change without losing its identity?

Is Metroid Metroid without the suffocating feeling of loneliness, or is it just another metroidvania? Are games like Prime 3, heavily guided and with a rather substantial cast, "real" Metroid games?

It feels like conversations I've seen regarding the Sonic fandom, with factors like the green aesop that got kind of lost in the 2000s, and in the Castlevania fandom, which saw a massive shift in gameplay and aesthetic with SoTN. Obviously Metroid is closer to Sonic than CV in this sense lol.

Personally, I like my Metroid games to have some of that feeling of loneliness and alienation that the first three games nailed very well. Unlike many contemporaries, that made you feel like a strong hero embarking an adventurous journey, Metroid games bank on making you feel vulnerable and lost. That being said, I also enjoyed what Fusion attempted to do by stifling your freedom and making you feel weak in that regard. (funny that I mention this, as I recently saw older threads of people who utterly despised Fusion when it came out precisely because of this lol.) I also already am not too keen on how bombastic ZM was when it recreated M1, with its bright colors and more upbeat music.

(I also have mentioned Prime 3, a game generally disliked for not feeling like Metroid, and yet it has one of the scariest, most Metroid sections in the whole series. Go figure)

I know it feels like a copout, but there should be a balance. Preferring what the older games did is perfectly fair: I'm no Classic purist when it comes to Sonic, but I like that they had a subtle environmentalist message and Eggman was nothing short of an ecoterrorist. In the same vein, I understand older fans who don't like much things like a bigger focus on combat with games like SR and Dread. That being said, you do have a point that clinging onto the past simply out of nostalgia might lead to stagnation, and a series is allowed to experiment to see what works and what doesn't. Sadly, radical experiments that affect structure and identity tend to be accepted many, many years later... like, again, Fusion. Or Metroid 2 :P

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Warm up hour!

In an effort to work myself back into writing fic again, I have been working on some writing exercises. One of my current favorites is an exercise where myself and one other person both start writing a fic, set a timer, and then swap documents after the timer runs out (doing this until we either can't anymore or finish the writing piece).

The following drabble is one such warm up, completely unedited

♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡

ㅤ

Am I Vital

A drabble by: @hadesknockedupintheunderworld & @phantom-fleetways

Am I vital?

Though the Grim has no singular source of light such as that of a sun or a moon, the weak light from the ever present aurora borealis casts into the bedroom from the window, falling over its resting subject in such a way that gives the illusion of their fur glittering. The room’s bay window too features an open pane, through which a light breeze tickles the air in the room.

Alpha Grim Sonic stands guard by the bedroom door, watching as the glittering fox lies fast asleep under his covers, the breeze ruffling his bangs, and the rise and fall of the covers with every breath. This is his job tonight—merely to guard his master in his sleep—so, logically, he should be focused on nothing else. There should be no reason to drift into thought.

And, yet, as the “night” stays peaceful, and his master sleeps, he still can’t help but wonder.

Am I vital?

Logically, there should be no question to begin with. After all, his master had created him with a purpose, did he not?

Nine had crafted him to be his friend.

However, I am not the only one. Though its directives were given after mine, Chaos Sonic claims that this is its role. It is very outspoken. As such, I would be remiss if I did not admit that, even if I were to be…decommissioned, my master would not be without a companion.

Nine had instructed him to be his bodyguard.

That should be enough, shouldn’t it? The fact that he wants me to stand guard and protect him.

It should’ve quelled his mind. Maybe it would’ve if he had another task to do. But the night seemed to drag on. The silence throughout the citadel only seemed to make the time tick slower. Alpha grim was certain this defied some level of logic within his servos. He could watch the time idly tick by if he wanted.

Yet he kept his view on the fox. He watched as each slow inhale raised the fox’s chest slowly. Measuring each second that a single intake would last, before counting out the exhale. Watching how his ears flick over some unheard sound. Or the way his master would let out a soft whimper and shift ever so slightly in the bed.

“What do you think he dreams about?”

A question that had been posed in the past by the other. Chaos Sonic had asked it in a fit of what he had called “boredom”. Alpha Grim Sonic didn’t really understand the question, much less the justification at the time. Dreams weren’t something the robot understood. It wasn’t something he would need to do, much less understand. Yet, here he stood, on guard wondering that same exact question.

What does he dream about?

The fox scrunched his nose and gave a small grimace. His brows knitted together briefly before his face relaxed. The echoes of an unsavory memory, Alpha Grim was sure of it.

Nights like these—which is, admittedly, most nights—left Alpha Grim with something like an…itch in his gears, or a distinct wrongness (?) in their chest. There was something in its code commanding them to– no, merely compelling them to do something, as a strong suggestion. Embarrassing as it is for a robot such as him to admit, It took many, many, many nights before he could decode that suggestion for what it was.

As his poor master and best friend would grimace in his sleep, whimper, and toss and turn with the severity of whatever he was dreaming about, for some reason the robot felt as if he should provide some form of comfort. Perhaps if he could lay beside his dear friend, cradle his master’s head, or, if this was something possible for any existing being to do, perhaps he could enter his master’s dreams as a veritable shield and halberd all in one. They should be doing much more than simply watching, waiting as the hours tick by and by until his master opens his eyes for the day.

There is nothing to be done.

It did not matter how much that suggestion compelled him. Alpha Grim Sonic would not take those steps to Nine’s bedside.

It did not matter that Chaos Sonic was more casual with their master. It did not matter that he’d seen Chaos Sonic engage in physical actions with their master without waiting for command. Alpha Grim Sonic would not risk defying his master. If there was one thing that made him better than the other robot, it was that he would only do as he was told.

There is nothing to be done.

The words seemed to sting him. The unit couldn’t place why it seemed to sting like when a limb would short circuit. Why those objectively correct words seemed to be steeped in a sense of hopelessness. The persistent feeling only made them uneasy. Yet there was nothing that could be done, nothing to be done.

The aurora borealis’s light continued to illuminate the room dimly. The display slowly taking the unit’s attention away from his thoughts as a small smile seemed to bloom on the fox’s lips. Unlike those whimpers and uncomfortable shifts of the past, the smile seemed to linger. Each second stretching on longer and longer. His lips staying in an ever present spot.

Good.

The unit’s gears unwinded, although Alpha Grim Sonic wasn’t sure when they had wound themselves up. The relief was noticeable, but it didn’t seem to change the fact that his mind was still keen on wondering. The night was truly starting to feel endless in that way. Yet the image of their master sleeping peacefully seemed to keep their thoughts at bay.

Am I vital?

[nights-nonsensical-ramblings]

okay so I watched the knuckles series (by following the example of the pirates of course ) and I have to say while it was a very enjoyable watch, I have no clue what I watched and I’m mostly confused and have come away feeling mostly neutral. I don’t hate it, but it hasn’t dug its hooks in like other sonic things have for me.

Like some bits I very much enjoyed watching and would happily see again and others I couldn’t stand and dread the idea of watching again.

there were plenty of moments where Knuckles went against what I adore about him, and others that perfectly capture what I adore about him. Boy was so adorable though. Loved lots of the expressions he made.

okay I’m gonna get a bit more specific from here and cuz I got no clue what’s going on with the tagging and it gets long I’ll put it under a cut.

So it’s kinda hard for me to remember what happened, but I will say I love wades mother, she was amazing, loved her and Knuckles’ dynamic and would welcome it if she appeared again. (Also, new headcanon unlocked that knuckles is such a mamas boy he’s a magnet for motherly figures)

I really am not a fan of his sister Wanda tho. The childish sibling banter did entertain me at first (and made me think that knuckles was going to reflect on his relationship with his brothers) but it went on too long and just made Wanda feel like she never matured past being a bratty teenager. (And judging by what I’ve seen I think she’s gonna be on ‘top _ worst sonic characters’ lists for a while)

my opinion on Wade himself hasn’t really changed. I have no strong feelings towards the guy

We didn’t get as much as I wanted, but I loved the Wachowski family stuff. I needed so much more of knuckles being the trouble kid and the family trying to help.

It’s pretty annoying that the start of the show set up Knuckles learning to chill, be a kid on earth and settle in with his new family. Only to drop it basically immediately and the closest thing it has to a resolution is Knuckles finding his jam.

and yeah, I could see plenty of moments where they had the perfect opportunity to explore knuckles on a deeper level but chose not to. But I am glad they at least hinted at it with those expressions I keep raving about

On that. Cuz Pachacamacs appearance was what springboreded what was going on in a different direction. What is going on here? Is this a Knuckles thing? But Wade speaks to him to, but that was under knuckles’ guidance? I think? So can anyone in this world talk to spirits? Can only certain people be spirits? I mean. One Knuckles got over the initial shock he accepted the fact he was talking to a dead tribe member (I’m also sad that nothing was done with the idea that in this universe Knuckles and Pachacamac were alive at the same time) I got so many more questions on how spirits work in here, but I’m just gonna move on. (Although, maybe this sets up knuckles speaking to Tikal 👀. Or maybe his dad or even his mum.)

But considering what Pachacamac’s role is in the games making him so comedicly focused felt weird. Yeah this universe has different events. But still feels weird cuz of how we know Pachacamac.

I don’t even know what to say about the whole fire powers fire demon (who’s heavily implied to be iblis) I need way more time to think what is going on. Like does any of the pre existing lore apply? If so those are some WILD implications. If not, did that mean they just made this guy like iblis cuz it’s a fire creature that fans will recognize??

A minor thing but I can’t hear our house without thinking of the chemist warehouse add. And a few of the other songs are strongly associated with other things and I couldn’t help but think of them when they played. I don’t see this as a good or bad thing. It is just a thing.

hmm. I had more thoughts but after that ghost tangent I can’t really remember them. I guess I’ll have to come back later with another post if I get them back.

So, for now my closing thoughts are: it’s not a terrible show. Lots of writing choices I disagree with, but I don’t nessicaily think they’re bad. And there’s definitely enjoyment to be found (more if you watch it with some friends) but it’s not really to my taste. Especially with how much irs advertise as about knuckles and then not. Some moments made me very happy some made me want to nope out some I don’t even know.

congratulations to Wade fans, I’m gonna find what bits I wanna cherry pick and I’ll be on my merry way.

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Sonic Movie 3 Thoughts Wooooooo

Straight home from the cinema, wanted to write my thoughts down, and it goes without saying, but I am spoiling the movie rotten, including post-credits, so yk, decide for yourself if you're clicking.

Okay, I thought the movie was... fine. Not great, leagues ahead of the first one obviously, although in comparison to the second one I think it reaches higher heights and avoids its lowest lows, although is perhaps overall less balanced than the second one? No, that's not quite it. I think the second one did Sonic and Knuckles' arcs better and as a movie was more focused on that so felt a bit more balanced, whereas movie 3 is more exciting and like cooler as an action setpiece but maybe not quite narratively as fulfilling? Something? I don't know, gonna need to weigh that in my mind a little.

I guess breaking it down into more specifics I wanna probably talk Sonic first, because I think he was a bit of an odd link in his own movie. Sonic at this point has his team with Tails and Knuckles, so he needs to be sure he's trusting them and making the right decisions. Eventually of course Shadow hurts Tom and Sonic loses his cool, goes against the team, and pretty much tries to kill Shadow, before doing a "this isn't who I am" thing and calming down, having a heart to heart with Shadow, remembering Longclaw exists, the whole shebang. It's fine, I understand fundamentally that this movie version of Sonic isn't his game self and is going to have more of an active character arc, and obviously in the context of the movie it serves to put him on the same arc Shadow has so they can both grow together. When I spell it out like that even I think it's pretty good, but I think it probably needed slightly more time to feel more convincing? Again it wasn't bad I was just not all that engaged with it, honestly makes me wonder if I even can take this version of Sonic all that seriously, cause at some point I do have to consider that I might just not like him.

Tails and Knuckles are pretty much fine. Tails honestly has more screentime than he did in the second movie it feels, I think he was a better executed version of his character across the board. Knuckles is a little closer to how he felt in movie 2 than he did in his own series, and I appreciate that he's broadly very capable, but also it really does feel like they're doing dumb Knuckles again except warrior mode. Maddie I have basically nothing to say about here but Tom is fine, contributes to Sonic's arc, has his like one speech, they've got an okay infiltration scene together that didn't drag too long and fortunately had Sonic and friends constantly on the mic to remind us who we're watching for. Stone's fine, nice jealousy arc for Gerald and Eggman before the latter remembers that Stone is the only one who ever cared for him and the two reconcile and it's sweet and everything. Eggman's doing the same shtick he's been doing all these movies, with a noble sacrifice at the end that makes me question how he's gonna be used in future. The big thing for him is Gerald being there, and Gerald...

I think Gerald, and by extension the entire backstory relating to Project Shadow, is where this movie goes the most wrong for me. I'll talk about Shadow on his own in a bit, but in the context of Project Shadow, Shadow is an alien who landed on earth as a meteorite and was recovered by and subsequently experimented on by GUN. Gerald is the one leading the experiments. They're not inhumane experiments at all, seems to just be routine tests and making him run to power generators and test his Chaos Energy. Maria is of course also there. When it becomes evident that Shadow is really powerful and they can't necessarily control him, GUN hunt down Gerald, unintentionally destroy the lab, and put Shadow in stasis. Present day, Gerald has managed to remotely awaken Shadow, remotely get Eggman to find him, and they're all gonna work together to blow up the entire earth and also suicide pact themselves in the process, a detail Eggman obviously doesn't know about. The thing is, fuck man, I do need to do that other paragraph next.

Maria doesn't have NIDS. or AIDS. Or some nondescript terminal illness. She doesn't have anything. She's literally just a normal girl. Why is she here at the research lab, which is distinctly on Earth? Just kinda because. Sees Shadow, befriends him, they're really cute, nothing but props there. But Maria is just a normal girl. Gerald basically never interacts with her. Or speaks positively of her. He's on a path for revenge for a granddaughter we're not convinced of his fondness for. I'm not out here to fault this movie for not just being SA2 and even in having said that SA2 doesn't exactly show their relationship very well either, all you have there is a sad old man on his execution day talking about how he was driven insane and is getting his revenge. But like. He's working on Project Shadow because he's a brilliant scientist who wants to use the research on immortality to help find a cure to his own granddaughter's illness. Through that motive alone we get the impression that Maria means a lot to Gerald. That's not there in this movie, at all. Shadow isn't an artificial being as far as we know, he isn't immortal as far as we know, he and Gerald don't really have that intrinsic link to one another that Maria completes, they're not a family. Fuck Gerald's alive but he and Shadow basically don't even talk to each other here. They very vaguely imply that Gerald's whole being 110 years old thing is connected to Shadow (as in have him say he's old and then do the licking Shadow's quill and getting a shock thing) and that's as close as they get. Again I don't think it's automatically a bad thing for them to go their own direction with this story but also the way it's written originally works for a reason and the ways in which they abandon that story only serve to hurt what they came up with instead. Gerald being alive could've worked. The research lab being a ground based facility could've worked. Maria not being terminally ill... I don't think that's salvageable. Certainly not in the form we saw it. But if that's what you're gonna do you need to sell me on Gerald, on his investment in any of this. I don't care about Gerald's revenge, that's the problem.

Anyway, uh, Shadow. He's fine. Good, even. Keanu's voice acting in this is leagues above what he did in the Shadow Gens DLC, I'm glad that wasn't a bad sign of things to come and instead literally just a false alarm. It's his SA2 arc but with the suicidal ideology amped up and Sonic choosing not to kill him being what makes Shadow realise he shouldn't be doing all this either. Sacrifice himself to save the world, post-credits scene shows he's obviously fine, good stuff. I'm honestly surprised how little he gives me to say.

Everything that happens when Sonic turns Super onwards is fucking awesome. First of all, sure, Super Sonic is consumed by rage and is out for blood and tries to fight Shadow. Shadow in base knocks the Emeralds out of Super Sonic with a sick fighting game ult looking ass wrist blow thing. Cool as fuck. Actually seeing Super Sonic fight base Shadow at all was honestly hype as hell in its own right, I think that's a very real sell us on the strength of Shadow. But of course, one Super hedgehog isn't enough. They both go Super. And they fight each other. Unbelievable. Absolutely raw as fuck. Not literally a series first because two Super characters fighting happened a few times in Archie, but close enough to be exciting. Also I mean all in space, btw. And yeah Live and Learn plays. More of the song than I was expecting but not really enough to be completely pogging. Choreography's great, absolutely the best the movies have shown off, one hell of an impression of speed seeing them fly across the literal planet fighting each other. Some sick fucking locations they end up in, tons of wallpapers. Super Sonic getting the edge because he has the fury of god while Shadow's conviction is currently lacking but also Sonic has experience with the form and Shadow doesn't is hype. After they talk things out they grab hands and transform together, it's raw as fuck, another wallpaper, clear out GUN robots by the hundreds, Shadow gets a smorgasboard of Chaos Spears in, I'm having the time of my life. I am barely able to sit down. This is the most excited the room gets. Oh btw it's a packed audience, everyone's wearing a Sonic shirt, families and dudes my age with their friends. Nothing very annoying throughout as a cinema-going experience despite lots of horrible signs at the start. Whenever this movie's 4K blu-ray comes out I am going to torrent that and I am going to steal some screenshots from these scenes because there are wallpapers to be had. Loved this bit. Finale is very good. No idea how Tails and Knuckles got to space but I'm glad they manage to play a substantial part here anyway. Gerald also dies here so like yeah things are just going well for me.

Overall I think, again, solid. Characters are mostly pretty good but unfortunately Gerald is kinda bad and is also very very much the central antagonist despite being kinda bad. There aren't any obvious "please cut this" scenes like in movie 2 except the two Eggmen dance sequence but it was better than the Sonic and Tails one in movie 2 and I mean no wedding scene. Climax is great. Shadow is good. Visuals are good. I think the pacing is pretty much fine, it gets into it very quickly. But it might genuinely have needed another 10 maybe 20 minutes to just flesh out particularly Gerald's backstory a lot more, although really I think they should've just done the SA2 faithful approach. Especially since fuck this is the year of Shadow right? They want to get everyone up to speed on everything to do with him. So why is the movie - the climax of said year - not giving us one of the most important facts about Shadow, that being that he's artificial? God unless the game plan is to cover Shadow being artificial and being partially Black Arms in one go. If we get a Shadow spinoff series is the plan to explain that his origins are he was created entirely by the Black Arms? Fuckin who knows man. I don't think the Black Arms needed to be in this movie I think that would've been a little too busy and a little too muddled for one film, but you gotta get the fact that Shadow was made by Gerald, surely. And Maria needs to be terminally ill! I don't even care that she wasn't actually shot man it's just the fact that she's terminally ill is the entire reason the Project Shadow story works. Whatever. This is the main thing holding the movie back for me.

Also goes without saying but these are indeed "just got home from watching it" thoughts. I haven't seen the movie more than once, I haven't spoken about it to anyone else, I haven't read or watched reviews, nothing. I am quite literally rambling. I don't think this is nearly as coherent as I was aiming for, but I was struggling enough to find the words to where I've given up really caring about being coherent. 6 maybe 6.5 out of 10.

Post-credits! Metal Sonic appears. Is jobbing. Way more Metal Sonics appear. I guess that's one way to make him threatening. Amy appears, takes down like 10 of them, Metal is full on jobber. But hey, Amy looks cute. Part of me wanted Silver too much just in some hopes of getting a year of Silver and a Silver game and seeing his character finally be redeemed in the public eye but yeah no Amy makes more sense and definitely needed to be done lol. We're a long way out from seeing what she'll actually offer these movies in terms of story, but hey.

Think that's all I've got. I'm going to bed.