#then when the Ark is saved and Shadow ‘dies’

[rascallyrose92]

I refuse to watch Sonic 3 if theres no Amy or Rouge. I refuse to compromise on this front. Both girls need to be there.

[torusonicpilled]

can we know more about the future au👀👀❓️

Alright I've been waiting for this, get ready for a really long lore dump... (click on keep reading so I don't clutter up the tags)

Future AU takes place 200 years after when-ever the main events of the game are. This would make Shadow 215 years old and Sonic 216 years old. Sonic: Sonic was created by a cult of former ARK scientists who wanted to create a version of Shadow specifically to be a weapon and without the Black Arms DNA. They used the DNA of a god and were successful (obviously.) However, Sonic at one point lost control of his power and destroyed everything, this event made him lose his memory. The first thing he saw when he woke up was the nature around him, creating his free-spirited nature (contrast to how Shadow woke up seeing Maria for the first time.) All this lore is here to explain why Sonic is immortal. However because Sonic is immortal and the public is unaware of this, and basically the gods have their own secret cult that gave Sonic an ultimatum. Basically he could A) Die at around 40 but keep his freedom, however the earth he loves may one day be destroyed due to the lack of him protecting it. B) He lives long enough (around 110) for people to realize he is immortal like Shadow, and not wanting to waste their best protector against the planet, seals him away, freezing him and only take him out when they need him to save them, or C) fake his death and continuing living, but lose his humanity, never being able to be “Sonic the Hedgehog” again. Sonic also never made this choice, as Shadow was the one who decided. Shadow feels guilt over this even if Sonic has gotten over it at this point. 

Sonic goes through a major depression in the years 110-150, as he basically loses his identity and is struggling with that. Sonic eventually finds some old outfit Shadow has in the closet, and uses it to become a masked figure called “S.” He now saves people under S, his speed being from “technology” and a voice modulator hiding his voice. Sonic is insanely powerful in the future, so people start equating him to a “legendary hero” who only appears when a threat too strong shows up. (like how Silver acted when talking about Whisper in IDW #8.) 

Sonic still has a lot of his immature traits personality wise, however he is a lot smarter when it comes to combat, having experience in situations, as well as being extremely overpowered. 

Shadow: Due to Shadow being the ultimate lifeform, he’s allowed to still be in public and shows his face. Shadow leaves G.U.N after Rouge retires, as Team Dark disbands. Once Rouge dies, Shadow spends a lot of time with Sonic, as Sonic is going through it being dead in all but name. 

Around 130-140, Shadow created “Maria’s Solutions,” his own private organization for helping people. Shadow is someone people go to when people can’t go to police or other organizations for help. He accepts help from almost any client, however he is often avoided by the worst as his power is terrifying. Shadow is now a detective, negotiator, and bounty hunter all in one, as he is more knowledgeable and collected now. 

After Eggman's death, Shadow adopted Sage at his request, not having it in him to bring her offline. Sage has a duplicate robot body but she prefers to spend time with him on Shadow's phone. She helps him out in missions, with hacking and tech related problems. 

Shadow has other employees for Maria’s Solutions, however I’m still working on them. Main ideas include an innocent girl similar to Maria he’s taken a soft spot to, a robot like Omega who works as a maid around their house, etc. 

Silver: Silver will occasionally come back to check in on Shadow. Due to the deal they made, Silver can’t know Sonic is alive. However, due to a mishap, Silver finds out and becomes friends with S. Sonic likes spending more time with Silver so he hides this fact from Shadow, sometimes going on missions with Silver. 

Other info

Sonic and Shadow aren’t important to this world. Lots of organizations and people fight in this world, thus leaving Sonic to deal with world ending threats and Shadow his clients. Organizations include

Technology conglomerates

A church that worships Gaia

The restoration

Militaries

Sonic and Shadow are married with rings pierced in their ears, however they do not like to define relationships. 

Anyone who Shadow trusts enough will meet Sonic by accident, but calls him “S” either way. 

Knuckles can be spoken too by connecting with the master emerald, which is underneath Sonic and Shadow’s house in an underground facility. 

Tails reincarnates when he dies with an extra tail, however he gets his memories from his last 100 years only if he meets Sonic. They don’t meet until 130ish, where Sonic agrees to wait until Tails is 20 every time before he hunts for him. (this part I’m still working on.)

Sonic is a jack of all trades who can use any weapon to fight as he likes to switch it up. Shadow uses a gun and sword combo along with his chaos abilities. 

AU is more comedic despite the somber tone, as Sonic and Shadow are still Sonic and Shadow at the end of the day.

Well that was a lot but if you want more info send me another ask with more questions for me to answer

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

There is just something about Sonic needing both Tails and Knuckles to save him when he falls to Earth in the movie. Cause it implies in the games, Shadow was right that Sonic would've died if he'd helped him. Or, well, "died;" Sonic's fallen to Earth enough times that it's probably just a normal Tuesday for him, but that's also main character bias. There's also the fact that Shadow probably only survived because of his advanced healing and that both had expended a shitton of energy fighting the FinalHazard; we don't even know when Sonic left his SuperState, since they cut from Shadow falling to Sonic on the ARK.

In the film, Tails flies out and catches Sonic but still falters and passes out once he begins to hit the planet's atmosphere. The only reason they both survived is that Knuckles was there to catch them both; Sonic needed two people to catch and rescue him in that state, and I think that what that was meant to imply to us is that if Sonic had grabbed onto Shadow in SA2, he would've definitely fallen with him.

So in the Twitter Takeovers when Shadow says he slapped Sonic away so that he didn't fall with him, that was literally him saving Sonic's life while sacrificing his own. It's very in-character for Sonic to give no regard for his own safety in trying to save Shadow, and for Shadow to give no regard for his own when saving Sonic.

SO the real question is. When are these two gonna be falling to Earth together and wrestling to see who gets to save each other and then Silver shows up as the savior Third Party and chaos controls them to therapy

[sonadowwiki]

The Intimate Relationship Between Sonic and Shadow

In the ending scene for Sonic Adventure 2 in Japanese, Sonic sadly says on his own as he looks out to Earth from the ARK: "疲れた... きゅうきょくせいめいたいか?" Which translates to: "Worn-out... Ultimate Lifeform?"

疲れた = Worn-out

きゅうきょく = Ultimate

せいめいたい = Lifeform

Though there are no subtitles for this scene, if you listen closely, you can hear Sonic say: "tsukareta," which means worn-out like you're exhausted. Sonic asks this sadly to himself as he looks down before he is interrupted. After brushing his sorrow aside so that it's not seen by others, before Sonic leaves the ARK, he says: "Adiós, Shadow the Hedgehog..." which means good-bye in Spanish.

This scene doesn't get translated correctly in English and the true meaning of this scene was lost in translation.

If we think back to previous scenes in the game, when Sonic was shot out of the ARK in a capsule, he was able to use a fake Chaos Emerald to Chaos Control into the ARK before it exploded. How Sonic got back into the ARK after defeating the BioLizard could have been the same or he flew back with what little energy he had left. Before Sonic told Shadow about how he used a fake Emerald to Chaos Control out of the capsule, Shadow watched as the capsule exploded and said to himself that it ended up that Sonic was an ordinary hedgehog after all due to thinking he died in the explosion. After seeing Sonic again and he was told how he escaped the explosion, it surprised and intrigued Shadow.

This scene can be seen as a parallel to not only when Shadow was also shot out of a capsule by Maria, but also the ending credits when Sonic looked out of the ARK while he waited to see if Shadow would also do the same as him and Chaos Control into the ARK after the battle. Once he saw that he wasn't going to appear, Sonic became extremely saddened and realized that Shadow was too tired to Chaos Control back and make a surprise appearance. But even if Sonic knew that Shadow might have not made it beforehand when giving his limiter to Rouge, he still hung onto a small sliver of hope that he would make a surprising comeback like he did.

With this knowledge, the ending lines saying for heroes to rest easy makes more sense since Sonic states that Shadow was too tired/worn-out. An image of Shadow even appears after the phrase to show that the words were for Shadow.

Another scene to take into account is the time they both turned Super. When they turned Super, it can be assumed that the Chaos Emeralds connected the two in a way that can only be seen with one's heart. This can be assumed because it was only after they turned Super together that the two became extremely concerned for one another (in the battle with the Final Hazard), fought as one, were in sync, looked out for each other, saw each other in high regard, and believed/trusted in one another with all their heart. Perhaps at that moment they turned Super, their hearts were connected and they both saw each other as equals and for who they are inside. It's possible that their hearts were so connected that when Shadow heard Maria's voice while they were Super, Sonic could have heard her too through Shadow. This can be assumed due to the slight turn of Sonic's head as if he's listening and how he waited until she was done talking to tell Shadow that now was the moment to use Chaos Control together.

At that moment when Shadow decided to help, perhaps the Chaos Emeralds helped Sonic understand who and what type of person Shadow was because even if he was manipulated to destroy the world at first, Shadow was willing to sacrifice himself to save the very people he thought deserved to suffer. And with that, Sonic gained a newfound respect and care for Shadow since he saw what a pure and good person he was deep down. This was the case so much so that the Emeralds responded in kind with their miracles and accepted in making Shadow Super as well.

Another thing to take into account is how after this game, it makes more sense as to why Sonic constantly looks for Shadow or tries to get his attention. Because Sonic saw Shadow seemingly die once despite seeing how capable and strong he is by being an equal to him in Sonic Adventure 2, he looks out for Shadow to make sure that it doesn't happen again like it was mentioned in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story.

"Only the [moon] overlooking the bustling city seemed to be watching over that shadow forever and ever."

This can also explain why the two constantly rival each other at times since Sonic could be checking on Shadow's well-being, just like Shadow watches over Sonic's (Sonic Colors DS, Sonic Forces, Team Sonic Racing, Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story).

[Sonic Colors DS - Asteroid Coaster Mission 1]

[Sonic Colors DS - Asteroid Coaster Completing Mission 1]

[Sonic Colors DS - Shadow worried for Sonic's well-being after completing the mission]

[Sonic Colors DS - Asteroid Coaster Mission 2]

[Sonic Forces - Shadow Protects Sonic at Sunset Heights]

[Sonic Forces Episode Shadow - Shadow concerned for Sonic's safety]

[Team Sonic Racing - Shadow saw that Sonic was capable after racing him, so he says that he can join him in defeating Eggman]

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story - Shadow tests Sonic but also tries to get him away from joining him in his mission]

[Sonic doesn't listen or adhere to Shadow's wishes and goes to find what Shadow could be doing in order to help him]

[Both work together in sync to neutralize the bomb threat]

It has been stated and shown that Sonic and Shadow are the ones who understand each other the most. Though the both of them understand each other the most since their fight together as Supers in Sonic Adventure 2 and understand that they're capable, they both still look out for each other because of that understanding and care for one another. Perhaps it is due to the event of when they turned Super together, that they share an intimate relationship with each other as stated in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story. And from that event, also gained understanding, respect and care that formed from the events; from the Chaos Emeralds' miracle. At that moment, the Chaos Emeralds responded to Sonic and Shadow's wishes, which proves that both their thoughts, hopes and wishes were the same. Therefore, it is then that Sonic and Shadow knew for sure, that the other was like himself and that they both shared the same vision and beliefs. The Emeralds created a miracle and it is through that miracle their relationship was formed; their relationship is a miracle.

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story - Bottom Description]

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story]

[Explanation of the phrase "懐に入って来られる稀有（けう）な関係" used in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story Description that states their relationship is intimate]

After Shadow defeated the BioLizard with Sonic, in Japanese, Shadow asks if "this is enough" before falling to Earth and giving up/deciding to rest. Because Shadow ended up giving up and did not return to the ARK, along with Sonic being able to use a fake Chaos Emerald to do Chaos Control, perhaps that's why Shadow always thinks that he is below in capability to Sonic who never gives up and is capable of doing more than him, despite also knowing that they are equal in strength and speed.

Perhaps what Shadow finds himself inferior with is from thinking that he is not as good of a person as Sonic since he has made mistakes or didn't have the same drive as him. Therefore, perhaps that is why Shadow always tries to test to see if Sonic is up to par or is strong enough to take care of himself so that he stays safe and continues being alive as that good person. This also explains why Shadow was so concerned for Sonic in Sonic Forces when Infinite was going to go hurt Sonic. If Shadow couldn't take Infinite on despite being Sonic's equal and knowing that, that's why Shadow got concerned for Sonic's safety. It can be assumed that perhaps one of Shadow's missions in life is keeping Sonic safe or alive since he is a good person and someone he cares about deep down.

[Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story]

[Sonic Colors DS - Shadow implies that he leaves it to Sonic since he believes that Sonic can do better, even if they are of equal strength and speed]

But despite always checking up on one another, they don't only test each other's strengths when meeting each other. Sometimes, they seem to also play, like in Team Sonic Racing. This can be implied since Shadow said to Sonic that he didn't have time to play with him/entertain him/have the spare time/to be concerned for his well-being at the time due to having an important mission to uphold with Emerl. But perhaps even when they play, they still test each other's strengths in a certain manner, like with their driving skills in Team Sonic Racing.

[Sonic Battle - English]

[Team Sonic Racing - Sonic went to talk to Shadow and when asked about him, he laughs a little as he implies that he got Shadow to play with him through racing (which was on his top priority to think of since he mentioned that before what he learned about Eggman)]

[Team Sonic Racing]

There are times that Shadow tries to steer Sonic into the right direction of defeating the main threat, but he still in a way, gives Sonic a choice and Sonic readily accepts like in Sonic Colors DS when he tells Sonic to go fight Eggman and in Team Sonic Racing when he reminds Sonic about the main objective in defeating Eggman. Sonic also does this for Shadow, such as in Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 where Sonic tries to steer Shadow onto the path of good when he lost his memories. Even at the end, Sonic was willing to protect Shadow and the world by asking for the Chaos Emeralds from Shadow, though Shadow ended up being able to defeat Black Doom on his own despite not remembering everything.

[Sonic Colors DS - Shadow reminds Sonic to take care of Eggman]

[Team Sonic Racing - Shadow reminds Sonic about the threat of Eggman, even if he wants to play]

The both of them make up a whole like two sides of the same coin. Sonic and Shadow know this, but it is Shadow who is not ready to close that gap between them since he still sees himself as inferior to Sonic. But even so, Sonic continues to watch over Shadow, talk to him and wait for him until Shadow also accepts that he is the same as himself, that they're equal and that they can be on the same level/stage together as one. This is also why Sonic hints to Shadow that he is already his equal and is also a good person too in the Sonic x Shadow 2021 July Calendar Story. So when Shadow still tries to shy away or run away from being unable to accept that, Sonic gets disappointed, but he still continues to wait for him, watch over him and help him come to accept that he doesn't have to think of himself as an inferior to himself.

[lyricthecat-12]

Archie Sonadow is the most unfairly underrated version of the ship

A while back, I did a poll to decide which was the most underrated version of Sonadow across different media, and since the public has had their say, I'm now going to offer my own take and explain why from Archieverse Pre-SGW version is so good and deserves much more recognition.

The beginning of their relationship is practically the same that in the video games: Shadow is accidentally awakened by Eggman and decides to carry out his creator's revenge against the world for killing Maria. Sonic is mistaken for the black hedgehog and is chased, which leads them both to have a series of confrontations until they reach the ARK Space Colony. There is a curious change here; since in the comic universe, Amy was involved in another separate story while the conflict was taking place, she was absent during these events but, according to Shadow's own words some time later, Sonic made him see the light, interpreting that he made him change her mind and since Rouge fulfilled exactly her same participation by broadcasting Gerald's video, it could be interpreted that in this universe it was Sonic who made Shadow remember Maria and finally pushed him towards the heroic side. Something like what happened years later in the third movie. (STH 98#, STH 124# & SU 2#)

After this, Shadow sacrificed himself and also lost his memory when he hit Mobius. From here the events differ from the games, in this version Shadow falls and is found by Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, showing himself hostile at first due to his confusion, although soon after he ended up allying with them to face a greater threat, the Alien race known as The Xorda who also planned to destroy the world in an act of revenge, which ends up being stopped with Sonic's sacrifice and disappearance that leaves everyone shocked, including the black hedgehog, because it was thought that the blue hedgehog had died saving the world until his eventual return issues later (STH 124 # & 125 #)

It's curious how, despite not remembering it clearly, Shadow during this stage showed a certain appreciation for Sonic, admitting that he is a being different from any other he has ever met. Of course, that didn't prevent them from continuing to have confrontations in their following encounters but over time, Shadow began to gain confidence in Sonic and was willing to collaborate when the situation required it. (STH 146-149# and STH 157-159#)

Meanwhile Sonic, despite their previous battles, never believed Shadow to be evil, even in the brief time where he was working with Eggman for the second time, and was sure that he would eventually do the right thing. And when that happened, Sonic supported him and helped him without hesitation to discover the truth behind his origins. (STH 160# &STH 170-171#)

After this point, Shadow became an increasingly notable ally, occasionally appearing and helping the heroes when needed, over time developing a respect and even appreciation for those who helped him become who he is today, obviously including Sonic between them.

Throughout this continuity, the relationship between the two hedgehogs had a long but natural and well-carried development, going from rivals and occasional allies to gradually forming a bond of companionship where, even if their ideals remain disparate, they have generated a mutual respect for each other and a great synergy in battle. Which is spectacularly represented in the last issue where the two interacted within this continuity, in the Sonic Universe 2#.

And is for all of this that I think Archie Sonadow deserves more love, because I dare say that it is one of the best and most complete versions of their relationship.

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

Ways the Sonic Franchise can bring Maria Robotnik back and make it kinda fun

-Hedgehog Clone with her memories: Kinda bonkers premise here. Maria gets cloned and her memories copied into a Mobian body that isn't dying of plot disease or bullets. Gives her superpowers and opens her up to being playable in game and SO MUCH FUN with the identity angst ("Am I the real Maria? Am I a copy? Are these feelings mine or just memories of a ghost? Am I my own person or a facsimile of what has come before?!") Can have fun with her design, whether it's just palatte swap Amy or you want to get more spicy with it.

-Maria Ghost in the Shell: Gerald backed up Maria's memories into a computer with science magic and this gains sentience somehow and can now pilot robots around, hopping from shell to shell like a digital ghost. More identity angst with this one and separation from humanity, needing Shadow and friends to bring her back to her humanity and stop her from going full Skynet.

-Multiverse shenanigans: Maria from an alternate universe shows up where Shadow died on the ARK to save her, turning her into the main series villain instead of Eggman and Amy as her nemesis instead of Sonic. Leans into the Robotnik madness, has built a mecha-Shadow trying to replace her lost family, and is a blonde Dok Ock from Spiderverse. Cries when she meets main-timeline Shadow and they mourn that there's no timeline where they both get to live.

-Lilo and Stitch reboot: Reboot of Shadow's story where Maria finds Shadow after crash landing from space-shenanigans (getting away from the Black Aliens) and the plot of Lilo and Stitch/E.T. takes place but with autistic girl genius and her weird cat thing that can and will kill God on a Tuesday night in a Denny's Parking Lot.

[celestial-prime]

Sonic 4 movie. Theories and predictions

Hello everyone! I finally watched Sonic 3, and I can confidently say it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theater! It had been such a long time since I felt so much emotion and joy watching a film. The last time I experienced these feelings was with Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, especially the fourth and fifth installments. Just like back then, when I was super excited for the next movie, I now have the same anticipation for the fourth Sonic movie.

In the post-credits scene, we saw the first appearances of Metal Sonic and Amy, which already gives us a taste of the continuation of the Sonic live-action franchise. That’s why I’d like to share my theory about what might happen in the next movie and which game from the Sonic saga it might adapt.

AND... Just as Sonic 1 was an adaptation of the first classic game, Sonic 2 represented the second game, and Sonic 3 was based on Sonic Adventure 2, I believe the fourth movie will also follow this adaptation formula.

My idea is that the fourth movie will be inspired by two games: Sonic CD, where Metal Sonic makes his first appearance, and Sonic Heroes, where Metal Sonic becomes the main antagonist. In Heroes, he evolves into Neo Metal Sonic and later into Metal Overlord, the final boss. I believe the concept of time travel, central to Sonic CD, could be key to the plot of the next movie.

Now, let’s dive into the possible plot of the fourth movie and how the story might unfold.

Probably, Metal Sonic came from the future and returned to the past with the goal of defeating Sonic, driven by frustration at never being able to defeat him definitively. In turn, future Amy, upon discovering Metal Sonic’s plan, decides to also travel to the past to protect him. This could explain the post-credits scene where we see Amy hooded.

This raises some important questions: How did Amy know where Sonic would be, and how did she know who he was? The most logical answer would be that, in the future, Sonic and Amy eventually meet, and she decides to go back in time to save him. Another key point of the potential plot would be the origin of Metal Sonic. After all, who created him, considering that Dr. Eggman died in the ARK explosion in the third movie? While Shadow survived because he’s practically immortal, Eggman is just a regular human, making it extremely unlikely that he escaped.

With that in mind, here are some possibilities regarding Metal Sonic’s creation:

Agent Stone as the Creator:

Stone, loyal to Dr. Eggman, could create Metal Sonic as a way to avenge his mentor’s death. This would continue Stone’s arc, showing how he seeks to keep Eggman’s legacy alive.

G.U.N. and Director Rockwell:

Another possibility is that Director Rockwell, who showed distrust toward Sonic and his team, decides to create Metal Sonic. After the events of the third movie, where the planet was nearly destroyed, she might use Metal Sonic as a weapon to eliminate Sonic, believing that he and his team are too uncontrolled.

Eggman as the Original Creator:

There’s also the possibility that Dr. Eggman created Metal Sonic a long time ago, perhaps after returning to Earth at the beginning of the second movie. However, due to the humiliation he suffered when defeated by Super Sonic, he might have abandoned the use of Metal Sonic and kept the project stored along with other copies. These copies could have been activated later, continuing the storyline.

Any of these options could fit well into the fourth movie’s plot, depending on how the writers choose to proceed with the narrative.

Even though the three movies so far have adapted elements from the game franchise—two from the classics and one from the modern games—they contain many original elements. For example, Sonic’s origin was adapted for the movie, and the story takes place on Earth, not on his home island or planet of origin. Additionally, the Master Emerald wasn’t found on Angel Island but on Earth, and Shadow didn’t live on the ARK in space but also on Earth. So, it’s likely that the fourth movie will also introduce original elements while incorporating important aspects inspired by Sonic CD and Sonic Heroes.

Now, here’s my idea of how the fourth movie’s plot could unfold:

Just like in the second and third movies, Amy could appear after the movie starts, similar to how Tails was introduced in the second movie and Shadow in the third. The movie would likely begin with an introduction to Sonic and his team.

After the boys (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) decide to organize another friendly race, Sonic gets too far ahead and ends up in New York City. This becomes even more confusing due to the time difference since he, Knuckles, and Tails live on the other side of the United States with Tom and Maddie. It’s at this point that Metal Sonic and Amy enter, as hinted at in the post-credits scenes.

After Sonic is attacked by Metal Sonic and saved by Amy, he’s full of questions. He wants to know who she is, how she knows his name, and how she knew where to find him. His questions are similar to those he asked Knuckles and Tails when he met them. Amy then explains that she came from the future to help him defeat Metal Sonic once and for all.

With no other choice, Sonic decides to take Amy home. There, he introduces her to the rest of the team, and they begin discussing what’s happening. Amy explains that she came from the future to warn him about Metal Sonic and save him. She details Metal Sonic’s origin, explaining that he’s after Sonic to defeat him once and for all since he couldn’t win in the future. That’s why she followed him to the past, both to warn Sonic and help him in his mission.

With this information, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy decide to form a team to face Metal Sonic. However, upon realizing that their enemy is extremely powerful, Sonic concludes that the only way to defeat him is by using the Master Emerald again to transform into his Super form and destroy him once and for all.

However, there’s a problem: at the end of the last movie, Sonic 3, Sonic lost his Super form while preventing a global catastrophe. During that moment, Shadow was also in his Super form but stayed behind after the final explosion. This caused the Chaos Emeralds to scatter across Earth due to the impact. Now, Team Sonic must gather the Emeralds again to have any chance against Metal Sonic.

Meanwhile, G.U.N. also steps in. After the events of the third movie, the organization begins questioning how Sonic and Shadow were able to prevent such a large-scale catastrophe. They eventually discover the existence of the Chaos Emeralds and, upon understanding their immense power, decide to locate them to keep them "safe." After all, the Master Emerald is seen as an extremely dangerous weapon, capable of turning a person into something close to a god.

This is where Rouge enters the story. As a G.U.N. spy, she’s sent to locate the Chaos Emeralds before Team Sonic. This sets up a race between both sides: Team Sonic needs the Emeralds to save the world and defeat Metal Sonic, while G.U.N. wants to capture them to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands (even though, for Sonic, that includes themselves).

This intense competition between Sonic and his team against G.U.N. adds a layer of tension and urgency to the film, especially since both sides have legitimate motivations for wanting the Emeralds. However, G.U.N.’s belief that Team Sonic isn’t trustworthy might spark conflicts and tense moments between them.

During this race to recover the Chaos Emeralds, Metal Sonic comes into play. He ends up encountering both sides—Team Sonic and G.U.N.—leading to a major battle among everyone, adding more tension to the plot. At this point, Shadow, who still holds a grudge against G.U.N. for what they did to Maria, temporarily joins Team Sonic. His main motivation is to prevent G.U.N. from keeping the Chaos Emeralds, as he believes the organization doesn’t deserve that power.

Since Shadow has a direct connection to Chaos energy, similar to what we saw in Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic manages to obtain one of Shadow’s quills. He uses the power contained in it to amplify his abilities and eventually evolves into Neo Metal Sonic. By combining Shadow’s power with the Chaos Emeralds, Metal Sonic reaches his final form: Metal Overlord, the final boss in Sonic Heroes.

However, before this happens, G.U.N. manages to capture the Chaos Emeralds, putting them temporarily ahead in the race. At this moment, Rouge, true to her nature as a jewel thief, betrays G.U.N. She steals the Emeralds, but her escape doesn’t go as planned. She soon realizes the situation becomes critical when Metal Sonic, now more powerful, begins transforming into his primitive forms, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Seeing no other choice and recognizing that Team Sonic is the only hope to defeat Metal Sonic, Rouge hands over the Chaos Emeralds to them. With the Emeralds in hand, Team Sonic activates the Master Emerald’s power, allowing Sonic to once again transform into his Super form. With this power, Sonic faces Metal Overlord in an epic final battle.

Shadow’s role at this moment remains uncertain. He might join Sonic in his Super form, as he did at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, or he might choose not to intervene directly. Regardless, this battle serves as a major climax for the film, bringing both classic and original elements to the story.

Although the previous films have adapted elements from the games, they’ve also added their own unique ideas, and it’s likely the fourth film will follow the same trend. The movie universe, after all, is separate from the games’ universe, giving the writers creative freedom to develop new stories and explore different dynamics between the characters.

Regarding Shadow’s presence in the fourth film, I believe he’ll play a key role, as his connection to Chaos energy is crucial for Metal Sonic’s transformation into Metal Overlord. Shadow’s involvement would also be an opportunity to further explore his relationship with his past and G.U.N., as well as strengthen the dynamics within the movie universe.

Introducing Rouge, hired by G.U.N. to steal the Chaos Emeralds, would be an excellent way to bring the character into the cinematic universe. This initial role, where she infiltrates as a spy and later betrays G.U.N., demonstrates her cunning and independence while establishing her motivations. By the end of the movie, Rouge could team up with Shadow and Agent Stone to form the famous Team Dark, opening doors for future storylines.

As for Omega, his introduction would be a bit more complicated. However, one possibility could be Agent Stone reactivating one of Dr. Eggman’s old robots, as Omega was originally created by Eggman to serve as a guardian and companion. This idea would fit well with the theme of reclaiming Eggman’s legacy in the movie, but his presence would need to be carefully balanced to avoid overwhelming the story.

Introducing too many characters in the fourth movie could be a challenge. While it’s exciting to expand the cast, it’s essential to keep the story’s main focus: the showdown between Metal Sonic and Sonic. In the first three movies, new characters were introduced in a balanced way, always keeping Sonic at the center. This balance ensured that Sonic’s protagonism remained intact, even with the addition of significant figures like Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow.

Therefore, while Rouge and Shadow’s presence seems essential, adding more characters like Omega could be challenging without diverting attention from the main plot. It’s important that the movie continues to highlight Sonic as the main hero, ensuring that new additions complement the story rather than overwhelm it.

The dynamic between Sonic and Amy in the fourth movie could indeed follow a friendship and camaraderie approach, similar to what we saw in the Super Mario Bros. animated movie. Just as they portrayed Princess Peach as a strong and independent warrior alongside Mario, Amy could be presented as a powerful and strategically important ally, without forcing a romantic relationship between her and Sonic.

Although Amy is traditionally Sonic’s romantic partner in the games and series, SEGA has already clarified that their relationship isn’t canon. This decision reinforces the creative freedom to adapt the character in the cinematic universe while maintaining the individuality of both characters. Sonic, with his adventurous and carefree personality, would hardly fit into a romantic role in the movies, as it could shift focus from his journey as the protagonist.

In the movie, Amy could be presented as someone who shares the same goals as Sonic, fighting alongside him and his team against threats like Metal Sonic. The post-credits scene of the third movie already gave us a glimpse of her combat skills and confidence, highlighting her iconic hammer as her weapon. This suggests her presence in the fourth movie will be more as a warrior and strategic ally rather than a character dependent on Sonic or hopelessly in love with him.

This approach also creates a more modern and inclusive dynamic for the audience, showing that a female character can be equally strong and independent without being defined by a romantic relationship. A deep friendship and mutual respect between Sonic and Amy could strengthen the development of both characters while maintaining the adventurous and lighthearted tone that characterizes the franchise.

Finally, let’s talk about the possible post-credits scenes of the fourth movie, which always leave clues for the next chapter in the franchise. Since it’s been confirmed that the fourth movie won’t be the last—the idea is to create a quintology (five movies) and not a sextology—it’s very likely that the post-credits scenes of the fourth movie will introduce a new character or hint at the plot of the next movie.

One of the strongest speculations among fans is the possible appearance of Silver the Hedgehog in the post-credits scenes. This would make perfect sense since Silver is a central character in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 game, whose storyline revolves around time travel. Just as Amy and Metal Sonic are essential to the plot of the fourth movie, introducing Silver in the post-credits scenes would be the perfect bridge to address the plot of Sonic 2006 in the fifth movie.

Silver could appear from the future, on a mission to alter past events to save the chaotic future he came from. His arrival would bring new dynamics to the story and expand the Sonic cinematic universe, exploring themes like fighting to change destiny and the challenges of time travel.

However, I prefer not to delve into theories for the fifth movie just yet, as the fourth movie hasn’t even been released. I think it’s better to wait for the official release of the fourth movie to understand the clues they’ll leave behind and then develop more solid theories about what to expect in the fifth film.

And that’s it, everyone! This is my theory for the fourth Sonic movie. I know some ideas might seem a bit out of the box, but as we’ve seen in the first three movies, they don’t exactly follow the stories from the games. There are many original additions and changes to fit the Sonic universe into the cinematic narrative, and I believe the same will happen in the next film.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for reading my theory! Now I’d like to know your opinion: what do you think might happen in the fourth movie? Share your ideas, and let’s keep this conversation going! :)

[psykheofthestars]

Chaos Island's Inclusion in Shadow Generations, and how I believe that it's meant to represent parallels between Shadow and Tails (w/ some bonus Sonic-Maria parallels)

I've been thinking about Chaos Island's inclusion in Shadow generations, and after thinking about it for so long, I've decided that I like to think of it as a comparison between Shadow and Tails' characters.

Both characters have a certain feature about themselves that have made them think of themselves as 'freaks'. With Tails, that's his namesakes, and with Shadow, that's his Black Arms DNA.

They also both have a blue coloured older sibling with a love for the earth that they look up to. Said older siblings boosted their little brothers' self confidence, and said "hey, you're not a freak!" With Tails, that's Sonic, and with Shadow, that's Maria. Connecting to the last point, both Shadow and Tails have acted upon a wish made by their respective older siblings in their 'final moments'. With Tails, that's the moment before Sonic got ejected from the Ark when he trusted Tails to stop Eggman and save the planet from disaster, with Shadow, that's Maria's wish for Shadow bring hope to humanity.

Basically, what I'm getting at here is that our dearest Unbreakable Bond has some parallels with the Ark Siblings that are pretty hard to ignore

Also, the second Sonic and Maria 'died' (died is in quotations because Sonic doesn't actually die), Tails and Shadow went into

(And depressive episode mode, but vengeance mode is both cooler and funnier to say)

[atwas-gaming]

Sonic Movie 3 Preliminary Predictions

I saved the craziest one for last:

This COULD be Shadow and Gerald bending over Maria's body, but that doesn't sound right to me.

The Ark is big enough to hold large vehicles like this:

But I think a battle big enough to leave this kind of wreckage might do major structural damage to the Ark.

Also, if this is when Maria died, wouldn't the GUN soldiers be aiming AT Shadow and Gerald? Looks to me like they're aiming past them, at something in the distance.

And look at the body. I think I can make out what looks like a very round, small head:

Could this be Sonic's body? Do they think he died in the final battle?

Because all we've seen in the trailer is Shadow as a supervillain, and that is NOT who Shadow is.

Black-hearted evil, Brave-hearted hero, I am all, I am all I am.

Look, Eggman might be working with Team Sonic for a time...

But he's gonna turn on them all. "If I can't rule the world, I might as well save it!" Yeah, sure, Eggface, just saving your own butt, and the second you find an opportunity to try to rule the world, you're taking it. Because that's what Eggman ALWAYS does. His ONLY purpose in life is trying to rule the world.

He wants POWER. He's gonna take that thing and do something with it. And while I like the theory that he's building a Metal Sonic with it, we clearly won't see it in this movie. (Maybe movie 4...?)

But I think I do know what he IS gonna build in this one:

Look behind Tails.

See it? Most prominently on the right side?

The MOUSTACHE?!?

It's the DEATH EGG.

So Robotnik's gonna build the Death Egg, Team Sonic's gonna have to fight him, and somehow, Shadow's gonna realize he has to join Team Sonic.

Not really surprising, that's usually the gist of every game with Shadow in it. But I gotta wonder why I haven't seen anyone talk about that shot of the Death Egg. I KNOW y'all have been analyzing the trailer frame-by-frame. I must just be missing the discussion somehow. I even googled "sonic movie 3 death egg" and got nuthin.

(My theory is that Eggman's gonna turn the Ark into the Death Egg, but we'll have to wait and see.)

This calls into question lines like "when we're done, there won't be anything left," and "what I had to."

What's Shadow gonna do???

And does it have anything to do with this?

Why are they tied up like that??? If that is, as I've seen people say, not a black hole, but rather a ring portal that Shadow opened into space, then I can't imagine Shadow gave enough warning for these three to tie themselves down.

So what if they were tied down in preparation for Shadow opening this ring portal as part of the final battle against the Death Egg? Maybe to suck Eggman's robots off the planet or something?

Notice that there's no humans in this picture, either. My guess is that they got Tom and Maddie and GUN crew out of the area before Shadow opened the portal. Because Sonic and Co. can survive in space, but nothing else can.

With only 2 minutes of the movie currently at our disposal, it's impossible at this point to be certain of anything about the overall plot. But I know what Shadow and Eggman are both like, and the trailer is leaving out half their characters. Unless the plot goes completely off the rails and totally disregards every bit of character building Shadow ever had in the games, he IS gonna join Team Sonic, and there WILL be a final battle against Eggman.

If only because he promised Maria that he would protect Earth.

[emmasmoke8]

New Chaos Heart content: As If All I've Ever Said Were Goodbyes

Gerald Robotnik is the one who discovered the husk. He named it Sonic after it proved useful to Project Shadow. He sent it to Earth to buy himself more time, only to lose Sonic in the end.

Maria Robotnik knew she was going to be close friends with Sonic from the moment they first met. This closeness caused her sickness to flare when Sonic died. Gerald saved her by erasing her memories, and she only remembers Sonic when her dying breath leaves her.

Maria is the person Shadow was made for. She is his sister, and he loves her dearly. He also loves Sonic. He loves them both so much that Gerald is forced to erase his memory, too, when Maria's illness and Sonic's death nearly causes him to go berserk.

Abraham has never been fond of the aliens on the ARK, but he was friends with Sonic, mainly because the hedgehog never quit trying. Abraham is also the only one permitted to keep his memories of Sonic, driving yet another wedge between him and the others.

Sonic wakes up on Christmas Island with the company of the chao and no memories to guide him.

--

Gameverse

Trigger warning: unethical experimentation, illness, grief

[starsfic]

Main AU List

These are not all of my AUs, these are just the main ones spinning around. Some of these need to be updated.

LEGO Monkie Kid

Art School AU- AU where everyone is mortal and the Traffic Light Trio attend the same art school. Ships in particular: rivals to friends to lovers Spicynoodles and former criminal and JTTW scholar Tripsun.

DND AU- An AU where everything past S1 is a DND campaign the gang is playing, DMed by Wukong, with Bai He as Xiaotian’s little sister.

Mortality Swap AU- Bai He becomes Lady Bone Demon’s successor against the forces of Sun Wukong and the descendants of his brothers. Needs to figure out S4-S5.

The Iron Princess AU- Ironbull and Spicynoodles swap places, with Tang’s tea delivery girl Iron stealing a container of Macaque’s shadow magic from the Demon Red family. Needs to figure out S4-S5.

The Stolen Prince AU- The classic Macaque raises Qi Xiaotian AU, with the fact that Macaque stole Xiaotian when he was a baby from Wukong and is raised in the Demon Bull stronghold as a (puppet) ally.

A New World- More of a headcanon, the cycle changes the story each time. Cracks in the story form when the stones are broken, allowing old characters to slip out and try to regain their roles, such as General Liu, who's role Macaque stole, and Wukong's children.

Gravity Falls

Weak Little Thing- An AU where Dipper and Mabel live in Gravity Falls part time and Stan refuses to leave the Shack because Ford can barely remember to take

Grandpa and Great-Uncle- An AU where Shermie is also in Gravity Falls

Came Back (Not) Wrong- Stan dies and Ford is so stricken with grief and regret that he makes another deal with his Muse. Stan is brought back to life with a working bullshit meter, while Ford angsts about their lost time.

The Three Siblings- Several of Bill's race survive by forcing themselves off the flat plane, including Tad Strange and Jill Cryptogram, Bill's older brother and younger sister. Jill is also an interdimensional therapist.

Poppy Playtime

Stuck Together- The Prototype and Player both die in their battle and wake up in the afterlife with all the children who died.

Save Everyone- Basically a Save Everyone AU, but not instantly best friends and I went a bit crazy with worldbuilding at some points.

Cult of the Lamb

Forced Back- Lambert submits to their sacrifice. Hundreds of years later, Narinder's estranged daughter brings them back to use as a hostage against her father.

The Five of the New Faith- Padme, the lamb of prophecy, brings back four other lambs, including their twin Sabe. The lambs switch between each other, keeping the bishops confused.

Death's Forced Bride- Meri was married to a black cat, having a daughter with him, before their death. Narinder gets yandere-level attached and refuses to let Meri die to reunite with their husband.

Majesty of Death- A lust ritual after Heket's death leads to the Lamb and the still-chained Narinder to sire a child

Sonic

Apothecary Diaries- Shadow plays Maomao, an apothecary who solves mysteries in the palace of Empress Sonia, aided by Prince Sonic.

Depressed Maria- Maria survives the ARK, but is placed in a coma and then in and out of stasis to learn more about NIDS. When she's finally released, she's determined to avenge Shadow, unaware that he's in his own stasis.

A Child in Exchange- Movie Shadow dies in the explosion. Soon after, the Black Arms come. Maria is held hostage in exchange for Shadow. Years later, the main universe is invaded and Shadow reunites with Maria in the worst way.

Leader, Where is Your Baby- More of a headcanon, but about movie Shadow's origins, where a mysterious hedgehog leader made a deal with Black Doom to create the ultimate lifeform.

BNHA

The Immortal Nine- Part of the quirk All For One gave Yoichi was an immortality quirk, leading to each wielder gaining immortality, even when it passed to the next user. After OFA is passed to Izuku, the former wielders decide to take up jobs at U.A. Also traitor Aizawa thrown in for flavor.

TADC

PI Pomni- More of a headcanon, but Pomni was a private investigator before joining the circus, hired to find any clues to Zooble and Gangle's missing person cases.

Dawn of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- My version of the TMNT, basically throwing elements that I like together in a cauldron

Scooby Doo: Together Forever- Also my version of Scooby-Doo with elements thrown into the cauldron, including a poly and magical Mystery Inc.

Mickey and Co.: Under New Management- A single mother and her three daughters suddenly find themselves in charge of Disney after a horrific box office failure. Humans and toons need to work together.

[shipperoftooncouples]

❗️IDEIA FOR A SONIC FANFIC❗️

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

Since Sonic 3 came out I started thinking about a fanfic were Maria's aunt (together with her uncle) gave birth to Eggman at the ARK colony when she was like 10 years old, the same period of time were Shadow was created by Gerald Robotnik.

So, by this way, Shadow take care of both of them, Maria AND her cousin Eggman, Maria was like a big sis meanwhile Ivo was more like a baby brother.

When Maria dies and Shadow falls down to the Earth, he brings kid Eggman with him, then, Shadow starts being a paternal figure to the little Robotnik, raising him, during some years till the governament discover that Shadow is alive and captures him to be freezed by 50 years, for having dangerous powers.

After Shadow's left, Eggman was raised by one of the GUN's sicientists, and have promised to himself to never forget about Shadow.

After 50 years, Eggman finally freed him. Even with some Amnesia, Shadow remembered about his promise to Maria to "take care of our little brother", and accepted to be by Eggman's side during Sonic Adventure 2 game events.

(He'll save the world because of Maria's promise again, but in this au eggman will follow Maria's desire too)

At the end, Shadow and Eggman are each other's family, and Shadow will never let sonic or anyone hurts him or his baby robots, like corbot, orbot, metal sonic and sage.

But, what about Sonic?

Sonic doesn't like Robotnik at all, cause you know, he's evil and everything, but Shadow does, that's how their rivality STARTED!

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

If you Sonic fans liked, I'll start writting it!

[pinkcreamypeach]

I wrote this last night, so I figured I'd just post it here, heh..

Do you think he even understood what death was? Maybe he didn’t fully comprehend it at the time. He knew Maria had a condition, but could he truly understand the weight of what that meant? It’s painful to think about him being younger than Maria, completely unaware of what death even was, until that tragic moment.

Shadow never said "Maria was killed"; he always said "Maria was taken away from me," which speaks volumes. He had no idea what was happening. He was just a child, in a way… even though he wasn't technically a baby, considering his lack of age. But the idea that Shadow didn’t grasp the concept of death is heartbreaking.

When Maria was killed, Shadow was technically younger than her. He probably had no understanding of death. Shadow never said "Maria was killed"—he always said she was "taken away from me." He was a "tube baby," raised in isolation on the ARK with limited knowledge of the world outside. His only real connections were to Maria and Gerald, who cared for him and taught him what they could. He was still a child when he witnessed Maria's death, helpless in his tube as she was gunned down.

He was created to help Maria with her condition—Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (NIDS), a rare and terminal disease. Gerald loved his granddaughter so much, he wanted to save her, and that's why Shadow was created as part of the project that became his namesake. Unfortunately, the government saw Shadow as a threat to humanity, and their actions destroyed everything he had known.

In the end, Shadow was just a child, a creation who had found a family. He had a big sister, Maria, who was tragically "taken away," and he could do nothing to stop it.

Shadow is doomed to suffering in every universe. His happiest life would be one where Maria never died, yet he was created for her—so his truest happiness would have been one where he was never born at all.

Maybe in some alternate reality, he could finally find peace, with his family, with Maria—but in this reality, he will never have that. Instead, he will continue to hurt, to relive the trauma of losing everything aboard the ARK. No amount of time will heal that wound. Frozen for 50 years, the pain of Maria's death feels like it happened only moments ago. When he finally escaped the tube, all he wanted was revenge.

And who could blame him for that?

[soullessjack]

talk about that stupid lil hedgehog. go hog wild (punintended)

oh my god i keep Trying to answer this and it keeps getting deleted somehow ok. deep breaths. and spoilers for the 3rd movie also.

SO.

sonic 3 is, naturally, a very loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. and just like the other two movies there were details from the games that were either changed or taken out to better suit the movies, bc as much as they are sonic movies, they aren’t just beat-for-beat remakes. they’re definitely aiming to be their own thing while also respecting and keeping close with the source material they pulled from (and personally, I didn’t grow up with the games; I’m a watcher over a player; I’ve always had more interest in the game’a story than actually playing it—so just from a creative standpoint, I immediately respect any adaptation that does the same).

the 3rd movie has a lot of major detail changes for the sake of running with their own plot and trying to keep its PG rating, and it works fantastically. I’ve watched it twice already and there is no doubt in my mind I’ll watch it again bc it’s genuinely So Fucking Good. but one of the most important detail changes for me is how they handled Maria’s character. in the original SA2 game, and I don’t mean this as an insult or anything, Maria is frankly a non-character. she falls into the archetype of a character who exists just to die for the plot and doesn’t have much personality as a result. it’s not inherently a bad thing; it’s just a narrative tool. but the issue comes from how it’s done, because when it’s done right, it’s done right. but when it’s done wrong, it becomes lazy fridging (we as supernatural victims know this well).

I don’t think game-Maria was necessarily fridged; it’s her clear purpose in the story and pretty much a canon event that she and Gerald will always die (thanks gens), but it also makes her a little less interesting to engage with as her own character bc she isn’t really her own character. she’s like, the idea of shadow’s goodness. she’s this perfect paragon of love and kindness and forgiveness that, at 9-12 years old, somehow has a fully formed opinion on the nature of humanity as inherently good and worth being saved [by shadow]. it’s not bad storytelling, but it’s just a tad heavy handed.

movie-Maria, on the other hand, is an actual person. she still dies in the end, of course (canon event), but through shadow’s memories of her we’re able to see how she connected with him and what made that connection so important to him that it ruined him severely to lose. movie-Maria is just a kid. she’s curious, a little mischievous and plainly innocent. she doesn’t really know what shadow is or what his purpose on the Ark is, and she doesn’t really care. she just knows that she likes him and cares about him and that’s good enough for any kid. it’s all, “let’s watch movies together,” “let’s use your air shoes to roller-skate really fast around the colony,” “let’s dance to this record,”etc etc.

the actual scene is such an adorable little montage but it also shows how simplistically Maria connected with shadow and made him feel like more of a person. instead of directly asking shadow to be a good person and save the world, she encourages him to be whoever he wants to be. instead of sending him off and making a final promise with him, she just dies. suddenly and without any last words. which means shadow has no promise to remember like he did in the game. he doesn’t come to his senses because he finally remembered Maria actually wanted him to do good.

and that’s my segue into the second major difference of the movie! hooray for segues!

so, one of shadow’s final memories with Maria is sitting with her under the Ark’s dome and looking up at all the stars in space. just like the montage it is an adorable, even beautiful scene of them together all by itself and I had to pause the movie during my second watch to sob into my hands but the one thing I’m picking on today is when shadow tells her, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” again, very simple, but still very hard hitting because we’re seeing in real time what he’s doing without her. we’re seeing how much her loss has affected him because we finally saw exactly what it was like, what it meant for him to have her in the first place.

and, between the game and the movie, shadow’s end goal is still revenge for Maria. her…presence…(?) her memory, at least, is still with him at every step of his plan and fueling him to go even further. in a way, it’s almost like Maria becomes the face of her own loss, because each time he remembers something about her, it’s only ever painful and only ever makes him more determined to enact revenge. and then when he beats the shit out of Tom (sonic’s dad who’s also kinda boring) (sorry), and the flash between sonic kneeling over him to shadow kneeling over Maria, it starts a sort of…tipping point for shadow to doubt if this is what he really wants or has to do.

and the thing is, it’s not about right and wrong with shadow. he knows what he’s doing is wrong (i personally must disagree with revenge on the military for murdering a child being framed as wrong but this is a paramount produced kids movie so that’s how it goes). he knows it’s just pure, anger driven revenge for the sake of revenge and he doesn’t care. in his own words, it’s who he is internally, bc it’s all he’s had or known for the last 50 years. and then, when he and gerald are on the eclipse cannon together, shadow asks him, “is this really what Maria would’ve wanted?” again, it’s not about right or wrong for shadow (or even Gerald honestly). it’s just about Maria and avenging her and dying in the process bc nothing is worth living or saving anymore, including themselves. that is, until Gerald responds, “the question isn’t ‘is it what Maria would’ve wanted,’ the question is ‘what do they deserve?’ Remember what she meant to us; remember what they took from us.”

I genuinely think that was Shadow’s wakeup call (and I love how it was changed from Maria simply wanting Shadow to be good all along, to Shadow coming to that realization for himself). pretty soon after that exchange, the fight between him and sonic starts and the entire time it’s just shadow instigating and antagonizing sonic to do his worst and End It. Straight up kill him, bc he’s too far gone now and there isn’t even enough time left to begin processing any doubt or regret for it all, and the plan was always a revenge-suicide-genocide anyways (you know, for kids!)

let’s go back a few paragraphs to when I said that Maria had almost become the face of her own loss, her own absence, because shadow’s memory of her only fueled his pain and determination to destroy everything. just like her game iteration, she’s an idea now. she’s an embodiment of the past, for better or for worse, for both shadow and Gerald. and remember, in both the game and the movie, it’s Gerald’s need for revenge that sparks shadow’s. Gerald uses shadow’s grief and anger to encourage it and it does eventually become shadow’s own goal too, but Gerald always wanted it first. shadow was just a means to an end that he thought he wanted.

it’s Gerald who tells shadow to remember what Maria meant and remember how it was taken, while shadow focuses on her and how she would’ve felt. and I really think it’s that moment afterwards that pulled shadow out of it, just enough to try and instigate his own death since the cannon can’t be stopped and, again, even if he did regret his actions, it won’t matter after everything is done. he thinks he’s just as far gone as Gerald is with this need for revenge and anger and hatred. he thinks This is who he is, until sonic gives him the classic “it doesn’t have to be who you are. love is stronger than pain, and even if she’s gone the love you had for her is still there, so keep going on that instead of the pain.”

(paraphrasing like crazy but it is genuinely a very well written scene like all the others.. IT’S A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE AND I AM DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT THAT).

I’m not trying to say the original game’s story is any lesser or not impactful, and if I did that would just be a straight lie bc that’s one of Sega’s most renowned games in the franchise to this day, but I do think it hits a lot harder for shadow to have this arc away from Maria, if that makes sense. no final promise, no idea of what she wanted him to be. she’s not the embodiment of all that was good in him, but she was the support system he needed to (eventually) realize he could be good and be more than his purpose.

[summerroseart]

Do you have any ideas about sonic boom childhood?

Okay, sO

I ABSOLUTLY do. I'm incredibly unwell about them. I'm like this constantly ⬇

I'm SO sorry this took so long for me to answer. My brain is a nightmare land, where there is no passage of time, and consistency and organization are nonexistent; but I finally got something that makes a bit of narrative sense down in docs.

I'm gonna put it under a cut, though, because it's pretty long. Enjoy my over 2k words of vaguely plot-shaped ramblings <3

Now, first off... You probably had something specific in mind when you asked, but I wasn't entirely sure if you meant backstories in my Paradise Lost AU, or just in Boom.

I'm gonna go with the latter, (the characters' childhoods in Sonic Boom) because it's… A bit simpler.

I pretty much have two parallel AUs: my general 'Boom is the Sequel to Underground' worldbuilding, which has backstories for the main Boom timeline, (what I'll be going into here); and PL, which takes place after the events of Sonic Boom, but in which most of Sonic Underground is not canon. The plot of Paradise Lost is based on Aleena not listening to the prophecy, and so the forewarned 'deadly fate' comes to fruition. (A lot of things are consistent across both stories, though, so Paradise Lost is… An AU of this AU. Sorta.)

Now, For Sonic Boom as it's own thing, I do think it's fine to leave it ambiguous, and consistent with what's established in the general Sonic canon, and to think of it as taking place a few years after the mainline games, or just letting it be what it is, because it's Very hard to tie it to anything else.

But! There's also a lot of really weird one-liners and episodes that made me think WAY too hard about the possible world building; and somehow, Sonic Underground fits really well into the vague narrative that exists in Boom. And so that's where my AU headcanons come in. :D

Anyway.

In this one, the events of Sonic Underground are pretty much all still canon. There are a few things I'd retcon (mostly just Angel Island lore– see Knuckles' section), but for the most part, it would stay as-is. Tragic Character Backstories™ for the triplets, as explained in Origins episodes, are also still the same.

After the single season of Underground that we got, I'd like to think there would still be a lot of wild-goose-chase scenarios, but a few plot-heavy ones as well.

Early on, I have the (altered) SA2 storyline. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are all still somewhat inexperienced heroes (in comparison to Sonic in-game). There are no active Chaos Emeralds, so the crystal they're trying to prevent Robotnik from using to power the ARK, is a shard of the Master Emerald. The triplets use their music to inspire Shadow to help them redirect the ARK's crash-course for the planet, and then things go wrong, with Shadow plummeting to earth and losing his memories, while the triplets think he dies. None of them are really sure they consider it a win.

They meet Tails not too long after that, on a routine mission to Westside Island. He had been abandoned as a baby and was raised by flickies in the woods. Sonic rescued him from some bullies, and he helped Manic to fix their van after it had broken down. After growing attached, the boys convinced Sonia to let him tag along, (she gave in because he was adorable and she didn't want him to be left alone out in the forest anymore).

Even though he's brilliant, and they love having him around, they get worried about his safety after getting caught up in a few battles with SWATbots and Sleet and Dingo, (especially after what happened on the ARK) and soon decide to bring him to Sanctuary.

Tails decides he's going to prove that he can keep up with them, and ditches Sanctuary to try and infiltrate a Robotnik base. He gets caught, and the triplets have to go and save him, but he still manages to copy a bunch of plans and files onto a hard drive, and bring it back to the Resistance. The triplets reassure him that they were just trying to look out for him, and keep him safe, but ultimately they cave and let him stick with them.

As far as Eggman goes, he's a modified clone of Robotnik; created to act as an heir to his empire (in the same vein as Robotnik Jr. from AoSTH). He briefly teams up with the Freedom Fighters and helps take down Robotnik.

I'm bad at conceptualizing battles RIP but after all's said and done, Aleena reclaims the throne; Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are declared her heirs; Tails and Knuckles are honorarily knighted for their efforts, and things are on their way to officiate the Council of Four.

After all that, Knuckles returns to Angel Island, and Tails was offered a place in the palace, helping with tech and security and such.

Unfortunately for Sonic, he quickly begins to realize that this Council of Four "destiny" really isn't what he wants in life, and he doesn't think he's suited to run a kingdom. In the spur-of-the-moment decision after an argument with Sonia and Manic, he chooses to leave. Tails offers to go with him, and they steal a small fighter jet from the palace hangar and take off, with the intent to have as many adventures as possible, and learn about all that the world has to offer, before Sonic's family inevitably drags him back to Mobodoon. (They have to catch him first).

They eventually find out Eggman (who doesn't really know what to do with himself anymore because his whole purpose was to take over Robotnik's empire) is beginning to walk in Robotnik’s footsteps… Sorta. The siblings had encouraged him to follow his dreams, and make his own path in life. So, Eggman decided that what he really wanted was to build a theme park in his own image, but he goes about it in like,,, the worst way possible (If he somehow achieves world domination along the way then it's a win-win). So Sonic shows up whenever he starts wreaking complete havoc. (Which happens regularly.)

Sonic also eventually finds out Shadow is alive, but doesn't remember who he is, and he once again finds Sonic completely insufferable. So, thanks to Shadow's very thin patience, they tend to either beat each other up, or ignore each other. Sonic sort of tries to be his friend, since he knows Shadow has the potential for good, but they don't resolve their issues before the events of Boom.

Knuckles' backstory is pretty standard. He still grew up alone on Angel Island, but the differences lie in the lore of the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald.

The Chaos Emeralds are in stasis– think the Special Zones in the early games or like… smth like how they were kept on the Starfall Islands in Frontiers. None of the characters have access to them (yet)

The Master Emerald was shattered by the Guardian Priestess in order to keep it out of Robotnik’s hands, leaving Angel Island to fall into the ocean. The pieces were scattered, but the shards still hold a lot of power. However, because they're broken, they're incredibly unstable. Knuckles only ever found a few pieces, and just thought they were the Chaos Emeralds.

He has an extremely poor memory thanks to a head injury he received during the fight for the master emerald (he was only like 4 or smth), paired with the trauma of losing his entire tribe. He hardly remembers any of it by the time he meets the triplets. What he does know, is that he's the guardian of the island, and that he's supposed to protect the 'chaos emerald', and outsiders are bad news.

He mostly stayed away from the temples, after everyone had been killed, preferring to keep to the older city ruins, taking care of chao and his pet salamander*, and sticking to his routines, when he hasn't been called on to help the triplets.

*I've decided that Chomps, his "dinosaur" (salamander) is actually the same species as the one used to create the Bio Lizard

I'm retconning Althair being a living character because I said so. He should've been a spirit– or even better, Tikal.

Amy, I headcanon as Knuckles' sister. (I don't think it'll ever be canon, but I like having fun with the concept). They were separated as children, with Amy being taken to Mobius as a baby in order to protect her, and they don't know they're related.

- Amy is a hybrid, while Knuckles is fully Echidna. She was documented as a hedgehog because those traits were a lot more prominent when she was a baby. (General hc that mobian children tend to take after one parent species or the other, and hybrids are comparatively rare. They're often still documented as one species or the other because it's not always obvious at first or it's 'easier.' Blended species families tend to have actual last names instead of their species for consistency*.)

*I have more headcanons about naming conventions, too, but this is getting tangential <3

Their mom was a Priestess for the Master Emerald, similar to Tikal. Both Amy and Knuckles inherited her strength, though Amy's clairvoyance would end up being stronger. She was blessed by the Fates of Chaos (thing I made up) as an infant, and gifted her hammer for protection and deliverance of justice, and her fortune cards to help guide her. When the war started, Robotnik aimed to go after anyone with oracular abilities, in order to absolve himself of any possible "fated" loss. (He was unsuccessful in defeating the Oracle of Delphius).

In order to protect her, Amy's mother had her father take her back to Mobius, where she could be hidden from Robotnik under the guise of being a hedgehog.

Her father was never super hands-on, tending to leave her alone for long periods of time as he went out to aid the Freedom Fighters. Amy started visiting Vanilla when she was six, not too long after Cream was born, because she needed to borrow some vegetables, and the nice-looking lady down the road had a pretty garden.

Her dad stopped coming back when she was eight (he was caught by Robotnik and roboticized). She knew that he would stop coming home eventually– her cards had told her as much– but it was still hard to understand. She spent a lot more time with Vanilla after that, but still grew to be extremely independent.

After the war ended, Amy began helping Vanilla's friend, Vector, and his detective agency with finding people's missing family members. She would sometimes use her cards on particularly difficult cases, and in her off time, would regularly play matchmaker for Vector and Vanilla.

On her thirteenth birthday, she went to Little Planet, following her cards in search of her own destiny. Unfortunately, this was at the same time that Eggman decided it would be the perfect place to put a theme park, and so she got caught up in the crossfire of his and Sonic's ensuing battle.

She fell for Sonic pretty much immediately. He was cute, and witty, and strong, and basically the epitome of a teen hero. But he was also extremely arrogant and egotistical. Tails, she found, was pretty much Sonic's yes-man. Sonic never put him down, or anything, and obviously loved the kid a lot; but he tended to follow Sonic's lead, and both of them were fairly brash and dismissive towards her– Something she really wasn't a fan of. She still flirted with Sonic quite a bit, but her short temper meant that they end up butting heads even more.

They ultimately parted ways, though she still felt somewhat drawn to Sonic; and she was still hopeful that they could become friends. They bumped into each other a few more times after that, but they didn't stick together as an official team, until the Rise of Lyric incident.

Craving adventure, and fascinated by Little Planet and the ruins that were there before Eggman got to it, is what inspired her to pursue archeology, and anthropology.

Amy and Knuckles officially met each other for the first time on Angel Island. Amy was there on an archeological expedition, interning with Cliff, and they were exploring the ruins there. Knuckles decided to follow them around to prevent them from causing any trouble, or disturbing any remains. They spent the entire time squabbling over the 'correct' way to do things, until Cliff reassured them both that they would respect Knuckles' culture and wishes, even if that meant leaving the island altogether.

While they were there, Eggman targeted Angel Island as another Potential Theme Park Location, and Amy and Knuckles had to team up to stop him. At the end of it all, Amy invites Knuckles to go back to Seaside with her. He accepts, ultimately tired of the isolation, and figures he can be a treasure hunter like her. (The explanation that treasure hunting was a completely different thing went right over his head.)

Sticks was raised by her great aunt, who took her in after her parents died. (Mentioned offhandedly in Closed Door Policy as the one who gave her the beehive. I've decided her name was Honey, because puns.)

Honey had gone completely off-grid during the war, and taught Sticks most of her survival skills. She kept up with what was going on via newspaper, and didn't throw much of anything away because it could be useful. The paranoia, delusions, and auditory hallucinations were genetic, which contributed to both Sticks' and Honey's isolation.

Honey died of an illness when Sticks was about seven, and she was on her own after that. She rarely went into the village during the day unless it was for something she needed, or if she got lonely, but she still never really interacted with anyone. It was the villagers that regularly called her a feral, and most of them went out of their way to avoid her.

So, she had a lot of time to herself, and mostly spent it making complex traps and defense systems, or wandering around the island; having to figure out how to get herself out of countless dangerous situations on her own.

She was twelve when the others arrived on the island, and Knuckles got caught in one of her traps while exploring the jungle, and when she finally let him down, he brought her back to officially meet the others. They thought she was a little strange, but so were the rest of them. She was nice enough. She joined their team after an Eggman attack where they found she could hold her own really well against his bots, while keeping up with the rest of them.

A few other little things:

The brown scarf Sonic wears was a gift from Tails, as an easy way to hide his medallion, so they wouldn't get caught. The only reason it's brown, is because Tails is colorblind and thought it matched Sonic's red shoes. (Sonic didn't correct him.)

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Tails' goggles in Boom are made from polarized red glass, because the tint helps to enhance the differences between red and green. He wears them when flying his plane, or engineering, in order to quickly read light signals and differentiate wiring colors.

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Amy's bengals are also inhibitor rings, designed specifically to temper her clairvoyance, but also put a cap on her chaos energy. She can use Chaos Control to summon her hammer, and put it away, but only if she knows its exact location (which is why she keeps it on a hook near her door, and why she freaks out if she loses it). Without her inhibitors, her powers become stronger, but less stable.

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The necklace Sticks wears is made from her mom's old wedding ring. When she was five, she turned it into a necklace with a few random beads and shells she had collected from the beach. She never takes it off, but she's had to repair and replace the cord a couple of times.

She really does keep the burrow spotless– old food draws in pests, and she doesn't actually have much trash, as most items in her home are made of natural materials. When something breaks, she either repairs it or throws it out without issue.

She's really good at spear fishing, which is the main reason she can hold her breath for so long, and dive so deep without any gear.

Idk what else to add, so I'm gonna leave it here for now. Thanks for the ask :D

[your-compadre-infinity]

A New AU is not what I wanted from Sonic x Shadow Gens: Dark Beginning but here we are I guess-

Shadow Fucking Dies AU

I accidentally forgot to draw his eyebags so that’s why the art is different :(

In a nutshell:

Gerald finds out how to cure Maria’s illness (NIDS) using Shadow’s DNA; Shadow’s DNA is artificial and can be coded for any purpose (like stem cells), however it is extremely vulnerable to foreign bodies.

Shadow can’t get sick from viruses or bacteria or in any of the traditional senses, but rather IF a foreign body entered his DNA, it can act as a natural code and alter his DNA to replicate itself in his body, causing him to become sick.

Gerald talks to Shadow about the potential risk of him developing NIDS from treating Maria (as the procedure required Shadow to be performing a live blood transfusion, where he’s connected to Maria via a tube and his blood is given to her at its freshest state to increase chances of success). Shadow agrees, despite knowing the risks and they go ahead with the procedure.

We love a good bowl of angst so; Maria’s infected blood cells made its way into Shadow’s bloodstream during the procedure and the DNA of her disease made contact with Shadow’s vulnerable DNA and began to take over. Shadow began to develop symptoms of NIDS, but much more severe than Maria as his body was not used to combating diseases since this was the first (and last) time he got sick.

Shadow’s symptoms included, but is not limited to: chronic pain, brittle bones, decreased functions of bodily functions such as muscles and bones, decreased motion, extreme fatigue and breathing difficulties.

Maria, after learning that her diseases transmitted to Shadow, had begged Gerald to do the procedure again so Shadow could be cured. Gerald declined, saying that they no longer had healthy samples of Shadow’s DNA and he didn’t want to use what was inside Maria as he didn’t want to risk Maria getting sick again. Gerald did promise that he’ll try to find another way, but he ended up going against his words and stopped any research going towards NIDS.

Maria supported Shadow in the year leading up to the ARK raid, helping him adjust to living with NIDS and helping him get around the ARK.

Shadow was living in constant pain to the point where he couldn’t move, breathe, eat or sleep, rendering him crippled on some really bad days and exhausted on most others.

Maria felt incredibly guilty that her illness was transmitted to Shadow.

When the ARK Raid happened, Maria had carried Shadow to the escape pods, trying to save him. Shadow used whatever strength he could muster to push Maria into a pod and prepared to launch it. He knew that with his condition, he couldn’t survive on Earth, so he thought if he could get Maria to the planet safely, then his life’s purpose would be fulfilled. Maria had begged him to join her, but Shadow already started the launch procedure.

GUN agents broke into the room and Shadow attempted to hold them back to give Maria’s pod enough time to launch and was shot and killed.

Maria had witnessed this before the pod launched and she landed on Earth a few hours later, overcome with grief that would turn into silent rage.

Maria might go on to take revenge against humanity but I have no idea at the moment.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed Shadow Fucking Dies AU, I’m definitely writing a fic for this.