#wraith shadow

[w0lp3rtinger]

So… I’ve been thinking.

Shadow’s immortality has always been a subject of interest to me. There’s no one neat definition that ‘immortality’ fits into and so until otherwise given frame and limitations, it’s very ambiguous.

Is it a pristine immortality, where they will never age?

Is it a limited immortality, where they age very slowly and in a fundamentally different way than regular people?

Is it a conditional immortality, where they will live longer and age slower, but those bonuses are dictated by how often a regenerative factor is needed, or how often they are in contact with Chaos Energy?

But then, I was listening to Dawson’s Christian by Ernie Mansfield, Leslie Fish, and Vic Tyler, and I realized there is a fourth option I had not considered.

Is it an immortality of the soul, long after the corporal form has ceased to be?

In Sonic Battle, Rouge tells Shadow that Gerald gave him ‘Maria’s Soul.’ … We’ve no idea what that means. (We also don’t know how seriously to take Rouge in regards to Gerald since we don’t know what information she is privy to and as such cannot judge the quality.) You could take it literally, you could take it figuratively, you could do a lot of things, and each one has its own implications.

But for the sake of this headcanon…

I think Shadow’s soul is immortal.

No matter what happens to him, if there’s enough of a body to come back to, he’ll live. If there is no body left to come back to, or the body is no longer salvageable/viable, he will go on without it. The guy runs on Chaos Energy, and we’ve seen Chaos energy do strange, wonderful, terrible things. We also know for a fact that ghosts exist within Sonic’s world (SA1 and SA2 are the examples that come to mind).

However you think their immortality would or would not affect their body, would or would not affect their ability to physically age, the soul would continue on after and continue to do the job Shadow has taken upon themself, which is to protect the world.

What would this look like? Oh man. I can’t draw, so for those who need a visual of what is swirling around my head before I give a written description, I point you to these two very, very talented individuals who have inspired me with their art.These designs I’m linking come with their own lore, or the lore is being developed. I am not claiming them to use here, merely pointing towards them as an example of something akin to what I’m mulling over. @soloiho has an amazing design called Black Hole Shadow which is positively ghastly, whereas @redsunlight has a very interesting design for their lore called Prismatic AU which utilizes all the different colors of the chaos emeralds due to Shadow crushing them all for reasons detailed in their story.

In my mind, I see Shadow - for clarity’s sake let’s call it Wraith Shadow - as pitch black. There is no noticeable muzzle. You can’t even see his mouth. Where his hands and feet would be sort of becomes whispy and fades into nothingness unless he requires a limb to be solid (like to kick someone in the face, he’d need a foot, right?)

The only change in color you would see would be the light that emanates from where his red stripes use to be, from his eye sockets, and a swirling dark hole where his chest fur used to be. If he opens his mouth, there is light there too. When he moves his limbs with purpose, to attack or gesture or anything of that nature, there is a light trail that drifts from them. The light would be brighter when experiencing intense emotions and fainter when not. They very, very rarely speak. It requires a very special person or situation for them to be so moved as to do so. They can touch without the intention of causing harm, but it feels like running into very dense, warm air.

What color other than the darkness is there? Reds and oranges, like in the old SA2 style. Maybe even with a translucent sort of grainy texture, like looking at space dust.

And please make no mistake- Wraith Shadow is the most boiled-down components of Shadow, all of the critical best and worst parts smashed together and concentrated. You thought they were bad before, it’s about to get ten times worse. I’ve always thought that the main motivating components for Shadow were Love and Spite and they’ve been cranked up to 300% of what they were when alive.

And they’re not happy about this situation, not at all. Upon no longer being able to inhabit their physical form, which Wraith Shadow had assumed would mean that FINALLY they die, they are understandably upset because they know now there is no rest for them.

There will never be rest for them.

As such, though they fight for Justice, and Hope, and Mercy, they are not a pleasant thing. You do not WANT to run into Wraith Shadow. If they show up, it’s bad, and more likely than not, you would have died had they not shown up… but maybe that would be preferable than having to live with what you just saw.

When they are not doing their duty to protect the Earth, an unfortunate or unwise trespasser may find them haunting the halls of the ARK, or passing through the remains of a garden where the lavender bushes are massive and the roses are overgrown.

More likely than not, however, you’ll probably catch them sulking about the Master Emerald shrine and deep below the earth where the chaos emeralds sit and gather dust in their ancient chamber.

After the last protector passes away, someone has to do it after all.

[bluegiragi]

limitations (part 2)

early access + nsfw on patreon

[wraith-caller]

give me your god's powers

[thedoodlebuggo]

Previous - Next

I'll upload the masterpost for this once i introduce some of the other AUs

[apathetic-kiss]

Kerch History Museum (Section 2B, Ketterdam Artifact Archives)

Photograph of Inej "Wraith" Ghafa and an unknown individual crossing the rooftops of Ketterdam. Ghafa was infamous due her ties with the Dregs and her association with Kaz "Dirtyhands" Brekker, but would later go on to become one of the most renowned pirate captains known for taking down hundreds of slaver ships and rescuing thousands of kidnapped individuals being trafficked to Kerch under exploitative indenture contracts. (For more information, see Exhibit 21: Indenture Laws & Kerch's History of Slavery, Exhibit 23: The Dregs & Other Notable Ketterdam Gangs, and Exhibit 26: Sankta Inej & Other Modern Saints) Obtained from an anonymous donor 4.25" x 3.14" Photographer Unknown Artifact #24383

[iunderstoodthatreference7]

Meanwhile, in Ketterdam…

Inej: Kaz! Did you kill that stadwatch guard!?

Kaz: when?

Inej: …this week

Kaz: Wednesday?

Inej: no, it was on Tuesday

Kaz: then no, I didn’t

Inej:

Inej:

Inej: so. What were you doing on Wednesday?

[rosiethorns88]

Part one of three new Grishaverse artworks! I had the privileged of collaborating with Macmillan Children's Book on a design for a slipcase for a 5-book paperback box set of the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. (shown here on the last photo!) This set is a Costco exclusive and is available for purchase on their website - visit my bio link for easy access! There were three artworks in total and I will be posting the other two over the next two days in a nice little line-up (without my thumbnail branding). Or you can go to the sales website to get an early preview! This piece is on the Six of Crows side! A very recognizable scene if you've read the duology. Lots of symbolism here, and nice bright colors to represent the optimism of the scene. I love looking at this one from time-to-time; feels like a fresh breath of air. 😩🧡 See you tomorrow for more! 👋 #grishaverse #shadowandbone #shadow&bone #sixofcrows #kazbrekker #inejghafa #kanej #ketterdam #thewraith #leighbardugo #macmillian #isMyTieStraight

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

I can't explain how much it upsets me that we don't know what the intended plotline for Inej's brother was in the show, since he wasn't in the books. Like were we going to meet him in season 3? In the spin off? Is he still alive? Is she going to save him? There were so many ways it could go; what if she hunts slavers for months without find him and starts to give up hope only for an offhand mention or some kind of lead to get her to him? What if he's Grisha and gets brought in for the parem plot line? What is she finds him after so long only to have him taken away again? Or what if they one day sail and hunt slavers together? It makes me so sad that there's practically endless possibilities and we don't know what the plan was

[doodlesnoff]

Show!Inej for a contribution to Gaza aid organizations on the ground for @gvartistsforpalestine . You can donate there and get her art! Also as usual I will doodle for contributions to PCRF, Anera, or any direct gofundmes, as well as other causes in your community.

[probablybadrpgideas]

An actual idea: Making "Animate Dead" Evil Again

Zombies and skeletons in D&D, for all they play to spooky images, aren't really horrific. They're a mismash of two different lores that can't really work together (like a lot of zombie fiction but that's a discussion for another day)- the mindless ravenous predators of modern zombie apocalypse and the tragic undead slaves of the original stories. But they lack either sides symbolic resonance. They're no apocalypse- they're disposable cannon fodder even a starting party can take down- but nor is there any indication that "animate dead" is an actual evil act beyond being kinda gross. This seems very harmless for both a nominal horror monster, and something intended to be a genuinely (indeed, mechanically) evil act.

It doesn't seem possible to make them a real threat without major changes, so the obvious solution to this is a simple fluff change. They're not mindless. They're compelled, they can't act of their own volition. But they're still in there.

They don't shamble. They visibly struggle against the motions their limbs make, as if they were puppets trying to resist their strings. They don't moan. They sob, and when they see the players they force out desperate apologies and pleas for help. They're not stupid. They're intentionally twisting orders and trying to destroy themselves to the best of their ability because they hate the necromancer and are taking what vengeance they can.

Maybe they can genuinely help, if the players will accept it. The "disposable minions" see a lot, and might mutter the necromancer's weaknesses or warnings about an upcoming ambush or whatever useful information they've seen while attacking. Failing that, they fight to lose. They're easy to beat not because they're weak, but because they're on your side. They intentionally move to hinder the necromancer and help the party as much as they're able to, they interpret all the villain's orders as unhelpfully as they can, they hiss encouragements and laugh hollowly when the players succeed.

The undead hordes are victims, not monsters. They're the people the players are trying to help, or at least avenge. And they're trying, as best as they can, to make it happen.

-Pencil.

[jazzkrebber]

plot twist that the only reason Kaz was able to recognize Sturmhond as Nikolai was because Kaz based his entire reputation on him and is secretly a huge fanboy

[skepticalcatfrog]

"Her heart was a river that carried her to the sea." -Crooked Kingdom, chapter 44

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

"witches are EVIL they steal men's SEMEN" nadja you eat people

[artbymagsn]

Captain Inej Ghafa, commander of the deadly Wraith

[apathetic-kiss]

Kerch History Museum (Section 2F, Misc. Artifact Archives)

Inscription on the inside of a captain's notebook, one of the only pages that has not been ripped out. The book was found on a boat belonging to the Wraith fleet, a collection of ships led by captain Inej Ghafa which succeeded in taken down slaver boats and quelling the stream of indentures sold to Kerch pleasure and labour houses. The book is suspected to have belonged to Ghafa, and the crow stamp suggests it was a gift from a member of the Dregs, an infamous Barrel gang often tied to Ghafa and her work on land. (For more information, see Exhibit 21: Indenture Laws & Kerch's History of Slavery, Exhibit 23: The Dregs & Other Notable Ketterdam Gangs, and Exhibit 26: Sankta Inej & Other Modern Saints) Obtained from an anonymous donor Artifact #24789

[wraith-caller]

It was you, wasn't it? Who defeated Lord Mohg. Fear not, I bear no grudge against you. His Eminence was felled in an honourable duel, and such are the risks of seeking Lordship.

Besides, what right have I to complain? I blame the enchantment more than anything. Righteous Tarnished. We will have our victory. I swear upon my blood.

So this quote has been rotating in my head like a rotisserie chicken at a Boston Market. Why does Ansbach blame the charm for us killing Mohg, more than he'd blame US for killing Mohg? He says of course these are the risks in seeking power - some stronger opponent may come along to contend with your bid and destroy you.

Then why bring up the charm like it's relevant to this? Mohg being killed by a rival was a possibility regardless of the charm, right? So what if Ansbach blames the charm for Mohg being defeated in the first place because that was the point of Mohg being charmed at all? This would resolve the question of when Mohg was bewitched(pre or post kidnapping of Miquella) and WHY. (I've addressed why I think it's unlikely Mohg was charmed into kidnapping Miquella here)

I'll propose that Miquella charmed Mohg in order to hasten his death. We know Miquella wanted a vessel. He needed a corpse for Radahn's soul. He found himself kidnapped by Mohg, and stuck in a kind of diminished state within the cocoon, short on options. He uses the charm to make Mohg a less challenging opponent, making it easier for the Tarnished to kill him and provide the corpse. More Tarnished than us have tried killing shard bearers, and if Miquella is trapped there in the Mohgwyn dynasty, his only hope for his plan to progress is to kill Mohg.

We can already infer he expects a Tarnished lord contender to handle Mohg and Radahn, given that he was still outside the cocoon when Malenia failed to kill the latter at Aeonia. He's already kind of going on a wing and a prayer here, so making the task easier is about all he can do. And time is hardly an issue for an immortal demigod.