#Honestly once you realize that Shadow never used to think Sonic was annoying

[descendant-of-truth]

When are we gonna acknowledge the fact that the whole "Sonic is super cheerful around Shadow who finds him annoying" thing only started in Shadow the Hedgehog and that this isn't, like. their default

You wanna know what their original dynamic was? Sonic getting ticked off by Shadow's very presence, who would stop in the middle of anything no matter how urgent and time-sensitive it was just to mess with Sonic.

(He got sidetracked from his own mission to save Rouge from THE EXPLOSIVES THAT HE SET because the urge to make fun of Sonic was too strong. what is wrong with him)

And it's Sonic who starts their first fight, by the way. He was clearly taking Shadow much more seriously than the other way around; he genuinely wanted to fight, while I'm pretty sure Shadow just wanted to have some fun and show off. (AS THE BOMB IS STILL TICKING)

But at the same time, most likely because he was having fun, he seemed to be hoping that Sonic would prove himself to be something more than just... Some Guy. Why else would he seem disappointed that Sonic could be killed? And so impressed (dare I say proud) when it turned out that he survived by using Chaos Control with a fake Emerald?

All of the animosity was on Sonic's end - Shadow was the one who wanted someone to rival him. He never disliked Sonic, or found him annoying to be around. If he did, he wouldn't have spent so much time around him to begin with.

And they were somehow like this in Heroes, too. Despite his amnesia, Shadow once again listens to Sonic talk for a few seconds and immediately decides that he needs to taunt him. Searching for the answers to his identity can wait, he just thought of a great comeback and needs to style on this random hedgehog for a bit

Then you've got the absolute whiplash of Shadow's game, where all of a sudden Sonic is Super Friendly towards Shadow, who's having none of it. Even if you try to make the argument that Sonic is trying to be friendlier on purpose because he wants to bond with Shadow more, the game portrays it as if this is just How Sonic Is.

Sure, I'd expect him to be picking fewer fights with Shadow when they're working together to save the world, but he's like. borderline giddy all the time. it's kinda funny but so, so confusing in the grand scheme of things.

Sonic 06 gave a much more sensible portrayal of how the two would talk to each other after they're done being enemies, I think. There's a little bit of rivalry in there, but it's not born out of them conflicting with each other. There's no hesitation to work together, no grumbling from Shadow, and Sonic isn't being uncharacteristically excitable about it.

(Plus they retained the silent communication thing they had going at the end of SA2, which is nice)

Unfortunately, 06 was the first and only time that we would see the two of them written this way, as friends who maybe don't "hang out" but aren't the type to bicker or turn everything into a competition at the expense of practicality.

There was no hesitation to the respect they had for each other, either, which is easily the most baffling part of their current portrayals. Not even their Boom counterparts had any hangups about that, and they were legitimately antagonistic towards each other most of the time.

Case in point, I think it's very easy to look at their designs and put them into stereotypical little boxes where Sonic is the ray of sunshine while Shadow is too edgy to find him anything but annoying, but that's just. not how they are at all, and the actual ways their personalities used to bounce off of each other was both funnier and more interesting in my opinion

[seventeendeer]

you've mentioned shadow in some of your other responses about rouge and omega, but what's his deal? afaik he was created in a lab of some kind as the "ultimate lifeform"? why? who's maria? why does shadow have a grudge against sonic? :oc

Shadow’s story is arguably the longest and most needlessly complex in the series, so I’ll boil it down to it’s basic beats!

around 50 years before the games’ present time, Eggman’s grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, was tasked by the military with unlocking the secret to immortality. Gerald initially hesitated, afraid that his research would be used for waging war - however, he soon realized that it may also help him cure the illness of his beloved granddaughter, Maria, and despite his fears, he relented and started the project.

far away from Earth, on a space colony called the ARK, he began his work. the first round of experiments was a failure, and he soon realized that in order for his work to go anywhere, he would need help. he soon came into contact with an ageless alien named Black Doom, who agreed to let Gerald use his DNA in his experiments, on the condition that when Black Doom returned, the resulting life form was to help him retrieve the seven chaos emeralds (most people outside the fandom know about these, they’re basically super-powerful magic rocks that make crazy stuff happen if you can get all seven). Gerald agreed, and from his new experiments using Black Doom’s blood, Shadow was born.

(there’s also a whole little side-plot about how Gerald based Shadow’s physical appearance on some ancient imagery he found in some ruins depicting a being that looked a lot like Sonic, hence why Sonic and Shadow look so similar, but this plot line was never elaborated on or explained - maybe Sonic gets into some time travel shenanigans later in his life, who knows)

now, Gerald was a smart dude, and decidedly Not a fan of the military, so in order to prevent Shadow from being used for evil, he had given him sapience and a good heart, in the hopes that even if someone tried to force him to be a weapon, he would be able to refuse to carry out their orders. this was a success, and as Shadow developed, he became a part of Gerald’s family. Maria, who lived on the ARK with her grandfather, as her illness made her vulnerable and unable to survive outside of the sterile research facility, especially bonded with Shadow, and the two of them were as close as siblings. they promised each other that one day, they’d go down to the planet’s surface and see the world together when Maria was better and Shadow was ready to be set free.

however, the military soon learned about the immense success of Shadow’s creation, and they became scared of his power. in the end, soldiers were deployed on the ARK and tasked with killing everyone aboard and arresting Gerald. at the last moment, Maria managed to stuff Shadow in an escape pod, before she was killed along with Gerald’s research team.

unfortunately, after Shadow’s escape pod crashed on Earth, he was quickly located and brought to Gerald, who was forced to continue to experiment on him under supervision, presumably to try to make him safe for the military to use. when Gerald learned that Maria had been killed, he lost his mind to grief, and instead altered Shadow’s memories so that once Shadow was released, he would believe himself to be a link in a plan to destroy the world. Gerald was eventually executed, and Shadow was put into stasis for fifty years.

in the game where Shadow first appeared, he was woken up from stasis and followed what his false memories told him to do, while the other characters fought him and eventually helped him remember what really happened. at the last moment, Shadow fully recovered his memories and chose to save the world he nearly destroyed. he almost died in the attempt and his memories were fully wiped in the incident, and then he went on a three-to-four game long journey to get them all back and find out what the whole deal with Black Doom was all about. in the games’ present day, he’s aware of his past, but has chosen to leave it behind in order to become a full-fledged hero who protects the world from evil. he’s still a little rude and aloof about it, but there’s never any doubt that he means well.

as for his grudge against Sonic, honestly, it seems like he just thinks he’s annoying. they tend to clash because of their differing methods in dealing with conflicts, but they’re actually friends. Shadow just refuses to acknowledge it unless Sonic is actually dying or dead or about to die, he’s just that kind of person

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

On October 18th, we continue the Halloween episodes when the gang become trapped in Elizabeth Bathory’s castle.

Chapter 1

...

The Doctor had tried everything he could think of, and yet it was no use. The sonic screwdriver doesn't work on wood. He was locked in, and becoming more agitated by the second. He'd just started giving the sonic one more desperate try when he heard a ghostly sound.

"Laaaaa dee da daaaa la deeee da daaaaa, la dee da daaaa da daaaaa..."

He stopped and followed the song over to the far wall, his face cracking into a grin as he realized what was happening.

"It seems to be coming," he mused softly, yet loudly enough to carry. "From behind ze bookcase." He glanced around quickly, and pulled the candle from the sconce next to the bookcase.

The second after he did this, a muffled voice with a bad German accent emanated from behind it. "Put. Ze candle. Back."

He grinned and made to do as he was told, before being stopped in his tracks again.

When the voice replied again, the accent had been dropped entirely, but sounded somehow even more muffled. "Listen to me very carefully. Don't put the candle back. With all of your might, shove on the other side of the bookcase. Is that perfectly clear?"

He took on the role of Inga once more. "I think so," he replied, suddenly having fun again. He hastily placed the candle on the bedside table and moved to push the bookcase out of the way.

He stepped back to see Ginger standing where a moment before there had been a bookcase, a candle held aloft in front of her. She adopted the bad German accent again, gesturing with one free hand. "Look, Doctor! A passagevay!"

He beamed at her, so glad to see her that he quite forgot they were locked inside a depressing castle. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Looking for a way out, of course!" she replied, grinning back at him. Of course she'd dropped the accent again in favor of her Scottish one. "I never much liked being locked into places. Activates my natural instinct to escape."

"You were locked in too?" he asked.

She nodded. "I figure we all were, which can't be a good sign. Surprised you haven't found a way out yet."

"Well my sonic doesn't do wood," he said, matter of factly. Then he noticed Ginger looking at him in an exasperated manner. "What?"

"Well two things, really," she replied, running her fingers through her hair. "First of all, it doesn't do wood?"

"Well, no, it doesn't actually."

"Okay, forgive me for saying so, but that's fucking stupid and you should do something about it," she replied.

"And what was the second thing?" he asked, still amused.

"Don't tell me your sonic was the only thing you tried?" she asked.

A moment passed. "Well..." he said, running his fingers through his own hair now.

"Oh my god, you did only try the sonic!"

"To be fair-"

"You are over here being dependent on your fancy alien technology meanwhile I'm Nancy Drew-ing us out of a bind through my own wits!" she said, shaking her head. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"

"I feel like I'm not told that often enough, to be honest," he replied. He looked behind her then at the passage. "Is that a way out?"

"No it's not," she replied. "I thought it might be when I found it, but it was just connecting our two rooms. I tore apart the room looking for other ways out before I found this, so there's no way out there."

"So there has to be one in here-" the Doctor began, already casting his eyes about to find a likely way.

"Not bloody likely," Ginger replied, walking around him into the room and spinning to face him. "From what I can see, our rooms are identical. The only way out would be via the door or by plummeting from the window to certain death."

"How did you figure this out anyway?" the Doctor asked, impressed.

Ginger shrugged. "If there's anything I learned from Scooby Doo, it's that there's always a secret passage."

"Good to have you back," the Doctor said, making note of how this was the first time all day that she'd seemed herself around him.

"Well I've been busy," she replied, averting her gaze again as she realized how close they were standing to each other. "Been a bit bored, actually."

He smirked. "Go on, just admit you missed us."

She blinked, suddenly going on the offensive again. "I did not!" she snapped.

"Oh yes, you did too!" he teased. "It's written all over you!"

"Well you're reading too much into things that aren't there!" she replied, annoyed.

"Just admit that you missed us," he grinned.

"I don't miss people, that's a stupid human emotion," Ginger said, dismissively. She sat down on the bed, at a loss for what to do with herself.

The Doctor had learned by now not to call her out on separating herself from humans. "No it's not," he said, sitting down next to her.

"Oh you can't sit here," Ginger said, suddenly self conscious.

"What?" he asked, amused again. "Why?"

"Because I'm sitting here," she replied, as if this were obvious.

"Yes, but this isn't the wild west. It's big enough for the both of us."

"Thank God it's not the wild west," she said. "Always hated Stetsons. They're the very opposite of fashionable. You still can't sit here."

"What is this, Mean Girls?" he teased. "Sorry I didn't wear pink, but you didn't either."

She groaned. "Okay, fine," she huffed. "If you won't move, then I will." She moved to sit on the floor at the foot of the bed instead and placed the candle on the floor in front of her.

He grinned. "What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"

"No offense, Doc, but I don't even trust myself most of the time, so I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Well, fine then," he said, scrambling off of the bed to sit directly opposite her with the candle between them. "Can't let you just sit on the floor by yourself."

The flickering light from the candle cast long mysterious shadows across both their faces. "That almost makes it worse," Ginger said, half teasing. "It's almost like-"

And here they spoke at the same time.

"We're having a weird seance," she said.

"We're kids playing spin the bottle," he said.

"What?" they both said, in unison. Her eyes got wide as saucers.

"Nothing," he said, quickly. "What were we talking about? Ah, yes, how missing people isn't a human weakness."

"But it is, though," she replied, glad to seize onto a different topic. "To miss someone means that you notice they're gone and, well, I don't notice when people are here. I can't. I keep my eyes forward and keep moving. People are temporary, there's no use getting sentimental and attached."

"That's a pretty bleak way of looking at it," he replied.

"It's how it is," she said, looking anywhere but at him. "Why should I notice people? People don't notice me."

"I notice you," the Doctor said slowly, looking down at his hands which were fidgeting with the sonic screwdriver. "You're kind of hard to not to notice, honestly. There's just always been something about you...I don't know what it is...It's hard to put my finger on..."

"Probably safer for you and your finger if you don't," she said, dryly. "Hands off, Casanova."

"Yeah, I suppose it would be," he grinned, looking up at her. She was staring down at her own hands, fidgeting restlessly. The long flickering shadows being cast across her face gave her an air of mystery at the same time as the light from the candle made her look more vulnerable. Kind of sad. There was something about her expression and general posture that he found very familiar.

"You're not interested in me, though," she said, slowly. "I'm just a mystery. You're just holding on until you've solved it, and after that you'll get bored and move on. No sense in getting attached when people don't get attached to me. People won't miss me, so I don't miss them."

His smile faded a bit, though didn't quite disappear. "You're not just a mystery," he said, saddened by the implication. "You're my friend. You make things just a little more interesting. Not because you're a mystery, but because you have interesting things to say. I've met very few people of any species who could carry on a conversation with me, and you do it easily. Not that I don't have a life without you, but I was really looking forward to getting to see you today. Because I've grown rather fond of our routine, of seeing you at least once a week. Because I have, actually, gotten attached to you. And I, uh, well..." He hesitated then, running his fingers through his hair. "I missed you." He faltered a bit as she looked up at him in surprise. "As maddening as you are sometimes, I missed you while you were away."

[disrepairhouse]

Chapter 25 - Caught

No matter how hard she banged on the glass separating her from the outside room, it neither budged nor drew the attention of those around her.  Her arms were heavy and thick cords restrained her every movement, pumping a strange purple liquid into her veins that made her head foggy and her legs wobble. The room outside the tube was filled with massive electrical wires and giant, roaring machines at every corner, all connected to a bulky computer directly in front of her.  The screen displayed a collection of graphs and numbers and outputs that made no sense to her, no matter how she looked at them.  The heavier she felt, the blurrier her vision became, and the harder the screen was to read.

She was tired and groggy and confused and could barely comprehend anything she was looking at, beating weakly against the glass until her fist slid helplessly down to her side.  Her body was giving out on her.  The large, round man at the computer in front of her finally turned her way, goggles obscuring the sharp, peering eyes behind them, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open long enough to study him, study his shape, remember his face… in case she ever escaped.

As she was dragged relentlessly to the darkness of her subconscious, the faraway sounds of explosions and furious growls echoed through the open doorway.  Metal walls creaked and collapsed in on themselves, drawing the man’s attention away from his experiment.   Alarms blared frantically as electricity zapped and snapped through the base, the roar of a tornado tearing through the facility caused a panic the small hedgehog could only mildly react to.  The searing heat reached her even inside the tube and as the man ran out, panicking, screaming wildly, she knew she likely wouldn’t ever see him again.

She didn’t want to be left alone.  Even if it was some mad doctor, something about the heat felt so much worse, so much more dangerous.  Something that would destroy her, rather than simply use her for her powers. She had to escape, she had to break free, she had to…

 Itara stared up at the strange red robot for some time when she noticed him.  He looked as though he were waiting for an answer to something, some question she never heard.  She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know what it was, either.  She shook the images from her head and glanced around before returning her gaze to the tall red robot.  Zero, his name was, she remembered that much, at least.  But she didn’t know anything else about him.

She didn’t know where he stood, nor who or what he was, he was a complete wild card and she didn’t like it.  The only thing she knew for sure at this moment was that he brought her to Robotnik and that was all she needed to know.  He brought her to Robotnik and put her in this situation. Whatever happened on this ship was his fault.

She took another step away from him and narrowed her eyes. She wanted nothing to do with him. Even if he promised not to harm her, or not to let harm befall her, he had already done that by bringing her here.

“T-Take me home.”

“I will do so once I have my answers,” the towering bot stated flatly.  “So, I’ll ask once more: who and what are you?”

Itara remained silent.  She wouldn’t answer that so easily.  She couldn’t, even if she wanted to.  “I’m Itara,” she frowned, “I’ve already told you my name once before. And I’m just a hedgehog.”

“I didn’t ask your name, and judging by the Doctor’s response to your appearance, it’s safe to assume you’re not an average hedgehog.” She winced, but remained silent. “So, for the final time, what are you?”

There was a distinct threat behind his voice, suggesting she answer if she didn’t want to get hurt.  It would have easily scared anyone, especially a child, and Itara briefly debated putting up an act to keep him from guessing otherwise.  She realized, however, how meaningless that would be and only glared.  She didn’t scare that easily and she wasn’t telling him her nature just so he could go tell Robotnik.  There was more at stake than her physical well-being if he did.

When he realized she had no intention of answering he narrowed his eyes and stood back up.  He towered over her, even more so than RK or Metal; if Itara had to guess he was even taller than the humans in their neighborhood.  But she spent the first two-hundred years of her life dealing with Iblis; a too-tall robot wasn’t about to shake her.

“Fine.  Then you can just remain here.  I’ll be back.”

With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out, letting the heavy, metal door slam shut tight behind him, leaving Itara to her thoughts once more.  She sighed heavily once he did and let her legs slide out from underneath her, dropping her head with them.

“…RK…”

Pulling her legs up against her chest, she wrapped her arms around them, resting her head against her knees and curling up as tightly as possible.  Brave of a face as she’d put on, she honestly was terrified.  Not because of Zero, or even because of Robotnik, but because of the familiarity of the situation.  Captured and powerless, left alone with no help within reach.  The last time she faced this…

She shook the images from her head again.  If she slipped back into that, escape truly would be impossible.  No, she had to stay focused.  RK and Metal wouldn’t be able to rescue her in this situation, not this close to Robotnik, and she doubted even Kipper would draw near him.  She had to at least escape the airship on her own.  Somehow.

If she could just get off the ship, if she could just get away, it would differ from the past.

Sighing heavily again, she lifted her head enough to glance around the room, studying it for any possible means of escape.  It wasn’t a cell, at least.  If anything, it looked like unused lab space, with bare walls and no windows.  Everything was covered in thick metallic plates, like everything of Robotnik’s always was, and there were no noticeable fixtures or indents.  Even the heavy door simply slid into the wall and nearly disappeared if she hadn’t already seen where it was.

But why was she in here instead of a cell?

She knew there had to be some, it was a large enough carrier and Robotnik always had some sort of holding cell, usually designed for a specific blue hedgehog.  Was it because they thought she was just a child and they didn’t expect she could escape? But surely Robotnik would recognize she’s no normal mobian and likely had some sort of power.  She doubted he knew she couldn’t control them, either.  So why such a lackluster response?  It was entirely unlike his responses to her in the previous timeline.  Then again, he had nothing to do with her creation in this timeline.  He had no idea who she was.

But what about the mobian girl?

She had still been kidnapped, likely still by Robotnik. Itara had wondered, many times, just how much Solaris reset, but the changes had all been so random in nature that she could never truly pinpoint it.  Nor could she exactly ask him.  But this was the first situation where she desperately needed to know what was different.

What did Robotnik know?

Had her changed appearance actually kept him from recognizing her?  Or was everything about her erased from his memories?  She needed to know.  Maybe she could use this unfortunate situation to learn more about the reset, learn what Robotnik knew compared to what she knew.  Shadow hadn’t recognized her at all and Robotnik only realized she wasn’t normal.  Maybe she could drag some answers out of him if she played her cards right.

But first she would need to get out of this room.  It was as good a way as any to keep her distracted, at least.  With a determined nod, Itara began her trek around the small room, running her hand over the walls, studying the corners, looking for any indication of either a ventilation system or exit.  She didn't find much, however, and continued over to the door, staring up at it.

Just like everything else, it stretched far above her head and any likely panel to open it was well beyond her reach.  There had to be one inside, she knew, but it didn't do her any good if she couldn't even reach it, let alone find it.  She took a couple steps back to get a better view of the wall beside it, having to strain to find the outline of a removable panel.  Standing on her toes, her fingers just barely brushed the bottom indent and try as she might, she could do nothing to remove it.  When that didn't work, she gave a couple small hops in hopes she could grab onto something before she landed, but that went nowhere fast, either.  As a final resort, she gave the wall a swift kick in an attempt to intimidate it into listening to her… but that only offered a sore foot as a reward.

Huffing angrily, she sat down, both to think and rub her foot.  She had to get that door open.  Removing her shoe, she gave it a hearty chuck at the panel, but it only clanked against the metal and fell.

“Stupid Sparky… why’d he have to go and fight Sonic?  He was supposed to be watching me.”

Metal wasn't the only one she blamed for her predicament.  In addition to the red robot that brought her there and Metal, she also blamed Sceira.  If she hadn't been there, if she hadn't been so annoying, Itara would have gone straight to the museum with Kipper and none of this would have happened.  She could have gotten the manuscripts and gotten out and still at least been with Kipper.

Why did she even save that annoying scorpion in the first place?  She could have just as easily left her there and she would have been an unfortunate loss during the attack, Itara couldn't have even been blamed for it.  It would have been the perfect opportunity to finally be rid of the pain in her neck.  So why did she save her?  Why did she risk so much for Sceira?

It was a stupid mistake.

She wouldn't make it again.

Growling and pulling her thrown shoe back on, Itara marched around the empty room once more, giving a final, thorough look around, before returning to the door again.  With a heavy sigh, she turned around and leaned against the wall, sliding down and curling up again.  She hadn't felt so alone in so long she'd forgotten how awful it was.  She had gotten so used to having Kipper or RK, or at least her phone with her, she felt lost without them.  Even her useless book would have been a comfort, she could at least write her thoughts down.  But she had nothing.

No powers, no book, no robots, no doll, nothing.

Before she could get too far back in her thoughts, however, the door slid open again, jolting her out of her head and causing a small screech of surprise to escape the tiny hedgehog.  The ghost of a smirk touched the robot’s face as Itara scrambled to her feet, glaring back at him and standing on the defensive.  He shook his head and motioned towards the hall, explaining, “We’ve got some things to discuss, come on.”

Itara remained in place, her spines prickling further at the potential threat, but no amount of prickling and glaring kept her feet on the ground as Zero walked over and picked her up by the back of the shirt again.  She attempted to wiggle out of his grasp, but found it just as useless as before and finally retreated back into her mind to devise a strategy.  She hated how little control she had over anything anymore.  Quietly begging with her powers, her dad, even her book, to just give her control, even briefly, at least let her know where the current path led, she whimpered to herself when no such assistance came.

She was utterly at the mercy of Dr. Robotnik and the strange robot named Zero.

As they continued down the hallway, Itara taking note of every detail she could along the way, the familiar sounds of electrical wires and whirring machinery echoed from every direction.  Itara had no doubt in her mind every inch of this ship was covered in some manner of defense that only Sonic’s – or Metal Sonic’s – speed could possibly out match. Escape would be difficult, but she already knew that going in.  Robotnik dealt with Sonic on a near-daily basis, he would have contingency plans for any number of situations, and her tiny, stumbling, powerless self would hold nothing to someone like Sonic or Tails.

She missed Kipper. She would have felt even a little better if the ghost doll was with her.

They came to another set of large, metallic, sliding double doors and Zero reached over to punch a short code into a pad beside it.  Itara did her best to remember it.  The doors slid open with a heavy vwom and revealed the expansive main control room of the carrier.  There were a number of screens and videos displayed on the grid-based window to the outside, showing several locations inside the carrier as well as the cities and hillsides around them.  The video feed of Spagonia was growing smaller and smaller every second, tying a knot in Itara's stomach.

From what she could tell, they weren't headed back towards Soleanna, either.  She had been hoping maybe they would return to the base RK had infiltrated before, at least putting her back on the ground and within running distance of home.  But there was no such luck.  In fact, they appeared to be heading the opposite direction.

In a grand chair in front of the screens, inputting some sort of command in the console, was the large, round man of her past, those same goggles glinting off the screens before him.  Dr. Robotnik.  Eggman.  The cause of almost every great calamity to befall the world in its many timelines.  The single-handed creator of the killer robots of the Metal Series.  And, in a time reset, the cause of Itara's own initial creation, as well as the release of Mephiles and Iblis.  His far-reaching genius was something to be feared, and often was, with few exceptions, though Itara was not one of them.  She had seen his penchant for destruction a number of times over, both incidental and purposeful, and she wanted nothing to do with him.

Zero strode over to the chair at the center of the console, announcing his presence, and Itara felt her panic turn to terror with the turn of the chair, the reveal of that grinning face and those shining goggles.  Once more, she could feel the peering eyes behind them and the inevitable destruction they always caused, and her body shuddered in response.  Even for someone like her, whose goal was once to see the destruction of humanity, whose physical body was only a container for something greater, the unstoppable need for power consistent in Robotnik’s actions was a terrifying ordeal to face.

With Zero’s release of her shirt and her placement back on solid ground, she slid back down into a sitting position and stared up at her captors, frozen, shaking. The two studied her before shifting their focus to one another.

“She refuses to answer any questions,” Zero explained, looking between the doctor and the small girl, a touch of suspicion in his tone as he explained, “it seems she’s quite afraid of you.”

A small grin spread across Robotnik’s face before he wiped it away again and leaned back, studying the little girl staring, horrified up at him, her bright green and purple eyes making him somewhat uncomfortable.  Shaking his head, he looked to Zero again, “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.  I’ve explained what the mobians think of me, it’s not uncommon for the young ones to fear me.”  Something about the statement caught Itara’s attention as her previously flattened ears perked.  Turning back towards her, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, studying her, trying to understand her strange appearance.  “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.  We just want to ask some questions.”

Something was off.  He was putting up a face, though Itara couldn’t imagine why.  He’d never been the type to act coy around children, he’d been the one who initiated her kidnapping, after all.  Why the façade?  Itara’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, her ears pinning back again as she unconsciously leaned further away.  But the shift in expression in the Doctor brought her attention to her own movements as she sat up straight again, studying him.  She couldn’t be so obvious, if she wanted to learn what he knew, she’d have to play the same game.  She had to join the act.

She shook her head slowly, shifting her expression back to one of concern as she stammered, “L-like what?”

“Well, for starters, what’s your name?”

The strain in Robotnik’s voice and the look of frustration on Zero’s face would have gotten a laugh, realizing just how ridiculous the situation was.  Only one of them was putting on no act and he was the most out of place.  Meanwhile, both she and Robotnik were hiding their own natures, for one reason or another, and would likely get nothing out of the interaction about to happen, yet Zero seemed to be the most frustrated over this.  She became curious of his goal, as it clearly wasn’t the same as Robotnik’s.  What was he looking for, that he thought only Robotnik could give?  Perhaps she would start there.

After a short back and forth between her and Robotnik, neither of them gaining anything, just as she suspected, Robotnik grew frustrated first.  He turned away, waving for Zero to take over the conversation, which he seemed all too happy to do.  Itara watched Robotnik turn back towards his computer to go back to monitoring whatever progress was happening before shifting her gaze to Zero, who seemed to be debating how to go about getting answers from the small mobian ‘child’.  If Itara had to guess, he was normally a shoot-first-ask-questions-later sort of guy and having to reign that back was putting him on edge, in addition to whatever other problem he was apparently dealing with.  She decided to ease up the act ever so slightly with him, wanting answers, herself.

“If you promise to take me home, I’ll tell you about my crystals,” she offered, but interrupted before they could respond by pointing to Zero, “but it has to be you, not him.”

Zero debated, but nodded, “fine, as I said before, I’ll take you home if you answer my questions, I have no intention of doing otherwise.”

Itara noticed the hitch in Robotnik’s face and shook her head, wanting to test the waters, “he does.  He doesn’t want to take me home.”

She watched Zero cast a long sideways glance towards the Doctor, studying both their expressions carefully until Robotnik waved the thought away. “Nonsense,” he argued, though refused to turn towards them and kept his sight on the computers, “I have no need to keep a child here.”  She needed to push this further.

“There,” Zero responded, looking to her again, “I’ll take you home, so answer the question: what are those crystals?”  Itara remained silent, looking cautiously between the two, stalling for time to come up with an answer.  They weren’t exactly easy to explain, and she didn’t want to give Robotnik any ideas, she had to deal with the situation carefully to avoid piquing his interest. But apparently, she remained quiet for too long and pushed the red robot a bit too far as she rather suddenly found the end of a glowing blue sword pointed in her direction, impatient blue eyes sparking behind them as he once again demanded, “answer the question.”

Itara jumped and scrambled further away, staring up at him with widened eyes. She still wasn’t even sure what the sword was made of and didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.  “I-I-I don’t know!” she stammered, “they just… appear-show up sometimes!  Wh-when I’m upset!”

The answer drew Robotnik’s attention back as he turned towards them again, studying her and the angry bot.  “Are you the only one this happens to?”

Itara winced and looked away, the shining light of the sword still present in her peripheral.  That was a dangerous answer.  But what would be the best response?  “I… n-no, I…” her ears pinned back again, “m-my dad… could also do this but… he… he died… last year.”  The sword finally lowered and retreated into its hilt, giving her a moment to breathe, but it was short as Robotnik hummed, curious.

“Your dad, hm?”

The best lie was often sprinkled in with truth, she’d learned early on, but she doubted any amount of lie or truth would have kept Robotnik off her trail. She was caught the second he saw her. Perhaps she could have convinced someone else that she was just some kind of rare breed of mobian, but not Robotnik. She kept her eyesight off to the side, curling in on herself again, lost in thought about both her situation and now the mobian parents that had, in fact died.  She wasn’t sure how to respond anymore.

“I… I told you… so… take me home now,” she mumbled, only looking up enough to watch their responses.  Zero studied her before turning his gaze to Robotnik, but the doctor only kept his sight glued to her.

“We will, in due time,” Robotnik responded, “but that wasn’t the only question we had.”  Of course it wasn’t.  “What do you know about Solaris and Gaia?”  Itara’s ears pinned tightly against her head as she cast a wary glance towards him, trying to look as confused as possible.

“What… do you mean?  Solaris is… Soleanna’s Sun God, right?”  The frustration in her voice when she uttered his name caught even her off-guard, and Zero’s attention.

“That’s right, you’re from Soleanna, aren’t you?” Robotnik continued.

“I… m-maybe.”

“Well we can’t take you home if we don’t know where that is, after all.  In fact, why don’t you come put your address here in my console and we can talk on our way there,” he motioned towards the long, backlit keyboard spread out across the table, reaching up to pull the GPS up for her.

Itara hesitated, eventually shaking her head, “I said he could take me home, not you.”  Even if she had no intention of giving either of them her real address, she didn’t want Robotnik even knowing where she’d be dropped off.  He reached up and rubbed his chin, seeming to consider this before shrugging.

“Alright, alright, then let’s talk a bit more, about the monsters that attacked. Do you know what those were?” Itara shook her head.  Of course, she knew, but he didn’t need to know that. He continued once she did, “they were monsters created by Solaris and Gaia, two of the three main Gods of this world. Do you know the last one?”

Chaos.

Now that Itara looked up to the GPS, she could see their current location and heading.  They had gone west from Spagonia, apparently, across the desert.  They were headed over the ocean.  The destination was Station Square.  So Robotnik did know something, he was on the exact same path as her. But… how?  She had no further time to debate as the doctor turned to her once more.

“You look like you know, after all.  There’s more to you than just those crystals, aren’t there?”

“I…”

“So why were you at the university?”

“I… was just… on a field trip.  For school…”

“Is that so?”

“How…?”  Itara’s brows furrowed together in confusion, realizing what had struck her as odd before, “How did you… know about Solaris’ creations?”  No one should know what Solaris’ monsters looked like, no one but her. How did Robotnik know they were his? Robotnik remained silent, but grinned, and only then did Itara realize she gave herself away.  She shouldn’t have known.

[cutegirlmayra]

Maybe a British spy shadamy prompt? I loved how you did the sonamy one!

(x wasn’t able to find the artist, if you know them, please let me know!)

based upon: Sonamy spies (x) Also, thank you =///w//n=

Prompt:

Shadow quickly adjusted a watch on his wrist, pushing back and feeling the tightening squeeze of his limiter-ring remind him of how dangerous he truly was.

He then scowled, hearing a cheery voice behind him use the palm of her hand to puff up her quills and skip up behind him.

“Alright! So all I have to do is nab the emerald and keep Sonic off your scent, right?” She prepped herself one last time, looking in the mirror directly across from Shadow, who finally turned to place his hand quietly and subtly on the mirror’s desktop in front of it.

“Let me make something very clear…” He slightly hunched over, making her look at him funny. Seeing his head dip, she suddenly realized he was annoyed, as his ears drew back and he moved in.

“Don’t…” His head swerved into her exact eye-line, scaring her enough to jolt backward slightly. “…Get in my way…”

He walked by her, letting his hand roll up from the desk as she scoffed, and wrinkled her nose.

She looked off after him, stomping her foot down and putting her hands to her hips, “Hey! I’m no bloomin’ push-over ‘ere!” she walked confidently without a bounce in her step, something he looked down at in surprise before back up at her, moving his arm away from her curved approach to stopping him dead in his tracks.

“I beg your pardon?” He rose an eyebrow.

“I was asked by your cohorts here to do you boys a favor.” She nodded her head in a figurative gesture behind him as if referring to the company he worked for, known as G.U.N.

“They explicitly stated that you couldn’t do this without my indefinite help.” She smirked then, looking back at him, and crossing her arms as she got square in his face.

He leaned back, frowning obviously… “Your forward and, frankly, unattractive personality is what’s jeopardizing this mission.” He side-mouthed the sly comment before lightly pushing passed her, his back and her arm brushing slightly as she took the insult to heart.

She pouted her lips, holding back pure emotion before bursting as she turned again. “You need me! Without me, Sonic wouldn’t let you near an emerald again after what you did!”

Shadow abruptly shifted, pivoting and storming back to her, lifting a hand to cover her mouth before fighting the urge and pulling back.

“You’re insufferable…”

“Oh, am I?”

“I had my reasons!” He found himself unable to control that light outburst, and in shame at this fact, turned his face away.

“…Rouge needs to recover.” Amy’s tone turned lighter, seeing he wasn’t completely void of real emotion now.

He started to breathe a little harder, glaring at her from the side of his face, before wiping the side of his mouth and turning back to the door.

“Just keep your gent out of my affairs…” he swung the door open, “And G.U.N will release your belongings back to you.”

“Good. I need those groceries.” Amy smiled in a cheeky manner as she skillfully reached down for a handbag and twisted it in her hand, spinning it to rotate impressively over the palm of her hand before latching onto it again. 

She then struck a mighty, feminine pose. “I’ve always had a knack for distraction.” She gave a wicked look of confidence to him, as he swayed back and paused a moment.

His eyes looked to the floor first, and then back to her.

She smiled, tilting her head and waiting for a sign that showed he didn’t really hate her as much as he was letting on.

She cutely ‘Aww’d when he didn’t react, and put her hands behind her back, swaying her hips. She then interchanged which foot she leaned on for a second, tapping the floor rapidly before he finally smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Ah-ha!” she exclaimed, pointing and moving her dress a little to hurry out the door with him, “Charming personality! Admit it! I’m charming and quite hilarious!”

“You’re hilarious, alright.” He muttered, walking on to the party before she grabbed his shoulder from behind, tripping on a copplestone.

“Wait!”

He jerked back before looking at her cautiously. “What?”

“Ugh… these blasted heels…” she had one leg up and over, almost, her other knee. Reaching down, she adjusted the heel while keeping her eyes scanning the skies… then dropping to his fancy suit.

“Woah, hold up.” She chuckled slightly and put her foot down, moving over to his tie before he moved away, looking at her strangely.

She flopped her arms down, disappointed in his distrust, before tsk’ing and pretending to fidget with her fingers.

“Umm… may I?” she cutely, with a totally sarcastic actor’s drawl, asked him.

He looked down at his tie, then to her, before fiddling with it and looking frustrated at her disapproval.

“I couldn’t… I’ve never worn the darn thing!” he looked up to see her mocking chuckle again, covering it slightly with her hand, and angrily defended himself.

He turned away as she came closer, “Look, love. It’s not as hard as it seems…”

She started to untie it and readjust it’s length around his neck, puffing his collar out to do her work.

He was at first looking away in annoyance… but as her head ducked down… he turned over to listen to what she was whispering about.

“Loop… and… You know, Shadow. You really shouldn’t act so tough around girls… It might make them think… that the things you say about them being annoying could be true.” She tightened the bow up just as his breath reached her lashes and forced her eyes to bat a moment at the rush of wind.

She dipped her head further, avoiding eye-contact but also coming to terms with this being one of the only times she’d ever been this close to him before.

“… Do you think it rude?” He asked.

“Of course I do!” she patted and pushed lightly against his chest, finishing with fixin’-and-fussin’ over his suit. The light push made her realize that his chest fur was tightly compacted behind the white of his undershirt… and this made her look back, shocked at how firm of a chest he could have.

“U-unless it’s all in good sport, as good sports go… b-but the other participant should know of the game beforehand… so that…” she looked up, seeing him not distancing himself, but holding his ground before moving closer.

He couldn’t hear her very well, so closing the gap wasn’t an issue for him to do, lowering his head to try and hear her better.

“I’m sorry?”

She tensed up, sucking up a breath of his nice cologne and upon doing so, fearfully holding her breath at her mistake.

She looked away again, turning her head slightly from his own. “I… Just so they don’t get offended, is all…” she peeked up at his face, innocent to the moment it seemed.

He turned his head in puzzled thought. “Huh.” He then began to adjust his cuffs to hide the technology on his wrist. “So,… you’re here to tell me women have sensitive feelings?”

She suddenly looked at him in surprise.

“Hmph.” He faked a contemplative thought in a slight frown that dipped too far, before disappearing as he went back to his task. “Could of fooled me.” He walked on, as Amy smiled with an open-scoff once again, storming off after him.

“Ah-! Why-! I never! Not in all my spying years-!”

“Years?” he looked over his shoulder,… smiling.

“-ever met a man as intolerable as you!”

“Intolerable?” he flapped his collar of his shirt down and smirked with absolute enjoyment. “Tell me, if I’m not allowed to play mind games with you, then why must you torment me with them?”

“Shadow!”

“What ordinance of parliament have you wiggled your silly justice rules into? And for what? That women have the sole right to annoy? Honestly, Amy. Give us some allowance to flesh it back, otherwise, cease this torture at once.” he stood by the door, flapping his suit’s jacket into place, and opening the door for her in a bow. “After you.”

She smiled in her slight bitterness at his words but promptly walked in. “When men get thicker heads!” she teased.

“When women get steelier hearts.” Shadow played back, and walked in, almost wishing he didn’t have a mission to get on too.

After all… someone needed to put that girl in her place…

He smirked, before looking up to see her friendliness with Sonic, having been invited to this soiree due to his ‘heroic deeds’ being recognized.. but Shadow immediately lost his playful bantering mood and begrudgingly turned away from the happy two’s sight and swarved through the crowds…

(I had to tweak some things to add British things, but I hope you enjoyed it. :) Also, Shadow is just playing back with her, she annoyed him for a while so that was playful revenge. haha.)

[geeky90-blog]

Celeste: A Review

 Surprise! I forgot to review Mirror’s Edge. Work’s been really hard on me lately, and so I’ve been struggling to find time for my hobbies except for some quick bursts of gaming. 

I’ve spent the last week and a half/two weeks playing through Celeste, an Indie Platformer by MattMakesGames on my Switch. Last night after many tries and roughly 27 hours poured into the game, I’m happy to say I completed all 24 of its levels and am floored by this game. Hit the jump below to see my thoughts.

Title: Celeste Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, Linux MSRP: $19.99 Total Playtime: 28 Hours (Roughly) Status: Main Story Completed, All Levels Completed, ~100 strawberries collected.

Read on below my friends. 

For those that aren’t aware, Celeste is a game that was developed out of a small scale project that turned into a full game. (The original game is actually playable online for free, here: https://mattmakesgames.itch.io/celesteclassic) Players play as Madeline, a young woman with the drive and desire to climb Celeste Mountain, a mysterious mountain that features multiple breath-taking sights, including an abandoned city, a ghastly hotel, and spikes.... tons and tons of spikes. 

The premise is simple enough to hook you in, but the actual story, while not as expansive or in-depth as many of our AAA games today, does... well, it does really well with its subtlety, symbolism, and of course letting fans interpret Madeline’s journey. (More on that in a bit)

Graphics-wise, the game bases itself somewhat on old retro titles, more towards the SNES/16-bit era, while the music keeps a nice synth-retro style to go along with it as well. Fitting, considering how the game originally got its start as a retro game made on a retro (imaginary) console. Aesthetically it fits, and the game’s beautiful backgrounds, details, and more truly shine on any screen.

Gameplay is one of the true highlights of this game. Similar to Super Meat Boy, I Wanna Be the Guy, and other titles in that nature, this game is designed to be hard, precise, and brutally unforgiving at times. While there are some instances of RNG, for the most part success or failure is based upon the player’s skill and reflexes. This is pretty refreshing for the most part, as sometimes RNG can become a bit too common place or critical in the world of gaming. (I’m looking at you, Pokemon!)  You can run, wall-jump, dash, and that’s about it. But where the game starts to shine is the difficulty and precision moves you must make in order to be successful. Each jump, dash, and wall-jump truly matters. One wrong move can find you falling to your doom, getting impaled on a bed of spikes, or getting crushed by a laughing block.  Each step and failure you make along the way allows you to learn the game and master its mechanics. One of the most satisfying moments for this game for me was finally mastering the more advanced abilities that are essential in succeeding in the later levels, and I felt truly accomplished by completing the climb and reaching the Summit of Celeste Mountain. 

The difficulty is something that I truly thought would bother me, if I’m being honest. I’m well-known by my partner for my temper when playing video games. (I once rage quit fighting a Pelipper in Pokemon Alpha Sapphire because it kept spamming recovery moves on me if that says anything) However, when I first saw the trailer for this game in a Nintendo Direct last year, something about it stood out. Maybe it was the aesthetic, the story, or the challenge... but like Madeline, I knew I wanted to climb that mountain. I had no reason why, I just knew I wanted to. I think that’s the appeal of the game... some large challenge that players want to overcome.  Celeste presents itself in a way that encourages the player to keep up their efforts. Each failure becomes an opportunity for success, and I can’t think of any moment I truly rage-quit at the game. Yes, I may have been annoyed, but I still felt empowered to finish the game. Even when I faced the final two levels last night, dying almost 500+ times, I was encouraged by the game as I kept learning the correct actions to take. This ultimately led to my final victory when I finished the game ... at 2:30AM. I felt accomplished. I felt proud. I felt...tired. But overall, I felt satisfied at completing what I set out to do in this game: climb the mountain and complete each level in the game. (Collecting all the Strawberries scattered about the mountain, that’s... a whole other story) This game has perfect gameplay, and I believe it’s one of the strongest examples of refined and easy-to-master mechanics in a video game since Super Mario Bros. It is that good and the gameplay makes it worth the price of admission.

Here there be spoilers after this point, 

But the true heart of the story, that keeps you going, is the Madeline and her internal conflict. The overall narrative focuses on her drive to climb Celeste Mountain while also opening up to the faces she meets along the way. Madeline is relatable: she is determined, insecure, and stubborn. This was why I was able to invest myself in the story and for many players, I think this creates immersion in the game. One of the few faces on the mountain she meets is, of course, her other self brought to life by the mountain. Her fears, her insecurities, and more manifest themselves in her alter-ego, and the journey she has confronting herself and overcoming this makes up the true heart of the narrative. And this is one of the highlights of the game that comes together in a wrenching climax and finale. Many games have done the “evil” rival of a character story before (Sonic & Shadow, Mario & Wario, Samus & Dark Samus, etc.) but this game adds some real emotional depth to their conflict and their reconciliation. 

This is in fact, something, I think that allows the player to make up their own connection to Madline. The game is never outright saying what exactly Dark Madline represents at times. It does allude to her insecurities, her fears, her anger, and other negative emotions.... but there’s no set defined name for what she represents. The general consensus (that I agree with) is that she represents depression, anxiety, or mental illness. However, it’s extremely easy for the player to project onto Madeline their personal feelings. (For example, I read the story almost coding Madeline with queer theory, with her Dark Half representing her repressed, true self, and their reconciliation being Madeline accepting of herself) It’s subtle story telling like this that lets the players fill in the gaps, so to speak, which makes for a lot of fun overall.

That being said, there’s truly nothing I’ve seen like Celeste before. The game takes some basic tropes and ideas from its genre, but presents it in a way that’s like a breath of fresh air. Encouraging notes are given to the player throughout the game, the music is somewhat calming and grand, and the environments are all beautiful despite being 16-bit pixel graphics. I’ve been rambling at this point, but I think you now get the picture: this is one of those rare games that will be defining for a generation of gamers, and I am happy I stuck out to the end and completing the game by what I wanted to do. I put 27 hours into a game with 24 levels for my first play-through alone without even realizing it. I got sucked into the world of Celeste, and that doesn’t happen to me in a video game as much as it used to. I could have kept the fun going by collecting all of the game’s 200 strawberries (I ended up with about 100, getting me the second best ending) but I knew my limits and goals: I wanted to finish every level in the game... and I reached that summit, proud of what I wanted to do.

There honestly is nothing much I can say about this game in a negative light. The only thing I can think of is more tutorials for the advanced movements, but otherwise... there isn’t much I can say about this game negatively. It is that good: believe the hype. I will say the best platform (in my opinion) is to get it on the Switch. I played this game in short & long bursts, putting my Switch to sleep when I needed to go back to work or when something would take me away from the mountain. The game is fabulous on any platform, but I think the portability of the Switch makes it easily the best choice to play on. 

In sum: if you are a fan of the genre, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Celeste is unique, fun, and frustrating but satisfying at the same time. The music is catchy and fun, the graphics charming and beautiful, and the gameplay is near flawless. The story is emotionally driven, and I honestly think this is one of my Top Games of 2018 easily. Be brave, approach the mountain, and get climbing.   Final Score: 10/10 

[cryptoriawebb]

I want to talk about something. Something very personal and dear to my heart. Before I do, however, I’m going to ask right now that anyone stumbling onto this either takes the time to stop and read this in full, or carries on with their business, leaving this post untouched. I’m not here to talk about shipping. I’m not here to talk about which characters “are” better and what is and is not “canon.” I know the Sonic fandom is a toxic place filled largely with a young and/or aggressive audience. That’s fine. I was part of it once--on the younger end and adamant about who belonged with who.

I’m not, anymore. Nor do I have patience for any silly comments regarding these points. This is not about the fandom. It’s not about shipping and it’s not about blanket character statements.

This is about me, and how important the Archie Sonic comics were to me. 

I don’t remember how old I was when I first stumbled upon the world of Sonic, but I do remember what it was. The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehow used to air on one of Disney’s many channels, and one day my brother saw it for the first time. He described it to me, and for a while I hadn’t a clue what he meant. I remember trying to picture the series and my gosh, I was off the mark, design-wise. Regardless, I eventually did see the show and we used to watch it together in the morning. It was strange and silly and I didn’t think much of it, but I loved Sonic’s catchphrases, the theme song and Tails. 

Sometime after that, we found the OVA at a video rental store (remember those?) I know a lot of people out there don’t think very highly of it, but I was young, and at the time didn’t have any Sonic reference beyond the cartoon. Honestly, I preferred the OVA after watching it. It was darker than the show, with a different type of humor I must have found more appealing. It was also one of the first anime-type-things I’d ever seen. I loved the design, this interpretation of Tails and Robotnik and I also quite liked Knuckles, having never seen him before. 

I suppose I should state right now I was not allowed to play video games growing up, and the first computer I remember entering my home was in the very late nineties. Even then, we didn’t play a lot of PC games, mostly Disney and things like Clue Finders and Freddie Fish.  At some point I know we discovered a sega collection of old Sonic games, and Sonic R, I just can’t remember when. 

Anyway, after that, my next “Sonic medium” came in the form of advertisements for Sonic Sega Dreamcast. I don’t remember what I found so appealing about it, but I very much wanted to play this game. At this point I was pretty obsessed with the OVA and had acquired a lot of old toys relating to the Dreamcast game. Alas, twas not to be, and that was it for me and Sonic..

...until my brother picked up issue #110 for me at a store. I’d never seen a Sonic comic before--had no idea such a thing existed, and believe me, I carried that thing everywhere. The art and story I found incredibly confusing, as did I the side story about Sally and the Sword of Acorn. Who was Sally? How did she know Sonic and Tails? I hadn’t a clue, but I loved the art. A lot. If I were to go back and try reading that comic now I’m pretty sure it would fall apart...the cover’s already been detached from the pages ^^;

Sometime later, I was in a comic book shop--my brother and I loved super heroes and we were starting to get into manga--and I found #114. In it, I discovered a sort of continuation to #110, as well as another beautifully illustrated story by J.Axer. Imagine my surprise to discover not only more characters I’d never seen (Bunnie, Antoine and Rotor) but Amy Rose! Whom I knew, vaguely, from my toys and what I knew of Dreamcast. Like my previous comic, I loved this one so much it also fell apart. J.Axer’s art really fascinated me, I would trace and try to mimic it all the time. Artists today look down on such things, but through the course of doing what I did I broadened my horizons and grew to be a better artist. 

It wasn’t long after that I discovered Sonic SatAM. I was thrilled. Sally, Bunnie and everyone else in a TV show of their own? Why was I not aware of this? I must have rented those videos a thousand times. There were only two or three available, with a handful of episodes each, but I didn’t care. I admit I was a bit saddened to see Tails as a mere side character, but that was the only drawback. I knew this story, or part of it--Sally’s father, King Acorn, I’d seen him before. I knew Knothole, Snively--I knew all of it. It was...amazing, quite frankly, and I’m sure I talked about it a lot...to such a point I started annoying my brother. But again, did not care. I had all this insight and I couldn’t get enough of it. So when I stumbled into another comic shop one day and found several back issues (#100, #103, #104, #105 and a few others) I knew there was no going back. 

I admit, I can’t remember if I found those back issues before or after I realized it was a monthly series, but either way, once I did, I became a steady collector for the next ten years. I ordered back issues, specials, drew art and comics regularly...even when I got older and my interests tapered, I still collected. This world was so in depth, the art--at least most of it--detailed and rich--and I loved all of the characters. All of them. To me, these comics were the meat enhancing the bare bones that was the video game universe. I preferred them to any other incarnation I’d seen prior, and to be quite honest, I still do.

 I can’t speak for the video games now--I know they’ve grown and added characters and I’m sure there’s a lot to be said for that world--but the last video games I played were Shadow and Sonic Heroes. I did watch Sonic X for a while, I just...didn’t care much for it. Shadow was the only one I felt matched the same thought, tone and creative care the comics had, and that’s because they adapted his history pretty well, at least I think so. 

The comics had their ups and downs; I’m not the biggest fans of the #130s, but before the reboot, I really felt things were on a strong track forward. That said, I desperately feared the end of the Freedom Fighters...especially Sally Acorn. I remember actually crying about it to one friend. Since discovering her, Sally has been and remains my favorite Sonic character. 

Please note again, my thoughts are my own and I’m allowed to have them.

Now then...Sally Acorn. Her and Bunnie, fluctuating occasionally because Bunnie reminded me of my favorite X-men growing up (Rogue) but I’d always come back to Sally. I know some people don’t like her. That’s fine, not everyone is going to like every character. For me, though, Sally was one of few tomboy characters I knew of as a child. Yes she was feminine, but her femininity never overwhelmed her. She never felt over-romanticized, at least to me, and I really appreciated her modest design. It always bothered me female animal-type-characters were heavily dressed while the boys rarely wore full clothes. I liked that she broke that norm, it fit her personality.

Her relationship with Sonic felt very buddy-buddy, too, as much as romantic. Like they were really equals, despite differing status and power. Sally’s sacrifice remains stapled to my memory; it is, I think, the defining nature of her character. Her “true” character, I think: what comes out when it’s down to the wire. I’m really impressed with how she’s grown over the years. Not only how she chose to “end” her life but how strong she became after breaking up with Sonic. I don’t at all believe he held her down--and unlike some people I wasn’t bothered by the slap. I just wasn’t. I am, however, so happy she was able to become the Sally I grew up reading, the one I was first introduced to, once again before her final moments. Above all else, she and the Freedom Fighters proved to me you don’t need special powers to be a hero. 

Sonic may have been the ace in the hole, but every one of the Freedom Fighters brought something unique to the table. Watching them evolve over the years--from one universe to the next, powers, kids and otherwise--has been such a wonderful experience. I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve invested for so long...I only wish I were able to see how the original story intended to progress.  I tried describing the comics to a friend recently, particularly where it left off before the reboot. He was incredibly surprised by how vast and dark it was. 

I’m going to confess I stopped reading shortly before Sonic rebooted the universes. I have read scans of that initial first issue, but once I discovered the story wasn’t going to continue, I lost a lot of my drive to collect. I’m not going to talk about Penders here--I think we all share mutual feelings in that regard--but in my opinion it was absolutely the defining nail on the coffin for this twenty+ year run. He remains one of few people I find incredibly difficult to forgive. I’m a firm believer in forgiveness, but I grew up reading Sonic. I wanted very much to continue reading it, to see the characters I love continue growing. I can’t do that, anymore. None of us can. 

I don’t expect to see Sally and the others carried over to IDW. The Sonic gaming side of things has evolved so much from where it started out: most readers today know of the Freedom Fighting crew through the comics only. If it’s true Sega sees a different creative vision for their franchise, I think this is finally goodbye...I said goodbye years ago, but it’s final now. The comics as I knew them are over. Another staple of my childhood, already reinvented and reimagined, gone for good. The chances a new generation will find the comics, reboot or otherwise, and meet and connect with the characters I loved the way I loved them, rather than through internet fodder they don’t understand are fewer now and far between. That hurts me, it does. As a creative individual who held this so close to them, one thing I’ve always wanted is for people to discover something and experience what I did. Understand in their own way why myself and I’m sure so many others held onto the comics as long as we did. It’s not about shipping, it’s not about what’s canon or who’s better than the other. It’s about something else entirely. For me, it was an expansive, inclusive and ever-changing world. It was following a show that made something equally impressive from so very little and nurturing it until it took on a life of its own.

Maybe I’m a little dramatic, a little theatrical, but if you've stayed with me through this entire confession I hope you can forgive me. I loved these comics. They were a part of my life for a very long time, and I’m going to miss them, indefinitely.

Thank you, Archie Team, for creating something wonderful. Thank you SatAM and yes, even thank you, Sega, allowing them the chance to give us these memories.

[another-sonic-blog]

First Impressions Pt.7

First Impressions Pt.7 Shadamy Boom! In previous chapters: After Lyric’s successful plan to transfer Shadow’s immortality to him, Shadow seemed to forget  everything he did including all the time he spend with Amy. After escaping from Lyric’s lab, there were some arguments but nothing that the gang couldn’t handle. Amy and Shadow stayed to take care of the village as many of the people were homeless as the gang was taking care of the elderly in Stick’s Doom Bunker. Words were said and yes, they kissed. “....” “.....” “.....” “...are you going to say something?” “...Yes... I HATE YOU!!!” “Your lips didn’t say the same thing” Amy really couldn’t think of a good comeback to say to Shadow, she wish she could be death or that something suddenly hit her head and made her forget everything.  “ am I interrupting something?” PRAISE THE CHAOS Both Amy and Shadow turned around to find Sonic looking down at them with doubting eyes, Amy’s eyes sparkled, thankful that she was saved by her only hero. Shadow noticed her smile and turned around not paying attention to him, a bit angry at the fact. He didn’t even notice Amy standing up getting closer to Sonic as she noticed that Sonic was carrying a big, heavy back pack. “ ...Thank Chaos you are here, I don’t think I can be with Shadow any longer.” -Amy said loud enough for Shadow to hear. “What happened?”- Sonic asked looking over at Shadow who was still sitting and had no sign to turn around. “Nothing, he is just annoying.” “...yeah, but you liked it that way.” “SHADOW!”- Amy said while blushing. “Amy what does he mea-” “NOTHING, HEHEH, AH WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN THAT BACKPACK?” “Oh, I brought more supplies, will you help me pass it around?”- Sonic said, forgetting quickly about the events, more excited about spending sometime with Amy. “Yeah, sure, let’s go” With that, Amy and Sonic went around passing food and other supplies around, Sonic holding in his back the heavy backpack, while Amy opened it and took the food out. Shadow watched them from afar. He had mixed feelings about the couple. He wasn’t an idiot, he likes Amy.  He definitely did. Did he love her? Hell no...or so he believes. He had an attraction towards her, may be it was something more like sexual attraction. Of course he was the ultimate life form, he didn’t need to sleep, eat or have sex, however he still can get the feeling of need and he can still enjoy to do those things. However, this was different, Shadow wanted to spend his time with Amy, he wanted to talk to her and do things with her. He really wanted to know about what happened before and during “Finding the Chaos Emeralds” mission. Of course he knew he would eventually know, but he wanted it to hear it from Amy. Shadow watched how Sonic softly put his arm around Amy’s shoulder, and Amy seemed so used to the act. He honestly didn’t like the sight. Of course he wouldn’t see himself and Amy doing that. They were so different, Amy a lost romantic and he was just not as excited. None the less, Sonic and Amy were the perfect couple, he could even see them getting married and having a nice family together... a nice peaceful family, something that he was not meant to have. Not until he lost his immortality, deep down, he was grateful that it happened. But even, if he wanted a family, it was not that easy. He still didn’t know if in reality he wanted a family or he just wished for sexual intercourse, or may be both. There was only one thing that Shadow was sure about, and that was that Amy was the perfect candidate to do “both”. Shadow noticed Amy and Sonic coming towards him, all laughs and small giggles, which for some reason he din't enjoy. Shadow had already enough of the scene. He stood up suddenly as Amy took tried to sit besides him. “I am going for a run”- Shadow said as he looked down on Amy. “At this hour?”-Any asked curious and wanted to know his real intentions. “Yeah, I’ll be back, it will be a quick run.” “Then, I’ll go with you Shads.”- Sonic said and looked at him. “It will be nice to have a friendly competition,”- Sonic said again sarcastically. “Then you are in.”- and with a smirk Shadow left running into the woods, as Sonic followed him close by, leaving a perplexed Amy behind. The race went as expected, there was no real goal and they just kept running for the love of it. They ran and ran, both weren’t really going full out, they wanted to enjoy the beauty of the woods and the natural sights. It was as if they both knew that there was not really a winner at the end of the “race”. Without noticing, they both reach a death end, it was a cliff that was near the ocean, Shadow and Sonic both looked down and knew that if one person were to fall off the cliff, it was sure that death will be waiting for them.  Sonic sat down by the cliff, actually liking the extreme feeling of it, and so Shadow did as well. There was no words shared between the two, they just enjoyed the breeze of the air on their faces, until Sonic broke the silence. “I saw you kissing Amy.” “Yeah” “Why did you do it?” “We were arguing and it seems like the only way to stop it was putting my lips against hers.” “No, I mean, why did you REALLY do it?”- Sonic asked without taking aways his eyes from the stunning sea. “...It seem like fun, watching her reaction.”- Shadow said, double thinking his answer. “Do you like Amy? Do you love her?” “...I certainly do not love her, but I also don’t mind her company.” “So, you do like her...”- Sonic then lower his eyes down looking straight at the botton of the cliff. “It’s not like I am attached to her or anything, I just enjoy her company that’s it, no romantic feelings or whatever you are thinking.” “...then, I am free of going after her?”   Shadow looked up to Sonic really curious of why he was asking him such thing. “Why are you asking me?  Its not like I have any right over her.” “...Shadow, I didn’t realize my feelings for Amy not so long ago, she has suggested her love towards me before, but even so I decided to ignore those signs. I am pretty sure that pained her, I messed up. I tried to to make up for it by telling Amy how I feel, however I know that it alone won’t be enough to keep her for myself, and I understand that.I know Amy has been talking to you before you guys’ mission, she would of never gone out with someone who she didn’t know. I really don’t know what happened between you and Amy, but whatever it was, it seems to be important.” “Get to the point” “My point is, that it seems like Amy grew some feelings towards you on the time you guys spent together, and I thought you had also. I thought you and her actually had a thing going on, and I don’t want to intervene on whatever you both have, that’s why I am asking if its alright with you.”- By this point, Sonic was looking at Shadow with serious eyes, asking a heart to heart question. “I thought you would never allow me to ‘hurt’ Amy”- Said Shadow as he looked over to Sonic. “and I won’t” “Then-” “I won’t allow you to hurt Amy, that doesn’t mean that I won’t allow you to like her or to try dating her” “I thought you said you didn’t trust me” “Honestly, I was happy to know that you were mind-control, at first I didn’t believe it, but Amy trusts you and if she does then I do, also, I knew that the hedgehog I talked to in that cell, wasn’t you... I just knew it” “....” Shadow didn’t know what to say, he never thought of Sonic to be the kind of hedgehog to analize his situation and to take other people’s feelings into consideration, even before his. “So, I’ll ask you again... can I go after Amy?” Shadow stood quite, he wanted to say “Yeah, I don’t care”. But for some reason he couldn’t find the words.  “Do whatever you want.” Just what the heck did he say? Did he not think about the consequences of what he said? Well may be after all he didn’t like Amy that much... “Thank you, Shads”- and Sonic gave him one of his signature smirks and Shadow just rolled his eyes in annoyance. “I think is time to go back”- Shadow said as he stood up. “Yeah, let’s go” Sonic and Shadow went off running against each other into an endless race. “What took you guys so long? You said it was a quick race.”- Amy said as she welcomed both hedgehogs. “Shads kept beating me, so I had to keep asking for a re-match you know?” Amy never thought that Sonic will accept such defeats, which such a good sense in his voice, but for some reason too, it looked like he was in a good mood. “Well, it seems like he gave you a good race, you are back in a better state”- Amy said giving him a smirk. “But of course!” - Sonic then went over to Amy and once again put his arm around her, leading her back to the big bonfire giving them and the villagers the heat they needed for the night. Shadow follow them close by, and once again something inside of him made him feel uncomfortable at the sight of both of them together. But, why was he feeling like this, if Amy didn’t really matter to him? He didn’t want to be a third wheel, so he kept his distance from the couple, he decided not to look and instead he tried to pay attention to the flames. However, his thoughts were interrupted as he saw Sonic and Amy slowly standing up. Sonic grabbed Amy’s hand and made her follow him into the woods. Shadow raised one his sight, pretending not to be too obvious as he tried to get a glimpse of the couple, which he couldn’t see any longer. He decided to drop it, it was none of his business anyways. He turned around and lay on the floor trying to get some sleep. . . . “Did you see Sonic and Amy? I think he is going to confess now” “Yes I saw them, they definitely will be a couple now” “They  will have the cutest babies ever!” “I can’t wait for their wedding!”   Shadow just stood up abruptly at the near by villagers’ comments. His mind was saying, ‘no don’t go, you are going to mess up’, but his body was doing the contrary. He really had no explanation. May be he was being mind- control again? No, deep down, he knew he wanted to go spy in the couple, he wanted to know the truth behind it all, about his feelings and also Amy’s. He reached a near by tree, he placed himself in a way he could not be seen by the couple. He could hear perfectly their conversation and that’s what he wanted. “Amy... I know this is not the moment to be asking this, I am sorry for being selfish, but I really need to know... Do you still have feelings for me?”- Sonic asked seriously, looking at Amy in the eyes, never letting her hands go. “I... don’t know...”- Amy said looking down. “May be...did you develop feelings for Shadow?” “....” There was silence after that, none of them spoke for a while. By this, Sonic already had the answer to his question. And so did Shadow... *Sniff* Both hedgehogs were surprised at the sound. Amy began crying and covered her face with her hands, embarrassed that Sonic will see her like that. “Amy, no, don’t cry...”- It pained Sonic more than anything looking at her crying. “...this cannot be happening... I loved you so much Sonic, I did, but them Shadow came along and I... and I... I don’t know how it happened, to fall in love with Shadow of all hedgehogs...” Sonic grabbed Amy’s hand and slowly removed them from her face, making her looking at him directly. “ why? why do I always have to love and not be loved back?” “Amy, you don’t know that, may be Shad-”-In that moment Sonic just wanted Amy to feel better but he was cut off by the pink hedgehog. “I know he doesn’t love me Sonic” “How?” “When you guys went to race, you took too long and I got worried and I tried calling you to your communicator, you could not hear me, but I heard everything...” Amy could not stop crying and Sonic just hugged her, caressing her hair, he looked at her once more in the eyes. “Amy, Shadow may not love you, but I do.... I want to be by your side, I know that you don’t feel the same about me, but if you let me, I can try and get your heart back.. I honestly don’t care if you use me to forget about Shadow, I don’t care if every-time you are with me, you think of him... I will always stand by your side and I will try to get you back. I don’t care the time it takes, I will do it.”- Sonic placed Amy’s hand on his chest, she could feel Sonic’s heart beating rapidly. “...even if it hurts you? even if I can’t get over him?” “even if you decide to stay away from me, I will respect that decision, just give us a chance. I may not be the most romantic, but I love you so much, and that’s what matters” “ Sonic...” “I love you Amy, and nothing will ever change that.” They kissed. It felt so natural to Amy, she could honestly feel Sonic’s feelings into the kiss. She knew he was sincere, his heart was completely hers and she was scared that she might break it. She was going to try, for Sonic, for her, for both of them. She was going to try her hardest to fall in love again with Sonic the Hedgehog. Shadow was already back into the village, he already had his answers to his feelings. He knew what it was, and he hated what he said before, he regretted it, everything. Putting one of his hand on his head out of frustration, he closed his eyes and began to think. He hated not knowing what feelings he develop towards Amy’s during that mission of theirs. His memories weren’t there, but the feelings were, he just didn’t know what they meant. He thought that it was just sexual attraction, a need, a like. But knowing Amy’s true feelings about him, made him.. happy? Like as if he actually had a chance to be happy with someone. Was he.. was he?  “Hey Shads, have you eaten anything, you look awful” His thoughts were once interrupted as Shadow turned around looking at Sonic but this time, he was holding Amy’s hand. Shadow then looked at Amy, and Amy noticed him looking at him. She then smiled  to him. Shadow felt so... warm, this warm feeling.. he had felt this before...And that’s when he remember, everything. Going into Amy’s house, talking to her, eating his favorite cookies and spending time with her. He remembered the mission, them getting closer and closer as time passed.. them kissing, a honest kiss and not like the one they shared before. “I just need to sleep.” Shadow once again lay down, pretending like he didn’t notice Amy smiling at him.  His answer was clear... he was in love with Amy Rose. A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, the reason is that I wanted to create a special chapter, one in which Shadow can finally realize his feelings. This took long enough, a lot of things happened but, I just wanted to show the importance of his emotions and all.  I hope you enjoy this chapter~

[cutegirlmayra]

I came up with a random and slightly terrible idea for a prompt. Amy starts dating Shadow to make sonic jealous, and at first Shadow goes along with the idea out of pure spite, but something triggers a "Maria Moment" and he ends up becoming overly protective/attached of her. What do you think? Terrible right? XD

(x) Please don’t judge, I made this one >x

Oh, so terrible~ just enough so… that it might actually work! :D (that’s a compliment, lol)

Prompt:

With Amy watching Comedy Chimp interview Sonic for a ��Comedy Ship’ special, Sonic is asked if Amy’s ever dated anyone, “After all, she’s a good looking girl, am I right? Charity-worker, perfect house-keeper, even got a top 80 for ‘can you wield a hammer and still look cute and totally not intimidating?’! What are your comments, Sonic?”

“Well, Chimp. Honestly? There’s not a lot of guys out there looking for someone like Amy. But hey! I guess it’s a little intimidating… that’s why she didn’t make the tippy-top of that chart, you know what I’m saying?” Sonic winks and relaxes with his hands behind his head, making the crowd laugh.

Amy squirms in her seat with anger, “I lost to an Otter and an Koala bear! That’s tough competition!” she threw the remote and started smashing around her house.

When she wore off, she saw something pass her window and quickly looked out it, getting an idea when she saw Shadow talking about something on his communicator.

“Remember, all you have to do is plant one last bomb in any location Sonic may pass through!” Eggman hollered, as Shadow seemed pretty serious about that command.

“Like I said, Doctor. I work on my own terms. Don’t worry about where I place it, only that you have it go off when the time comes.” he turned off the communicator and kept walking when Amy jumped up and in front of his way, smiling from cheek to cheek.

She giggled oddly, as if being shy, and having her hands behind her back, nervously hunched down a bit.

“…Out of my way,… strange… pink.. woman.” he gestured his arm out, trying to get her to move but looking confused on how to address her.

“Amy. And I was just wondering if you’re alone right now..?” She peeked over his shoulders and then chuckled nervously again as she pushed her fingers in on each other. “haha..ha..”

He rose an eyebrow, ‘Did she discover my true plans with Eggman? Is my cover blown?” he held a hand over his communicator and stepped back, “I don’t have times to deal with Sonic’s pathetic friends…” he was about to race off when he felt something grab at his arm and pull him back.

“W-what?” he looked back and saw her clinging to him. “One walk around the town, then you can do whatever you want!”

“One walk?” He was confused, but the directness and weird surprise of it left him unable to fight back as she pulled him into town.

“Promise it won’t be long! It never is to start up rumors…” she grinned mischievously, before giggling randomly as people walked by, and placing her head on Shadow’s shoulder.

He would flinch away before Eggman called again…

“Uhh… hmph.” he pushed Amy away, secretly taking the call on his wrist communicator.

“Shadow! Why are you-? … are you seriously on a date with Amy?” Eggman looked annoyed.

“What? I’m trying to escape her-emm!!” he was cut off by Amy grabbing his face, turning him to her and pointing to her friends.

“They’re here! Okay, act natural!” She put her arm around his waist and his arm over her shoulder, and giggled once again in her silly, nervous way. “This’ll teach him to tell me I’m not wanted!”

“What?! Unhand me! Let me go, you crazy-!”

“Woah, is that..? Shadow?!” Sonic stepped back.

“He’s captured Amy!” Tails cries out, pointing.

“Against her will!” Sticks got on all fours, growling and biting at the air.

“With no understanding of how to properly pull off that move!” Knuckles punched the air, and then posed with the rest of them, ready to fight.

Amy pretended to laugh at something Shadow said, snorting slightly and confusing him more, before walking on her merry way with him being dragged along as he stumbled in his steps.

“Uhhh…” the gang watched in the same amount of confusion as Shadow had portrayed.

“…Was she… happy?”

“Laughing means happiness.” Sticks replied to Tails’s question, getting up and stroking her chin. “Hmm.. Looks kinda like she’s moved on.”

“Aww.. does this mean we can’t trash Amy’s place anymore?” Knuckles leaned down, arms draping over and dangling in front of him, looking like a sad puppy.

“M-moved on!?” Sonic was startled, to say the least, and shook his head and hands, “No, no, no- NO. She’s clearly been… been… brain-washed! Yeah, that’s it!”

He watched as she sat down at Meh Burger with Shadow, trying to feed him as he struggled to get away from her.

“…She… she’s just messing around is all.” Sonic folded his arms, looking away, almost offended.

The gang looked at each other before he threw his arms up, “Stop looking! It’s weird! She’s clearly only going out with my mortal enemy to make me jealous!”

He pouted and peeked out to the two again, as Tails sighed.

“Well, maybe she’ll convert him to our side?”

“WHAT?!”

“Love is a powerful thing. Who knows? They may make some lovely hedgehog babies together.” Sticks shrugged, walking off with Tails.

“You guys! We can’t just let this happen!” Sonic frantically turned to them, gesturing to the two, “She’s clearly being used! He’s using her! Going to break her heart to try and get to me- I-I-I mean us! The team! He’ll be our Yoko!” he gripped his head, clearly desperate for them to help stop this mess.

Knuckles yawned, “But that would mean ruining their date, right? That’s a low thing to do, Sonic. Amy’s our friends. If she wants to go off and hang with other dudes at Meh Burger than we have to respect her decision.” He then twitched and held his chest. “Ouch! Was that what I think it was? Ah! Tails! I need ducktape! Fast!” He then booked it to Tails, who also looked down a moment, turning around.

“Hey, that’s right. If Amy goes off with Shadow.. doesn’t that mean we won’t see her anymore?”

As the gang got wild up, Shadow planted the bomb in Meh Burger, under the table as he noticed them coming to approach the two.

“Mind telling me why you insist on making a fool of yourself?”

She giggled nervously again before sobbing and slamming her head to the table. The impact made him worry about the bomb as he sneakily glanced down to check on it.

It wasn’t activated… he let a quiet sound of relief calmly pass his lips.

He then glared back at Amy. “You’re wasting my patience. What’s going on-!”

She plugged his mouth, leaning back up.

He swiped it off, “And stop doing that!”

“I need you to act like you like me!”

“What?!”

They were holding hands now, not on purpose, as Sonic and the gang flinched from a distance.

“They’re already holding hands!” Sticks blurted out.

“They’re moving too fast! This is getting serious!” Tails gripped his head, panic now setting in as they had recently decided to confront Amy about this. “Even me and Zooey haven’t reached that stage! I-I’d be too embarrassed!”

“He must be stopped!” Sonic hollered out, and the team moved faster. “Wait!” Sonic stopped them, “Stealth… be cool guys… be cool…” They straightened up, being casual and speed walking over to them now.

“You’re insufferable! Why would I fancy you?” “You could if you tried! Honest! I’d be a cute girlfriend!” Shadow was pushing her away from him, but Amy was moving more towards him.

The team sped up again, their heads lowering down and Tails spinning his tails as it looked a little… different from their point of view…

More couply.

“Why are you so insistent!? Tell me the truth!” He threw her hands down and she sighed in annoyance, giving up.

“Fine! I wanted to make Sonic jealous!”

“What?” Shadow looked at Sonic’s face, coming quickly over to them, dodging people and stopping for the old monkey man to pass, growing impatience and growling at having to wait.

“Heh. If that’s your goal..” He pulled her closer and leaned his head back to whisper in her ear. “Quick, giggle. Like before.” He needed to get her to lure the team over there way anyway…

She did so since his breath tickled her ear anyway. She covered her face though, hiding the blush as she realized she actually liked that feeling. ‘That's not supposed to happen.’ she thought to herself.

Sonic moved faster, helping the old monkey across the street before continuing to ‘play it cool’ towards the two, but growing more and more aggressive in his steps and his expression.

Shadow smiled, “Closer…” He moved his finger to the communicator for Eggman to receive his signal, waiting for the perfect moment…

“You know, Shadow… I really am grateful you’re playing along with this.” Amy looked away, her hands on her lap. “I mean… It just means…”

She smiled up at him, and his eyes suddenly widened, distracted.

“That you do have a heart, after all!” she tilted her head and his memory of Maria triggered, his eyes shook while her image was replaced over and over with Amy’s.

He flipped the tap, standing up and shaking his head in his cry, “MARRRRIIIAAA!!!” he then kicked the table away and grabbed Amy, jumping away as the table exploded near Sonic and the gang, who guarded and looked up to where Shadow had jumped to a nearby building and then continued on with trees.

“He really is using her!” Tails looked at the bomb, “He was going to explode us all to pieces!”

“Amy!” In worry, Sonic gritted his teeth and ran after her.

Shadow grew protective of Amy, only because his mind was associating her with Maria, having his PTSD kick in, Amy became Maria in his mind. He would shake his head and declare to Sonic, “I’ll never let anyone take her away from me! Not again!”

“Again?” Amy was confused, but after a little chase, she figured out Shadow was having an episode, and helped comfort and calm him through it.

“T..Thank you… but why are you helping me?” He had snapped out of his mental breakdown, clutching his head.

“Hehe, cause you- for a moment anyway before being a bad guy again- totally helped me out with getting Sonic to notice me. But I would have done it regardless, shadow. You really should talk about this more… It may help with your emotions… talking about your feelings..” she put a hand delicately to his back, as he twitched under her kindness.

“Hmph!” he paused a moment, before swiping her hand away from him. “I don’t need your sympathy.” he spat out and took off before Sonic had a chance to catch him.

“Wait!”

“Sonic!” Amy stopped him and swung his arm she caught back to her.

“B-but he’s getting away!”

“And?”

“H-he took you!”

“And?”

“And!? Well, and now you're here and not… in… his clutches… oh.” Sonic calmed down, looking back and forth to where Shadow went and where she was now.

“What’s the deal, Ames? You know he’s a bad dude! What… are you … y-you into that sort of t-t-thing?” He folded his arms, getting nervous and looking away, shy again.

She giggling into her hand, making him upset cause he’s heard that giggle too much already today.

She then put her face close up to his cheek, “I was just making you sure you realize how it feels to lose me.” She teased and walked to the gang coming up behind them.

“Amy!” they shouted for joy, thinking Sonic had caught up first and saved her.

“I think I’m done with the dating scene for one day.” she grinned, embracing them as they welcomed her back.

Sonic couldn’t help it, he studied the ground before glaring to Shadow’s direction, and then his eyes softened, and he rubbed the back of his head.

“I guess…” he muttered to himself, before losing the tension in his body and looking tenderly towards Amy, “I never knew how that would feel…” he admitted, but only to himself.

With a smile.

Shadow stopped a moment from walking, taking off the communicator that Eggman was shouting out from- wondering what had happened, and accusing Amy of having changed his heart on him.

Shadow looked over his shoulder, seeing Amy so happy with her friends.

He clutched his chest. “…Maria… Forgive me. I seem to still…”

He watched her closer…

“Have weakness…”

He honed in on Amy’s cheery smile… reminding him so much of Maria’s…

(Augh, I kinda want to make Shadow crush on her but that would mean certain doom for keeping this canon lol. -though I think it’s possible for his character… *cough cough*-)

[cutegirlmayra]

I really like prompt 16 but I also like prompt 17....ahhhhh! Think you can do something sonamy with either of them? XDDD

For future references, I need just one plz :) but I’ll do my best to combined the two, just for you precious anon~

Prompt:

“You’re awfully sentimental when you want to be.”

“I simply just stated that I remember something like this from before!”

“Right…”

“Honest!”

“Were you thinking of running off again?”

Amy, leaning on Sonic’s shoulder, nearer to his chest, moved her head up to give him a slight warning glare, seeming annoyed.

“Amy…” he looked away, sweat dropping. Why wasn’t she trusting him on this?

“Emmm… fine. I’ll believe you.” Amy leaned her head back down and readjusted herself to where her back faced him. “I do admit though… that time I convinced you to have a date every time you came back, you always said you’d remembered how stubborn I could be.”

He closed his eyes, seeming nervous at that statement as he lightly, and awkwardly, chuckled at her remembering that.

He then looked up at the sky too.

“You were a little different back then too.”

She pouted, turning to him again, “Do you like the younger me or something?”

He flinched, and waved his hands out. “T-that’s not what I’m saying at all!”

“So… are you annoyed then?” She leaned away, “About my request?” turning to face him again, he looked more uncomfortable than ever.

“… That’s not… it’s more like I can’t help but feel like some of the past is fading too fast.” he looked down, away almost as if it was hard for him to explain himself. “It’s… complicated.”

“…But…”

She felt a little hurt he couldn’t fully explain himself, but moved closer and lightly rubbed her head under the crook of his neck. “Hehe! We’re not as distant as before! That’s something good to come from it, right?”

He looked away.

“After all~” she closed her eyes, as Sonic tried to keep his stare fixated on the night sky, letting her do as she pleased.

She yawned, “I love spending more time with you… you used to be so finicky anytime I brought up hanging out together.”

“That’s because your definition of ‘hanging out’ wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” Sonic sweat dropped again.

“…Oh?”

Amy sneakily leaned up, and then had a thought.

“..You know what would really speed up time?”

He looked down at her, curious and confused on that last line, but it certainly pulled his attention.

“What?” he put his hands behind his head, trying to relax, but he didn’t like the sneaky look in her eyes…

“Don’t tell me…”

“I’ve decided what I want to do the next date!”

He sighed, relieved it wasn’t-

“Next date, you have to kiss me!”

He fidgeted.

“And you promised you’d go on at least one date with me every time you returned, so no taksey-backsies!” she poked his chest, before laughing.

There was a silent conflict going on that she couldn’t see inside himself, as his face turned an odd pale.

The next few months, Tails and Knuckles claimed to have not seen Sonic.

She didn’t worry too much though, after all, he promised~

But when a few more months went by… she was just desperate to see him again.

Thinking about going to look for him like she used too, she suddenly heard on the news that he had gone missing, and panicked.

Eggman was going ballistic with not having an enemy, but Shadow quickly fulfilled the role when Eggman tried to attack a local city, and G.U.N stepped in, seeing as Sonic was gone.

Amy searched and searched after that, before believing it was her fault, and starting to beat herself up about it…

However…

“What’s this!?” The news man pointed the camera man with a jostle of his hand to the direction of blue.

A blue streak tore across the screen, helping Shadow out with destroying robots and battleships in the air.

Amy’s hands quickly squished together and clammed tight.

Her eyes were fixed on the screen, before seeing his blue frame jammed with a beam of a powerful battleship canon.

“Sooniiccc!!”

Rushing to where the air battleships were, she felt the sting of tears, before seeing Super Shadow carrying his limp body down.

“No..!” she breathed out her words, stepping back a moment from her run before charging to him.

She fell at Shadow’s feet.

“Please! Let me take care of him!”

Shadow, not having time to argue, nodded and handed him to her.

Helping to drag him away, Amy pulled him up against a tree, ripping some of her dress to dap it in a stream near them, and putting the wet cloth to his face.

He slowly blinked his eyes.

“Uhh… Amy?”

“Shh.. don’t strain yourself right now.”

“Uhhh…erk! Ouch… I guess I really wasn’t careful this time, huh?” He tried to get up, but felt his wounds and allowed himself to lay back down.

“Sonic… I’m so sorry. This is my fault.” Amy turned her head away.

“H-huh?” Sonic looked confused, blinking his one good eye towards her.

“I… I lead you away… My selfish, … silly request did all of this! I’m so sorry, Sonic! I never meant to push you away…”

She covered her face, and Sonic suddenly looked surprised.

“The request? Amy, I wasn’t gone trying to stay away from you.”

Amy lightly looked up from her hands, “You… you weren’t trying to avoid me?”

He smiled, tilting his head slightly, “Not at all.”

She smiled, lowering her hands before his came up, and he gently moved one to her cheek.

“…I had… some more business, you could say, to deal with.” he was whisked on another adventure, as she guessed by his words. It must have been a long one too.

“R-…Really? So you’re not mad?” she teared up.

“Mad?” Sonic laughed. “Nervous maybe. But you were right. We’re not as distant as before.” he strained himself to lean up.

“Sonic!”

“Hold on.. I need to try this again.” he smiled, holding a hand up to stop her from helping him.

She withdrew her hands to her lap, as he got up.

“Amy… It’s true that we’ve gotten closer. But I feel that maybe I’ve been pushing you away still… so…”

He brought her head back down to his chest, making her blink and blush in surprise.

“I’m sorry. I made you wait so long.”

She held back her tears, still threatening to advance down her cheek…

Her lips trembled, realizing he wasn’t gone so long because of her brought a big wave of relief.

“Honestly… I think it’s about time to forget the past.”

“H-huh?”

He leaned back as she moved up, and slowly, he began to tilt his head.

At first, it was light and remained for a small second.

Sonic pulled away and suddenly furrowed his brow.

“Huh.”

“H-h-hu-huh, what!?” Amy pulled back, blushing and unable to read if that was too much for him or what. She covered her face, “I’m so sorry!”

“…For what?” he grinned. “I was just surprised is all!”

“…Sur…prised?” Amy was deeply confused now.

He laughed, before feeling pain from it and stopping himself.

“Ah! You’re not well..” Amy picked the cloth up again, going for his face.

“It hurts…” he admitted, before pointing to his shoulder. “Right here…”

She looked down, before smiling and dipping to it.

She lightly kissed his shoulder.

His eyes widened slightly, before she pulled away and he pointed to his forehead.

“…Here?”

She grinned, and did so once more.

“…” he leaned forward, “Do you have anywhere it hurts?”

She laughed, blushing and squeeing before shaking her head. “My heart was hurt, but you’re back now and everything’s fine.” she nodded.

“Hmm.. a heart.” he put a hand up to his chin. “Em-hmm. I think I know what to do.” he winked.

Her quills bristled as he came in again, this time the kisses held and lasted, and they took their time figuring things out.

When they parted a moment to breathe, Amy held a hand to his cheek. “Umm… You won’t be going again… anytime soon right?”

He smiled, thinking her a little silly to say that but seeing the logic behind it.

“Well… if you keep this up…” he turned to put his face more into her hand. “I may not want to for a while.” he teased.

She beamed, and the two put their foreheads together for a moment, before an explosion pulled them apart and they looked up, seeing the noise coming from the sky.

“Shadow must have done it.” Amy concluded.

“Heh.” Sonic grinned. “I can’t be gone too long though… Or I’m gonna lose my title!”

(repeat stuff, repeat stuff~ -singing that parody song, lol-)