#If the world chooses to become my enemy; I will fight like I always have.|Amy Rose Ask Answered

[mobianxcycle]

Send a 👻 for my muse to pick out a Halloween costume. (Amy Rose)

Send a 👻 for my muse to pick out a Halloween costume.

"You know. . . I . . . Completely forgot about it." The pink hedgehog found herself quietly musing, before her gaze trailed over toward the pile of cloth, half-stitched together pieces, and tiny bits and bobs. She. . . HAD a plan at one point. A matching theme for herself and her 'primary' friends. For the longest time, it was intended to be for an event, but she figured she could get it done early for the spooky season.

It seems like she forgot her own in the process, though. . .

"Looks like I'm gonna have to pull a Con and get it done quick, though." Which she hated doing, but what choice was there at this rate? "I even made outfits for some of the others! How could I forget?!" She was already moving to grab some of the fabric. Time was wasting, after all!

"But to answer the question, me and a group plan on going around as these plumbers and their friends! I'll be going as the tomboy princess, with a designed hammer for it and everything! If I can get it all done in time. . ."

[shadamyheadcanons]

I saw a while back you were asked what your favorite interpretations of Shadow and Amy were.

While I don’t disagree (haven’t played heroes so can’t comment there, but have beat SA2) I was curious on your views over Sonic 06 version of Shadow? Ignoring the heavy problems with the game itself, I’m personally a heavy fan of the VA and how he acts.

It may be selfish of me… but I kinda wish Amy got more interactions with Shadow instead of Silver. I get WHY they did it, but I feel like it could of been nice to have them reunite and maybe even contrast the end of SA2 y’know?

First post about my favorite Shadow & Amy portrayals, SA2 and Heroes

Follow-up about Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles

I love both Shadow AND Amy in that game!

06 Shadow in particular has been getting a ton of interest in the past few years, and it’s wonderful to see. I considered including it in that first post about my favorites. 06 being such a failure gameplay-wise really screwed things up for the series for a long time. Sega learned all the wrong lessons. No more humans apart from Eggman. No more dark, serious plotlines. One-dimensional characters. No playable characters apart from Sonic in mainline games. None of the others can talk to anyone but Sonic. Obviously there were exceptions to this, but the series lost so much. Sonic 06 is older than most Sonic fans, but we’re only just now getting all of that back with Frontiers, IDW, etc.

This would have been bad enough on its own, but coming off the heels of Sonic 06, it hurt that much more. Sega decided Team Dark weren’t friends directly after their most poignant interactions. Shadow knew who he was. He knew what was important. And he knew he could trust the best friends by his side. When’s the last time he was so self-assured? That’s the downside of the 06 timeline being erased in the end. We know Shadow and Team Dark’s potential, but he doesn’t remember any of it.

That said, I’m ultimately still glad it’s erased. I’d hate for Shadow to go through life knowing the humans would reprogram his own best friend to hunt him down and lock him up forever. It says great things about Shadow, but it makes me like the humans a lot less.

It’s thanks to 06 that I consider Shadow to be the biggest hero in the franchise. This clip encompasses everything that makes his heroism unique:

“If the world chooses to become my enemy...I will fight like I always have.”

Iconic. Badass. I love the way he drops his inhibitors as he talks. This is Jason Griffith’s delivery at its best.

Sonic fights to protect his friends and the planet he calls home, along with the humans and Mobians who all love him, but there are SO MANY people who’ve treated Shadow like filth, and he still protects them. There’s no one else in canon who’s that selfless, and I also like that 06 doesn’t lean on Maria as the reason he does all this. Shadow himself is a good person and does good things for his own reasons, not just because she told him to.

Heroes proved this, too. Shadow didn’t even remember Maria in that game, but he still made the right call. Maria’s important, but she’s not the only reason he’s a good person.

Jason Griffith does a very good job as Shadow here and elsewhere, but David Humphrey is and always will be my favorite Shadow VA. If Jason is an A-rank, David is S-ranked. I’d be thrilled to have either of them back.

You’ll never see me judge anyone for wanting more Shadow/Amy interactions. I’ve thought the same thing with 06, and I love the Silver/Amy bits, too. She has an adorable scene with him AND starts him on the path to redemption. It’s the Amy Rose Special. I also like how she and Shadow inadvertently worked together to turn him around. Amy raised a question Silver hadn’t thought to ask, and Shadow showed him the answer.

But what this demonstrates to me is that this didn’t have to be an either/or situation.

It would’ve been nice for Amy to reunite with Silver and see how he turned things around. They were both there for the final battle, but they didn’t speak to each other. What if they’d had a scene with all three of them together? I hypothesized about that possibility in headcanon #99.

Side note: I just want to say that I think Amy is great in 06. She has the same cute accidental hug/elevator speech combo she used to turn Shadow around in SA2, but people sleep on it in 06 for some reason. On top of that, a lot of fans willfully misinterpret one particular line of hers. And anyone who knows Sonic 06 knows which one that is.

“If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic!”

I’ve seen so many people say she’s a dumb, ridiculous fangirl for this, and I can’t stand it. She’s not saying the rest of the world doesn’t matter, she’s saying that she has so much faith in Sonic as a person that she’d take his side even if the rest of the world said he was wrong. And, uh...she has good reason to! It’s not the first time he’s been falsely accused of something. It’s like these fans conveniently forgot what happened in SA2 the second they saw an opportunity to hurl insults at Amy.

You know what Amy’s line reminds me of most?

“Even if you believe everyone in the world will be against you, know that I’ll always remain by your side. Remember that.”

Yeah. That line everyone loves about ultimate loyalty for someone you care about. The line that many consider to be Rouge’s best. The only difference is that Rouge is a calm young adult talking about a friend, while Amy was an upset young girl whose feelings were too big for careful phrasing and restraint. Combine that with how much hate there was for her at the time, and you have a great, dedicated line absolutely drowned in ice-cold, bad faith takes from the fandom. And Silver needed that fervor to make him question Mephiles, too! It had to be her! It was because he saw how strongly she felt about Sonic that he started having second thoughts. You think a calm statement like Rouge’s could have made him back down from attempted murder?

Much like with Shadow in SA2, it had to be Amy. 06 did a great job with her. Some fans still need to wise up about it. They’ve been recognizing how awesome 06 Shadow is, so maybe, just maybe, they’ll do the same for Amy someday.

[sakuraswordly]

Let me continue from gilgil-machine

You understand now why Sonic said, "I don't mind playing villain role for a while". (Note: Villain role means the king role for King Gilgamesh)The same way for both Punch and Gilgamesh, if they did is the right thing, they are really glad to sacrifice themself for the people they want to protect even if they will end up becoming an arrogant asshole, misogynist, sadist and villain.

[Note: Sonic's different from Shadow.

If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight them like I always have.

Shadow's decision never changes no matter what happens but Sonic's decision can be changed every time that's why you can't tell that Sonic can kill Dr Eggman anytime .As for Shadow, he still observes that Dr Eggman should be killed or in jail if without a reason. Shadow's personality can be changed if he breaks(You can see when Shadow with Maria) but Sonic never change no matter how broken Sonic is.]

And this is why Sonic trusts Punch and forgives King Gilgamesh too in Tsubasa of Phantasia, even Sonic accept them for how they will be.

Punch: Sonic...I choose....to side with darkness and take my revenge path.  Sonic:.........I see.... Punch: This doesn't surprise you, Sonic? Sonic: Not at all. I knew that was the only choice you could make. Punch: So you see Sonic. I am not a kind person from the beginning...................I will stand over you all. That’s why I live, to slay everyone who stand in my way...So now....Sonic...you're standing in my way! Sonic: I know. I'm ready. To fight you, Punch. Not because I save you but to save myself as well. I'm not a kind person either.

And that's why in Sonic Prime, Sonic still believe and trusts Nine not because Sonic's too trusting. Sonic's sad not because Nine betrayed him but he sad because Sonic was the one that made Nine become this way.

As a result of what happened, that's why King Gilgamesh chose to walk alone to not let this happen just like what happened to Nine in Sonic prime.

Even though Sonic will end up destroying the world just like King Gilgamesh and Punch will do, Amy still chose Sonic because Amy knew Sonic will always do the right thing. Amy's reasoning is the same as Enkidu's.

And not different why Enkidu, Hakuno and Danny defend Punch and King Gilgamesh like Amy does.

[lowpolyshadow]

"Of a world that is more horrible than they could’ve imagined, more beautiful than they ever hoped."

I fucking adore this line with so much of my being, yes yes YES. It's something I never see talked about, I only ever see headcanons about Shadow either hating or loving Earth but never about him being super in-tune with the nuance of Earth as a place in it's entirety. I've always felt that he'd be the sort to truly be terrified of Earth, yet mesmerized by it. Viewing it as cruel and beautiful at once, beautiful perhaps because it can be so cruel, and cruel because of how beautiful such a terrifying place like itself is. I think, next to maybe Amy, he'd be one of the most emotional of all the characters when it comes to talking about the planet itself. He'd be the one struggling to put into words how he feels about it, how it both crushed and lived up to his expectations by tenfold.

I dunno, I just like it, sorry im very sleep deprived and going a bit wonkers over good writing kljbfkvu

i dont rlly think he’d be terrified of it but he probably like. okay that joke post re: his reaction to mountains in sa2 bc if u hear his journal entry before skyrail, he’s like “whats with those huge mountains? theyre creepy” like hes so fucking funny. earth is HUGE. the ark was always big and hes so small but the earth is HUGE!!!!!!

theres probably just the realization of how vast it is, not necessarily terrifying but the literal old definition of like. awesome. awe-inspiring. inflicting awe into his soul. he hates people maybe (humans at least given his complicated relationship with literally any of human thus far) but the earth … maybe it is what maria hoped for. maybe its even better than what maria said it would be.

shadow’s not a talky person so i agree he wouldnt know how to put it but emotional is like…. i think he knows. he has a lot of feelings about it but i think he knows and he’d say in his cringe lil flat tone of how the world isn’t that bad. he’ll protect this world, because he wants to and because maria would like that. and if the world chooses to become his enemy he will fight like he always have FUCK humans tho

[cherrivixx]

Thanks again for the ask! Can you please do "give me a fandom and I'll tell you" for the Sonic series?

^~^ right backatcha

Favorite Male Character sonic, i love his attitude and general outlook but i hold a fondness for most of the main cast :)

Favorite Female Character surge, followed by amy very closely -- both are characters that really grab at my attention and i just. i need to actually catch up on idw but i just adore them both and need to see more more more

Least Favorite Character i dont care for any of the movie characters really, and i also dont particularly care for orbot & cubot...theyre funny in the boom tv show, but i find them to be a bit grating

Favorite Ship surgamy (surge / amy)...ive been shipping them since like. imposter syndrome #2. bonus of both being my favourites and having a ship dynamic that i adore. whispangle, sallicole, and knuxouge are also particular favourites, and i like sonadow, silvaze, and sonjet but never want any of those three to be anything close to canon

Favorite Friendship the team sonic (sonic & tails & amy & knuckles) friendship is always dear to me, but i also like the team chaotix friendship and i like all the rivalries that occur too :)

Favorite Quote "Every world has its end. I know that's kinda sad, but...That's why we gotta live life to the fullest in the time we have.” - sonic (TBK) OR “If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!” - shadow (06) both are kinda cliche, but i like them a lot :)

Worst Character Death (if any) i cant think of any, really. i didnt like blazes in 06, but thats more to do with how they wrote her in that game

This made me so happy you have no idea Moment i think the fight between surge & sonic in uhhh IDW #50 ? i liked it a lot. also when amy and surge finally met...plus the final level of sa2 felt really cool to play. looking forward to sonic x shadow generations as well, seems really cool

Saddest Moment the entirety of the metal virus arc is sad, but all the stuff with the chaotix in the arc devastated me. also, once again cliche, but the ending credits of sa2 made me sad...

Favorite Location big fan of the ark, as well as westapolis & mystic ruins, i like the atmosphere in those places. i also love the all the places in sonic 06, but that might be due to nostalgia for ps3 graphics...

[doubleddenden]

Man, I'm thinking about Sonic 06 again. I know it's a terrible game questionable decisions and a troubled development, but you know? 12 year old me and currently 30 year old me probably appreciated it best for the concepts, characters, music, and basically everything BESIDES the gameplay.

Like, Shadow was handled SUPRISINGLY well. Not a single connection to his past, just him getting entangled in the plot and trying to figure out Mephiles, and coming to terms with being hunted and sealed away in the future. The unshakeable friendship with Rouge, the hurt he hides well upon finding out Omega was programmed to seal him away, sort of becoming a brief mentor to Silver when they uncover the truth, and the bad ass line that is "If the world chooses to become my enemy, I'll fight like I always have" when faced with a demon that refuses to die and releasing his inhibitor rings- previously only done in game against The Final Hazard. Gameplay wise, his homing multi attack and chaos drive was actually pretty cool, especially with his red aura. Also Jason Griffith sounded really cool.

Silver himself is also incredibly overhated and underrated by fans and SEGA themselves. His character design is pretty cool, his powers are unique, and his backstory is sad and understandable when you realize he's even younger than Sonic. Watching him lose his friends- Amy when she finds out Sonic was his target after they bonded, PROBABLY his first friend he's made other than Blaze; and Blaze acting as his rock to keep him steady and SACRIFICING HERSELF to save the future, leaving him alone AGAIN. Yeah its complicated and never explained properly how she came there, but god it's such a cool dynamic. Sonic p06 actually is helping to show off just how cool of a character he could have been to control, especially by taking his cutscene speed into account.

Now Elise is complicated. It is definitely weird they had her fall in love with Sonic and kiss him back to life- however, if we ignore that, the friendship she was building with Sonic and their adventures together was actually rather sweet in it's own way. Perhaps if they simply wrote out the romance angle and simply kept it to admiration and friendship, then she would have been better accepted- like at least she's not Chris from Sonic X, cmon. Sonic being this fun guy that's there to teach her how to relax or to just be a fun, non political figure in her life is such a fun idea, too, being honest, its a fun trope that's been around forever and i never tire of it. Sonic isn't really one that needs a ton of character development because part of his charm is just how free, brave, and a bit happy go lucky he is in spite of the dangers around him. Really, their friendship could have been a lot like how KH handles the humans being friends with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, with surprising wisdom, silliness, and bravery coming from the cartoony animal friend and the very human character learning a lot from them and growing. It would certainly help if Elise maybe hung out with other characters, too (maybe have that bit in the beginning where she sees Silver again actually play out).

I think the biggest loss from the retcon at the end was losing Mephiles. Mephiles as a villain was INCREDIBLE considering everything wrong with the game. Cold, calculated, scheming, not to mention Dan Green just bringing his absolute BEST here, like it's very rare to see a character like him in Sonic games, let alone the way he manipulates people by... not exactly lying. Sonic in a way WAS the Iblis Trigger- Mephiles killed him and Elise released Iblis. The way he presented only the cold truths to Shadow- he's a devil, but not wrong, because everyone did turn their backs on Shadow. His designs, too, are cool af- Shadow on a conceptual level was meant to be Sonic's shadow and fold, but Mephiles became that for Shadow QUITE LITERALLY by taking his form for himself, and this time it ACTUALLY makes sense and isn't just a huge coincidence. Going even further with the demonic form is icing on the cake, especially considering just 1 game ago, that could have been Shadow himself if he gave into Black Doom's temptations. Mephiles is such an interesting villain, but alas he was retconned out of existence and doomed to a bad game, so I doubt he'll even return in Shadow Generations.

Then the entire concept of the story involving time travel, adding more abilities that can be used with the Chaos Emeralds (time travel and soul... binding? Sealing?), the ruins, the Venice inspired city itself, the landing wasn't there but the ingredients WERE. So was the gameplay, 06 could have easily been Sonic Adventure 3, and they probably avoided that title because they knew the game would be a bust. Ugh. Ugh. But the MUSIC. FUCKING HELL THE MUSIC. His World is probably the best game theme from the entire franchise (so much so they made 17 versions lol), and Dreams of an Absolution CHANGED something in me as a kid. Shit, I'm still listening to Aquatic Base and Kingdom Valley all these years later.

Also... maybe controversial, I liked these models the best. The current ones are too short and plastic looking tbh. We'll, for Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Omega, and Blaze, the rest are definitely weird but the longer legs actually fit Silver pretty well with his boots in comparison to later 3d models.

Oh man. I don't think I'll ever get over this. I've had to come to terms with a lot of "what could have beens" in my life but I don't think I'll ever fully get over what was lost here. The potential for what could have been the best Sonic game ever and a game that could have defined a generation, LOST because some jackasses up top demanded that Christmas money. A development cycle so awful that Yuji Naka left Sonic Team, as did many other devs working on the game... Splitting the already struggling team down even FURTHER to try and make 06 for the Wii, realizing that the Wii was not going to be as powerful as the 360/ps3, and deciding to turn that into Secret Rings (oh look MORE squandered potential). Introducing characters that are cool as shit, only to be forever scarred by the fact they appeared in a bad game. Not only this, but said bad game had Sonic's friends in it, making it so assholes in reviewing would go on this "Sonic and his shitty friends" tyrade that would result in us not really getting to play any other characters in an official capacity until QUITE recently... as dlc for Frontiers. Or Shadow, but in Forces he was just Sonic again.

This is my Roman Empire, I swear.

I hope that when ChaosX finishes up with p-06, fans can somehow work together to create a more cohesive story to really rectify what could have been, complete with better character development and some major plot holes either explained or filled in. In my heart, I would really love 06 to get a redemption arc and go from one of the worst Sonic games ever (Boom now holds that title- again, squandered potential) to one of the BEST ever. Like so good that even SEGA says "actually THIS is canon now." Idk, it'd be so much vindication for middle schooler DD.

God I've actually prayed to see the universe where 06 became Adventure 3, or 07/08 instead and was the best game ever. Like many things in life, I'll probably never get to see or play it in it's fully realized state.

[testudoaubrei-blog]

Well, it’s not quite a master’s thesis, but this is (the first of) a series of posts on why Catra and Adora are the best love story in the history of kids TV animation and maybe the greatest love story in the history of TV. This may in some ways be faint praise - romance on TV is generally not very good compared with books or movies. Often it’s just some will they/won’t they sexual tension that is defused by getting characters together and re-heightened by breaking them up. TV is full of nearly shark jumping pointless dramas like Sam and Diane (Cheers, holy fuck am I dating myself, though that was technically before my time), Ross and Rachel (Friends, which was no Cheers) etc, but also some less annoying couples like Ben and Leslie (Parks and Rec) or Amy and Jake (Bk99) who are mostly just kind of cute and fun. Other shows, like the X-Files, teased viewers for years with unresolved sexual tension. In kids shows most romances are, appropriate for their target viewers, mild, sweet relationships based more on self-conscious flirting and blushing than on complex and conflicted feelings or deep passions - which is pretty realistic when the characters are young teens or even mid-teens. Some of these relationships are really well done - Finn and Flame Princess, Dipper and Pacifica (yeah I ship them), the early stages of Katara and Aang (before the showrunners imbued this childhood crush with cosmic significance), Steven and Connie, etc. Catra and Adora, though, are different. Their love story is not a side plot or a sub plot, it’s the heart of the show. It isn’t a childhood crush, it’s a very messy and passionate relationship between two young adults. She-Ra is an emotionally complex lesbian romance just as much as it is a thrilling action/adventure show. Everything about their relationship is baked into the show’s plot, its themes, hell even its musical score. The dramatic tension between Catra and Adora is not the result of stretching out a flirtation for ratings, but a coherent dramatic arc that runs through the entire show. As Noelle said, he made Catradora so central that execs couldn’t take it out without ruining the show. And the show is better for it. In this series of posts I’m going to try to show why, as well as showing why She-Ra is such a fantastic love story.

First off, let’s talk about how Catra and Adora’s character arcs are foils for each other, and how they come together and apart through the series. This is actually a post that I’ve been working on for a while but I keep summarizing the show rather than cutting to the chase, so I’m not going to recite many plot points so much as sketch out what’s going on with the dramatic structure at the time. But also, let’s talk about what each character’s arc is saying, and how they are commenting on each other. Spoiler alert: Catra’s arc is a subversion and critique of stories of empowerment through ruthless self-assertion and revenge, while Adora’s arc is a subversion and critique of chosen one narratives and stories of self-denial and self-transcendence.

When the show starts, Adora and Catra are shown as rivals and friends - their first scene starts the recurring motif of them reaching out for each other as one of them dangles above an abyss, as well as establishing their flirtatious banter and easy camaraderie. We quickly learn that these two young women plan to conquer the world together. These scenes and later flashbacks show Catra and Adora as deeply enmeshed in each others lives, to the point where neither of them (but especially Catra) have clear identities outside of one another. There is so much genuine love on both sides before Adora leaves, but also resentment, envy and fear, especially on Catra’s side, as well as a protectiveness on Adora’s side that deprives Catra of her autonomy. They are both being abused by Shadow Weaver - Catra physically  and emotionally, Adora emotionally. It wouldn’t be too much to say that Shadow Weaver holds Catra hostage to control Adora (this is why critiques that Adora abandoned Catra to be abused are actually kind of messed up, since they accept Shadow Weaver’s premise that Adora is responsible for what Shadow Weaver does to Catra). In addition, Catra and Adora actually see the world incredibly differently. Adora already sees the world in terms of right, wrong and her destiny to right wrongs - this is why it’s important for her  to accept the Horde’s obvious lies - she couldn’t keep living if she didn’t. Catra, on the other hand, sees the world solely in terms of survival and personal loyalty - everything for her is about preserving herself and the person she cares about - Adora.

Then, when Adora finds the sword, she leaves because it’s the right thing to do. Catra doesn’t even have a concept of ‘the right thing to do’ being something she should care about, or perhaps, something she can care about as an irredeemably evil, awful fuck-up. So at Thaymor neither one understands where the other is coming from, and Catra and Adora begin to part. This is the first turning point in their relationship. Adora chooses duty over what she desires, Catra chooses to protect herself (such as she sees it) and nurse her sense of betrayal and abandonment.

Their relationship until Promise is a kind of weird Frenemy thing that is fascinating to watch and sold me on the show. Neither one wants to fully admit to themselves that the other is now their enemy, neither one has given up on changing the other’s mind. Each is furious at the other, and desperate to see her again at the same time. There’s a lot of heartache and just as much sexual tension, especially at Princess Prom. Both of them come alive when they fight each other (more about that in a later post). But they’re already growing apart - Adora embracing her destiny as She-Ra, Catra rising in the ranks for the Horde. Adora now has the purpose she always wanted, plus other friends and a sense of being chosen to do something great, while Catra now has power - the means to protect herself from people like Shadow Weaver as well as the vindication she had always been denied, and even the opportunity to beat Shadow Weaver at her own game.

The next turning point is Promise. Holy fuck, this episode. It’s an episode that is even more heartbreaking after you’ve watched the show because you know just how much worse things are going to get, and yet, it’s a necessary part of both of their character arcs. Even through season 1 Catra and Adora had remained very much enmeshed in each others lives in an increasingly fucked up way as they grew apart but refused to turn away from each other. Even though they aren’t -exactly- a romantic couple (Adora doesn’t recognize and acknowledge her feelings until the last episode of Season 5), Season 1 of She-Ra is one of the worst breakups I have seen on TV. As I said in a couple of previous posts, this is the kind of shit that the Mountain Goats write songs about. Everything that was poisoning their love for each other even before episode 1 bubbles to the surface and combines with them fighting on opposite sides of the war to make a truly fucked up situation. In the end, it’s Catra that makes the choice to turn away from Adora. This isn’t a -good- decision. It’s spiteful, and destructive, and based on an outright deluded understanding of their relationship (inspired by Light Hope’s manipulations and her own issues), but it’s in some ways a necessary decision. Catra has been so wrapped up in Adora for so long that she isn’t going to be able to figure out who -she- is without cutting Adora out of her life. And the same is true of Adora.

But each of them do this in about the worst way possible. Catra embraces destruction, ambition, manipulation and outright cruelty, turning the tactics of her abusers against them and against everyone around her. She first triumphs over Shadow Weaver and manipulates Entrapta into trying to corrupt Etheria itself. Meanwhile Adora ‘lets go’ and commits herself to the self-denying mantle of She-Ra. Over the next several seasons, their respective paths will nearly lead both Catra and Adora to their deaths (in the Season 4 finale).

For the next season (counting season 2 and 3 as one) Catra and Adora are still closely linked, but as enemies. Still, there’s more than enough flirtation between them (that ‘Hey Catra’ in the first episode of Season 2 is something else), and especially on Adora’s side we see her hold back with Catra, and often take responsibility for the harm Catra inflicts, just like she had when they were kids. Yet they still drift apart - after facing off every other episode in Season 1, they spend less and less time on screen together through season 2 and 3. Catra continues her ascent to power and descent into villainy while Adora becomes more of a stressed out mess as she takes the fate of the world and the wellbeing of everyone she cares about on her admittedly broad shoulders. Catra’s one moment of vulnerability is rewarded by Shadow Weaver’s betrayal and her exile, then Catra triumphs in ruthless badass fashion through sheer desperation and aggression. In the Crimson Wastes, we see Catra at her most independent, and she almost seems happy. But once Adora shows up and Catra hears about Shadow Weaver, she’s sucked back into the worst of her resentments, and she makes very clear that being happy is less important to her than making sure Adora is miserable.

This changes everything. Catra completely breaks with reality and tries to kill Adora, herself and the world rather than lose to Adora and Shadow Weaver (I do think it’s important to remember that she does that after Shadow Weaver nearly kills her). Catra betrays everyone around her when she exiles Entrapta, threatens Scopria and lies to Hordak. Then she flips the switch. When Adora tries to fix things, Catra fights to her own death to make sure that the world disintegrates with her. For her part, Adora fights first to understand what is wrong with the world and then to fix it. Finally she tells Catra that destroying the world is her choice and she has to live with it, decks her, and then sees her off with a death glare once the portal is closed. With this, Adora writes Catra off even if, as she says later, she never never hated her. By doing that, Adora casts off the guilt that had dogged her and takes responsibility for her own life rather than someone else’s - this is actually a huge step for her, and one that will become more important in Season 4.

Season 4 is in many ways the nadir of their relationship. They only see each other once during the entire season, in Fluterrina, when Adora tries to blast Catra, much to the latter’s shock. There’s a sense in that scene that Catra is trying to have the same flirtatious enmity she used to have with Adora, and Adora is having none of it. Catra almost seems hurt by this, which is an early hint at how isolated Catra is beginning to feel. Catra spends the rest of the season at her highest and lowest. On the one hand she spends most of 12 episodes winning by every standard she has ever claimed to care about, besting Hordak himself in single combat and making herself co-ruler of the Horde and coming within a day’s march of ending the Rebellion. In many ways it is the ultimate empowerment fantasy - the abused young woman has defeated her abusers, showed up everyone who doubted her and forced everyone to respect her. But I think it’s striking that the show starts with her and Adora dreaming of conquering the world together and in Season 4 Catra nearly succeeds in conquering it alone, almost like she was trying to live out her old shared fantasy while proving she didn’t need her former best friend. 

At the same time, Catra is clearly miserable. She’s always been unhappy, but in Season 4 we see her completely isolated and lying to herself and everyone who will listen in a desperate attempt to justify her actions. Turning the tactics of Hordak and Shadow Weaver against them to gain power and then against Scorpia and Entrapta to maintain it haven’t vindicated Catra, they’ve made her more and more alone as Entrapta is exiled and Scorpia drifts away. Meanwhile Catra reaches out to Double Trouble, and her interactions with them reek of a kind of desperate desire to have someone in her life (the feeling of their interaction is of an unhealthy casual relationship where one partner becomes emotionally invested and the other takes advantage of that while denying the other the closeness they desire). As people leave her, one after the other, it becomes clearer and clearer that Catra doesn’t want power at all - she wants connection, friendship, love, and power is a very poor replacement. As I said in my long Catra rant, Season 4 is both her ‘Walter White as a Catgirl’ season and the beginning of her redemption. Everything comes to head when Sparkles destroys everything Catra has tried to achieve, Double Trouble delivers those harsh truths and Horde Prime shows up and makes it all irrelevant, just highlighting how futile all her struggles and sacrifices and crimes have been.

Meanwhile Adora spends Season 4 becoming her own her and her own woman. After telling off Catra, she grows more and more disillusioned with Light Hope and critical of Glimmer (though the latter has more than a shade of her old habit of taking responsibility for others - Adora’s development is not linear). She’s gained the courage and confidence to strike out her own path, not just follow a destiny. At the season’s end she once again breaks with her best friend to do what is right, and discards the destiny that she was being prepared for. But in this case she isn’t chasing one packaged destiny for another, instead she’s making her own choice and literally shattering the thing that she thought gave her life purpose. It’s badass, and heartbreaking, and along with decking Catra and jumping after Catra into the abyss (see below) it’s the perfect Adora moment.

In many ways Season 5 starts with Catra and Adora farther apart than they have ever been. They aren’t even enemies anymore, they’re completely out of each other’s lives. And both Catra and Adora are lost at the beginning of Season 5 - Catra is useless and alone on Prime’s ship, completely defeated despite ostensibly being on the winning side, and she goes through the motions of her normal plotting without any particular conviction and none of her normal flair. Meanwhile Adora is even more miserable and self-destructive than usual, throwing herself at Horde Bots and working herself until she drops of exhaustion. In a very real way they both stay lost until they have a chance to help the other. Catra takes responsibility for what she’s done and what she can do, saves Glimmer (at least partly for Adora’s sake), apologizes to Adora, and sacrifices herself. Adora only seems to come alive when she decides to turn around, face Prime, and save the cat. And when she does, Catra and Adora’s arcs, which had separated so completely in season 4, come crashing back together to end the series.

Adora during Save the Cat is such a contrast with the uncertain, hesitant and self-destructive wreck we’ve seen so far in Season 5. This is possibly her craziest plan in 3 years of mostly cazy plans, but she never wavers or questions herself. Even when Chipped Catra appears and we see Adora’s heart break while we watch, Adora doesn’t back down or relent. She keeps at it even as the tears stream down her face. She fights better trying to save Catra without She-Ra’s powers than she fought at the Battle of Bright Moon with them. Catra’s just about as desperate - we see her cry and plead, and now is probably as good a time to any to point out how amazing a job both VAs did throughout the show, but especially in this episode, and how good a job the board artists did. 

Seeing each other for the first time in a year, and only the second time since Catra blew everything up, Catra and Adora are probably the rawest and least restrained we’ve ever seen them. There’s barely any banter, no bravado, and no pretense that they are anything other than two women who desperately need each other (Prime doesn’t help with ‘You broke my heart’.) Then Catra is flung to her death, Adora jumps after her, breaks both her legs in the fall (we see her crawl to Catra, as though she couldn’t walk) and becomes the real She-Ra. It’s such a triumphant and deeply queer moment seeing a woman transformed into a warrior goddess to protect the woman she loves, and it’s the reason that, as dark as it is, Save the Cat is my Comfort Food episode.

Let’s not sleep on Taking Control, though. This episode is like a microcosm of what this show does best, especially the A plot with Catra and Adora. Catra’s reversion to lashing out at everyone and her refusal to be open to Adora shows just how much of a struggle this whole ‘being good and trying to connect to people’ thing is. Catra’s outburst gives Adora a chance to stand up for herself and refuse to be Catra’s punching bag, while also not trying to control her. Adora’s ultimatum gives Catra a chance to reach out to Adora (quite literally), and allow herself to be vulnerable. In this episode, we see just how far Catra and Adora have come since the messed up stew of their relationship in Season 1. Adora lets Catra be responsible for her own actions; Catra lets herself be vulnerable to Adora and takes responsibility for her actions. They’re both better people and better friends and better partners than they were, and the show has shown this in a strikingly nuanced and realistic way. 

The important thing to note in the next few episodes of Season 5 isn’t just how much closer Catra and Adora get to each other and how much they flirt (So much. So much, y’all) but just how -happy- they are. We see both of them transformed in the other’s presence. Basically, since they’ve parted, both Catra and Adora have been defined in no small part by how miserable they often are. They have both had their triumphs and their lighter moments, but there’s been a sense of melancholy dogging both Catra and Adora since episode 1. And now that they’re together again, that lifts, somewhat. Catra’s verbal barbs have lost their venom, and she can openly show how much she cares for Adora and even Bow and Glimmer. She’s still herself - snarky, cynical, somewhat devious - but she’s not engaged in a self-destructive zero-sum struggle with everyone around her. Meanwhile Adora has spent 4 seasons being a neurotic and sometimes nearly joyless mess who takes responsibility for everything and often doesn’t let herself enjoy anything other than the odd BFS group hug (exceptions include trying to uh...impress Huntara and reveling with the butterfly ladies of Elberron in Flutterina).  Around Catra, though, she’s a cocky, swaggering jock who gives as good as she gets. It’s a side of Adora we’ve only seen hints of before, and one that’s so much more confident and joyful even as the world is ending around her. Apart, Catra had tried to protect and vindicate herself with power and conquest, while Adora had tried to forget herself in duty and sacrifice. Together, they can be themselves again. This dynamic is crucial to the show’s portrayal of Catra and Adora’s romance because it doesn’t just show how much they love each other, but how they’re -good- for each other now that they’ve grown as people, and that they are so much better than they were when they were apart.

Until Shadow Weaver shows up. Their old abuser reintroduces tensions but even then things are different than they were. Now Catra isn’t just resentful of how Shadow Weaver prefers Adora - she’s  protective of Adora, which is clearest in Failsafe when she calls Shadow Weaver out for being willing to sacrifice Adora. And while Adora takes the Failsafe, it isn’t to follow her destiny or because she has a death wish - it’s because she loves her friends, and she is the only one who has any hope of doing this and living (though Catra’s suggestion that Shadow Weaver take it is a good one). And finally, when Catra leaves Adora, it isn’t because she hates Adora, nor, despite what she says, is it because she really thinks that Adora chose Shadow Weaver. At least, not exactly. It’s because Catra loves Adora, and can admit that to herself, and can’t stay around and watch the woman she loves sacrifice herself rather than choosing Catra. Before Catra leaves, she asks Adora ‘What do you want?” It’s a question that echoes Shadow Weaver’s speech in Episode 1: ‘isn’t this what you always wanted since you could want anything?’ As much as Adora has grown as a person, and defined herself and stood up for what she thinks is right, she still has never answered that question - it’s never been ‘what do I want’ but ‘what do I have to do?’ and that’s how Adora answers Catra’s question. This is Adora’s last gasp as a self-transcending hero, letting go of what she wants (not that she ever dared articulate what that was) in order to do what must be done. And it nearly kills her and dooms the universe, because Adora can’t be the hero that she needs to be by being anyone less than herself.

But it’s losing Catra that inspires Adora to tell off Shadow Weaver for good (not that she’d ever really warmed to her after season 1). And it’s love for Adora that inspires Catra to stand up to Shadow Weaver and demand that she do the right thing. In both cases, Catra and Adora aren’t just standing up to their abuser, but holding her to account for the harm she’s caused, and it’s the love that they have for each other that inspires them to do this. In Catra’s case in particular her refusal to let Shadow Weaver weasel out of finding Adora is a much greater triumph over Shadow Weaver than beating her up and breaking her mask in Season 1 - it’s proof not so much to Shadow Weaver but to Catra herself that Catra really is better than this and that she deserves better than this. It’s not turning her abuser’s tactics against her, but truly holding her to a moral standard and demanding that she do the right thing.

And then there’s Catra and Adora together at the heart. Catra has already come back for Adora and stayed to the end, choosing to die with her even if she can’t share a life together (not out of some death wish, but because Adora needs her). And Adora, who’s been avoiding answering the question for three fucking years, finally let’s herself want Catra when Catra finally confesses her love (breaking the last of her self-protective shields) and asks Adora to stay -for her-. And by admitting what she wants, Adora can truly be at peace with herself and be the hero she needs to be, lesbianism saves the universe, The End.

So anyway, that’s how Catra and Adora’s stories are woven together and how they compliment and comment on each other. Narrativiely, Adora and Catra start together, come apart, find something of themselves, and truly find themselves and each other when they are reunited. Thematically, they are critiquing seemingly opposing narrative tropes - empowerment narratives and narratives of self sacrifice. But by showing the flaws in both types of story and showing how neither self-seeking empowerment nor self-negating self sacrifice can actually make us happy, She-Ra asks and answers more profound questions than most prestige dramas for adults do. I’ll get into how the show sells the idea that the power of love can bring us happiness (and save the world) in a future post. But next up, I’m going to celebrate just how much Catra and Adora’s relationship revels in ambiguity, complexity and contradiction and so tells a grown up love story in a kid’s show.

[atruththatyoudeny]

Happy 28th! Here are all the 14 fics I read and enjoyed this month. As always, all the love for all the amazing authors in this fandom! ♥

In The Still Of The Night | jacaranda_bloom | Dirty Dancing AU - a/b/o - prejudice - gender stereotyping - class divide - angst - pining - smut - 69k In a society where omegas are expected to follow a predetermined path, Louis strives for more; for his voice to be heard, for recognition, for true love. In a world where your past defines your future, Harry fights against the system; for equality, for a different life, for acceptance. When their two worlds collide, will they be beaten down by conformity or will they rise up and forge a new path together? OR the Dirty Dancing AU where Louis is a feisty omega who wants to change the world, Harry is an alpha from the wrong side of the tracks, and nobody puts Louis in a corner.

Plant New Seeds in the Melody | 28sunflowers | enemies to friends to lovers - miscommunication - misunderstandings - emotional hurt/comfort - Original Character Death - grief/mourning - slow build - smut - 58k After losing his husband in a tragic car accident, the last thing Louis needs is to keep running into popstar Harry Styles, who David was quite fond of. Obviously, that’s exactly what keeps happening. But as their unlikely friendship blossoms, Louis realizes that, maybe, having Harry in his life was the only good thing that came out of his adverse circumstances. Harry could be just the right person to help Louis find trust and intimacy in someone new.

take my hand, wreck my plans | amomentoflove | Cinderella AU - a/b/o - royalty - Minor Character Death - emotional abuse - magic - 38k Louis meets the man in the center of the room, feeling every eye on him. “Mr. H,” he whispers. The man smiles brightly and laughs as if he can’t believe his eyes. “It’s you,” he says breathlessly. “I didn’t think I would see you again.” “Nor I you, especially under these circumstances.” “Even so,” Mr H says, his eyes bouncing from Louis’ eyes to his lips. “Will you do me a great honor and join me in leading the first … um…” “Dance?” Mr. H laughs and nods. “Yes, that’s the one.” Louis bites his lips and doesn’t hesitate before whispering, “Yes.” Mr. H beams and reaches for Louis’ hand. Sparks fly at the touch and a zing of excitement shoots through Louis’ body. His face heats up as he’s afraid his scent would give away his feelings towards the other man.

One More Taste of Your Lips | Canadianlarrie & MsHydeStylinson | canon compliant - reunion tour - angst - internalized homophobia/biphobia - cheating - smut - Coming Out - 80k It had been eight years since the hiatus began, and Louis had spent that time writing and recording music, touring and making it safely through the pandemic. When the opportunity arose to go back on tour with One Direction, Louis knew he'd be a fool not to take it. Sure, life on the road would be different after all this time apart, but he was looking forward to experiencing that comradery again. What he hadn't realised was that living the better part of nine months in each other's pockets was bound to dredge up issues from his past. And when one of the pockets belonged to Harry, who he'd had a rather unconventional friendship with that drifted apart during their last tour, life on the road again would upend both their lives in irrevocable ways. * Harry wasn’t that sixteen year old boy anymore. Nor was he the young man in his late teens who was on the cusp of conquering the entire world. But some traits seemed to remain the same; his vibrant green eyes, the dimples set deeply in his cheeks whenever he laughed earnestly, or his curls that were the same shade of cocoa that Louis remembered fondly. And yet, Louis had absolutely no idea who this man that stood a mere twenty paces away was today.

Old Photographs & Times I'll Remember | jaerie | time travel - Eroda - period-typical homophobia - anxiety - depression - discussion about suicide - self-discovery - post-break up - 54k Carefully he set that negative down and lifted the paper to see there was another beneath. This one again was a young man, this time posed against an antique car. He lifted a few more negatives out one by one, each a portrait of the same man with various backdrops. The man in a meadow, in an office, leaning against a doorframe — even one in his underwear grinning at the camera. On the edge of each negative printed in slanted, handwritten characters were the initials and date. H.S. 1924. He quickly but carefully packed them back into the box and buzzed with excitement. He couldn’t wait to develop them to see exactly what had been captured in the images. It was a find that felt like a puzzle to piece together. H.S. was likely the man in the photographs as well as the owner of the suitcase. Who was he? Why had his suitcase found its way into Niall’s attic? Was he still alive and well somewhere in the world? A camera, a suitcase, and a relationship forged through time.

Know a Trick or Two | SadaVeniren | Harry Potter setting - mpreg - magic - kid fic - - genderfluid character - smut - intersex - 44k The night before Louis is scheduled for a Portkey to begin training with the Vratsa Vultures in Bulgaria he heads into Muggle London for one last night of fun. A few months later he finds out he’s having a child. Eleven years ago Harry had a one night stand and now there’s a strange man on his doorstep telling him his daughter is something called a wizard and she’s got a place at the British wizarding school Hogwarts. Aka the one where Muggle Harry and Wizard Louis have a one night stand and get more than they bargained out of it.

come away with me | suspendrs | Minor Character Death - friends to lovers - sexuality crisis - emotional hurt/comfort - anxiety - smut - 80k Louis had such big plans. He wanted so much out of life, and so did Amy. Now Bridget is going to grow up without a mother, and she’s always going to wonder what it would be like if this hadn’t happened. He wonders if she’ll blame him for her mother’s death as she gets older, or if she’ll understand that this is just as painful for Louis as it is for her. Louis doesn’t know how he’s going to raise her on his own, because he’s a fantastic father, yes, but he’s always been the fun parent, and Amy was in charge of the rules. He doesn’t know how to make sure Bridget has everything she needs all the time, doesn’t know how to make her favorite meal or how to do that one braid she loves to have in her hair or how to teach her to be the best person she can be. He doesn’t know how to live without Amy, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. Or, Louis has to pick up the pieces of his and his daughter's life after his wife dies, and Harry is a beautiful stranger that just wants to help.

we made our promises (we said our vows) | millsx | Military AU - established relationship - kid fic - angst - hurt/comfort - mentions of PTSD - mentions of depressions - mentions of anxiety - injury - long-distance relationship - 21k Fairy tales always end with the Happily Ever After; the princess escapes her evil stepmother and gets married to the knight in shining armor. It turns out real life doesn’t care about Happily Ever Afters and sometimes problems appear when you don’t expect them to. Harry sure didn’t, not after years of being married.

Love, Ever After | jacaranda_bloom | a/b/o - farmers markets - soulmates - pining - miscommunication - fluff - banter - smut - 21k One would assume that the charismatic omega in charge of the local matchmaking service would have found a mate and settled down ages ago. His clients, in fact, are always a bit surprised when they come to learn that Louis is still single. But Louis doesn’t mind, not really. His standards are just high; he is happy holding out for his alpha, his soulmate, and chooses to not waste his time with anyone else, despite what his friends might think. That is, until his best mate from uni drags him out of bed far too early on a Saturday morning after a night of drinking to go to a farmers market, of all places. It’s there that he proceeds to make an utter fool of himself in front of the hottest alpha he has ever laid eyes on. There’s truly no coming back from that, is there? OR The one where omega Louis makes love matches, alpha Harry makes cheese, and meddling friends might finally make their dreams of finding their soulmate come true.

Hometown | allwaswell16 | High School - College/university - driving - heartbreak - memories - friendship - happy ending - angst - 2k On the day Harry gets his driver’s licence, he drives through the suburbs, heartbroken that he can’t drive home to Louis.

fever dream high | wildestdreams | friends to lovers - childhood friends - a/b/o - fluff - angst - smut - mutual pining - High School - 30k "Excuse me, what?" Harry licked his lips, carefully looking him in the eyes. "I will spend your heat with you so you're ready by Monday to play your game." "Harry," Louis began, suddenly at a loss for words. "I couldn't ask you to do that." "Why not? You just said you trust me." "You're my best friend. There's no one I trust more than you." "Then what's the problem?" "Well, friends don't usually help you through your heats or ruts, so excuse me for being a little skeptical." or A High School ABO AU where Harry and Louis are best friends and nothing more until things start getting a little complicated and they're faced with feelings they never wanted to confront.

We are the same, you run in my veins | 28sunflowers | a/b/o - non-traditional a/b/o- soulmates - wolves -pack dynamics - 4k When the time for Louis to become the Alpha leader of his pack comes, he can’t rise to the occasion for not being yet bonded. A series of trips to neighbouring packs in search of his soulmate is fruitless until he meets one of the other packs’ Alpha heir. Harry. The world seems to stop turning for a second and then it shifts, clicking into its axis. All the distress and wrongness he felt until that very moment suddenly disappears. Louis is finally whole. But two Alpha leaders from different tribes soulbonding is something unheard of before.

Divinely Blessed | thinlines | a/b/o - non-traditional a/b/o - established relationship - PWP - 17k “I heard you, Ni. But what do you mean?” “What do you mean what I mean?” Harry rolled his eyes as he shoved his alpha friend down onto a seat. “Did you mean you lick someone out or…?” “Nah, mate! It was me! I got licked out!” Harry could only stare at Niall in horror. Alpha Harry prides himself on having the bravest and most caring omega who might or might not just fulfill his sudden curiosity.

This chemistry like candy to me | CuckooTrooke | a/b/o - kink discovery - mpreg - male lactation - smut - 8k "It's just... Are you aware, that, uh... You're- You're kind of leaking." Harry feels his blood run cold. The heart that was thudding so loud and fast drops to his stomach, and his shoulders hunch in embarrassment. "Excuse me?" Harry asks once he manages to gather himself and recover from the shock. He automatically steps back but since he's already squeezed in the corner, it doesn't do much to put any distance between them, "Who the fuck do you think you are?" "Wha- No. Oh my god, I wouldn't- No," The man says as he realizes the misunderstanding, and wildly gestures to his chest, "I mean your- Your chest. Is leaking." OR Harry is 8 months pregnant with a poor balance and traitorous nipples. Unfortunately for him, that is precisely when he meets a beautiful alpha in a packed London Tube. Fortunately for him, the said alpha might just be the best thing he has ever come across.

[mobianxcycle]

it can get a little spooky around here at night. Iona Cook

PROMPTS FROM NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

"Spooky. . . Really?" She wondered if there could ever be anywhere near as spooky as some of the places she's had to go over the years. Ghosts, phantoms, things that were out to get not only herself, but anything that came into the area--

"I never realized. Yet again, I don't really come out here at night too often. . ." She had just heard rumor that a certain blue ally of hers had been nearby at some point and was hoping to catch him. . . Seems like she didn't quite make it in time.

[molinaskies]

Hello!

Thanks for joining me for the ride. I hope you have fun, here. My Sonic Analyses

Above all else, I love this franchise for the characters, many of whom have been butchered, slandered, and misunderstood for years. Below are my analyses of various moments throughout the series, in the order I wrote them.

On Sonic’s Emotional Characterization

On Sonic’s Emotional Characterization – A Thought Experiment on Sonic’s Parentification

Sonic’s Next Emotional Arc: Skepticism and Doubt (IDW)

If The World Chooses to Become My Enemy, I Will Fight Like I Always Have

On Sonic and Amy’s Relationship

Sonic’s Ego Journey: The Neglected Subplot of Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Broke. What's next? (IDW)

What We Get Wrong About Dark Sonic

Sonic and the Mirror of Trauma: Scrapnik Island (IDW)

Other Sonic Rambles

(A non-exhaustive list of) other analysis-style content that isn't long or researched enough to be an essay!

Sonic's Legacy

Sonic and Amy's IDW Story

Sonic as an Arbiter of Justice

Sonic and Knuckles in Frontiers

Sonic and Amy in Frontiers

Why Sonamy works (imo LOL)

Shadow caused Sonic Prime, Actually

Sonic is not Indecisive

Amy Never Left Y'all (Frontiers)

On the "Classic Era" as the "Younger Era"

When Might Sonic be Ready for a Relationship?

An Evolution of Dynamic (sonamy)

When Shadow is Mishandled

So I'm not a fan of Lanolin (IDW)

Sonic's Emotional Growth Over the Years

Fanfiction

I Love You - Come With Me

Where the Wind Rises (for Sonamy Week 2024)

Find more of me on AO3 and FFdotNet!

[freakygirlie]

since you're multifandom what are your top 5 favorite ships??

AWESOME QUESTION ANON LET'S GOOOOOOO !!!

number 1:

wincest <3

there is no ship quite like wincest. soulmates, made for each other, FIGHTING THE ENTIRE WORLD FOR EACH OTHER, doing absolutely anything for each other, sam and dean are insane and feral for each other. them being brother makes their ship even more spicy and adds so many layers to it. they have all the romantic tropes ever invented and are so close to each other, are each other's number one, have done the craziest shit for each other, god they are top-tier. they love each other SO MUCH, the most and repeatedly choose each other over others, the world, their own sanity!! when the other hurts, they hurt, the bring out sides in each other no one else can THEY ARE JUST FUCKING PERFECTTT, the way they make each other FEEL is incomprehensible. they are IT for each other. i love them so much and ship them so hard <3

number 2 !

merthur <3

MERLIN AND ARTHUR MY ABSOLUTE BELOVEDDDDD. god they are so perfect for each other and their relationship is absolute gold. the way merlin slowly breaches arthur's walls and helps him become a better person, the way merlin loves him and protects arthur so much, the way arthur allows only merlin to be so frank with him, how fond he is of merlin and how much he loves him, I'M JUST *combusts* . their story is a beautiful one, how arthur accepted merlin even though he was a sorcerer- the people he'd been brought up to hate, how he wanted merlin to just hold him when he was dying, how merlin waited A THOUSAND YEARS just for arthur. light me on fucking fire, these two are adorable, their banter, their love, everything <33

number 3 !

peraltiago <3

amy and jake- quite possibly the best people to ever exist AND THE BEST COUPLE EVR. THEY. ARE. PERFECT. their story is so beautiful and i love them so much !! those friends who are always teasing each other and everytime the insinuation they like each other is made they go ''no!'' and then the slow realization they do like each other, doing your best to ignore it AND THE WHEN YOU FINALLY GET TOGETHER. them! they! jake and amy! they're opposites as hell but fit so well i lose my mind all the time. they love each other so much, improve each other, and are so fond of each other godddd. and they're married and have a baby I LOVE THEM TO DEATH !! <33

number 4 !

cheleanor <3

scattered across 800 versions of their AFTERLIVES, having their memory erased more times than i can remember, these two found each other EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. their love was so special it literally saved humanity. they made each other better IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE and not just them, but those around them !! they love each other so deeply, accept each other's flaws and see each other in such a beautiful light it makes my soul melt. they are SOULMATES who found love in each other when they were deprived of it their entire lives. i love them so much, their scenes are gorgeous and their story is one for the ages <3

number 5 !

juke <3

JULIE AND LUKE MY LOVES AAAAHHHH. I love them so so so fucking much my god. the way they love each other through their music, HOW LUKE IS A GHOST BUT JULIE IS STILL SO FOND OF HIM, how luke loves her so much, the connection they have, their literal soul-bonding moments, their scenes! their songs! their performances me cuckoo, FLIRTING WHILE SINGING AAAAHHHH. luke is so proud of julie and admires her so much and julie looks up to luke so much, they are literal soulmates and their story is just <3 i love them so much mwah <33

+ special shoutout to SYMBROCK !!

my monsterfucker ship, eddie and venom's banter, their fondness for each other, the beautiful and spicy connection they have, VENOM LITERALLY LIVES INSIDE EDDIE, their enemies(ishhsdjd)to lovers journey, and how they're protective AND DOMESTIC AS HELLLL with each other, THEIR TERMS OF ENDEARMENT AND LOVE FOR EACH OTHER IN THE COMICS !!! it's just beautiful i can't wait for my gay monster moments in venom 2 <3333333333

-

AND THERE WE GOOOO MY MOST FAVORITE SHIPS EVER I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH <333

[another-sonic-blog]

any advice to write Silver or Shadow?? Shadow it's the most difficult for me to write D:

Disclaimer: I am not a professional writer, but I wrote this with the few fanfiction experiences that I have as well that all of this is based off MY interpretation of Shadow’s character.

I am not going to lie Shadow the Hedgehog is hard to write. Mostly because you won’t have much canon content to work with. Or at least, there’s not canon content that portrays the REAL Shadow the Hedgehog (Besides Sonic 06 and SA2). If you are going to write Shadow then you are going to write it solely based on character interpretation mostly. There’s something I most say, there is a CONNECTION between Shadow and Silver (There’s a connection with Sonic as well, but we won’t talk about that right now). If you think these two hedgehogs are nothing alike … then let me tell you, they are actually very similarly written.  

Before we go into writing tips, it’s important to analyze the character at hand.

Let’s shortly analyze the character.

Alright, let’s talk about Shadow the Hedgehog

           Shadow’s character has constantly been mis-written throughout the years. Even in the recent IDW Sonic comics, the current writer didn’t do his character justice. The best interpretation that we have of his character is in Sonic 06. (SEGA may have failed to write a coherent plot story but they did great in Shadow’s character and portraying Silver’s character, but will talk about later) There’s a lot into Shadow’s character but to make things simple, I’ll say that there are 3 main traits that make up Shadow’s character (And a few other sub-traits that don’t show up often as well but they are there). First off, Let’s get rid of the idea that Shadow is an ‘edgy’ character. He is not.

So, if Shadow is not edgy? Who is Shadow the Hedgehog? Shadow is this …

1.     Determined. This may seem as a simple asset, but it really it is not. The Shadow that we see in Sonic 06 is not the same Shadow from SA2 or Shadow the Hedgehog’s game. After all the turmoil he went through, Shadow still wants to save the world and play an anti-hero character … But, why? After his tragic and complicated past … Wouldn’t he want to disappear and live a peaceful life? Why doesn’t he want to? Simple … He cares for others. (We will talk about this into more detail later) He cares for the world and the friends he made. He cares for Team Dark. He wants to keep saving the world because HE WANTS TO. Not because of a promise, not because of Maria, not because he was created to protect earth. In Shadow’s game, it was shown clearly that Shadow let go of his past and was born a new. If there’s something we all can agree on is that Shadow is the depiction of ‘Determination’ because even when the whole world is against him, he will still fight.  

If you are going to write his character, then this is an asset you for sure need to include and keep in mind when writing him.  He is determined and he cares.

2.  Insecure.  Although I really dislike how Sonic brought up Shadow’s past and even dared to compared Shadow to Eggman, the author did something good. He portrayed Shadow’s insecurities. Shadow has made ALOT of mistakes in the past. He had messed up again and again till the point in which he is insecure about the decisions his takes. We can see 2 things in these panels.  

1.     Shadow regrets and recognizes his past mistakes.

2.      Shadow is extremely insecure. (Which is really ironic because of his determination but we will speak about that later)

Alright, so what is there to insecurity? There is a lot actually, Sonic knows that Shadow is determined and he would do anything in order to accomplish his goals. Nothing will stop him, so the blue blur used Shadow’s insecurity against him to get what he wants. Shadow lets Sonic get into his head leaving the faith of the world on Sonic’s hands. Because unlike him, Sonic is a hero, Sonic has never done anything bad. Sonic always makes the right choices … unlike Shadow, Sonic was never evil.

He came to the realization that no matter what he chooses, he is going to be wrong.  If he ‘kills’ Eggman and it turns out that he was good, then that would be another mistake. If he lets Eggman go around freely and it turns out that he was evil, then that would be another mistake. In reality, no matter what he choses he would blame himself for whatever the outcome is. The only difference is that he can blame Sonic along with himself as well.

So, we see that Shadow’s insecurities can easily be manipulated by others. Thus, making him do whatever other people pleases.

This is character flaw that plays extremely well with determination, only if written correctly. It is hard to do but it is possible. I’ll talk about that in a few.

3. Caring. One of the best things to came out of Sonic 06 was Shadow’s interaction with Team Dark. Can you see how betrayed Shadow looks when Omega tells him that he would be the one to persecute him? How he says he will remember Rouge will stay by his side no matter what? Like I mentioned before, Shadow the Hedgehog cares for them and he is loyal to them to death. As you can see, he didn’t say anything to Omega nor plans anything against him even if in the future they become enemies. He may not show it often but the bond that he has with Team Dark is the main reason why he wakes up and saves the world from disaster. As well as that he cares for everyone living on it.

So, now that we know his main traits … Determination, insecure and caring … What do we get? Shadow the Hedgehog. These are traits that are hard to write and that’s what is so appealing to this character. One single mistake and you can mess up the whole character. So, here is the question. How can we be determined and be insecure at the same time? Don’t you need to be confident about yourself in order to be determined? Not really and here is why.

           If you are insecure but you really care for others, then you are determined to protect them no matter the cost. It doesn’t matter if you will regret your decisions later, as long as the people you care about are safe.

Shadow’s blind loyalty is double edge sword. We can see in SA2 that Shadow is completely determined to blow up a planet because that was what ‘supposedly’ Maria wanted.

“Besides, there’s no way to save anyone.”

           This can imply a lot of things. I may be overthinking it but to me, this sentence revealed something about Shadow’s character. Before Amy arrived to ask for help, we find Shadow looking at the Earth, really REFLECTING for a long time. There was a part of Shadow who DID NOT WANT TO DESTROY EARTH.  The boy probably actually NEVER wanted to destroy Earth.

“That is the only thing that matters to me now.”

           Shadow really didn’t care if he was the real Shadow or not. Shadow is so loyal and he CARED so much for Maria that he puts his insecurities a side (Yes, he has insecurities even here. He is about to blow up a planet, of course he is insecure the boy doesn’t even remember fully who he is and he actually doesn’t want to destroy earth.) His determined side takes over and we can see that he would do ANYTHING, overcome his insecurities (even if it will haunt him later on) and destroy planets just because he really does CARES for others.

With this said, I think you will understand now why writing Shadow the Hedgehog is difficult. He is a complicated character and it is supposed to be so. How can you show that a quiet character cares without it being ‘out of character?’ How can you write a determined character without it being prepotent? How can you show that a character is insecure without making him look weak?

There is clearly a balance and it’s your job as a writer to create such balance.

So, I will pint point SEGA current and past ‘mistakes’ while writing Shadow the Hedgehog.

They want to highlight Shadow’s determination SO MUCH that he comes out as prepotent, arrogant, cocky, egocentric, etc. It just seems that they can’t get the balance right in this one. Let’s take for example this: 

“I don’t run.”

           So, Sonic IDW. Everyone hated this, calling Shadow a clown and such. Let’s take it into context. Shadow is stopping an army of Zombots to give time for a truck full of Mobians to escape. If you think about it Shadow sacrificed himself so the others could run away safely. That’s actually not bad, it’s a very Shadow thing to do. This panel had so much POTENTIAL to highlight Shadow’s personality but the writer failed to compliment one important element and that is to add Shadow’s caring side.

           The writer preferred to highlight Shadow and Sonic’s rivalry (which honestly is non-existent at this point). He wanted to show just how ‘determined’ Shadow was to prove that he is better than Sonic. However, it just came out as plain clownery. It made it seem that Shadow only cared to prove how ultimate he was instead of caring for the situation at hand.  The whole story could have been saved if Shadow had said something along the lines of: “If I don’t stop the Zombots everyone is going to get infected … Rouge and Omega, everyone … I can’t let that happen I am going to stop them no matter what!”

           That short dialogue alone showed two things, Shadow’s determination and that he cares for others. The author did show Shadow’s insecurity as to how surprised he was when he found out that he was infected. However, it came out short because once again his ‘overly determined’ side showed up.

Like I said before, this panel had potential to show Shadow’s personality. The writer really wanted to highlight Shadow’s three main traits but it wasn’t well balanced and it came out as another bad written Shadow the Hedgehog.

Before we continue, I want to say that I am not writing this to talk bad about Ian Flynn. He has written the other Sonic characters pretty decently, and it bothers me more how he wrote Sonic recently (but that’s another talk for another time) I understand why Shadow is hard to write and that’s why I don’t get as upset when people sometimes wrongly write him.  It honestly just shows how complex this character is.

So, now that we know that SEGA’S main problem is the unbalanced systematic writing of Shadow the Hedgehog, let’s jump into trying to keep on ‘character.’

Now, here are some basic tips.

1.     Remember Shadow top three traits. He is determined, he cares and he is insecure.

When writing him, always try to think of these traits. Shadow is composed of so much more but including more traits would be complicated to write about and many of your readers may not follow along as well. Especially if you starting to write. Even professional writers have problems writing him, so don’t put too much pressure on you. Ask yourself the following questions: “Why is Shadow doing this? Does this correctly highlight one of his main traits? Am I adding this to put more meaning to the story or the character?

2.     One of the main reasons why SEGA has such a hard time writing Shadow is because there has been so many writers throughout the years who wrote character. Everyone has different character interpretations. Although this is not wrong, having different character interpretations in writing is wrong when there is a CONTINUITY. Which is why most of the times Sonic game’s stories aren’t that great. Let’s talk for instance … Sonic has always being a good character throughout the whole games and then suddenly he is bad. Weird, right? It just doesn’t seem right. This is what happens to Shadow in every single game, his character has been interpreted in so many ways that at this point it Shadow is a really messed up character. So, my tip for this is to be consistent. You are going to be the only one writing your story, so don’t be influenced by other writers and suddenly writer Shadow in another way.

3.     The game Shadow the Hedgehog really tried to incorporate something about Shadow. That depending on the circumstances, Shadow would react differently. He is a very dynamic character and you never really know how he will react. Allow Shadow to experience many things. For him to experience unknown things and feelings because only that way the REAL Shadow the Hedgehog would come into light. Write stances that are unknown to him. He is at G.U.N. and others are trying to make friends with him? If he likes someone how would he react? What kind of activities would he do for fun? I cannot stress enough how important it is for your character to interact with other characters and for them to experience new things. Explore all of these!

This turned out longer than I expected, and I am actually missing so much more information I want to add but I don’t want to make this too long. Sorry for any writing mistakes, I wrote this on the go lol. I’ll write some tips on how to write Silver tomorrow. For now, I hope this helps you understand a little bit more of Shadow’s character and why he is hard to write but don’t worry! The more your write, the better you get.  I’ll give you some Silver tips soon, and explain how he is connected with Shadow’s character.

Thank you for the ask!

[sonicfanj]

Seeing Shadow in his Friends, Enemies, and Maria

So, I’m always one for my odd opinions and outlooks and the one that been on my mind of late is one about Shadow. Now I know Shadow is a very easy character to like and make fun of all at once, but one of the things that I like about Shadow is his nuances and his tendency for self-reflection and introspective moments. Like Sonic he is aloof, but unlike Sonic who knows himself, Shadow has difficulty even approaching himself and as a result tends to attract attention from those who reflect aspects of himself in different ways. How responds to these people says a lot about him and how he views himself which I find to be absolutely fascinating.

Friends

So I’ll start with one that is both easy to see Shadow in, but shows a lot of the interesting nuance mystery still about Shadow and how he views himself.

Omega

So, Omega being the Eggman hating machine that he is should be a pretty straightforward character to see Shadow in. Primarily in his need for vengeance no matter what. Shadow himself when he debuted no matter the reasoning behind it perceived himself as a weapon that needed to fulfill his vengeance. Omega is clearly no different and it is obvious that Shadow sees a lot of himself in the machine. They were both made by members of the Robotnik family and find themselves not living the lives they were created for. They are almost family in a way and considering at least through 06 how much trust and care Shadow showed for Omega (why would you take that away SEGA?) there is no doubt that he is extrememly important to him.

Where it gets interesting with Omega is not in the similarities he shares with Shadow and how much of himself that Shadow sees in him, but how Shadow generally treats him. Though Omega is almost entirely a cold weapon of a machine living for a singular vengeance much like he was until Amy reminded him of what Maria asked of him, Shadow did not distance himself from Omega once they were a team. He showed concern for him, considered his insights when appropriate, and trusts him to have his back. This is even after he lets go of his own need for vengeance, yet in a way he constantly has a reminder of it beside him in the form of Omega making Omega serve as much as a warning for what he can devolve into even while he is one of his closest friends. It is such a strange contrast and I believe it would be quite engaging to see what we can learn about Shadow through this relationship.

Rouge

Now Rouge might be a bit more difficult to see Shadow in, but I think a lot of that has to do with their personalities at a glance. Both of them are for the most typically self absorbed individuals, even if for different reasons, but will step up and do the right thing when they need to, no matter how dirty they get in the process. They also typically keep their true feelings on matters hidden unless really pushed, though they have opened up to each other on occasion which is always fun to see. This is especially interesting since the biggest similarity they share is keeping up a facade that makes them seem more unapproachable and callous then they really are which makes Rouge a very kindred soul to Shadow.

Shadows unspoken trust in Rouge says a lot about how he values those parts of himself but fully embraces the importance of keeping himself at arm’s length from everything around him. Shadow values this quite a bit and rarely lets anyone through his icy shell, including Rouge who he will actually grow visibly irritated with when she doesn’t respect his shell. This reaction is kind of interesting to me as to an extent it is an irritation that to me reads of fear. Considering how he lost everything when the Ark was raided though it should not be a particular surprise. He lost everything that made him who he was then and his exterior shell like Rouge’s is a part of him, and something that he values to keep himself whole.

Enemies

Shadow’s enemies are an interesting batch of characters who all reflect Shadow in different ways and clearly highlight how shadow feels about those parts of himself.

Black Doom

Another easy one like Omega, Black Doom is a clear representation of Shadow’s potential to be a complete monster. But as Shadow at the time was craving an identity for himself and a sense of purpose, being a monster was more tempting than it probably ever should have been. But sure enough Shadow listened regardless to what Black Doom had to say and did not finally truly take action until he had seen the full extent of Black Doom’s plans.

Now this puts us an interesting place as it shows that Shadow has a great deal of patience for dealing with the monstrous nature that he possesses. He humors it. Listens to it. Lets it stretch its legs and show itself completely. Yet when it comes time to deal with it, he doesn’t just chase it back into the shadows (sorry for the pun) but chooses to utterly eliminate. Shadow kills Black Doom, destroys the Black Comet, and turns his back on the Ark and everything it represented, even joining forces with G.U.N. in 06. Shadow didn’t just face his the monster inside of him, once he allowed himself to see all of it, he destroyed every trace of it that he could and distanced himself from everything else he couldn’t bring himself to destroy. Too me this makes him look like he is absolutely terrified of the type of monster that he could become and actually makes it easier for me to come to terms with how he acts in the IDW Comics to an extent. Knowing full well the type of monster he can and his unique relationship with Eggman it is little wonder the whole Metal Virus Saga left him in a very foul temper. The terror he possesses for what he can be drives him harder than probably any other motivational force in his life, especially having turned his back as much as he can on his memories of Maria.

Mephiles the Dark

The recolor of a recolor in the flesh, and yet still one of my favorites if only for his relationship with Shadow (06 had it’s problems but Shadow’s campaign was not one of them to me). Mephiles and his plan are one of the biggest messes in the Sonic franchise and that allows him to encapsulate Shadow perfectly. He’s a mess of an individual driven by vengeance and hung up on his power and need to see the plan he follows through to its end. He will let nothing stand in his way but will gladly accept the aid of any he can manipulate to his ends. Almost a perfect description of how SEGA wants Shadow branded right now, even to the extent of wanting to ignore everything that made Shadow who he is, only dwelling on the most trivial of aspects. He is pettiness and arrogance in Shadow’s form and acts as a constant temptation towards deification through his own power while trying to stir his fear of being nothing more but a tool that has outgrown his usefulness to his masters.

So how how does Shadow face this enemy and part of himself? He pretty much tells it to stuff it, and is backed up by Omega who is a kindred soul and has nothing against turning on his masters if the need be (you only did it to yourself Eggman). When presented with all of his fears, insecurities, and everything that his power can bring him, Shadow chooses to fight everything. Be it his master, himself, or anyone else. Shadow has a very firm grasp on what he is, and as much as he fears it, he has no intention of ever giving in, fighting on without end. But like Mephiles, it also shows that Shadow feels the need to keep himself under control, but has to fight against himself to keep himself under control. The consequences of not doing so could be catastrophic (the destruction of the Earth, mankind turned into food, the end of time itself, etc...). That Shadow stays so cool through it is a testament to his resolve, but without his friends as support he buckles under the weight of the responsibility and lashes out like in the IDW comics (so why are you seperating him from his friends SEGA?).

Infinite

Now there wasn’t nearly as much interaction between Shadow and Infinite as there should have been, but that doesn’t stop the daft jackal though from reflecting a part of Shadow. Above all else what Infinite represents is Shadow’s pride, arrogance, and hypocrisy, especially as Shadow has pretty much become him. The constant boasting about himself and his power. The need to dismiss the strength brought on by friendship, and sole the belief that no matter what he can resolve any situation. Infinite is nearly everything that SEGA is trying to make Shadow today, yet they simultaneously tell a story about how wrong it is to be like that through Infinite. It’s a mixed message on SEGA’s part, but not so for Shadow.

Where SEGA says that Infinite is in the wrong even as they try mold Shadow into him, Shadow’s response is so much more in character. Arrogance, pride, hypocrisy; they’re all parts of him that he readily accepts and as a result is completely indifferent to Infinite. It is a curious form of acceptance, yet when it comes to these aspects Shadow just is both physically and philosophically. it isn’t that he openly embraces or rejects these parts of himself, but rather pays them little heed, accepting them as a part of him that does not require his attention. As a result, Infinite proves no threat to Shadow as this is one part of Shadow that he just accepts without thought allowing him to judge the jackal on his actions, not even recognizing how well reflected he is by him or the effects that those aspects can have on others and the world around him. In this regard Shadow reads to me as neglectful of this aspect of personality even though it drives a lot of his actions and personal agency. Yet it reflects him so well as it highlights why it is so easy for him to be so reckless and actually makes it easier for me to see why he’d end up messing up so badly against the Zombots. Go figure.

Maria

Finally wrapping up and giving them their own entire category we get to girl who gave Shadow his heart. No matter how much he tries to walk away she is always right there with him when he is kind, and when he is curious. She is the innocence in him that allows him to occasionally step outside of his icy exterior and the force that drives him to protect. And even his 25th Anniversary comic shows that he still thinks about her and that he walks in the direction illuminated by her beliefs. Or in short, she is everything that Shadow wishes he could hold inside of himself and keep safe no matter how hard his exterior has to grow. Yet with her is soft, gentle, delicate, as likely to break as she. She is as said above, his heart, made even more intriguing as some scholars believe the name to be derived from a word for love. This makes Amy being the one to snap him of his end the world kick all the more symbolic than I ever realized as her name can be interpreted to mean beloved or love )depending on how bad you’re butchering the French origins), especially since other possible meanings include “sea of bitterness” which reflects his personality most of the game, and “rebellion” which in turn relates him to Sonic and his rebellious personality. Again, it makes Maria his heart. And how does Shadow respond to this?

He protects it with everything he has, and is utterly devastated when he loses it, clinging on desperately to the memories and keeping them deeply buried inside himself. At his heart Shadow is extreme frail and knows it, building layer after of protections to keep himself safe, Be it his cold exterior or the lies he tells himself abut himself and leaving her behind which again the 25th Anniversary comic proves is a lie he tells himself in my opinion. His reaction also kind of puts him in the role of the Beast from beauty and the Beast as it is this simple girl who gives him his heart and keeps him from being the monster he fears becoming more than anything else. In a way it’s kind of beautiful and makes me appreciate Shadow that much as a character.

As I stated at the start of this opinion piece, part of what makes Shadow one of my favorites is his nuance and self-reflective and introspective tendencies. Writing it out it opened him up to me in more ways than I really realized he could be opened up and actually brought me a lot of peace with how he is being handled in the IDW comics so far. I may not like, but it actually is more in character than I realized and that is a feat that heavily impresses me with Ian Flynn’s writing considering what SEGA is doing to him. Still though, these are just my opinions and I wonder what everyone else thinks of them and how they see Shadow in his friends, enemies, and Maria.

[antirepurp]

For the character opinion meme: shadow

favorite thing about them

he is so gosh darn edgy in a good way and im a sucker for edge

least favorite thing about them

no one knows how to write him right anymore. also his story gets super confusing in heroes and also in his own game akjshd

favorite line

“If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!”

brOTP

sonic, amy, rouge, omega, blaze, silver, knuckles, tails... lots of friends :D oh and maria too!

OTP

idk these days if im honest?? maybe sonic if it’s done well and in a lowkey way?

nOTP

rouge, MARIA definitely yikes dude, kinda silver because of that one setting i have where shadow raised him?

random headcanon

his superform is as strong as a hyperform, and if he goes hyper he’s just this glowing silhouette of chaos energy and he’s leaking it everywhere and oh god oh fuck it’d be cool and dangerous maybe

unpopular opinion

kirk thornton is a good VA for shadow he’s just not given the chance and opportunities to really go apeshit

song i associate with them

boom!shadow: hungry ghost by red vox

mainline shadow: that’s more difficult but maybe who you are by the mountain goats?

favorite picture of them

i don’t have many pics of him on my laptop but i had this and i do like it a lot

[gemstonehub]

Shadow

send me a character and i’ll list:

favourite thing about them

I love his backstory. It makes him a very deep and emotional character despite his outward attitude. 

least favourite thing about them

Recently, he’s been portrayed as a stereotypical edge-lord and I am not a fan of that kind of stereotyping.

favourite line

“If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!”

brOTP

Shadow and Sonic

OTP

Shadow X Scourge or Shadow X Silver (With some Shadow X Swiftica)

nOTP

Shadow x Amy / Rouge / Blaze (Amy literally mistook him as Sonic at first, Rouge is a slut, and Blaze has barely said 2 words to him)

random headcanon

Being half alien, he’s able to get pregnant.

unpopular opinion

Just because a character looks edgy, doesn’t mean he as to act like it too.

song i associate with them

I Am... All Of Me by Crush 40

favourite picture of them

[eggman-empire]

Dr. Eggman’s Good Deeds

by Dr. Mechano

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik: Nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog and would-be conqueror of the world. For almost thirty years, this man's turned animals into robots, unearthed ancient monsters, and threatened the planet with doomsday weapon after doomsday weapon. In short, he's a villain's villain. A true bad egg. 

But rather than celebrate his feats of villainy, I wanted to talk about the rare times across the franchise that Eggman has performed truly good acts. Eggman's capacity to care, to show kindness, to help others.

Now, I want to clarify what I mean here. For the sake of this list:

I will not be including Eggman teaming up with the heroes to save the world. These acts of "goodness" inherently carry an ulterior motive; That being to save himself and make sure there's still a world for him to conquer. Plus, half the time it's one of his own schemes going out of control anyway. So just saving the world in and of itself won't make the cut for the purpose of my post.

I will also not be including a mere lack of cruelty as "goodness." You don't get a cookie for feeding your prisoners or not torturing people. So while I do think the times where Eggman's lack of cruelty has been pointed out (such as in Unleashed) are important, they're not what I'm talking about either.

I'm specifically talking about times when Eggman does something kind, or helpful, or selfless toward others without some villainous ulterior motive. I will also be including spinoff material, since the majority of these examples come from those rather than the games. So! With that out of the way, let's begin!

Sonic Lost World - Eggman saves Tails

Now, I mentioned that merely teaming up with the heroes doesn't warrant a mention. But I think this goes beyond that.

Tails attaches Cubot's head to a Crabmeat, which causes Cubot to become very aggressive, attacking Tails. Eggman - without a moment to think or evaluate the situation - immediately leaps into harm's way and shoves Tails to safety, honoring his truce with his enemies by putting his own safety on the line to protect them.

Now, you could make the argument that Eggman is only keeping Tails around because he needs him for Sonic to take care of the Zeti (which could also be an argument for Eggman saving Sonic himself later in the same game), but consider: A.) How spur-of-the-moment this was; Eggman didn't have time to calculate how he could use this situation to his advantage, and just leaped as soon as Tails was in danger, and B.) He put himself at risk to save someone else.

Yes, by the end of the game - after the terms of their truce were met, with the Zeti defeated and the machine disabled - Eggman goes right back to fighting them. But during their time working together, Eggman is an honorable ally who ultimately saves Tails's and Sonic's lives. I feel like this goes beyond simply helping them out of necessity and warrants mentioning here.

As Eggman himself put it, he's "a complicated guy."

Sonic X - Eggman talks an enraged Sonic down, and has his crew save Chris and Cosmo from the Metarex

In Sonic X, the Metarex commander Black Narcissus attacked Chris and Cosmo, which nearly drove Sonic into an unstoppable rage.

Cue Eggman stepping in to provide Sonic with some perspective and remind him not to lose his cool. He manages to calm Sonic down, informing him that he sent Shadow to rescue Chris and Cosmo, and that they're fine. Eggman then proceeds to berate Black Narcissus for his cruelty, saying in no uncertain terms that hurting innocent people is wrong, and humiliates the commander by having Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun beat him to the curb.

Eggman didn't have to do any of this. Saving Sonic's friends or even calming Sonic down didn't really provide him any strategic advantage. But he did, and then explained why: Because Black Narcissus crossed Eggman's own personal moral code, and the Doc wasn't having it.

Sonic X Comics - El Gran Gordo

After initially becoming a luchador as part of a get-rich-quick scheme, where the Doctor won matches by cheating, Eggman eventually grew to love the spectacle and public adoration of being a hero. So for a time, he stuck with the wrestling gig, without any villainous intent this time.

This lands him in trouble when the hulking Andes the Ginormous challenges Gordo to a fight and completely mops the floor with him. Without his robots and gadgets to help him cheat, Eggman is no match for the might of Andes, and is just about to tap out to save himself any more pain or humiliation... when suddenly, from the stands he sees the tears of his number-one fan, Chris, and hears him say exactly what Eggman has perhaps always needed to hear: "I believe in you."

Despite the pain, despite his exhaustion, and despite being ridiculously out-matched, Gordo gets his second wind, and through pure raw determination, defeats Andes the Ginormous, claims the championship belt, and lives up to Chris's idealistic expectations. Chris's hero refused to let him down, and even in a moment of weakness, found the strength to win.

The El Gran Gordo arc is also my favorite story in the entire Sonic franchise, and I know that over the past decade I've gushed about it enough times already. It's just so good.

Sonic X Comics - Eggman the Hedgehog

In Sonic X issue 37, Sonic and Eggman swap bodies.

Blessed with Sonic's newfound speed and power, does Eggman attempt to use the hedgehog's body to take over the world? Nope. Just the opposite: Eggman loves being Sonic, and being seen as a hero to the world (which echoes his temporary stint as El Gran Gordo), and - upon hearing the president was kidnapped - attempts to rescue him. He actually seems content being the hero, and wants to use the fame and glory Sonic already has as a jump-start to his brand new heroic career.

Now, this begs the question: If X comic Eggman wants to be a beloved hero to the masses so badly, why doesn't he just reform? Why go through the middleman of luchador disguises or hijacking your arch-enemy's body to live out a life of heroism? He could just be Eggman and be a good guy, especially since this particular version of Eggman is so driven by wanting love and adoration, which heroism gives him in droves.

Ah well, he's a complicated guy.

Sonic Boom - Eggman chooses Amy's friendship over personal gain

In "Fuzzy Puppy Buddies," Eggman and Amy discover that they share a mutual interest in a collectible tabletop game about adorable dogs. They spend the episode bonding and actually striking up a genuine friendship over their newfound hobby, working out an arrangement to still be enemies on the battlefield, but friends in their off time.

At PuppyCon, Eggman steals a puppy figurine, and Amy demands he do the right thing and give it back. So she challenges him to a game, wins, and gives Eggman an ultimatum: He can either return the figurine, or their friendship is over. Eggman hesitates at first, but relents, ultimately choosing Amy's friendship over the rare figurine he wanted. The episode ends with the two of them happily playing another game of Fuzzy Puppies in Eggman's base.

I like this episode, because it really gets at who Boom Eggman is. He's a lonely guy who wants friends more than a serious conqueror or evildoer. And when actually given friendship and positive reinforcement, he become a slightly better person.

Sonic Boom - Eggman the Wingman

In "Tails' Crush," Tails has a crush on Zooey the fox, and keeps getting astoundingly bad romantic advice from his friends about how to ask her out. Tails ultimately makes a fool of himself and gets no closer to truly expressing his feelings.

Eggman witnesses this shameful display and, declaring that "the bro code trumps the enemy thing," gives Tails some solid romantic advice: Be confident in yourself and quit trying to copy others. He then immediately launches into an attack on the village - he is a villain, after all - and Tails, taking Eggman's advice, regains his confidence and saves the day. He gets a kiss from Zooey and ultimately ends up in a long-term relationship with her for the rest of the show; and we can thank Eggman for giving Tails the push he needed.

Sonic Boom - Eggman saves Beth the Shrew

In "Don't Make Me Angry," Eggman's experiments go awry and lead to him temporarily transforming into an adorable little creature every time he gets mad. In order for the effects to wear off, Eggman must avoid getting angry for an entire 48 hours.

When Sonic realizes Eggman's condition, he takes pleasure in mocking Eggman for it - hoping to goad him into getting angry. Eventually he succeeds, causing Eggman to become the purple creature as the village laughs at his transformed state. But the young scientist-in-training, Beth the Shrew, takes pity on Eggman and doesn't mock him along with the other villagers. She shows up at his base with cookies a couple of days later to try to make him feel better; a gesture Eggman is touched by, despite the cookies themselves being rather unappetizing (they were made with toothpaste).

While exploring Eggman's lab, Beth accidentally falls into the trash compactor, which is automated and set to go off soon. Eggman frantically tries to save Beth from being crushed, but is too large to fit into the compactor himself. So he does the only thing he can: He goes out of his way to become angry so that he can morph into the purple creature, fit into the trash compactor, and pull Beth to safety. Initially, he has trouble doing this, and can't find any way to get angry in time - the futility of which itself ends up making him angry, allowing him to transform and save Beth from being crushed just in the nick of time.

This entire episode revolves around Eggman going out of his way - seriously doing everything he could, including morphing into a form he hates - to save a child's life. I think that's great.

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So, these are some of the immediate off-hand examples I had of Eggman doing outright good things without any villainous undertones.

Share your opinions! Do you like stories that show some of Eggman's nicer side? Do you prefer takes on him that are just evil without any redeeming qualities? Maybe somewhere in the middle?

Or maybe you just feel like talking in-depth about any of these specific examples? Or you'd like to add some of your own that I didn't cover? There's a lot to talk about here, so feel free to chime in from whatever angle you want! Reblog and add your own thoughts, or just leave a comment!

As for me, I love this stuff. Eggman showing a nicer, more humane side to himself is something I pretty much always enjoy seeing. So it's no surprise that X and Boom are my favorite takes on the character overall; even if I do also enjoy his more sinister incarnations in their own way.  In the end, I love that Eggman's a character with as much range as he has. Some stories can make him borderline-monstrous, while others give the impression that he could make a great hero if he'd just give up on world domination. And those latter stories are among my favorites in the Sonic franchise.

This is Dr. Mechano, hoping to bring you more Eggman Editorials in the future!