#Shadows of A Forgotten Time | Mephiles

[the-muse-coven]

@vindictiime liked for a starter

Shadow glanced over at the other individual. There wasn't quite proper recognition of the other being in front of him, though he did seem more than a bit confused by the...striking similarity to him from the other, only his coloration was far different from them.

His red eyes watched the other who matched him for height exactly, like he was a mirror copy. Like the phantom ruby copy but not.

"And you are?" The half-alien hedgehog asked in a rather neutral tone of voice. He didn't have a good gut feeling about the other, but he wasn't about to assume. He'd been in that position before and he wasn't going to be on the opposing side.

[shxdesofchaos]

Tag post for the sake of making sure they're all in generally one place. Some of these WILL in fact, be tags that I have transferred over from my main blog. Others have been made up on the fly.

[south-sea]

(a drabble where i cry about the tragedy of mephiles)

~400 words

-

Solaris loved them.

At first, there were few. They would dance and sing and smile in the company of a small fire they had built, and Solaris would watch from behind the embers. These humans looked so big from down here. They were fascinating, endearing, inspiring, and Solaris found comfort in them.

Few became many. They cheered and told stories and passed down those stories to even tinier humans, and Solaris would watch from the fireplaces warming their dens. These humans looked so happy from back here. They knew each and every one of their names, and Solaris would greet each new name with a sunny day.

Many became incomprehensible. They built their towers and their altars and had their festivals, and Solaris would watch from behind a burning sun. These humans looked so small from up here. They were precious, fleeting things, and Solaris loved them.

These tiny, precious, fleeting things did not need to be told they were there. They knew. They knew. And they loved them for it.

When Solaris sang, the people knew. They felt it in the tender cradle of a sunset whose warmth would linger just a few minutes longer than it would anywhere else. When Solaris sang, the cold seas would warm and calm. When Solaris sang, the shadows and terrors of night would shrink back away from scared children in their beds, and gentle mornings would greet sleepless widowers with honeyed rays and dove song.

When the humans grew greedy for power and paper, Solaris still loved them. When the humans reached for more and still more and were never satiated, Solaris took pity on them. They provided, and provided, and the humans decided this was not enough. When the humans entitled themselves to their generosity and their mercy and their love, Solaris loved them still and wept.

It rained for three days and three nights when the humans took one thing too much.

When Solaris could love them no longer, the humans knew not what they had lost. The seas could not be quelled, the shadows were not without their nightmares, the mornings were not tranquil.

Still they had their festivals for a god they had slain, still they sang and danced and drank and ate and shivered at relentlessly cold nights.

Solaris had loved them. They had loved them. They had loved them.

Mephiles did not know the meaning of love.

[destinywillowleaf]

we're calling it an "afterparty" because it's a party after we saved the world

(Sonic X Shadow Generations)

In which Blaze knows things no one else does, Sonic remembers what his friends tell him, and Shadow pays attention to people trying to kill him.

Light spoilers for Shadow Generations? Nothing plot-heavy, just a boss and related dialogue. Mostly under the cut to not clog up too much on mobile. these thoughts would not leave me alone so here they are

EDIT: now as a more fleshed-out fic on AO3!

(Parenthesis) are internal thoughts, [Brackets] are actions/descriptions.

~~~~~

Sonic: Hey, Blaze?

Blaze: [She turns to face him.] Hm?

Sonic: You said you were in that Crisis City place before.

Blaze: I did. (Where is he going with this?)

Sonic: Call me crazy, but it seemed like you really knew the city. But I don't remember running through anything like it in the Sol Dimension, and none of the other locales in White Space were from adventures you guys had without me. What's up with that?

Blaze: (Ah.) It's... something I've been wondering myself for a while now.

Sonic: Huh?

[Her eyes grow distant, looking beyond the trees as she retreads memories.]

Blaze: You're right. Crisis City was not in my world. From my best understanding, it was a future of your world. I wound up there not too long after our adventure together, and was forced to learn the environment quickly at risk of being incinerated by the flames of disaster. Alongside... a friend, we kept it at bay as best we could.

Silver: A friend?

Blaze: (You.) After one such defeat, we were approached by a... hedgehog who claimed to know how to stop it once and for all. According to him, a lone individual was responsible for the awakening of the flames. (If I had questioned him more before, perhaps we wouldn't be in this mess of forgotten memories now.) You, Sonic.

Sonic: Me?!

Blaze: That turned out not to be the case, but nevertheless we still set out from our time into the past - your present. We were in the Kingdom of Soleanna, around the Festival of the Sun, I believe. I know... my friend encountered you a few times, but I met you then as well. We eventually returned to the future to seal away the flames once and for all. I fully intended to sacrifice myself but when it was all done... I awoke back in my own dimension.

Sonic: Eh... it's kinda ringing some bells.

Blaze: Really?

Sonic: If you told me any of this yesterday, no, but I feel like running through those streets brought something back. I definitely passed by the kingdom at one point, but I don't think I remember meeting you there. [He scratches his head.] At the same time, I kinda remember meeting someone there...

Blaze: I see.

Sonic: Side note, any reason why're you being so vague about your friend? I feel like their name's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't place 'em.

Blaze: (Because saying anything now means admitting that I've known exactly who was in Silver's dreams and never told him.)

Shadow: If I may be so bold.

Blaze: Yes...?

Shadow: Everything surrounding this... Crisis City seems to have been forgotten. Lost in time, as it were.

Blaze: I suppose that's one way to describe it. I just wish I knew why I seem to be the only one to recall anything that happened.

Shadow: Regardless, you said it was a hedgehog who approached you and your friend about the one responsible for the flames.

Blaze: He appeared to be one, at the very least. (Come to think of it...) He actually looked quite a bit like you, and still spoke to us despite lacking a mouth.

[Shadow's eyes go wide.]

Shadow: Was his name Mephiles?

[Blaze freezes in place.]

Blaze: ...how do you know that name?

[Shadow looks away and clenches his hand.]

Shadow: He confronted me earlier, raving about restoring himself to the timeline. I had no idea who he was, yet he claimed to know me. [He turns, meeting her eyes briefly.] You are the only one to remember...

Blaze: ...because that timeline no longer exists. (Something happened to destroy it. Returning to my dimension must have protected me from having my memories affected. It's a miracle Sonic remembers anything now at all.) How did he manage to find you, then?

[Shadow shrugs and turns away, leaving Blaze to her thoughts.]

Silver: Hm....

Blaze: Is there something on your mind?

Silver: You and your friend were fighting some big fiery creature in the future together, right? [Blaze nods.] It kinda sounds like Ifrit, but that was me and Espio.

Blaze: (...I've kept it from him long enough.) It was Iblis.

Silver: Ibl—

[A look of recognition flashes in his eyes. Everything clicks into place.]

Silver: All this time... it was you? They–They weren't dreams or future visions at all?

Blaze: I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. (Not that I've had many opportunities to do so to begin with.)

Silver: I've never really felt like I belonged in my own future, even before I tried to change it the first time. [Silver lets out a tired chuckle.] I guess I know why now. And–And why I was there instead of anywhere else, and why it still felt familiar even though I didn't know where I was. Except, I guess, I did know where I was. Kinda.

[The party air is distant despite being so close, and the gap between them feels like a chasm.]

Silver: What was it like?

Blaze: The old future?

Silver: Mhm. What kinda stuff did we do besides fighting fires?

Blaze: Well...

~~~~~

if you're reading this part you're cool B) but seriously i think it would be fun for Shadow to be the only other person who actually knows Mephiles. Silver has shreds of memory at best, Sonic never learned the guy's name, and no one else even has a shot at remembering. even after generations Sonic doesn't remember most of what happened and Blaze can't help since she wasn't around for most of it. idk if anyone ever finds out that Sonic died during all that nonsense.

(also something about Shadow, the one guy notorious for having a shit memory thanks to Amnesia, being the one to know/remember stuff from a timeline that doesn't exist is just. inherently funny to me)

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

The Mephadow crumbs from Shadow Generations still make me insane

Like Shadow is going through one of those moments (what will become lowkey routine by the time he's faced with infinite) where someone who's fighting him and is actively his enemy seems to know him and be obsessed with him. And not only does he not know who this bitch is, he doesn't like him and doesn't enjoy being fixated on. On top of that, even if he DID remember him he'd still be opposed to him.

Meanwhile you have Mephiles who (despite having actually liked Shadow) is fighting for his right to exist again. And you know it would be okay enough if his thirst to exist makes it easy for him to forget how he felt about Shadow, or if he turned to revenge again after what happened in Sonic 06. But nope! Yeah he's fighting Shadow desperately for his right to exist, but he fuckin. He offers to spare Shadow. He's fighting him because he has to, but he still wants him if he can have him.

So imagine being Shadow like "Who tf is this guy and how does he know me", and then Mephiles who was just thinking "maybe this is some joke of fate. It is my second chance" and is now crying internally because Shadow "forgot" him again

Mephiles: So we meet again, Shadow!

Shadow: Who tf are you. Whatever. I'll beat your ass

Mephiles, internally: 🥲 Again?

Mephiles, externally: So you've forgotten me again, have you?

Mephiles, later: I might consider sparing you, you know

Shadow: Ha. No.

Mephiles, externally: Oh, Shadow, how disappointed I am. Truly disappointed!

Mephiles, internally: Seriously, rejected again?🥲

[duckapus]

You know, considering his Whole Thing is Time, you'd think Mephiles would understand why Shadow has "forgotten" him twice. And yet he's still genuinely offended by it, cause like, how dare his arch-nemesis be a Mortal who can only experience time linearly, right?

[ssaluss]

With shadow generations i've been thinking about Silver a Lot.

This will be a Long rant about a comic/concept that i will NOT be able to work upon, i'm a full time College student and work as an illustrator via Freelance, alongside personal projects ill say i feel like i have too much at hand but enough talk, concept below cut

As you'll see, this was inpired by Mephiles return, i can Dream abou a new silver campaing and i think a good villain would be Silver himself (Kinda inspired by an video i've seen years ago, if i remember wich one i'll link it in the comments).

Like, erased Silver being one of the remnants of this forgotten world, going back to his future to find nothing, learning how to time travel himself so he could save the life he wanted to have, but he keeps failing because he (his 2006 self) don't exist anymore.

Erased/06 Silver is a different entity than current canon Silver, whom i imagine have an ok future that sometimes is in danger so he goes back, fix things and everything is fine and rainbows again.

Borrowing the concept of multiple realities out of prime and dimensions cause Rush, Erased Silver trying everything he could to save his reality, his world in shambles and everyone that could have survived, he tried the chaos emeralds, not his as his world don't exist anymore, searching through dimensions and alternative realities were, even if he gater them all, they do nothing, even the Master emerald once, it just kicked him back to the nothingness.

So he becomes not quite a villain but someone desperate by all means to just exist.

I just think its neat the team discovering some new threat cause the Canon Silver said his future is starting to colapse but he can't trace the moment in time that explains why, just to fight something like the Time Eater but learning that the one pulling the strings is someone that seems familiar but they can't figure out why (different design, maybe masks like infinite or shade ya know). And he keeps the theme Mephiles started...

"I want to exist"

In his mind he's still a hero trying to fix everything and bring everyone back.

The more fanfic-ish thing out of this already fanfic-ish concept is Canon Silver or Good Future Silver being raised by Shadow cause i love their dynamic and think its neat, not in the board of "oh he's actually his biological father" yadda yadda (if you are thats ok, im in this boat if we talk about vincent and sephiroth) but id like an adopted father/tutor role cause my boy Shad have seem much and he cares about his friends, so if he saw little silver just waddling around you can't convince me he wouldn't take care of the little thing (and i love the idea of silver's bracelets being some kind of inhibitor, im still making fanfic at heart).

Also holy shit What im made of is back this was my whole childhood soundtrack alongside his world and i am all of me.

[greatdenimbeast]

About diamond castle au: Why Apollo did not intervene when Mephiles was taking control of everything? Was he not aware of what happened with the other muses and Silver? Also, how Maria stayed in this situation?

Shadow and Sonic were turned into stones like in the barbie movie?

I am 90% sure, but just to confirm: is Sonic a trans guy in this au? 👁👁

Im gonna answer these questions in reverse so:

1. Yes! Sonic is transmasc in this au and all my other au’s and Shadow is agender but usually goes with he/him pronouns

2. Yes Sonic and Shadow are turned to stone just like in the movie. Usually their joined harmony would be enough to protect them from something like this but cuz of the divorceTM and their fighting (not like the usual kind of fighting they do) they’re not in harmony anymore so they get petrified (all according to Mephiles’s plans). But unlike in the movie Silver does not know this and neither does anyone else besides Mephiles and Iblis

3. During Mephiles’s takeover, after they hid the castle, Shadow and Sonic told all the attendants, including Maria, to flee to prevent capture. But over the many millennia since that happened Mephiles captured them all and turned them all into hypnotised slaves to attend him and only him, including Maria

4. This one is gonna be a doozy cuz there’s quite a bit

The reason why Apollo didn’t intervene with Mephiles’s takeover was cuz he was under the assumption that it was a justified and necessary move in order to save the arts

Ya see it all comes back to the fighting and subsequent divorce between Sonic and Shadow.

It was intense to put it lightly and it seemed basically endless to all the other onlookers, their feud was even infamous amongst mortals and was generally giving the muses a bad reputation cuz of how chaotic these fights can be in the godly and mortal realm, and after hundreds of years mortals could hardly remember a time where they weren’t like this, it was just the norm

(In fact not even Sonic and Shadow could remember how their usual rivalry became this endless bitter fued, all they really know is that the other started it. I’ll probs touch upon this more in its own post but it was actually Mephiles’s fault all along)

The fact that Apollo chose them as his muses kinda made their behaviour reflect badly on him despite them being pretty good at their jobs. Mephiles, being all manipulative, kinda put it in his head that mortals with their ‘fickle feelings’ and ‘simple outlooks on life’ just weren’t really suited to the duties of a god so it was ‘getting to them’

That if they, hypothetically, retired it would probably be best for everyone involved.

So when Sonic, Shadow and their son just disappeared one day along with the castle Mephiles explained that they had lashed out against him and hidden the castle from him and that he had ‘taken care of them’ Apollo didn’t bat an eye. It was sad but if it was necessary then it had to be done, he didn’t actually know about what became of the other two muses but they were out of the way and that’s what matters

From then on Mephiles was the only muse people worshipped and prayed to for all the arts, generations upon generations knowing the tale of how Lord Mephiles bravely defeated the other two muses and saved the arts from their on-going war

Effectively rewriting history and becoming the only muse while the Sonic and Shadow and the truth of what they were actually like, and the fact that they were even married at all was forgotten. They were just minor players in Mephiles’s story, the one-note antagonists who never stopped fighting

Just like Mephiles wanted

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

"Shadow Generations" is so funny from Mephiles' point of view.

Imagine getting erased from the prime timeline, spending who knows how long is some sort of limbo void as your essence leaks out around it, spending all that time plotting your revenge, waiting for the right time when your target finally arrives

I mean, Mephiles already had a grudge against Shadow for that paradox they were stuck in back in Sonic 06, where it's basically Mephiles was sealed by Shadow in the Scepter, but Shadow only has the means to do so because Mephiles broke out in the first place to attack Shadow, who goes back in time to seal him, blah blah blah repeat repeat repeat, so of COURSE Mephiles ain't missing his chance to catch him off guard

Presumably, Mephiles spent his countless length of Time in White Space, fantasizing about finally taking down Shadow, planning his attacks, his counters, maybe even his quips just to throw some references back in Shadow's face

Then it finally happens, Shadow finally shows up, and he takes his chance

Sure, Shadow doesn't remember him, but what else is new? At this point, Mephiles is probably considering the possibility that Shadow just has memory problems or something because, wow, this is like at least the third time he's been forgotten even though he's pretty sure been enough of a nuisance to stick in Shadow's brain.

No worries, he's got Shadow's moveset memorized, he knows all his weakness, he's been primed for this exact moment, there's absolutely no way Shadow could possibly scrape by without getting significantly damaged-

And then Shadow turns into a squid.

Mephiles absolutely cannot with this guy

[ostebee]

Tumblr fandom game:

Sonic 🦔

blorbo

It's obviously Tails and Shadow! When I firstly discovered Sonic (it was sweet times of flash player existence and I was forbidden to install games on mom's PC) I liked Tails and his ability to fly a lot. For 8-9 year old me Sonic was kinda difficult game to play and Sonic wasn't my fav at that point so... Tails it is even nowadays :'). I like his levels on SA2.

And Shadow happened to me much more later. I like his lore and personality in SA2 very much. He's quite relatable for me and design-wise he's just peak.

scrunkly

I think it's Metal Sonic but I don't really feel aggressive towards characters (unless they're complete shitheads :'D).

scrimblo bimblo

It's a really hard one. It might be Cream because she's really... forgotten kinda. But she's quite nice in Sonic X so yeah.

glup shitto

For me it's going to be Rouge. I mean she's barely the character who's gotten as little screentime as Big for example but every time she's on screen I'm literally like WHOOOOOAH HELL YEAH BABY. In Sonic Prime writers did pretty nice job for her in my opinion. And Maria, I like her upbeat attitude even though she's ill and her impact on Shadow is just... Something.

poor little meow meow

Chris from Sonic X and Elize from Sonic 06. Yeah. Everyone hates them just because? But I really like them both. They're making a good company for Sonic and I actually want someone like Shadow to interact with both of them. Maybe in some kind of au?

horse plinko

Knuckles. No comments, I'm not a big fan of Knuckles :'). Also Eggman.

eeby deeby

Mephiles (affectionately). He's just that kind of villain that is so cool to hate whenever he's on screen not because he's terrible, but terrifying. And...and that chaos council guys from Sonic Prime, they're not nearly charismatic, funny or entertaining, they're just bland and shitty straight up.

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 4 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

Knuckles

Knuckles is very heavily Christ-coded - walking on water, resurrection, prophecies, the whole nine yards. Not necessarily Catholic specifically, but I feel like there’s a comparison to be made between the Brotherhood and the Catholic Church as a structure. Also he’s made it to the semi finals of the Christ coded tournament if that means anything to you

God this whole thing was literally insane. Also pretty much completely forgotten as soon as p*nders was off the comic, which was probably for the best tbh.

Ken penders did a lot of wierd fucking bullshit, and made knuckles literally Jesus.

Nothing left to say except another fuck ken penders.

In the Archie comics, Knuckles inherits the role of being a spiritual leader to a lost tribe of Echnidnas, that have been wandering, searching for their prophesied homeland for centuries. Knuckles is the one to finally lead them there.

He also dies and comes back, and because of this is hailed as the prophesied “Avatar” by his people, the one who’s supposed to bring peace to their planet, Mobius. Cannot for the life of me remember where this went though.

It maybe isn’t allegorical as much as it is the writer thinking putting Judeo-Christian themes would make it cool or something. But the comparison to Jesus is at least intentional, whereas it probably isn’t with Shadow.

Shadow

In sonic destruction (the AI generated fan thing snapcube made a while ago) shadow was catholic or something which I think is reallyyyyyyy funny

Ok listen. I know this is a stretch but hear me out. He says “oh my God” in the Twitter takeovers so we know this is a possibility. I see him as a Christ-like figure because I saw his whole confrontation with Mephiles and was like “this is a thing that happened in the Bible??” and the pose Mephiles shows him in is literally like a crucifixion and Mephiles is meant to be a demon / false prophet reference. And also he’s called a demon in Shadow The Hedgehog 2005 then the guy who calls him that is like “I was wrong I’m sorry” and that also reminds me of a thing with Jesus in The Bible. But the biggest reason is his whole thing with Maria cause I think he’d come to earth and hear Ave Maria once and convert to Catholicism idk he’s like we’re comforted by a female familial figure named Mary sometimes called Maria?? And her color is blue????? Heck yeah I’m in because I Will Cry. Also feel free to share this as propaganda obv even if he doesn’t get in the bracket just. It’s funny.

I feel like he’d battle a lot with being seen or portrayed as a demon and how the aliens he’s related to very much look and act like demons idk lmao- and also I feel like confession would just be good for him I think he needs it for his mental health

There is a debate on the lovely website tunblr that Shadow T. Hedgehog is an allegory for Jesus Christ.

He is Jesus, idk what to tell you. He lived, he was sealed away, he was awakened again and deemed the ultimate lifeforms, he’s angry but not evil, does what he believes is best for people and the world at any given time. Total loser.

[superscourge]

Bang is just like "My family is so rad!!"

Meanwhile, Moon is a tad bit concerned about his families problems/crimes. Like he wasn't phased at first, but after learning his whole family has:

Attempted murder (either once or multiple times)

Successfully killed someone (some of them, not all)

Overthrown a government and took over said government (Scourge)

Tried to destroy a planet (Mephiles, Iblis, and Shadow)

Committed several war crimes (both on purpose and by accident)

Literally killed gods (*cough* Sonic *cough*)

And somehow, let a crazy zombie doctor who experimented on some kids, turning them into cyborgs, and has probably tried to kill the entire family at least once, be the uncle of the family.

It's fine tho! Moon is only a tad bit concerned! Just a tad bit, definitely not secretly setting up a therapy appointment.

this made me laugh really hard not bc of the thing with moon but bc it reminded me flatline was part of this au and i had COMPLETELY FUCKING FORGOTTEN despite him being a very important piece of this puzzle

[shxdesofchaos]

@afracturedexistence liked for a starter!

Shadow was the wary type. He always had been and would be. Sure, he'd been trusting before... too trusting, really. Black Doom had proved that much, as had everyone who had tugged him around and made his internal conflict and general identity crisis after finding all the Shadow Androids worse instead of just immediately explaining that he'd been found after he'd sacrificed himself to stop the Biolizard as well as the ARK and plummeted to Earth afterwards.

He'd seen the underbelly of humanity and had chosen to protect the world not because of it but in spite of it. The underbelly of humanity was not the majority of humans. Everyone on this planet he resided on deserved a chance to be happy. Just as Maria had wanted and asked of him. He had done his best to keep to that promise, but in truth, he didn't do much in the way of saving the world. The blue hedgehog was often the one doing that, as annoying as that was.

He was often more towards the background. Sure... he'd gotten... closure? Of a sort, when the Time Eater, as he'd later found out, had broken time and he'd had to take down Black Doom again, but he had also learned more about himself and his alien DNA than he really had ever wanted to know. Had seen Maria and Gerald again. Even if he couldn't help prevent the events that had led to everything again... it had been an actual way to say goodbye to both of them in a way that had been denied that fateful day on the ARK.

So, coming across someone, he didn't immediately recognize who he could sense was quite strong...

His quills frizzed up, stiffening as they stood on end and the fur at his chest even puffed out. Instantly wary and feeling very... strange? As they both felt and yet we're definitely not familiar to him, crimson eyes blinked and narrowed a little as his hands reflexively lifted, and he crossed his arms instead of using any of his Chaos abilities.

Even he knew using them on some random stranger unprovoked was a stupid idea. His ears pricked and faced Mephiles. He couldn't tell what they were doing...

His head tilted, moving to walk around and see.

"...What are you doing?" Shadow kept his voice carefully neutral, if wary and curious.

[doomhearted]

In a hypothetical Christmas Carol scenario, I think the Ghost of Christmas Past for Shadow would have to take the form of Gerald Robotnik, the Ghost of Christmas Present would be Sonic (since he lives in the moment), and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come would be Silver.

Maria's ghost (Jacob Marley) is the one to warn him that he will be visited by the three spirits in an attempt to save his soul.

When Silver comes, he isn't really all that intimidating about showing him the future until he disappears and some terrifying, forgotten being out of time takes his place--it's Mephiles (or maybe Black Doom) that tells Shadow that the world will turn its back on him and then he just startles awake in a cold sweat. It was all a dream.

[theoutcastedartist]

The Two Halves of Solaris:

Mephiles & Iblis

The two halves were created by Chaos and worshipped by the Ancients. These are my designs for their corporeal forms (to differ from '06) in my Sonic Boom AU: "Shadows & Lights"

Shadows & Lights AU Short Summary:

Both Shadow and Sonic were facility experiments known as "Project Shadow" and "Project Light", where the goal was to create beings that could simulate the powers of The Two Halves of Solaris: Mephiles and Iblis. This secret. facility was located near one of the old temples the Ancients built as places of worship for their gods.

Project Shadow was perfect on the 1st attempt, seen as "The Ultimate Lifeform" because of how closely he resembled Mephiles in both appearance and (theorized) abilities.

Project Light on the other hand... not perfect on the first attempt. Most versions of the experiment would not live past year 4 for "one flaw or another", often discarded and recycled to create better versions of Light, each time getting closer to the appearance and abilities of Iblis. The last version of Project Light was "Sonic". This is the only version of Project Light that Project Shadow had ever met.

Shadow and Light had only known each other for 3 years at the facility, before an incident with G.U.N ended with Project Shadow being in stasis for 50 years, and Project Light being sent forward in time 55 years.

Shadow retained most of his memories from the facility when he awoke, though he has forgotten about the existence of Project Light.

Project Light remembers absolutely nothing, not even their own name. They were pretty much nameless for 5 months until they met Dr. Eggman, who dubbed them "Sonic" due to their incredible speed. Then 3 years later, Sonic met Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks.

The actual AU itself starts when Tails and Amy are curious about Sonic's childhood, to which they admit that they don't have any memories of such. Their earliest memory is waking up near temple remains far away from the island, a mysterious island that has no record of even existing.

Together, Sonic and Co sent out on a journey to uncover Sonic's past and explore uncharted territory. I mean, what else are they gonna do on a Saturday?

Mephiles and Iblis are responsible for the creation of the Phantom Ruby and Master Emerald (dubbed as the "Shattered Crystals" by Lyric and historians who). The Two Halves are not inherently destructive or evil, instead more benevolent in this AU.

Mephiles is the power of the mind, the intelligence and creativity. The Phantom Ruby grants anyone the power to warp reality with the mind, but if a mind is weak and uncreative, it will be swallowed by the Phantom Ruby itself, leaving nothing behind but a mindless husk.

Iblis is the power of the heart, the flames of hope. True strength is found in kindness and compassion for others. The Master Emerald grants limitless power based on a person's heart, but if that heart is cold and dark, their intent is selfish, it will slowly destroy that person from within and take their life as collateral.

Both the Phantom Ruby and the Master Emerald are currently lost. No one knows where the majority of the shards are located, not even the last of the Ancients, Lyric. The very few that have been found are mostly corrupted...

Tags for this AU on this blog are:

#shadows&lightsau

#ShadowLightAU

(You can tell I'm a fan of "The Muder of Me" lmao)

[shirubae]

Silvaze '06: Part 8 - Epilogue

Previously: Blaze sacrificed herself for Silver.

Because of Blaze’s fate, she doesn't appear in Last Story. Silver is alone among the past-dwellers. However, he is not insecure.

Silver is the first to display hope. He recalls what Blaze told him: that collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds can bring about miracles. He had believed time travel to be impossible, only to be proven wrong by the Chaos Emeralds. Now he knows that, with them, anything is possible. He kneels before Elise, respecting the princess he once neglected.

Silver then works with the others to collect the Chaos Emeralds. In his part of End of the World, Silver goes through Dusty Desert. He sought Sonic here earlier, and now he's seeking him again with more noble intentions. The music is intense and erratic, nearly overcome by a pounding drum beat, reflecting both Silver's haunting regret for trying to kill Sonic and his determination to right his wrong. The Emerald he collects is the white one, representing wishes, the same he received from the Duke and which turned him onto the path of the hero.

To fight Solaris, Silver gets to become Super Silver! This shows that he is now truly a hero, working on the level of legends such as Sonic and Shadow. By helping stop Solaris, he overcomes both his manipulator Mephiles and his nemesis Iblis.

Finally, Elise and Sonic go back in time to extinguish Solaris as a mere flame, stopping the Solaris Project from ever happening. Ironically, this is exactly what Mephiles suggested Silver do to stop Iblis: "Just as a flower comes from a seed, or a chicken comes from an egg, everything has an origin."

More importantly, Elise played into the game's major theme. She gives up love - her relationship with Sonic - for the sake of the world, something that both her father (with his wife) and Silver (with Blaze) were incapable of doing. This completely resets the events of the game. Silver is back in his future, and Blaze is in the Sol dimension.

Thus, it's as if Silver and Blaze never met. Everything we've just analyzed has been forgotten. Wow. On the bright side, this gives the two a fresh start - it grants Silver the "absolution" he dreamt of.

Summary: The Silvaze Dynamic

Even though Silver and Blaze's journey has been undone, it's given us a glimpse at what could be. If these two became partners again, their dynamic would more or less resemble what we saw here.

So what’s the conclusion? What does this game tell us about Silver and Blaze? What insights can we take away and use to develop their relationship again?

Silver relies on Blaze to pull him out of his own head. It's not that he's incompetent, he just needs direction. He's so emotionally charged that he needs someone to anchor him in practicality, and that person is Blaze. He adores Blaze's maturity - her understanding and realistic perspective. He values her straightforward thinking. She calms him down and helps him stay focused. She makes him feel safe.

Meanwhile, Blaze relies on Silver to take the lead and pull her forward. It's not that she lacks motivation, but rather she is delighted by Silver’s passion: if she’s the steering wheel, he’s the gas pedal. Blaze adores Silver's naivete - his idealistic belief that he can save the world no matter what. She is charmed by his sweet earnestness and courage. He helps her care for others and for herself. He makes her feel alive.

Both are dedicated to their mission. They never distract each other, one always keeps the other in line (usually Blaze) to see things through. This means they have little time to relax and enjoy each other's company, but it also forms a different, fire-forged bond that is just as priceless.

Silver looks to Blaze for answers; he loves her intelligence and she loves watching him grow. But while Blaze may seem like the one in control, their emotions are more similar than she lets on! More often than not Blaze shares the same insecurities as Silver, and sometimes Silver's questions are too much to answer, which forces Blaze to reconsider her own biases. This is valuable, as Blaze is used to rolling with the punches unquestioningly. It lets her explore her own fears through Silver’s fears, indirectly addressing parts of herself she wouldn’t otherwise.

Both have different kinds of social ineptitude that balance out. Silver is awkward and too trusting of others, while Blaze is removed and not trusting enough. We see Silver is too willing to obey Mephiles, and Blaze is indifferent to the citizens of Soleanna.

Silver trusts Blaze to work without him, showing concern but respecting her as an independent person. Contrarily, Blaze doesn't like leaving Silver alone and will go out of her way to include him. She doesn't want to fail him.

Both are incredibly loyal. Silver always follows Blaze's guidance, while Blaze always follows him into trouble. They love to help each other, and regret when they're unable to. Neither abandons the other - Silver did for a while, but that guilt inevitably caught up with him and forced him to wait for her.

They are transparent about their trials and insecurities, never lying. Silver admits when he is wrong and tries to make it up to Blaze. She struggles speaking openly about herself, but finally does at the very end.

At the same time, they don't always need to talk. They trust each other enough to communicate non-verbally, or to leave gaps in knowledge and respect the other's privacy.

Silver underestimates the depth of his bond with Blaze. Maybe it's because he's so socially isolated, but he thinks Blaze is just a friend and doesn't realize how intense their feelings actually are. Blaze, on the other hand, knows his devotion is much deeper than mere friendship, and she appreciates it. She is aware that Silver has no ulterior motives and truly just adores her.

By the end of the story, Silver loves Blaze more than the world and wouldn't sacrifice her for anything. And it may seem that Blaze is the opposite: mature enough to not let love interfere with the mission. But actually, it is her love for Silver that spurs her to sacrifice herself and complete the mission at all.

This is Silvaze!

(Render by ChaosX, for Project 06)

The Romance Question

I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these two loved each other. However. I must admit that their relationship was not overtly romantic. I’ve used the L word a lot so far, but not to imply romantic love.

Sure, the idea of being alone together in a hostile world, relying on each other at every turn, is romantic. And some of their lines could easily be interpreted thusly, like English!Silver’s “I wouldn't know what to do without you!” or Blaze's "You're still so naive. But I've always liked that about you." And then of course, the heavily romantic tones of "Dreams of an Absolution" sure help.

But little suggests the two are attracted to each other - no flirting, romantic pledges, etc. This could be explained away by saying they're too stressed out to express affection, or that they're traumatized teenagers who don't know how to flirt (both valid excuses). Or maybe it's just because we’re dealing with Sonic Team here. They’ve never been into writing romance... right?

Erratum: Amy and Elise

Okay, there’s one scene that I totally skipped back in Part 4, where Amy helps Elise escape Eggman and the two chat about romance. I thought it was pointless, only included in Silver Episode’s Theater because Amy third-wheels this story. I now realize it may was included for a reason: it's thematically relevant to Silver and Blaze.

Amy is like the avatar of love - her crush on Sonic is arguably her most iconic trait. She’s got an intuition about romance, able to track her darling Sonic like a hound and deduce love in others too.

An example of this is with Elise, after Silver and Blaze’s romp in White Acropolis. Once Elise proactively escapes from Eggman’s base with Amy, she repeats some advice that a friend (Sonic) gave her: “Nothing will change if I just wait around.”

This quote may not seem like grounds to assume someone has a crush, yet Amy deduces that Elise is in love with the person. Somehow, Amy finds this phrase romantic, and she’s correct: Elise and Sonic are a symbol of romance in the game. They share intimate alone time, bridal carry segments, and eventually a big ol’ smooch on Sonic’s cold, dead lips.

What if we recall that Blaze shared a very similar sentiment with Silver when he was feeling lost?

I couldn’t help but see the parallel. Both are calls to action from a hero to their admirer: Sonic to Elise, Blaze to Silver.

A similar parallel (from Part 3) is how “You’re My Companion” kicks in right after Amy declares she would choose Sonic over the world. Amy’s love for Sonic is definitely romantic, so it implies Silver and Blaze have a similar relationship. Amy’s eagerness to help Silver find his “person” in Part 2 is also noteworthy, implying she believes Silver is seeking someone he loves. I guess I'm saying that if Amy ever met Silver and Blaze together, she would probably ship them.

Amy also rants to Elise, saying "All girls change when they fall in love. The world gets so much bigger. Doesn't it?" This again plays with the "one person vs. the world" theme of Sonic 06, as Amy points out that love for one person can increase your wonder and appreciation for the world around them too. Silver and Blaze's relationship is all about that, as Blaze sacrifices herself in order to ensure Silver's world sees peace.

Like I said, it’s no where near perfect evidence of a Silvaze romance. But there are parallels deliberately drawn between other romantic relationships and Silvaze’s relationship. So hey, it’s something.

Conclusion

I’ve come to appreciate Silver and Blaze’s dynamic in Sonic 06. I do have some qualms: Blaze is sidelined a bit too much, and her weaknesses aren’t explored nearly as deeply as Silver’s; at times I was grasping for straws for things to say about her (though compared to other side characters like Tails or Knuckles, she is quite well-rounded). But this was Silver’s introduction, so we needed to focus on him first and foremost. Next time, I'd like to see a story from Blaze's perspective showing how Silver helps her in return.

Since 06, Silver and Blaze have remained a bit of a package deal. They stand together in group shots, they share unique animations in the Olympics games, and they interact a bit in the IDW comics too. They haven't been explored on as deep a level as 06 for a while. Considering the time reset, they must be getting to know each other all over again. But with how Sonic-focused the games have been in the past decade, there's been no time to focus on the side cast like Silver and Blaze. So for now, they're stuck in a weird, static, friendzone limbo.

I’m not going to hold my breath, but I really do think these two have potential to blossom into a beautiful relationship again, and I hope something comes of them in the future. (A good future this time, hopefully).

Thank you for reading!

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