#also... is ivo dead???

[yourockthebeatofmyheart]

I'm genuinely having a hard time understanding why the general thinks Superman is to blame for the attack 22 years ago??

[sms-vom-tatort]

(617): were doing shots for every snowflake that hits the ground

[neotrix-09]

The thing that gets me about this panel; LOOK WHAT HE'S SLAMMING HIM INTO

THOSE ARE TWO ANIMALS INFECTED BY THE METAL VIRUS. HE WAS INFURIATED ENOUGH TO SLAM STARLINE DIRECTLY INTO WHAT'S ESSENTIALLY A BOX OF ZOMBIES

Never forget how ruthless Eggman is,this is the man that pissed on the moon

[kamenwriter]

Sonic 3 Trailer thoughts.

I know it's practically a meme at this point. But I really really REALLY hope they've got the guts to actually kill off Maria. What happens to her is AWFUL but it is also the CORE of Shadow's character.

Also I cannot wait to see the reaction of folks that don't know.

...is that The Ark?

I love that they kept his "rollerblading" run.

So either Tom joined GUN (stands to reason with his law enforcement background) or went undercover at GUN because clearly something bad has happened here.

OH THAT'S GOTTA BE THE ARK

Jim Carrey playing Ivo AND Gerald? Hilarious. (My bet is this is some hologram AI and that Gerald is in fact dead.)

OH MY GOD HE'S SO GOD DAMMED COOL.

But yeah, the previous Sonic movies were okay for what they set out to be, but not quite my cup of tea. THIS on the other hand, is actually approaching an adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2, which is my favorite of the entire series, so I'm kinda hyped.

[itz-pandora]

Helloooo!👋👋I see that you have a Sonic swap au, mind sharing more about it? 👀

Part of me wants to keep intrigue alive while another part wants to blabber on about it, lol

Shadow is the protagonist, and he fights against Maria, who is trying to capture animals, Chaos Emeralds, and sometimes Mobians for her seemingly nefarious reasons. Shadow doesn't like having to do this, but he does what he thinks is right. Shadow just wants everyone to stay safe.

Rouge is more up for antagonizing Maria though! Rouge is supposed to take the role of Tails, but she acts more like the Sonic in the dynamic. She encourages Shadow to stand up for what he believes in, and is his older sister figure.

Sonic takes Shadow's role, and is dubbed The Fastest Thing Alive™ instead of The Ultimate Lifeform™. He is more confident, snarky, and appears more egotistical than canon Sonic and Shadow. He's part Chao instead of part Black Arms, and he was still raised on the ARK.

Tails works with GUN, but ends up tagging along with Sonic and Maria instead. He's more similar to Nine than Tails though, lol. I haven't sorted out his motivation cleanly yet though.

Emerl and Metal are swapped, at least for now :)

Maria is Eggman! I'll keep her motivation a secret for now ♡

And since I didn't exactly feel like making Ivo (Eggman) Maria, he's instead got the role more like the GUN commander! He's the head engineer of GUN. Him and Maria had a falling out a long time ago. He grew up with Maria on the ARK.

I've thought about 3 different candidates for Maria's role, (The GUN Commander, Agent Stone (even tho I don't want movie characters), and Elise) but I've also thought about having no kids died that day. Ivo or Maria could've gotten shot, but they're not dead.

I haven't actually sorted out anything for characters like Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Tikal. I'm not even sure about Chaos or the Chao, since I could use Doom, but also.... Idk.... I'm willing to hear ideas!!

[greenyvertekins]

how would you define the relationship/rivalry between sonic and eggman?

Sonic doesn't really take his arch-nemesis all that seriously and has become visibly jaded abut him as evidenced by his reactions to his boasting. Though he absolutely hates Eggy with a passion and doesn't care one iota about his wellbeing. His ploys are often an opportunity to have fun more than they are about world-saving to Sonic. And he neither trusts Eggman as far as he can throw him nor does he hold any expectation whatsoever in him reforming. Working with Eggman is a dirty affair as far as Sonic is concerned but will do so for the greater good. Dr Eggman also has a seething hatred towards Sonic (Their hate is so mutual lol.) and wants him dead. In contrast to Sonic's utter lack of respect towards him, Ivo respects Sonic's determination and considers his abilities impressive.

[jesncin]

I think what's funny about MAWS S1 is how the build up to the show's attempt at allegory for xenophobia don't really affect Clark's character that much. His anguish before he fights Parasitezilla is due to the general's exposition holograms, and it ends up feeling that stuff was just there to set up Lois's speech. Also, I just find it funny how the show had Ma Kent take the time to knit the shorts- not a whole suit, just shorts.

Exactly! I've said that this show has a "short term memory loss" problem where it slaps on a theme to a series of disparate events and doesn't go back to check if those scenes reinforced the theme they were leading up to. Parasitezilla/Ivo's motivation as a villain is unrelated to xenophobia and makes no sense (we can't trust Superman, he's some nice stranger! Unlike me who will provide self defense suits you'll have to pay to use, therefore you'll be more,,, trustworthy somehow? Because you paid a product to protect others and yourself? Never mind that his tech made no sense either I could go on about how awful their Parasite is). It makes it so Clark (or his friends) don't actually go through character development. Stuff just happened.

Haha I think it's so funny that people praise Ma Kent for adding the red underwear because on a meta commentary scale it's a return to form to have Supes in the red trunks again- but like in the context of MAWS Ma Kent was a total freak for doing that! Clark was gifted with a suit from an essentially dead culture and Ma Kent's first reaction is hmm I'm gonna add red underwear on this sacred dead foreign culture's outfit. It's clear the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too- they wanted that magical girl transformation scene where the Kryptonians bestow an outfit onto Clark, but they're attached to Ma Kent sewing the outfit too so this was their compromise. Freak Ma Kent lol

[skelelephant]

i cant remember if you talked about this before but i think youve mentioned it before?? can you discuss your thoughts on griff's head scar and his relationship with wolfstan i cant seem to remember where you discussed it. definitely not

HI WOW THANK YOU TOTALLY ANONYMOUS USER FOR THIS QUESTION

I’m SO glad you asked I have so many thoughts on this. SPOILERS FOR BLACK DEATH (2010) UNDER THE CUT. PLEASE (please) WATCH THE MOVIE THEN COME BACK

The cool thing about Black Death is that it gives you juuuuuuust enough hints about the connections between its characters but never actually lays anything out so you’re left to piece together things based on context clues alone (did you know Osmund and Averil were childhood friends? Because until I watched the behind the scenes content on the DVD I Didn’t Either)

But ANYWAY. We’re here to talk about Griff and Wolfstan

(One of my favourite shots of my pretty princess <3 also you can see the scar really well here)

Their relationship is one that’s so fascinating to me (obviously) but is also so very brief within the movie as a whole. Griff’s total screen time is like. Maybe 10 minutes if you’re being generous with shots where he’s in the background. It’s Fucking Dire Out Here.

But first things first. We’re introduced to Griff and Wolfstan as a pair. Dalywag, Mold, and Ivo all get their own separate introductory shots, (and obviously we’ve met Swire and Ulrich by this point). But Wolfstan and Griff are continually referred to as a pair. In the first scene we meet them and Wolfstan jokes “God has no men left, He sends us a boy” he’s directing that joke at Griff. He’s looking at Griff when he says it. Already we’re lead to believe these men are familiar with each other

“Erin how does this relate to Griff’s scar?” I hear you asking.

WELL.

The first real juicy piece of character information we’re given about these two comes from Swire, when he tells Osmund how he spent time in the King’s army with Wolfstan and Griff. This information is delivered along with a shot of the two of them bringing up the rear of their company, watching over their shoulders for any approaching threats.

So. We’ve now learned that these two were soldiers together. And now, after the war, they find themselves travelling as hired muscle under the command of a holy man. (I’ve made a post about how I interpret the relationship between the Company and Ulrich, so I won’t get into that here. But you can read it if you want.)

So. Where does that leave Griff’s scar?

Well it’s never actually addressed at all in canon, it’s not even acknowledged. It’s just a character detail that has no bearing on the story at all.

So. This is where we get into my own interpretation and headcanon.

I think Griff and Wolfstan were close even back in the army— pointedly never intimate but skirting the line CLOSE— and Griff sustained a critical head injury during one of the battles. A wound like that would certainly threaten a man’s life, and if he managed to survive it he would likely never hold a sword again. So Griff is dead weight, and this is a war zone. And my THEORY IS: in order to make sure Griff was able to recover from his injury, Wolfstan deserted the army and took Griff with him. Forfeiting any sort of glory or honour from the battles they’d been a part of, but at least they’d be together.

Wolfstan is the reason Griff survived and in the years that followed he helped Griff relearn the motor function he’d lost, including how to wield a blade. (Griff barely draws his blade in the movie so I think he’s still not as confident as he once was, but he can fight again!) Also during that time where Griff was in recovery the two of them finally broke down and got together. So by the time the events of the movie come around they’re well involved with each other.

So you can IMAGINE how this adds heartbreak to the scene where Griff finally succumbs to the plague and Wolfstan has to be the one to kill him. After fighting so hard to keep Griff alive, in the end it was just borrowed time, and Wolfstan has to end his life all the same. (I made a post rambling about this specific scene as well! Smile)

You know that Margaret Mead quote that gets tossed around a lot about how “the first sign of civilization was a healed femur”? I think Griff’s scar is a sign that someone once cared enough to save him. And I think that someone was Wolfstan.

Anyway! I need to go collapse into a heap about them again. Dear fucking god. Please talk to me more about this movie PLEASE. I could talk about it for ages.

[butternutsquash28]

Putting on one of his shirts? Lou is THE siren on RC this updaate.

''But I'm not dead'' XD. Of course you're not ;)

Meanwhile Ivo be like

How cute and adorably domestic. Also, 40 minutes?!

Lou, baby I love you but if this man proposes and you say no????

:0

He's always careful to feed her after. A king. We have to stan. Lou better get that ring.

[cartoonartistpng]

(Old post)

Eldritch AU (Idea)

In this AU, humans and mobians aren’t the apex species, for there is another which hunts them—the Eldritch.

Creatures with no known origin and no known weakness. They cannot be killed and historians had discovered evidence of their longevity.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik, formerly a renowned Eldritch Scientist, one day disappears without a trace. Rumors quickly speculated that he was on the brink of a great discovery before an Eldritch got to him, however there was never any confirmation.

Years later, one Miles Prower (an aspiring robotics scientist) discovers that not only is Robotnik alive but also his location. Eager to meet his idol and get some answers, the young fox travels to the middle of a forest in nowhere. He’s shocked to find advanced robots milling about, building some sort of small facility and piloting transport trucks from elsewhere.

See, while Dr. Robotnik was famous for his accomplishments in Eldritch science, any actual fans of his would know his true passion always lied in robotics and technology. Miles had read every paper of Robotnik’s that had ever been published and had been both fascinated by the ideas he spoke of and frustrated that it all got swept under the radar by his other, less impressive (in Miles’ opinion) achievements. It was why the young fox so strongly believed that his idol wasn’t dead, but rather had faked his death.

Meeting the man was like a dream come true for the fox… but being scolded for traveling alone was definitely not what he had been expecting. Miles tried protesting as Robotnik began shoving him out the door, saying something about how his robots would drive him back to the nearest city— Only for the temperature in the lab to suddenly drop.

Miles Prower had never met an eldritch before, but the thing crouched on the desk was certainly not what he had been expecting. Blue quills, glowing slit eyes, taller than any human he’d ever seen, and grinning madly from every mouth that appeared and disappeared. It dropped to the floor and crawled closer, joints poking out in unnatural directions. Robotnik’s grip on Miles tightened but neither mortal moved or breathed. When those wide eyes were an inch from his own, Miles couldn’t help but flinch and close his eyes in sheer terror.

But no pain came and mere seconds later, Robotnik whispered that it was gone.

The man explains how he had came out here, away from annoying and idiotic people, because he wanted to work on his own projects. Those projects being to finally explore robotics to his desire. However, that was quickly halted when he realized he was being watched by three Eldritch creatures. Yet they never harm him, despite somehow making it past his security and watching him from across the room.

However, to Miles’ shock, Robotnik reveals that he believes them to be the first ever artificial Eldritch. Escaped experiments.

There’s Scitter, the blue one, who moves fast and eradiclly. It’s also the most “social” and curious, revealing itself to Robotnik far more than the other two.

The next is Golem, with glowing markings, unblinking eyes, and the most deadly-looking in appearance. It appears suddenly and without moving at all, before vanishing whenever Robotnik would blink.

The third is the most elusive and also the tallest. It never leaves the forest and Robotnik’s camera algorithm can’t tell the difference between it and the trees. With its appearance largely unknown, Robotnik simply calls it the Overwatcher for now. He theorized it doesn’t need line of sight to actually watch the Doctor.

Miles decides to stay and help Robotnik find out what they are and if there are more of them out there, becoming his assistant and, eventually, his protégé. To Robotnik’s pleasant surprise, the child’s mind easily keeps up with his own genius.

Elsewhere, Amy and Knuckles begin the search for their missing friend.

—

Characters:

Eggman - While not an evil villain hellbent on taking over the world, he’s still a recluse who prefers the company of his robots. He also still has his ego and is a massive jerk to anyone he considers stupid. However, he begins to grow a soft spot for the young fox who’s not only able to keep up with him but also provides good ideas of his own.

Tails - Goes by Miles Prower in this AU due to a lack of Sonic. He was bullied for many years, until the Rose siblings moved into town. Amy and her adopted brother, Knuckles, quickly came to his defense and soon enough, the three were friends. However, when Robotnik vanished, they didn’t have the same confidence as Miles in the man’s survival. Determined to discover the truth to his idol’s fate, Miles sets out to find him… and finds more than he bargained for.

Amy and Knuckles - Amy came across Knuckles when she was young and upon discovering he had no memories or family, immediately declared them siblings. Everyone thinks him to be some sort of mutated hedgehog or porcupine. Amy is also Eldritch-touched but keeps it a secret from everyone but Knux. Later, Knuckles discovers his connection to the gods aka the Master Emerald and Chaos. In this world, Angel Island is still a myth and floats around without its guardian.

Sonic - Known as ‘Scitter’, is the “friendliest” and least-cautious of the trio. Scitter grows a strange fascination with Miles and begins showing personality once he arrives, favoring the kit greatly and showing up at the lab even more frequently. He’s also the only one of the three to lack cuffs. Miles is the one to gift him clothes.

Shadow - Known as ‘Golem’, he teleports all over the place, showing little to no emotion, and doesn’t move at all. Out of the three, he’s the most feral and it takes both Robotnik and Miles a long time before they feel comfortable enough to even breath in his presence. He seems to enjoy sitting in the rafters, sometimes going unnoticed for hours then disappearing once he’s finally spotted.

Silver - Known as ‘the Overwatcher’ first then later ‘Birch’ once Robotnik and Tails manage to finally see what he looks like. For the longest time, he did not approach the lab, or at least, not that Robotnik knew. Strangely, he seems to know where the cameras are. The tallest and skinniest of the three, Birch can’t move much, encumbered by his chains. It’s Miles who first comments how it seems strangely weaker than the other two.

Ideas:

Eldritch in this world are like endangered animals, but are world-wide and extremely dangerous. Due to them hunting humans and mobians alike, advancements in technology, medicine, and the like are slowed down much. Also, the overall population is lower and less spread out internationally. Eldritch are not social creatures and tend to mostly be by themselves unless they’re a swarm-type. They don’t seem to posses emotions.

90% of Eldritch attacks result in death. Few manage to escape and even fewer are spared. On that very rare occasion, the ones spared are called “Eldritch-touched”, gain enhanced senses, and glowing eyes. No one knows what an Eldritch-touched means beyond that. They are always disappeared by the local government, likely to be studied or killed, hence why Amy keeps it a secret.

The crew later discover that Amy can actually sense and even communicate with Eldritch. Not as a direct language but rather through intentions and memories. It’s by Amy connecting to Scitter’s mind that they learn Scitter, Golem, and Birch are man-made eldritch—confirming Robotnik and Miles’ theory—meant to be weapons. Weapons against what or who, they don’t know, but whatever happened ended up as a failure. More powerful than predicted, the trio escaped and slaughtered everyone, including the other experiments. Amy later reveals that Scitter’s mind was a lot more emotional than she predicted, further emphasizing just how odd these man-made creatures are.

The idea is that this AU is partially explored through Logs (inspired by the Egg Memos from Frontiers).

[cutegirlmayra]

Boom Sonamy, Lyric comes back trying to achieve immortality. He needs an exhange of life for a life so a live sacrifice but can't read the rest of the inscription. So he kidnaps Amy again to read the rest of the message otherwise he'll destroy the village and plans to sacrifice her. The gang come to save her and stop Lyric. You can add more to make it more dramatic if you want with a better ending than I can think of ^_^'

I do tend to always just add more, don’t I? XD I’m sorry for those who I’ve taken your idea and ran with my own thoughts on it, but I hope it’s been satisfactory nonetheless! Working a lot lately, so when I do have time to do the Tumblr Prompt Series (also posted on all my writing sites for viewing pleasure!) I usually do something fun but small. I’ll give it my best, Precious Anon!

Also, Lyric is a very… how do I put this… There’s not a whole hecka lot of information on him. I did some research to look back over the games he was in, and even then, it was pretty generic and bland, sorry Lyric fans!

However, sometimes, that’s actually good news. You know why? Shocking, I know! But it means the character is wide open for interpretation and expanding upon them. I won’t be doing that for this fic, necessarily, but I think characters with great potential are usually those that have little information but just enough to peak interest. It’s one of the reasons I felt Amy Rose was a character I could put more lore and backstory on, because although I did study her character, there wasn’t a whole lot on her. It made her a canvas that felt ‘half-full’, able to be influenced and expanded upon.

However, in recent times, Amy Rose and many other characters like her in different franchises (Not necessarily in personality or role, but just the same level of character-depth and lore, I guess?) have really been given love and more games are coming out with better writing quality than ever before! I’m so glad that so many ‘side characters’ are treated as main cast mates, and not just thrown into trope roles anymore.

That being said, you can’t escape the occasional ‘One-time’ appearances like Lyric being a ‘Pops up in maybe Two Games and never again’ villain. But it does leave room for us Fanfiction writers to make some interesting depth to further their small legacy! <3

That being said–TUMBLR PROMPT REQUESTS ARE CLOSED, SHUT DOWN ON INBOX, lolol you were waiting for that, weren’t ya? >:3c

Hugs and blowing kisses, everyone. I’m definitely taking more time to heal from burnout and also work on Fanfiction Edits (Which are coming along nicely, I’m now back to Instincts, for those who are a fan of that one.), Original Stories (Sorry, probably won’t post them tho :( But books are important! lol), and of course, Tumblr Prompt Series so yall know I’m not dead xD

The tumblr inbox for prompt requests will remain down probably for a few more years. I know that upsets a lot of you, but if they ever do open again, I will be blocking ‘Anon’ because I think some people are posting more than the actual limit of how many they can submit. Due to this, I’m overwhelmed with hundreds (not joking, by the way.) of requests that I really don’t want to do? So we’ll be taking time to go back to stories I’ve wanted to write and solo-writing for my fanfictions/other works. I’ve gotta set up stronger boundaries! Haha XD

That being said, please enjoy this Sonic Boom (Feels ancient now) Prompt!

Prompt:

“Ultimate power… Although sounding like sweet nectar to one’s ambitious desires, tends to lead to a faulty conclusion…” A snaky whiplash from his claw-tail sent a impulse reflex through Amy’s spine, causing her to flinch and her ears to withdraw back again.

She was so mad, tied up to a pillar inside an ancient tomb, having been ambushed while excavating what looked like a madman’s attempt at immortal life.

Roughly translated, a doctor related to Eggman, known as Ivo Robotnik had first discovered this tomb and kept it a secret. He researched and found a successful way to immortalize someone… but he failed to interpret the last section of the stone slab’s text…

A life for a life… to give Shadow The Hedgehog, his ultimate creation, immortality–to live and breathe forever in the purpose of curing the world of its vital mistakes and sins–he accidentally let his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, die in the process…

As she read the inscription, Ivo’s account tells that her life was being drained from her… and eventually, was converted in some miraculous way into what was necessary to mechanically engineer this ancient tomb’s purpose: Infinitely Sustained Life.

Shadow, overwhelmed by the loss of his friend, turned on Ivo Robotnik, and sealed the tomb to never let the tragedy that had befallen here happen again… until now.

‘Opps.’ Amy thought to herself, annoyed by Lyric carrying on with his wicked monologue about being the last of the ancients, having envied and coveted this technology, but had lost before he could even begin to understand it. ‘I’ve been following the late Ivo Robotnik’s work in hopes of finding the ancient world… I didn’t think I’d stumble upon this buttless snake again…’ She sighed quietly, blinking her eyes as though counting subconsciously the seconds before she was to be daringly rescued by her friends.

Again…

‘Why was it always me?’ She grumbled in her thoughts before the second whipping crack of his tail colliding with the ground near her snapped her out of her thoughts again.

“You remain awfully quiet… that’s offssssseting.” He hissed to her side, which made her lean as far right as she could muster, trying to get away from his anciently stanky breath.

“Upsetting,” She appeared to be clarifying, “That I have to have my peaceful afternoon so rudely interrupted by the echoes of a delusional reptilian, but I mean, at least I’m complaining internally.” She smirked up to him, showing she wasn’t trying to help him, she was just making a snarky comeback.

He shook his head, his lips swerving in their rage as he lifted himself up, completely over her cocky and irritating behavior.

“You will read the slab for me!” He smashed down his robotic arm by her, and she had to turn her head away from the dust and flying debris of shattered rock taking off from the impact.

“Like I’d die for you!” She badmouthed back, “Sonic and my friends will be here any minute. Seems you’ve become very fond of our combined butt-whooping, Lyric! I can’t fathom any other reason you’d keep wishing it upon you, unless it truly makes you feel like you even have a butt to whoop.”

“Silence!” He roared up, having the whole of the tomb shake from his vibrating, strong sound before Amy just scoffed.

“Finally, we see snake-eye to hedgehog-eye now.” She leaned back on the pillar she was tied to, taking a nice breath out. “Ah~ Now, to await the inevitable victory-WUOO!” She was yoinked practically up, snapping her restraints around her wasit but her arms still behind her back.

Lyric had taken hold of her head, as she kicked the air and tried to hit him while he held her uncomfortably high.

She could probably be alright, but she couldn’t use her Enerbeam… Nor her Piko-Piko Hammer while her arms were still tied-up, although her legs free.

She could feel the squeezing of his robotic claws digging into her cranium, and for the first time that day, she actually showed the tire and wear of having struggled against him for so long.

Not only did she dig her way carefully as she could in here, trying to preserve the ancient relics to study them later, but she had to fight Lyric, and now…

“If you will not comply…” He pulled her face towards his own, using his tail to grab her legs and keep them tightly clamped together, making sure her struggle just became ten-times harder…

Her eyes were twitching under the pressurized hold the claws had on her head… Looking up as she couldn’t help but show the strain.

“Then you’ll remember an old friend, I’m sure…” He attached a new mind-controller on her, as he let her go and she fell to all fours,... then looked up to show she was fully under his power.

“Perfect~” He chimed, laughing manically, “Now, read it to me!” He slashed his tail against the wall, turning for her to get up and walk towards the slab.

She knelt and held out her two hands to it, reading the rock…

“At last! My robotic empire! To erase the weak and insipid existence of all living organisms…” He slithered and opened his arms to the murals around the tomb. “To eternally strive for perfect power… the influence of which only the vast superiority of machines can dictate! Eggman was a fool to try and rival me… You and your friends were mere insects to my reign! Biting and taunting me, getting in my way to distract me from the ultimate purpose of my recreation!” He twisted the wrist joint of his robotic arm and held up his claw-like hand, admiring it. “Soon, even I shall become fully mechanized! With immortality, I can improve my own being once more! No longer half-complete, a mutated cyborg with still my fleshy prison! But… I shall shed this weakling flesh to become truly–the immortal mechanized god of this new world!” He struck an all-powerful and imposing pose, but an explosion of rocks and rumbling of the tomb’s unstabilized structure shook him out of his gloating aside to himself once more.

“Wh-what? OFFPH!” A red, shiny shoe smushed with great force against his face, crushing it as Sonic sped into the fight, and Shadow rushed to Amy’s side.

“Snap out of it!” He could tell by her faint breathing that she was already losing her life force, the stream of which was moving through the air into the large center dome-like structure above the tomb.

“No… not again..!” Shadow cried out, seeing as Lyric was able to actually combat Sonic, who had tried to pin him down but was flung off of him.

Lyric laughed again with the added strength of immortality slowly being converted into him by the strange process of the powerful stream of light waving through the air, coming out of the ball, to then attach to him like a leash.

“Soon, Sonic, all your friends will contribute to is merely delaying the eventual takeover of this planet..!” Lyric, slithering towards Sonic as he kept backing up, felt his body powering up. “Every muscle in you will eventually wither and die… while mine shall stay immaculate… and whether you continue to prevent me from my destined course of fate or not, sooner or later… You will die.” He lunged into Sonic’s face, who looked horrified at what he was saying. “While I’ll still yet have endless time left in me… to conquer, maim, and entirely transform this pathetic mossy rock into yet another perfect rendition of what I shall become… Immortality pristine, everlasting, and most importantly…” He rose himself up into the air, his tail whipping around underneath him. “A robotic masterpiece..!”

“Amy..!!!” Shadow gripped at her mindcontrolling device on her head, but it was wedged on tightly this time, “Darn it, woman!” He looked to the slab, she was almost done..!

He closed his eyes, realizing what he must do.

“Forgive me… Maria.” He covered Amy’s mouth so she couldn’t speak. “I will have to belay my promise to you… and save this pathetic excuse for a world… if only to bring your perfect idealisms to light… perhaps… another day.”

He lowered his head and read the last of the inscription, which took his immortality and-

The beam redirected.

“WHAT?!” Lyric landed back on the ground, looking at his robotic arms before turning to finally notice Shadow as he held Amy, giving her back her life force…

“NOOO!!!” Lyric began to move quickly towards him, but Sonic thomped him yet again to the ground.

He folded his arms, standing triumphantly over him, “Looks like your brilliant plan at eternal robotization backfired yet again, Lyric! Now, you’re just softly singing the poetic justice of what happens to those who try and metallically make their own butts to be kicked!” He kicked Lyric as he moved forward with a humorous cry of pain from it.

“Shadow?” Sonic then raced to his side, looking at Amy in his arms and having her transferred to his own.

Shadow… slowly shook his head.

Sonic, worried now, looked down at Amy. “Amy?”

She didn’t move… the light breeze from their entrance now sending the wind to move her three bangs.

“... Amy?” There was a long… hard pause…

The air was still, even Lyric pushed up off the ground, holding his push-up position, and looked to see with a swishing tail if immortality could still be his afterall.

Then… her eyes blinked…

“Miss Rose?” The little blonde human girl was bending down to speak to her, as she got up, rubbing her head.

“Wha-... H-huh?” She looked around what seemed like a white space. “Am I… dead?” She looked at the girl, gasping, “Maria Robotnik!?”

The little girl shyly giggled, gently covering her mouth, “Oh, I’m sorry for laughing, this isn’t the time nor place for that.” She then curtsied and offered her her hand, “You’re not dead. I’m giving you my life’s essence… the same essence… that was used to give Shadow his immortal life.”

“W-What?!” Amy scooted away, kicking her feet out from the girl’s hand. “That’s ludicrous! I don’t want eternal life!” She exclaimed, “I… I want to grow old with my friends, and have countless adventures… a family and eventually… make global peace and end world hunger.” She looked down, “Set up an all-women government and prove that we can organize a better democracy and-”

Maria just giggled again, “Many. Big. Dreams.” She gave each word a single note and pause, not necessarily for dramatic flavor or effect, but to show how much they meant to her.

“Many times have I wished for a better world. Bigger and bigger have my heartfelt prayers become. Dreams of an absolution… from misery and fire, to passion and compassion reigning evermore on the earth.” She gently offered her hand to Amy again.

“If you can’t accept an immortal life… then accept entirely your own life. All it’s happenings. Even the mistakes…”

Amy looked at her hand… realizing that without Maria, she would likely never be able to return to life at all…

“Is this… really the only way?” Amy held up her hand, but hesitated, looking sweetly at the girl. “I’m sure… W-We could ask Tails… We could find a way to bring you back!” She formed a fist, “We can reverse what this place has done to you!”

Maria just smiled like the angel she was. “... This is the only way…” She quietly stated, “Come, be at peace. Your friends are waiting for you.”

Amy dropped her head, her hand loosening from a determined fist to an open hand again, and looked at it. “... Dying sure does suck… doesn’t it?” She looked with teary eyes up to the kind, optimistic girl. Her heart wanted to help her, but she was sacrificing herself–yet again–for the greater good.

“Thank you… Maria.” She took her hand… as a white light engulfed them.

“No, Amy Rose. Thank you… for never giving up on the world we live in. In it’s present, so many seek to extend their lives, in fear that they will live to short or not greatly enough. The real life we should long for, is the one we’re currently on right now. With so much possibility, with so many endless adventures to take… When one begins to stop fearing the future, then can we really live and create it at last… the way-...”

“We want to.” Amy finished, as Maria’s voice faded and she opened her actual eyes.

Sonic and Shadow were over her… Shadow having lost his Immortality, but Amy not gaining it.

Instead, Amy had died and Maria used her life force to give it back to her.

Both mortal now, Amy looked from Sonic to Shadow, and held up a hand to grace his cheek, “She’s lovely.” She smiled kindly to him. “Maria was such a beautiful young girl.”

Shadow couldn’t hold it back, and cried.

He ducked his head as her hand came gently off and moved to Sonic’s chest, patting it lightly, “Boy, does that heart never cease to slow down?” She teased, as Sonic sighed in relief.

“Happy to have you back… Ames.” He gave her a fond expression, and she leaned her head into his embracing arms, resting in that soft gaze of sweetness he gave her.

“ARRGGGAHHH!!” Lyric arched his back, crying out in further outrage. “HOW!? You fools! I will return, I will bring a bigger robotic army, I’ll have you ruing the day you-!”

There’s was a large ‘KONK!’ sound as mechanical birds flew around his head while he circled a little in the air and then fell forward, revealing Tails with a large wrench held like a thrown baseball bat, Knuckles with his fists positioned as though they had just hit something as well, and Sticks with her boomerang and one hand on the ground to show she had just caught it.

“Man, to think. We’ve stumbled upon a literal ANCIENT secret governmental conspiracy! Whoo! Glad I’m only living in a time where we have to deal with our modern governmental conspiracies!” She spouted out, looking relieved for some odd reason.

“Oh, hey Bestie!” She waved enthusiastically to Amy, who lightly waved back at her, giggling as she came over.

Completely unaware…

Of what just happened here moments before.

“What were you up to?” She asked, innocently.

Shadow covered his face from the view of the others, as Sonic looked to him and then to Amy, and helped her to lean up more so she could be sitting comfortably as she twisted her torso to address the others, and mostly answer Sticks’s question.

“Changing fate.” She replied, smiling from ear to ear. “And hopefully…”

“Making all of ours a good one.”

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

maria lives AUs (or as i like to call them, “what if she WASNT doomed by the narrative” AUs) are always fun but like. where do we start. is she with shadow when he wakes up or not, and if not does he think she’s dead or does he know she’s also cryofrozen? cause literally all of those pathways open up completely different situations

she’s there with shadow when he wakes up? she can keep him calm and sane. but is she trying to figure out who this guy claiming to be their cousin is, does she trust him immediately or is she sus? does she stamp down her foot and refuse to join his evil plans or is she broken by what she saw on the ark? if she takes shadow away from ivo immediately, what do they do then?

shadow wakes up but knows she’s alive, he’s going out to find her, fuck what eggman wants. does he get captured? does he get attention? does sonic track down this weird faker only to find him digging through government files to find his sister?? did maria wake up on her own and escape???

shadow wakes up and she’s not there and he thinks she’s dead, it goes the same as canon... until he sees maria. when does that happen? during sa2? heroes? shth??? 06??? forces???? the possibilities are endless, and each one changes the canon drastically from the point where she appears

[monsterblogging]

How Pacific Rim gives the finger to the Catholic Church

Another interesting thing that many people miss about Pacific Rim is that it has some... things to say about religion, especially the Catholic Church. It can be easy to miss because it's not all spelled out for you, but once you see it, you'll never unsee it.

First, let's take a look at Raleigh's speech from the beginning of the film:

There are things you can't fight, acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger, suddenly, you can fight the hurricane. You can win.

This speech here establishes that when you fight kaiju, you aren't just fighting monsters. You're defying God himself.

"You're reading too much into it!" some of you might say. "'Act of God' is just a legal term for massive disasters."

Ah, but I'm not reading too much into it. Because this line was originally found in the draft script, which was way more explicit in linking the Precursors with the divine.

In the draft script, the Precursors aren't just some random alien invaders. They're actually the creators of our universe, and we're just a pesky little accident that happened on the planet they want to live on.

The character of Ivo Czerny, who had drifted with a kaiju brain, was given this dialog:

I looked into the abyss. I’d been infected with the truth -- that this is the end of us. We are the vermin of the gods. There’s no point in putting up a fight…

A different character, Commander Kaz Takada, says:

We call the enemy the Precursors… I may as well tell the world the gods want us dead.

The character of Newt Gotlieb is given this dialog:

I don't care if they are the creators of the universe. I like the universe.

And I'm not a creationist.

So, Raleigh's line wasn't just a careless reference to a legal term. It was introducing the story's thesis.

In the final version of the film, we don't have all of this explicit dialog. And yet, the sentiment is still there. How do we know this? For one thing, the Precursors are modeled on Catholic clergy. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters, quotes Guillermo del Toro as saying:

We gave the Precursors elements of ecclesiastical royalty, dividing them into cardinals and bishops.

Fun fact: If we go to the old Art of Pacific Rim page on The Internet Archive and check the filenames, we can see that this Precursor - the one who stares up at Lady Danger as it goes 'splodey - is a Precursor Bishop.

(Screencaps from quiteunlikely.net)

Further establishing the link between the Precursors and the Catholic Church are the costumes of the BuenaKai nuns:

(Screencap from movie-screencaps.com)

A better picture of the costume can be found on PropstoreAuction. If you want to see the whole thing, go there; because I'm going to crop it because the whole thing's pretty big. Anyway, you can see that their costumes include cornettes and stoles.

(By the way, there are also kaiju monks. This isn't a girls-only club like the Netflix cartoon would have you think.)

Now, forget everything you know about Uprising or The Black, and consider all of this in the context of the anti-authority themes in Guillermo del Toro's other work. This casts the nature of the Precursors and the hivemind in a somewhat different light than many of us are used to. These aren't just scary aliens. This is a civilization built on ideals of rigid hierarchy and total dominion. And they're also essentially theocrats.

What's also really interesting is that when you take all of this together, it means that the kaiju spiritualists aren't actually wrong in regarding the kaiju as divine beings sent by the gods. They're just assholes for aligning themselves with a malefic divine.

[himluv]

DA Review Series: Tevinter Nights

<<< Previous Review: Absolution

I've read this anthology once before, and I'm happy to say it holds up beautifully on a re-read. Since this features multiple stories, I'm going to review the whole work, and then do little reviews of each individual tale.

Title: Tevinter Nights Editors: Chris Bain, Trick Weekes, Matthew Goldman, and Christopher Morgan Year Published: 2020 In-World Year: ~9:45+ Verdict: Required reading. This is a fantastic look at the state of Thedas after Trespasser, as well as an introduction to a few of our companions and factions in Veilguard. If you only consume one piece of tie-in content leading up to release day, make it this one.

Tevinter Nights is a collection of short stories all set after the fall of Ventus. We meet Strife and Irelin, Evka Ivo and Antoine, Lucanis and Illario Dellamorte, Andarateia Cantori and Viago de Riva, Emmrich and Manfred, and Neve Gallus, among others. We also see all of our factions — Inquisition, Lords of Fortune, Veil Jumpers, Shadow Dragons, Antivan Crows, the Mourn Watch, and the Grey Wardens. This book really feels like a primer for the next game and is a ton of fun. I enjoyed my second reading as much as the first!

1. Title: Three Trees to Midnight Author: Trick Weekes Verdict: Set in the aftermath of the invasion of Ventus, this story feels like the perfect jumping off point. It picks up from the comics and introduces us to the Veil Jumpers and Arlathan Forest — a very exciting first story for longtime fans.

2. Title: Down Among the Dead Men Author: Sylvia Feketekuty Verdict: Undead murder mystery, what's not to love? Plus, we meet Emmrich and Manfred and it's absolutely adorable. And, I'll be honest, I'd do anything for Audric. This story makes the Mourn Watch seem pretty darn cool.

3. Title: The Horror of Hormak Author: John Epler Verdict: Absolute nightmare fuel. If you're worried that Veilguard isn't going to be dark enough... Read this story. A pair of Wardens are investigating a missing unit, and discover a very messed up underground lab of some sort. This story very much gave that same creeping dread as meeting the Broodmother in DAO. And if I have one fear for Veilguard, it's a Broodmother in 4k.

4. Title: Callback Author: Lukas Kristjanson Verdict: Heartbreaking. But also a really moving farewell to Skyhold. I love this story even though it kills me. In fact, I loved it enough to write some fanfic revolving around it! That's how good it is.

5. Title: Luck in the Gardens Author: Sylvia Feketekuty Verdict: This story introduces us to the Lords of Fortune faction. Hollix takes a job from none other than Dorian Pavus (and we see him with Mae!!!) to find out what's been hunting people in the docks. And it's uhhhh not anything you might expect. We see more evidence of gross, tentacled, briny-blooded monsters lurking underground. Again, things are getting real messed up in Thedas y'all.

6. Title: Hunger Author: Brianne Battye Verdict: In another throwback to Origins, werewolves are back babeyyy! This time a pair of Wardens (Evka Ivo and Antoine) are on their way back to Weisshaupt when they come across a cursed village. The pair decide to lend a hand and quickly realize they might have taken on more than they bargained for...

7. Title: Murder by Death Mages Author: Caitlin Sullivan Kelly Verdict: More Mortalitasi in this one. We get a peek at Nevarran politics, a brief glimpse of Cassandra, and more insight into the Mortalitasi. I will say, this is probably my least favorite story in the collection. While it showed Inquisition agent Sidony's power, it didn't really come together for me plot-wise.

8. Title: Streets of Minrathous Author: Brianne Battye Verdict: Helloooo Neve Gallus! This is an utterly stunning introduction to our private detective companion. A great noir-style tale that confirms that the Venatori are very much still a problem in Tevinter.

9. Title: The Wigmaker Job Author: Courtney Woods Verdict: Oh man. This is one of my favorite stories. There's just so much to love here! Lucanis and Illario are great together (I fell in love with Lucanis here and have rooted for him to be a companion since I first read it). The action sequences are great, and again, some real nasty, dark things are happening in Thedas.

10. Title: Genitivi Dies in the End Author: Lukas Kristjanson Verdict: This story is So. Much. Fun! It's also a pretty deep cut for fans, featuring Brother Ferdinand Genitivi (from DAO) and Philliam, a Bard!, as well as a few references to the Randy Dowager. All figures you'll only know if you are a lore hound in Inquisition. We also meet another Lord of Fortune and get a fun romp into elven ruins. What's not to love?

11. Title: Herold Had the Plan Author: Ryan Cormier Verdict: More Lords of Fortune, this time stealing an artifact from the Grand Tourney in Starkhaven. We also see Vaea and Ser Aaron at the end, which was a nice little treat. I will say though, this one had me a bit misty-eyed by the end. I usually want to see more of characters I love, but I hope Bharv retires to his farm and never treasure hunts again. Man has earned it.

12. Title: An Old Crow's Old Tricks Author: Arone Le Bray Verdict: After a troop of Tevinter soldiers attack a Dalish clan to make way for their camp, the Dalish seek revenge. That vengeance comes in the from of an old woman named Lessef. Watching her decimate the soldiers was gruesome good fun, and I cheered each time she said "Lessef of the Antivan Crows has fulfilled the contract."

13. Title: Eight Little Talons Author: Courtney Woods Verdict: This is the longest of the stories (I'd probably consider it a novelette) and it is maybe my favorite. I love a good whodunnit, and this one has a remote lake house, Antivan Crows, murders that replicate historically famous assassinations, AND sexual tension through the roof! We are formally introduced to Andarateia Cantori and Viago de Riva in this story, though we can infer from the text that they are the unnamed Crows we met in the comic Deception. I love them and NEED them to kiss on screen on Veilguard, okay?????

14. Title: Half Up Front Author: John Epler Verdict: It's hard to follow up Teia and Viago, but this little heist story is good fun. We see Gatt, and go to Kont-Arr! We also learn that the Agents of Fen'Harel are uhhhh real intense, Solas is after yet another artifact, and his feud with the Qunari is alive and well. We also learn that Dorian hired the narrator of this story to steal something from the Archon(?!) and at the end Gatt suggests the narrator and her girlfriend Irian head to Kirkwall to meet Varric. So, I guess we'll see if they show up in Veilguard?

15. Title: The Dread Wolf Take You Author: Trick Weekes Verdict: Look. As a Solavellan, I was never going to be normal about this story. I remember screaming (and crying) the first time I read it. It's a really interesting look at some different groups around Thedas, including the Carta, the Mortalitasi, and the Executors. We get to see Charter again, and she mentions Tessa! But the real gem here is that Solas himself shows up, and he somehow manages to break my heart all over again all while leaving me we more questions than answers. What an absolute banger of an ending for this anthology!

[kitkatt0430]

Something that's been rattling around for some years now...how exactly would Slade have reacted if it had been Oliver who was the one killed by Ivo? How would that have rippled out into the Arrowverse? Would the Undertaking have succeeded or would a Mirakuru enhanced Slade along with Sara and Shado - presuming they also managed to survive the Island - have managed to get to Starling anyway, if they'd managed to retrieve The List?

I had not considered this kind of AU before but now you are giving me ideas... ^_^

So I do think Slade would still have reacted really badly. Honestly, I think the only death out of the trio he wouldn't have reacted badly to while hopped up on Mirakuru is Sara because he didn't know her well enough. But while Slade was in love with Shado, he'd still come to care a great deal about Oliver despite Oliver sleeping with Shado. (Oliver still in the 'cannot do relationships that aren't super messy' stage of his life, it's still hilarious to me that his relationship struggles on the 'present' day part of the show are still improvements on his past relationship screw ups.)

Slade would probably handle things a bit better at first, but much like how canon Slade started hallucinating Shado in his anger/grief over her death, I think he'd start to see Oliver as the representative of the Mirakuru anger/paranoia/mental instability it induces and he'd still wind up become a problem that Shado, Sara, and Ivo's prisoners have to deal with after Ivo himself is killed.

Rewind a bit to the moment of Ollie's death. He's still put on the spot by Ivo, who is a rapist and misogynist and all around piece of shit. Ollie can't choose who lives and who dies. At least not between Shado and Sara. So Oliver says "me. Shoot me" and Ivo does it. He thinks it'll be easier to keep two women in check anyway, he doesn't know that Shado's a badass and that killing Oliver in front of Sara (after threatening to kill her first) is gonna be the snapping point for his 'docile lab assistant/rape victim'.

For drama, Oliver's death isn't immediate. He's shot in the chest maybe? Somewhere where he has just long enough to make a dying declaration, passing on the List and what little he knows about it to Sara and Shado. I think Sara would hang on to it, but it could honestly go either way.

Events would then play out similarly to how they did in canon. Except I think Shado would be more willing to take the chance that the cure would work on Slade. She just lost Oliver and despite Slade probably physically assaulting her in his growing anger... she doesn't want to lose Slade again to. She knows she's losing him to the Mirakuru but as long as he's alive there's a chance of saving him.

Of course, we don't really know if this iteration of the cure was correct or not. It looks superficially like the cure Caitlin and Cisco come up with years later but it wasn't developed off the real Mirakuru serum. Ivo made it based off his faulty, bastardized version of Mirakuru.

So this could go one of a few ways. It works, Slade returns to normal, he has to come to grips with his behavior over the last few days and the way he threatened Shado, but it's better than having to live with years of hurting people in a mentally altered state and then having his sanity forced back on him to have to live with it.

Or it doesn't work, it doesn't have any effect, and Shado has to kill him and she's more effective at it than Ollie was at that point in time. So Slade dies. Or maybe she's not more effective because she does return Slade's feelings after all but found Oliver more approachable of the two for a casual relationship. She can't bring herself to be as brutal as necessary to kill someone with Mirakuru, assumes Slade drowns, and instead Slade's attraction turns into a burning hatred that focuses on Shado and her sister down the line.

Or the cure reacts badly to the OG Mirakuru and it kills Slade stone dead and Shado has to live with the fact that her attempt to save him was what killed him.

I favor the Slade lives but is still Mirakuru Man option, but all of these scenarios are really interesting ideas to explore and there are probably more variations that could be considered. These were just the big ones that stood out to me immediately.

If Sara still washes up where Nyssa finds her - Sara still in possession of the List because it's all she's got left of Oliver - then this of course complicates things. A lot. Canonically Sara doesn't go back until after the Undertaking, but I could see the List burning a hole in her pocket, as it were. The League offers her a chance to develop her skills, but she's basically saying screw you to Oliver's memory if she hooks up with League permanently.

While Sara is dealing with League bullshit, Shado would take Oliver's place in washing up in Hong Kong. But I honestly don't see ARGUS being interested in her the way they were with Oliver. Oliver was useful because he was considered dead already, amongst other reasons. But Shado wasn't missing that long comparatively and is able to return to her life as a pre-med student and reunites with her sister Mei.

It takes some doing, but Shado is able to transfer to a school in Starling City to complete her pre-med education abroad. There she's able to track down the Queen's easily and the Lances only slightly less so.

She makes an appointment with Moira first and while she doesn't have the List, Shado does have Oliver's picture of Laurel which proves to Moira that Shado is telling the truth. It's a sanitized version of the truth, but Shado basically tells her that Shado met Oliver when she was kidnapped and brought to an island off of the China coast and used to blackmail her father into behaving. Oliver was there, someone her father had been mentoring to survive, and he'd been entrusted with protecting Shado. And he'd done so with his life. Probably vaguing things so that Ivo sounds like he's part of the group that murdered her dad, leaving out Sara and Slade entirely, and crying rather than being specific about Oliver's death because there are some things Moira doesn't need to hear. Shado is able to confirm Robert Queen's death too, which maybe gives Moira the push she needs to move on with Walter if she hasn't already.

Shado's visit with the Lances goes differently in that she's telling them that Sara might actually still be alive. Oliver's photograph of Laurel is once again Shado's ticket to being believed, which she gives to Laurel. She explains again how she knew Oliver, but actually brings up Sara here and Ivo being someone who both rescued and abused her. She probably still leaves out Slade and connects herself and Sara being lost at sea again to Ivo's death after Oliver's murder.

I think Quentin would probably still think Sara was dead despite Shado's earnest belief that Sara was strong and survived, but he'd greatly appreciate Shado telling him about his daughter and offer to be someone she can count on like family while she's in the states. Laurel - and definitely Dinah - would take hope that Sara is alive and will come back to them eventually, however.

Shado probably also got back into contact with Anatoly and some of the other survivors of the island, though not to the degree that Oliver did. Instead, Shado starts looking into what she remembers of the List immediately, setting herself up as the vigilante the Hood years before Oliver would have. She can only remember a few names from the List but she also knows that if Robert Queen had one then it stands to reason Moira might have one or at least that Robert had a backup.

So her first point of order is to get her hands on a copy of the List. She targets one of the names she remembers first, and while Shado can prove he's a shitty person by the time she's done and the guy goes to jail, she's SoL on the List. Shado turns to breaking and entering, sneaking into the Queen's home while they're out one day and there she eventually strikes paydirt, finding a little book that looks just like the one Ollie gave Sara. It's blank, but it's got the symbol of the Undertaking stamped in it, so Shado takes it and books it. Moira probably assumes Malcolm took it and the two have some bitchy power plays that eventually settles back into a frigid status quo.

Meanwhile, back at the League. Sara's got a mission already. The List. Fulfilling Ollie's last wish, to right the wrongs Robert Queen was part of. But she's also got a cute girl and her long-lived assassin-leader father to contend with. I can see her making a deal with Ra'as, who clearly does not approve of Nyssa's attraction to Sara. Train her, use her, and let her be a distraction for Nyssa for a while. When he tires of Sara, let her return to her old life as a sleeper assassin should he have need of her.

Honestly, it's not a bad deal for Ra'as because it gets Nyssa out of his hair for a while as he figures out who he's going to betroth her to. (Let his daughters marry for love or accept that one is a lesbian? Ra'as? Nope, he's not doing that.) Sara, of course, falls in love with Nyssa, but what's a girl to do? She knows better than to think she can save Nyssa from Ra'as, and so in a few years when he decides Nyssa's infatuation with Sara is getting to be too much of a distraction instead of just enough of a distraction, Sara returns to Starling City. She feels woefully unprepared to return because she's an assassin now and her family deserves better than her.

But still. She has her mission and she's gonna fulfill it. So Sara gets 'rescued' somewhere in maybe India or the Middle East and returns home.

All this time, Shado has been using the List 2.0 to figure out what the hell Robert Queen was involved in. She's become a local hero, no longer the Hood but the Green Arrow. With Laurel's non-vigilante-as-of-yet help after shenanigans. Tommy's too, he's the financial backer until he gets cut off but this Tommy planned ahead and had some money squirreled away in his name, maybe some stocks (including some STAR Labs stock that's lucrative right now but'll bite him in the butt come a couple more years), and a night club set up atop the arrow cave as a nod to Tommy and Oliver's childhood dream of running one together. Maybe Shado even got to name it Verdant, or maybe it's named something else entirely.

When Sara shows up, I think she'd confide in Shado about what happened to her but on the promise that Laurel never finds out. Sara would take up as the Canary and help try to stop the Undertaking too. Malcolm is, unbeknownst to them, the bad guy they're trying to stop.

Since Oliver was the connection that brought in Dig and Felicity, they're having relatively normal lives. Tommy's been learning to use a bow from Shado since he doesn't want her out there alone - Sara showing up and being her backup is a big relief for him. There's probably some Tommy/Laurel going on with Shado having bad luck with relationships - men and women alike. So maybe some Shado/Sara while Sara mourns leaving Nyssa behind and Shado is well aware this is more of a friends with benefits thing.

I could see this team up discovering that Malcolm is the Dark Archer and the mastermind behind the List - the Undertaking - eventually. Likely when Malcolm brings - successfully this time around - Tommy into his panic room for some reason. Tommy would have to essentially be undercover as himself trying to figure out what's going on and while I don't think they'd find the second bomb in time, I think they'd at least learn about it a little earlier. They'd still defuse bomb #1 and save a lot of lives. Tommy and Laurel would both survive, though they'd be evacuating as many people from the Glades as they could. Moira probably wouldn't fare as well in the aftermath, though, without Oliver to convince her to do the right thing at the last minute. Though perhaps Tommy gets through to her?

Of course, they'd have a lot of different issues from canon to deal with. Shado would have to worry about her student visa and transitioning from pre-med into a rigorous medical degree course that probably meant she was very slow about targeting the List compared to Oliver going after a new villain every week. She'd also likely be trying to gain citizenship in order to stay in the life she'd made for herself there, which would be easier for her than some given her lawyer friend Laurel helping out. And the power of being the protagonist.

Obviously it could all play out as a worst case scenario - Shado stays in Hong Kong with her sister, Sara doesn't return until after the Undertaking, and Tommy dies saving his girlfriend Laurel.... but I like the idea that in spite of a nail, there would still be a Green Arrow in Starling City.

Of course, if Slade survived and is still Mirakuru Man, then it could be the Undertaking that brings Starling City, and thus Shado, back into his crosshairs. This would also wind up dragging Mei into the middle of things, because I could see Slade going after her to bait Shado. And perhaps as a side plot, Tommy learns that Thea is his sister and that Malcolm is still alive. Despite Moira's protests, I could see Tommy recognizing what would protect Thea from Malcolm most is knowing the truth. And he'd tell her.

Honestly... I don't see Moira and Thea's relationship ever recovering in this timeline. Maybe they get back on good terms one day, but Thea's never close to her again. Thea has Walter and Tommy and that's all the family she wants or needs.

[kellterntempest]

MARIA PROTECT MARIA PROTECT MARIA

Project I.V.O AU: After android!Ivo and Agent Stone finally escape from the robotics lab facility, Ivo accidentally runs into Maria Robotnik. She mistakes Ivo for her father who has been dead for years - because Ivo's creator Gerald Robotnik modeled project I.V.O's human form after his own son in his grief.

Some deeply embedded code awakes within Ivo to protect her (also programmed by Gerald Robotnik)