#idk where idw find it… but i really want a copy

[ploppymeep]

my greatest dream is to one day own a copy of the nightmare of zaoldyeck musical, it’s so important to me

[mechawriterperson]

rambling about the Phantom Ruby Copies

The Phantom Ruby in the Sonic Universe is.. a weird thing to say the least, like it's stated to create hyper-realistic illusion that people think are real when they really aren't but in the game itself these "illusions" are actually affecting reality itself.

Safe to say that The Phantom Ruby and Infinite were victims of sub-par writing but despite that, I love The Phantom Ruby and Infinite quite a lot to the point where these two things are some of my favorite aspects of the entire franchise and I really do hope to see Infinite and The Phantom Ruby in another game sometime in the future but for right now, I want to discuss something with y'all.

we can go back and fourth on whether or not the Ruby can affect reality but for today I want to talk about a aspect of the Ruby. that being the Phantom Ruby Copies.

Now these things are one of the more consistent things that The Phantom Ruby has to it's name yet despite that they have their fair share of inconsistencies. today i want to go over the Phantom Ruby Copies and explain what they are, how they work and generally speculate on them so without further ado let's get into this.

The first time we see the Phantom Ruby Copies is when Sonic arrives at the city saving Tails and some Civilians from some Egg pawns, we immediately see the main four Copies of the Game Shadow, Zavok, Metal and Chaos now while we as the player may not know they are copies yet, there are subtle clues that cue us on the fact that something isn't right about them, for one they all have a glitchy aura and Shadow in particular has his eyes more lifeless heck for him when he stops Sonic from attacking Eggman his boost aura is pink rather then his signature orange.

After Infinite and his squad of fakers pull up, they have a brawl with the blue savior. The Copies show to be pretty capable with Metal matching Sonic Speed along with Phantom!Shadow, Zavok and Chaos showing there strength well enough and Infinite proves he's superior and beats the every loving fuck out of Sonic.

The next appearance of one of The Copies is when Chaos 0 gives Tails trauma and walks to him menacingly (I actually like to headcanon that this is just the real Chaos and he's like here to just get answers on like what the fuck is going on lol, like he see Tails an he's like "OH Hey that's the yellow boy who beat the fuck out of me let's go kids and ask the smart man!!" idk i just find that funny) but back on track Phantom!Chaos doesn't do anything too note worthy all he does is show that he can shapeshift his and go into swearers kinda like how Chaos did in SA1, also just like SA1 Chaos was attacked on the brain.

The Copies don't come into play in any major way until The Zavok boss fight, now in this fight PhantomCopy!Zavok acts identical to the Real deal like he speaks just like how he did in Lost World, he even remembers losing to Sonic (now this may seem unimportant but trust me it is) he even matches the real deals abilities like having Zavok's guard and his control over machines (granted that one is a little bit of a stretch but hey Lost World didn't show any cool like magnetic effect when The Zeti took control over Eggman's robot, that was change when we got to IDW but still) Now after defeating PhantomCopy!Zavok the copy dissipates into nothing Sonic doesn't question it and makes a mad dash to escape his prison. Now also PhantomCopy!Zavok is the one implied to torture Sonic when he was in prison and due to that factor it seemed like Phantom!Zavok only disappeared when Sonic killed him meaning that The Phantom Copies can roam around until they are properly taken care of.

the next time we a Phantom Copy is when Phantom!Shadow rushes through Sunset Heights, After Sonic catches up with The Phantom Faker thinking its the real deal. The Phantom goes on the attack, Sonic braces for impact and then the real Shadow uses Chaos Control and round house kicks The Phantom Copy ultimately killing it and making it disappear. he and Sonic have a brief exchange and Shadow reveal and explains that Infinite can create replica's of people, saying that they have "Mass and Form, but no Heart or Soul" and that "They are just as formidable as the original" and that "Infinite can create an unlimited number of them" (again we'll examine these claims later).

Now while these things aren't "Copies" and more like "Original Creations" there is a theory that the Infinite Long Bois (Yes in this blog we call them Infinite Long Bois) were repurposed remains of a new Perfect Chaos model... now this thing is at least to my knowledge unfounded, like the only piece of Evidence is that the Long Bois are liquid-y but other then that there's really nothing else but hey it's fun to speculate and it shows that Infinite can create original creations.

now the next appearance of a Phantom Copy is Phantom!Metal Sonic boss fight and this fight give us some further insight on what Infinite can do to the Copies, manipulate their size and give them original attacks. Phantom!Metal is larger and has completely original Ruby based attacks, like Lasers, creating Badniks and even making a shield out of them. The only attack that resembled any of Metal's attacks is his Dash attack but even that has something new attached being little teleports he does.

Now the I'm just gonna group the entire last act of Forces into one section so here we go, once we arrive at the Imperial Tower war scene we see a whole boatload of Phantom Copies, we see the Main Cast and the Resistance take them out with relative ease, now granted the main cast is pretty strong so its without question that they can take characters like Chaos, Shadow, Metal and Zavok and in the prior cutscenes with Phantom!Chaos and Phantom!Shadow they do go down in one hit, we'll examine The Copies durability later. after our heroes destroy a good few Copies, they see Infinite with his subscriber posse and in this scene it basically reconfirms what Shadow said about the Copies and how Infinite can generate an unlimited number of them. skipping forward after defeating Infinite and before fighting Eggman, The copies get mentioned by the resistance saying that "Copies of Shadow, Metal, Chaos, Zavok and Infinite are reappearing everywhere." and after defeating Eggman and The Phantom Ruby, the Phantom Copies disappear and that's the last we see of them.... OR SO WE THOUGHT!!! yeah we still got more friends buckle up.

So this next example isn't in the game but rather in the Sonic Forces Prequel Comic "Stress Test", Silver meets up with Knuckles and suddenly Angel Island is changed to the Mystic Jungle which fun fact is the Jungle location in Forces huh who knew, anyway there are Phantom Copies of the old Echidna Tribe and more importantly a Phantom Copy of Chaos. now this is where the Phantom Copies being just as formidable to the original is really shown, Phantom!Chaos is literally just as formidable as the original Chaos, like he can bend his form and his pretty strong physical and overall he's literally Chaos, he does go down but only because Knuckles attacks his brain, after the fight the ancients ruins and Chaos disappear, it's revealed that this was test drive of The Phantom Ruby power with Eggman proclaiming he doesn't even need to bother with The Master Emerald.

Now this last one may not count but i think it's worth mentioning, in Episode Shadow last level "Virtual Reality" Shadow thinks he's speaking to the actual Rouge and Omega until he realizes that they aren't the real deals, now it's never stated but these guys might honestly be Phantom Copies too now there's gonna be people saying "BuT ShAdOw SaId ThAt ThE CoPiEs hAd No HeArT Or SoUl" well you see counter point, Phantom!Zavok literally acts like his real counter part, again i'll go over this later but it's quite clearly obvious that The Copies can have personalities.

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okay now that we have examined all of The Phantom Copies appearance through out the game and comic, it's time to discuss the inconsistencies. well the two that are here anyway, the inconsistencies in question are the "They have mass and form but no heart and soul" and "they are just as formidable as the originals"

let's start out with easier one of the two and tackle the "They have mass and form but no heart or soul" now let's get the first part of this statement out of the way first, we can all agree that the Ruby Copies have mass and form to them all that we have no qualms with, now that we got that out of the way... we have to address the second part "They have no heat and soul" now this part is not false, almost all the Copies don't express emotions of the sort, in fact they never display piece of emotion or pain... well all except one Phantom!Zavok, like I've stated before he's identical to his real counter part like there's zero distinction between the two at all... despite that it this is the only example of The Phantom Copies expressing emotion... what mostly likely happening here is that normally The Copies don't have emotions but they can have personalities embedded into them, the reason why I say this is because of Episode Shadow again while its never confirmed Rouge and Omega are Phantom Copies in Virtual Reality act like how they do normally until they start acting out of character, here my headcanon Infinite can embed personalities into The Copies if he wants, that's probably the only answer to that question and imo it makes perfect sense, especially since we see that The Phantom Ruby can manipulate them like how Phantom!Metal size was doubled and how he was given original attacks.

now let's get into the more.. debated topic and that the "They are just as formidable as the originals"... god this one Jesus where to begin, like don't get me wrong this one is true but it's hard to explain. first off we see that in terms of strength The Copies are pretty are par with there originals, The Boss Fights and most of the Cutscenes confirmed the fact, this is further confirmed in prequel with Chaos, but the problem with this one is durability, The Copies can take a beating as shown in their boss fights or comic appearances but they have also shown to be not as durable as the originals, now one argument against this is that again when it comes to the main cast its no surprise that they are on par with Characters like Zavok and Chaos, but there is a small counter point to this counter point, we see in the "War scene" that The Copies go down by basic bitch White Wispons Lasers, they take out The Copies in one shot. overall in my opinion the claim that The Copies are just as formidable as the originals does reign true but due to Forces sup-pare writing and weird story decisions it doesn't feel that way.

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Overall the Ruby Copies could've been better but they aren't bad, in fact i quite like them, i find them fascinating and cool and a genuinely a great thing Infinite and The Phantom Ruby can do. I think The Copies really do give Infinite something really cool to use in his arsenal. overall... I like them :D

[artobotsrollout]

Also, I forgot to ask

Do you perhaps know where to get the physical copies of the comics?

I wish I could give an easy one stop online seller shop but tbh I'm still looking for one too.

BUT I CAN STILL HELP!

As a warning, I'm basically a baby Transformers fan I'm so new 😂. I've only really been around for a year and a bit and I've only just started reading the comics so others will probably have better tips than me.

@optimistpax knows way more about comics and comic theory than me so give her a follow for more comic related discussions/content! They're basically the entire reason I could figure out how they were organized so I could read and yoink the stories I wanted. BLESS

All of my physical comics came from checking out local comic book stores so these suggestions largely rely on in person shopping. It might be a bit harder to do depending on where you live bc of COVID. So this will probably come across as a broken record at this point but before doing any of this remember to get vaccinated and follow safety procedures!

TRANSFORMERS COMICS HUNTING

IDW 2 is P easy to find.

They can be found in comic books stores and they are still available (unlike much of IDW 1) for reasonable prices online. The IDW website allows you to order through them! Indigo/Chapters might carry them as well.

Here's The World in Your Eyes on the IDW site!

IDW 1 from my experience is harder to find.

If you don't mind spending a bit of time, look up local comic book stores in your city/area and go check em out and spend some time searching through their stock. A lot of them have some transformers comics. All of my collection was found in local comic book stores.

They might take a bit of searching and asking for help from employees since they are an older series but they might be found tucked away in a corner or amoung the shelves. Look for the IDW labels on the bottom.

A lot of places organize their comics by publisher first and then alphabetical after that!

Different series have different colours and styles but this is what MTMTE's (on the left) and Lost Light's (on the right) spines looks like:

INDIVIDUAL ISSUES:

I've mostly shopped for volumes so IDK if individual issues might give you an easier time? Some stores sell EXCLUSIVELY comic books and some sell EXCLUSIVELY comic issues and some sell a mix. I'm likely gonna buy the Windblade comics and the new Shattered Glass comics as individual issues so I'll post how that goes! They can take some digging but they feature unique pretty art!!

Final Notes

Ideally go for comic store runs and go for as many stores as possible (potentially including indigo/Chapters and used book stores). You might luck out in an unexpected location.

If you can only hit a few, go for comic specific stores that keep older stock as well as new stock or that do trade ins. Places with new comics may not have many or even any of the old TF comics.

Check if you live in a place that holds expos or shows. If a comic expo like Comicon is ever held it essentially puts a bunch of your local and even out of city comic sellers all in one accessible place making your hunt potentially more efficient.

You can try searching on Ebay but that could add a shipping cost and/or require patience as you wait for someone to put the specific one you need up for sale.

It can very quickly get pricy so make sure to go hunting when you can afford to sink some money into it.

I hope this helps! Good luck comic book hunting!

[whitexblck]

reminicising over old fics on ff.net

it's 2:50 am rn and i just finished rereading LOVELESS by MIRAGE SHINKIRO on ff.net and i'm now sad because there aren't enough qualitea Prowler angst anywhere

well there is a great source of angst from one of AUTOBOT CHROMIA's fics (cant rmb the name but i loved that story so much) where Prowl and Ironhide was leading a team out on Cybertron bc there was a skirmish and something-boom happened and Prowl was captured by the Cons. Was tortured n raped and had the option to run, which he did and he ended up hiding in a cave like structure on the ground. he had emergency rations and he drank a cube i think and before he fell unconscious/into stasis, he initiated his side of his three-way bond with Blue and Smokey since they r bros.

now on the other hand, the AutoBase is in a giant hooha bc Prowl is captured and Jazz wants to go rescue him. Bots going include OP, Jazz, Ratch, Blue, Smokey and Ironhide (not sure about Hide and whether there were more but these bots were there). En-route to the skirmish spot, the Datsun duo were caught off-guard bc of the restoration of Prowl's side of the bond. one, they were freaking out about being able to feel and track Prowl. Two, they knew he was slowly fading and they knew they had to hurry the frag up.

they found Prowler underneath the ditch through the bond and Jazz went in to look for him since he was the smallest. Found Prowl, who was in shock n shivering, got a blanket n cube from Ratchet and wrapped Prowl up and gave him smth to drink. Optimus got his energy axe and chopped away at the cave structure so that they can bring Prowl out and Ratchet can attend to him.

The Datsun duo saw their missing third and Blue retched bc of the state of Prowl's injuries - Really BadTM. Got him on Ratch's gurney and had all the medical stuff. They loaded up and hurried back to base. Jazz, Blue and Smokes were fretting like chickens bc they really cared for Prowl.

Prowl was in recovery for a good amt of time. Had some breathing tubes attached to him to regulate breathing and a thermal blanket for temperature regulation. His bros and Jazz frequently visited, etc. Datsun Trio reunites. Jazz helps Prowl to heal and they slowly fall in love.

Fast forward to Earth: Jazz and Prowl have their duties but are still happy together. Then one day, something crashed on Earth and Prowl started getting messages from unknown sources (or smth like that i rlly cant rmb) and they find out that this bot is Prowl's torturer from Cybertron. This Con was built scientifically by Shockers, so he has no spark (literally) (im p sure he didnt hav). Instead, he is a walking bomb (and im not saying it in a sexual sense nonono thats gr0ss). Blablabla, this bot kept hunting for Prowl and it all boiled down to a showdown between Jazz, Prowl and him. Final conclusion: Mr Con died bc he is a bomb and he exploded. Jazz n Prowl continue happily ever after.

damn, im employing my memory skills in the wrong place i don't even remember anything from school except for principles of accounting like WHAT EVEN AM I DOING

BUT anyway, I really loved this fic. I recall Autobot Chromia (the user) wrote many fics on ff.net and I loved the writing style. Really regretting not downloading or screenshotting or copying the fics so that I can read it in my spare time again (not to repost. even if i repost i will seek for express consent from said writer!) :( Some of them are angsty, which helps me on a bad day (idk how) and some are fluffy, which makes me all fuzzy inside. This applies to many of the writers in the PJ community. I have scoured through the entire PJ ficbase on both ff.net and AO3 because I love this pairing that much. Prowl to me isn't just a character from a show i love. He is a wholeass character and personality that I love and admire bc he us so freaking brilliant and amazing. Yeah he has his flaws, but I find him beautiful all the same and i think the caeing side of him should be broadcasted more. (IDW is absolutely not inside i'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to read it my heart broke why did the writers deal him like that?!)

anyway if anyone knows where i could find Autobot Chromia's fics again, please tell me!! DUDE I WILL PAY MONEY IF I HAVE TO I RLLY LIKE HIS/HER/*INSERT PRONOUN OF CHOICE* FICS ALRIGHT this helps with my sanity in the long run T^T I really dk who to ask or find regarding this. I hope this author has not deleted the works on their storage space. Pleaseeee 😭

if u read all the way, thank you for entertaining my 3AM rambles.