#only problem is i don't have nearly the level of inspiration for the other arcs that i have for this one

[redladydeath]

Hiiii, guess who has a Sin Swap AU but only has a detailed idea for the Pride (formerly Lust) arc????

It’s the night of the engagement party and Gumina’s struggling to figure out what to do. She’s found out about Sateriasis plans to kill Cherubim, but Cheri has picked this moment to try and corner her and confess his feelings for her. Gumina’s panicking, trying to figure out what actions she should take, before suddenly coming to the realization that this whole situation is stupid and can be partially resolved by talking. She cuts Cherubim off, telling him to meet her in the hallway, before marching off over to Sati, grabbing him by the arm, and dragging him out of the ballroom.

She brings the brothers to a side room before going off on Sati for being such an asshole. Cherubim’s shocked by the fact his brother was planning on killing him, while Sati’s defensive, accusing the two of them of being together behind his back. Gumina and Cherubim immediately and vigorously deny this, pointing out the flaws in his logic. Emotions are still running high though and eventually things devolve into a shouting match between the three of them, everyone angry at each other for on reason or another.

Eventually, Claster and Ilotte barge in on them. Mina and Sati just walked out of their engagement party after all, and Cherubim’s not supposed to interact with them. Gumina and Sati are both still furious though and refuse to go back. Cherubim, scared that this might be his last chance to speak to Gumina, breaks down and confesses his feelings to Gumina. Gumina is too shocked to give him a real response.

Sati pitches a fit and says he was right all along, Claster is frantically trying to herd the two of them out of the room, and Ilotte is staring daggers at Cherubim. He tells Claster that he will take care of this and Cherubim freezes in terror while Gumina panics. She tries to implore Sati to help Cheri, to help her, but he stays silent, refusing aid out of spite. Gumina is horrified by his selfishness before becoming furious at him for treating her like something he’s entitled to.

Time passes. Cherubim is locked away again by Ilotte. He has no hope/expectations of being rescued again. Gumina is furious at Sateriasis, along with everyone else who thinks of her as nothing more than a pawn to be used for their own purposes. Sati, once he calms down, grows somewhat guilty for hurting the two of them so badly over pretty much nothing. In the meantime, Gumina takes to wearing an emerald ring that was given to her as an engagement gift. She refuses to touch any of the presents and is not entirely sure who it’s from, but she feels drawn to it.

Eventually Gumina and Sati are married. Gumina’s resentment for everyone grows, fueled by the ring, which, surprise surprise, turns out to be the Vessel of Pride. She hates Sateriasis, hates her fellow nobles, and is disgusted by the idea of taking on the role as Sati’s quiet little wife. Sateriasis is trying to make amends, but he’s failing, and is too scared/selfish to do anything significant to help the situation. Cherubim is slowly starving in the basement and has no hope to escape this situation

The vessel’s influence on Gumina grows stronger, fueling her indignation and anger until they reach a boiling point. She begins to make plans to set things right, which the vessel encourages her to act on.

Ilotte confronts Gumina one night, hoping to intimidate her into being more compliant. Her anger at his condescending attitude peaks and she snaps; the vessel changes from a ring to a knife and she wheels around and slashes his throat. She leave him to bleed out; she believes it was the just thing to do.

The whole household panics once his body is discovered. No one suspects Gumina. Sati tries to maintain order and stops paying attention to Gumina. While he’s distracted, Gumina fires half the staff for “allowing” the murder to happen, replaces them with servants loyal to her, sends the hysterical duchess to stay with Classke, and rescues Cherubim, who was on the brink of death, from the basement, assigning Carol to watch over his recovery.

Sati and Gumina officially become Duke and Duchess Venomania. Sati still hasn’t noticed everything Gumina’s done behind his back. After everything is settled, he turns to Gumina for support, but is shocked when she reveals all the power over the household that she’s attained. He tries to argue with her, but she simply has her men lock him in his room, leaving her to do as she pleases.

Once Sati is taken care of, Gumina goes to oversee Cherubim’s recovery. He’s quite confused about all that’s happened, but blindly accepts it simply because everything is suddenly so much better. Gumina spends a lot of time in his company as he recovers and her fondness is finally allowed to blossom into love. The two of them start a relationship, much to Cherubim’s shock. Part of Gumina genuinely loves him, the other part is getting a kick out of the relationship primarily because it’s in defiance of what everyone tried to make her do.

While participating in this relationship, Gumina starts governing Asmodean in Sateriasis’ name. She quite enjoys it, loving the ability to exercise the power she feels she is entitled to. Her and Cherubim grow closer, and he can’t quite believe this is really happening. Meanwhile, Sati is desperately trying to find a way out. He’s shocked that he can’t persuade anyone to help him and is beginning to go stir-crazy.

Gumina is satisfied with how things have turned out. Her and Cherubim’s relationship eventually becomes sexual. Cheri, being a socially and emotionally stunted individual, eventually expresses a wish for Gumina to bring Sati intro their relationship— Cheri doesn’t have a particularly nuanced understanding of ‘love’ and, once introduced to the idea of romantic/sexual love, merges it with platonic love in his mind. Gumina is shocked and unnerved by this request; she finally comes to understand how damaged and childlike Cherubim still is. However, the vessel fuels her anger at Sateriasis for doing all this to them, and it encourages her to continue to be the arbiter of justice.

Gumina grants Cherubim’s wish and frees Sati, under the condition he does as she says. Everything about this whole situation is nightmarish and wrong to him, but Gumina plays on his guilt for having nearly killed is brother and objectifying his childhood friend in order to paralyze him, keeping him from stepping out of line.

A new system is formed. Gumina runs the household and attends to affairs of state, Cherubim is given unlimited freedom and resources, and Sati remains in his room most of the time, except for when Gumina or Cheri want him for something. Gumina is immensely satisfied, Cherubim is happier than he’s ever been, and Sati is emotionally bruised from suddenly losing all his authority to his wife.

Gumina is satisfied with her position as unofficial duke, but the vessel is not. The vessel encourages feelings of superiority and righteousness in her, and slowly she comes to believe that all the other nobles are incompetent and she should be the one running everything.

She slowly starts implementing policies that subtly weaken other families’ power and strengthening her own. People notice, but it’s subtle enough where they can’t outright accuse her of anything. It gradually comes to be known that Gumina is really the one running the show, but as it’s believed she’s governing at Sateriasis’ request while he’s “grieving”, no one can do anything about it.

Gumina becomes a figure of suspension by the nobles and many men in Asmodean. However, she is a highly affective ruler who makes many substantial improvements to how things are run— she grants women more rights for a start. Gumina enjoys this new position; it’s incredibly satisfying to her to watch the nobles who once saw her as a pawn silently seethe as she takes control of the country and proves time and time again how capable she is. Many Asmodean women, as well as the Elphe government, admire her, but to most she begins to be regarded as “The She-Wolf of Elphegort”.

Things are good for a while: Gumina’s happy and running the county well, and her and Cherubim adore each other. Gumina, seeing herself as the arbiter of karma, showers him with gifts and affection (partly out of love, partly because she can now). Cheri, in return, is hopelessly devoted to her, never questions anything she does, and never leaves the house or speaks to anyone she thinks may be a threat. Part of Gumina is a little concerned about this— she wanted to help him become more of a person— but a larger part of her is too wrapped up in the love of this situation to actually do anything about it. Sati’s watching this love-affair go on from the sidelines, but he’s too concerned about staying sane and alive to get worked up about it.

While initially considered to be a just, albeit divisive ruler, public opinion about Gumina starts to change. The vessel’s negative impacts are starting to show again, and she starts implementing policies that hurt the people for the sake of her own enrichment. She never thought much of the lower-classes, and now her callous treatment of them starts to stew up discontent among the masses. Meanwhile, Mina’s currently trying to get pregnant by one of the brothers (it doesn’t really matter to her which one) so as to secure her position as the mother of the future duke/duchess. Sati is disgusted by this situation, Cheri doesn’t know about it because Gumina had the foresight to know not to tell him as it would inevitably send him into a panic.

Eventually, all of Gumina antics attract the attention of the royal family. Again, it’s not clear if she’s done anything wrong, but they’re suspicious and invite her and Sati to court for a few weeks. Gumina, accepts, confident that’s she’s utterly secure and they won’t be able to prove anything. Arrogance clouding her judgment, she also decides to bring Cherubim along, just for fun.

The visit is tense. Gumina’s completely relaxed, but Janus is suspicious. He can see something’s wrong with Sateriasis, but can’t get him to admit it’s due to anything but grief. Maylis is interested in this whole affair and wants to figure out what’s going on. She worms her way into Cherubim’s room and gains enough of his trust for him to mention Gumina and him are lovers and a few more suspicious things about their home life until they’re interrupted by Gumina.

Gumina tries to talk Maylis into keeping what she heard quiet, appealing to her distaste for arranged marriages. Maylis pretends to be convinced, but is really planning to gather more information before clamping down. This is already stressful enough for Mina, but then towards the end of the visit Sateriasis becomes bold enough to start hinting to the royals that something is seriously wrong. Eventually they leave, with Gumina still confident in her security, but angry and a tiny bit nervous.

Things start spiraling out of control. Gumina, becoming paranoid of losing power, starts acting erratically. She’s adopting new, unfair policies, questioning her servants’ loyalty, and lashing out at people verbally and physically. One night, while the three of them are together, Sati summons the courage to confront her about what she’s done. There’s a physical altercation and, in the heat of the moment, Gumina stabs Sati in the heart. Cherubim freaks out as Gumina tries to get him to shut up, regretting what she’s done but scared of attracting attention. She calls Carol to try and help Sati, but he dies before anything can be done. Cherubim’s in shock while Gumina tries to convince him that she will handle this and everything will be alright.

Mina hides Sati’s body in the basement and tries to keep up the illusion that he’s still alive. She announces to the public that Sateriasis is going to start ruling now, for really reals this time, in order to divert attention off herself, but no one’s buying it. Gumina’s growing more and more frantic, trying to maintain her power and coax Cherubim back into his devotion for her. He’s finally starting to question her and doesn’t trust her like he used to. This only makes Gumina more stressed and more angry.

Eventually things come to a head and Maylis shares the information she’s gathered to her siblings, who send men to investigate the manor. Gumina tries desperately to prevent them from probing too far, but they discover Sati’s body and Gumina and Cherubim, along with anybody who remains loyal to them, are arrested.

Once Gumina’s no longer a threat, many of the servants immediately start talking, confessing everything illegal/immoral they saw going on. Gumina is still trying to talk her way out of this, separated from the vessel but still feeling the affects of Pride.

Eventually, Gumina goes on trial and is found guilty of usurping her husband and abusing power that was not hers. She’s surprised she’s not tried for Sateriasis and Ilotte’s murders, until she finds out that Cherubim has taken the blame for them and some of her other crimes, hoping to protect her. She’s utterly horrified and tries to admit her guilt in the matters, but is ignored. The Beelzebian nobility doesn’t want to execute a noblewoman, and plan to banish/imprison her while executing the commoners involved in her activities.

Gumina is devastated and desperate, but there’s nothing she can do. Cherubim is executed, scared but satisfied with the fact that Gumina will be able to live. Mina’s sent off to a remote castle/convent in the countryside, barred from ever exercising political power again. The Demon of Pride breaks the contract and Gumina’s left with the guilt and grief of having lost her friends, family, and chance at a real life. She’s left with one thing though; soon after her arrival, she discovers that she’s pregnant.

[crusherthedoctor]

Can you list anything you unironically like in the games (and cartoons and comics) that you don't like?

I won't bother mentioning music, since that goes without saying and is to be expected for a Sonic game... unless you're Chronicles.

Sonic Adventure 2 (mixed gameplay-wise, annoying story-wise) - While I prefer Sonic's SA1 levels for a number of reasons, I still think his and Shadow's gameplay in SA2 is fun on its own merit. I also don't mind the treasure hunting gameplay returning or how big the levels are this time around, since Knuckles and Rouge are still fast and not '06 levels of slow. It's mainly the gimped radar that creates the unfortunate domino effect of making them a problem.

- Introduced Rouge, one of my favourite characters for how playful she is and how she's a lot more nuanced and intelligent than you'd expect.

- Some genuinely good scenes, like Eggman's trap on the A.R.K and Sonic escaping from the G.U.N. helicopter.

- Had some good ideas going for it, like the Pyramid Base and the Biolizard as a scientific monster instead of an ancient one.

- Despite my thoughts on the backstory itself (or rather, its execution), Shadow has enough depth and subtle qualities and occasional unintended hilarity to stand out from the typical dark rival characters you see in media.

- The Last Scene's music in particular is one of my favourite cutscene tracks in the series.

Sonic Heroes (mixed gameplay-wise, loathed story-wise) - The gameplay is fun when you're not being screwed over by repetitive combat, overly long levels and/or ice physics.

- Boasts some of the most consistently Genesis-worthy environments in the 3D games, up there with SA1's and Colours'.

- The in-game dialogue that isn't the same tutorial drivel repeated ad nauseam can be interesting, funny, etc.

- Reintroduced the Chaotix, which provided me with another character I quite like in the form of Vector.

- Bringing Metal Sonic back in full force and front and center in the plot after a long absence (not counting cameos and the like) is a perfectly fine idea. Just... not like this.

Sonic Battle (decent yet repetitive gameplay, mixed story-wise) - Emerl's arc is compelling, and it earns the emotional weight of having to put him down at the end.

- While some characters are iffy (read: Amy), other characters are extremely well-handled. Shadow is probably the prime example.

- Gamma's belly dance healing animation is fucking hilarious.

- When I was young, and the game was first announced, I was really excited about being able to play as Chaos. This proved to be my downfall when it turned out he was arguably one of the worst characters in the game due to being slower than me during the writing process, but I still recall that excitement fondly.

Shadow the Hedgehog (comedy classic) - The sheer amount of legendary stupidity this game has going for it makes it practically impossible to actually hate. It helps that it's not quite as white-knighted on the same level as '06... usually. You know you're in for a unique experience when you hear a gunshot every time you click something in the menu.

- By extension, Black Doom never gained an unironic fanbase like Mephiles/Scourge/Eggman Nega did, which means I'm a lot more willing to take Doom's dumbass brand of villainy in stride. He even has a unique design... a terrible one that rips off Wizeman granted, but alas, even that is a step-up from Fridge Shadow and Bumblebee Eggman.

- Despite being... well, Shadow the Hedgehog, some of the environments would fit right in with any other Sonic game, like with Circus Park, Lava Shelter, and Digital Circuit. Even the Black Comet levels look pretty cool.

- This game understands amnesia better than IDW does.

Sonic '06 (what do you think?) - The obvious one: Shadow's character was handled pretty well, even if it came at the cost of everyone else being a dummy and being forced to interact with Mephiles.

- Like SA2, there are some good moments, like the Last Story ending sequence with Sonic and Elise.

- In the greatest form of irony ever, I like Solaris as a concept and design(s), and its backstory has potential to serve as a parallel with Chaos without being a complete ripoff. Iblis sucks, Mephiles sucks, but I'm fine with Solaris.

- Introduced legendary characters like Sonic Man, Pele the Beloved Dog, Hatsun the Pigeon, and Pacha from The Emperor's New Groove.

The Rivals duology (apathetic outside of Nega-related grumbling) - There were some cool zone ideas in both games that were sadly let down by the restrictive and limiting gameplay. I particularly like Colosseum Highway for thus far being the only full-on Roman level in the series instead of merely having a couple minor hints of Roman, and Meteor Base for the unique scenario of the space station being built into an asteroid. These level concepts and others deserve a second chance IMO. (At least Frontier Canyon got a second chance in the form of Mirage Saloon, amirite?)

- Ifrit has a better design than Iblis. Not saying it's amazing, but the Firebird motif it has going on is a lot more interesting for a fire monster than the Not-Chaos schtick they had with Iblis.

Sonic and the Secret Rings (a very frustrating gaming experience) - Erazor Djinn, A.K.A. Qui-Gon Djinn, A.K.A. Dr. N. Djinn, A.K.A. I'll Take It On The Djinn, A.K.A. Not From The Hairs On My Djinny Djinn Djinn, is one of the best villains not associated with Eggman in the series. He's a Mephiles-type character done right, and there's actual weight and reason to his actions, however sinister or petty.

- I don't have strong opinions either way on Shahra as a character, but the Sonic/Shahra friendship is sweet and well-handled.

- The ending is one of Sonic's greatest moments. The sheer contrast between how ruthlessly he deals with Erazor and how comforting he is towards Shahra speaks volumes... Still gonna make fun of the mountain of handkerchiefs though. (Before anyone lectures me, I understand the significance of it and can even appreciate it from that angle... doesn't mean I'm not allowed to poke fun at it. :P)

- Another game with some redeeming environments. I love the aesthetic of Night Palace, and Sand Oasis looks gorgeous too.

Sonic Chronicles (my personal least favourite game in the series) - Uh...

- Um...

- Er...

- I like Shade's design?

Sonic Unleashed (overrated game and story IMO) - The obvious two: the opening sequence and the Egg Dragoon fight deserve all the praise they get.

- Seeing Eggmanland come to life was an impressive moment to be sure. While part of me does feel it didn't quite measure up to what I had in mind (ironically, the Interstellar Amusement Park ended up being closer to what I had in mind), it still looks badass and works well for what it is. I also don't mind the idea of it being a one-level gauntlet... key word being idea.

- Obviously, the game looks great. Not a fan of the real world focus (real world inspiration is fine, but copy-pasting the real world and shoving loops in it is just unimaginative), but it can't be denied that the environments look good.

- This game pulled off dialogue options a lot better than Chronicles did, since they didn't rely on making Sonic OoC.

Sonic and the Black Knight (just kind of boring all around) - Despite my gripes with the story (Merlina wasn't nearly as fleshed out as her unique anti-villain status deserved, which ends up severely undermining the ambition of the plot in more ways than one, and the other characters go from being useless yes men for King Arthur to being useless yes men for Sonic), I will admit it provides interesting insight into Sonic's character.

- Like '06 and Secret Rings, the ending is very nice... well, aside from Amy being an unreasonable bitch ala Sonic X at the very end.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (apathetic) - The admittedly few new concepts sprinkled within had promise. They may not have been as fleshed out as they could have been, but level concepts like Sylvania Castle and White Park, bosses like Egg Serpentleaf and the Egg Heart, and story beats like the Death Egg mk.II being powered by Little Planet, all could have been brilliant had they been better executed.

SatAM (apathetic outside of SatAM Robotnik-related grumbling) - I'm not a fan of the environments on the whole due to them looking too bland or samey, but there are some exceptions that look pleasant or interesting, like the Void.

Sonic Underground (apathetic) - The character designs make me feel better about myself.

- Does "large quantities of unintentional meme material" count as a positive?

Sonic X (mostly apathetic outside of Eggman's handling) - Helen was a better human character and audience surrogate in her one focus episode than Chris was throughout his entire runtime.

- Actually, most of the human characters not named Chris were legitimately likable. Including everyone in Chris' own family not named Chris. Hilarious.

- Despite arguably having the most Chris in it, I actually don't mind the first season that much, partly due to slight nostalgia from seeing it on TV when it was new, but mostly because Eggman actually acted like a villain for the most part, and certain other characters weren't quite as flanderized yet. It's season 2 and onwards where things started going off the rails IMO. (Incidentally, Helen's episode was part of season 1...)

The Boom franchise (apathetic) - Along with Chronicles, the games provide yet more proof that just because someone isn't SEGA/Sonic Team, that doesn't mean they're automatically more qualified to handle the series.

- The show had some good episodes here and there, and Tails' characterization was probably the most consistently on-point out of the cast.

- Despite not exactly being favourite portrayals for either character, even I'll admit that many of Knuckles and Eggman's lines in the show on their own were genuinely funny.

Archie Sonic (pre-reboot is mostly terrible, post-reboot is mostly... bland) - Whenever I doubt myself as a writer, I think back to Ken Penders, and suddenly I'm filled with a lot more confidence.

Sonic the Comic (apathetic) - Fleetway isn't a comic I tend to recall much of aside from how much of a loathesome cunt Sonic is, but IIRC, Robotnik's portrayal is pretty good. Different, but good.

IDW Sonic (stop pissing me off, comic) - Putting their handling aside (and being too obviously "inspired" by MGS in the latter's case), Tangle and Whisper are good characters IMO.

- Same goes for Starline, before he was killed off-screen and replaced with Toothpaste Snively.

- Execution aside (noticing a pattern?), the zombot virus was a fine concept on its own and an interesting new scheme for Eggman.

- I get to remind myself that I've never drawn scat edits and posted them publicly on Twitter.