#the scene with tails (even though his story is that he works for eggman) was eerily similar to me

[larabar]

everyone watch the boom episode "where have all the sonics gone?" right now the connections to sonic prime are insane. sonic is transported to another dimension where he doesnt exist. meets alternate versions of his friends who dont know him. eggman has full control over the town. theres a small rebellion led by 2 of sonics friends. tails fights sonic at first but helps him by the end. im losing my mind

[thankskenpenders]

At long last, the trailer for Sonic movie 3 is here, giving us our first look at Shadow! It looks like a fun time, though my excitement is probably more tempered than a lot of peoples' due to a few things I have mixed feelings on. Here are my off-the-cuff thoughts about it.

Shadow

Yes, it does seem like they've really nailed Shadow here. Fowler's attachment to the character clearly shows. The action looks cool and really sells Shadow as a serious threat. He's got his bike, he's doing Chaos Control all over the place, it's great. Keanu is very much just doing his regular voice, but it fits well enough. The backstory from SA2 seems to mostly be there, though I'm sure some details will be adjusted. Mostly I'm still just amazed that we're getting a major tentpole blockbuster movie this Christmas starring Shadow the fucking Hedgehog that treats him as a serious character worthy of respect. We've come such a long way...

I mean, just... what an image to see on the big screen.

I also really like the way they're setting Shadow up as a foil for movie Sonic, kind of his dark mirror image as a Mobian hedgehog whose family life on Earth ended in tragedy and turned him into a vengeful antagonist. It's pretty straightforward, but it works well.

Robotnik(s)

Welp. They put Jim Carrey in a fat suit. I suppose we knew this day would come eventually.

I guess a small part of me is glad that movie Eggman finally actually looks like Eggman in every way that matter, but they're completely playing it as a joke at his expense here. And, yeah, the Sonic franchise isn't immune to fat jokes, the early years of the franchise (particularly Western adaptations) gave Sonic tons and tons and tons of jabs about Eggman's weight. But I thought we'd moved past that. But here we are with a depressed movie Robotnik binge eating and gaining a lot of weight like Fat Thor and the other characters think he's so GROSS and look his clothes don't even fit him anymore, haha! There's so much of this crammed into the trailer. I can only pray they don't do this in every fucking scene he's in in the movie.

I do like the plot of Sonic reluctantly teaming up with Robotnik to try and stop Shadow, though. It's very different from SA2, but we knew it would be, and I think that gives the movie some potential for Sonic to have kind of a dark turn of his own that mirror's Shadow's. I have a feeling that Sonic will try to get back at Shadow for something he does - maybe hurting Tom or something like that - and in the end Sonic sympathizes with Shadow and decides they have to stop their cycle of revenge, teaming up to stop some final threat.

Oh, and, of course... Jim Carrey is also playing Professor Gerald. Who might still be alive? Or maybe it's a hallucination on Ivo's part? I don't know, but either way, I'm here for it. Everyone joked about them doing it and then they went and did it. Yes, it risks playing him as a joke character, but the shot of him and Shadow mourning Maria while surrounded by GUN soldiers makes me believe he won't be a total joke. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the true final antagonist of the film, which would diverge a lot from the games but would work as its own version of the story.

And again, WHAT an image to see on the big screen lmao

Everyone else

The human cast is VERY downplayed in this trailer, but let's not forget that they're still going to get a lot of screentime one way or another. The Sonic 2 trailer barely showed anything from Hawaii. Where oh where is my best friend Wade?

Speaking of the Wade show, Knuckles... frankly still seems to be mostly a comic relief character heavily influenced by MCU Thor here, getting some jokes in the trailer but immediately getting Worfed by Shadow when it comes time to fight. Tails seems to be flying the gang around in a real-ass helicopter, and his big pilot's helmet is funny, but otherwise he doesn't really do anything here aside from getting stomped by Shadow. I really hope they don't get sidelined too hard, but frankly I fully expect them to, Tails especially.

And, of course... I can't help but think about who isn't here. Namely: the girls. Yes, three movies and one streaming miniseries into this film franchise, exactly zero of the female (animal) characters from the games have made the jump to live action. Please allow me to bitch about this.

Despite her being both 1) a main character in the game this movie is loosely adapting and 2) my fave, I suppose I can understand why Rouge isn't here. Paramount took one look at that bat cleavage and went "nope," cowards that they are. There was some speculation that Kristen Ritter could be playing Rouge, but we now know she's just playing someone at GUN. But, again, I at least get why they'd be hesitant to include her.

But Amy... Amy is such a glaring omission at this point. There's no excuse. She's the female lead of the franchise. She's one of Sonic's closest friends. (Honestly, these days it's more accurate to say Team Sonic is Sonic, Tails, and Amy, not Knuckles, especially in the comics.) And she's also a key player in Shadow's arc in the game. Shadow has his change of heart because Amy reminds him of Maria! And yet, she's nowhere to be seen. It sucks.

(I know some fans are still holding out hope for Amy, but the toys for the movie already leaked and she didn't get anything, so I have to assume she's not in it.)

It's not like I really expected either of them to be in this movie, but that doesn't make it less disappointing that they set up the film franchise in a way that makes it logistically difficult to include 90% of the characters and conveniently managed to leave all of the girls in the "low priority" pile. Yes, I know everyone points to how much Tails was downplayed in the third act of Sonic 2 as evidence that it's just so impossible to introduce more than one new Mobian character in each movie and give them the focus they deserve. Yes, I know having to come up with a story excuse to bring more characters over to Earth is an obstacle, especially when they're gonna have to devote time to Shadow's backstory. But these are excuses. It's a writer's job to figure out solutions to problems like this. They could make it work if they really wanted to. I'd take Amy having a suboptimal amount of screentime over her not being in it at all. It's just not a priority for them. That's what disappoints me. You can justify these absences from a logical perspective, but I just care way more about Amy and Rouge as characters than I do about Shadow, so there's no way for this to not sting.

But, at the end of the day, for what the movie is actually trying to do, it seems to be pulling it off well. Aside from the fat jokes. I don't like the fat jokes. But the Shadow stuff is good. As always, this live action version of the franchise is never going to be my ideal version of Sonic, but it's turned out far better than it had any right to, and I'll probably have fun when I go see this in theaters and hear Live and Learn.

[distractedvoid]

remember those sonamy for sonic 4 ideas? here they are i couldnt wait

So, now that Amy is definitely confirmed, based on the after credits scene in Sonic 3, I have some silly thoughts about how Sonic and Amy's relationship could unfold in Sonic 4.

So, first, I think their general dynamic would definitely change. In pretty much every other form of Sonic media, while it has changed a bit recently, Amy is shown as constantly chasing after Sonic despite him avoiding most of her advances anyway.

Now, movie Sonic is definitely not as mature as the Sonics in other medias. A huge part of his continuous character arc is that he's still a kid, a kid that doesn't really know what he's doing.

And here, we have Amy, which, from the very small amount of her character that we've seen, at least seems like less of a damsel in distress. (It reminds me of how they changed Princess Peach's character in the Mario Movie.) In contrast to the story of Sonic CD, we see Amy saving Sonic from the many copies of Metal Sonic.

Now how exactly does this make their dynamic different? Well, if you take an immature Sonic, and put him in the same room as an Amy that needs less saving than the usual, the firsthand difference is undeniable. Thus why I think their dynamic would be reversed in a way, at least, that's what I want to happen.

I have a feeling Sonic would be "chasing" after Amy, but more so in the way that he's constantly trying to impress her. He'd probably get into some unsavory situations due to his most likely failed attempts at this, prompting Amy to have to make sure he doesn't keep doing stupid things.

Amy herself wouldn't understand why Sonic kept getting himself into trouble like that, much less that he did it for her, until she sought out some third-party information.

Speaking of (I never really mentioned anything related but just go with it), I haven't talked much about Amy's own feelings yet.

So we know about a possible tiny fraction of her character, and while that's not a lot to go off of, I don't see any harm in forming early ideas based off it.

When Amy, presumably, met Sonic by saving him from the Metal Sonic copies, I don't think she would really think too much of him at first. As soon as he actually started talking, though, she'd find interest- I wouldn't wanna take away the part of her that probably falls in love way too easily.

Unlike the usual Amy we're probably all used to, she wouldn't show her feelings that much. She'd have the occasional giggle at Sonic's attempts at impressing her, even if she didn't know that was why he did it. For all she knows, that's just what he's usually like! Until she inquires with Tails- she learns that she's somewhat special to the blue blur.

I might just be projecting, with the weird way my own feelings work, but I think Amy's little crush on Sonic would skyrocket at that information. Sonic, the guy she only really had a small crush on, was trying that hard to win her over? Admittedly, that was pretty cute in her eyes.

After that Amy would definitely be more forward with Sonic, causing the latter to be a little confused and wonder if a certain two-tailed fox said anything...Guess you can't even trust your best friend with secret crushes anymore, sigh.

If they ended up together, if we were to ever get so lucky, I don't think either would really change how they act around each other, other than holding hands occasionally and maybe a few kisses here and there. Sonic is still adventure focused, though how much he likes Amy is sometimes painfully obvious. He'd gain a little confidence boost if they became official, but overall, if they went on any dates, they'd be dates to kick Eggman's ass for the thousandth time.

That's all I have for now, I'm gonna let the brain worms rest LOL. Thanks to anyone who actually went and read my yapping session

[phoenixkaptain]

Really all three of the Sonic movies are a masterclass in making films geared towards fans while still creating new stories, but Sonic 3 especially because like. They listened! The fans said “we don’t like all these human parts” and the movie went “alright” and there are almost no scenes starring solely the human characters. Even in scenes prominently featuring them, Sonic and friends either show up (making the scene no longer solely focused on humans) or they’re focused in some way on what Sonic’s doing. Like damn man, they really… Listened? And accepted the criticism they received?? And improved??? And they even technically made the wedding subplot in 2 relevent to the plot????

I really liked the movie! Part of that is my fondness for Shadow, who I will never ever get over being the saddest little ultimate lifeform in the whole world. And movie Shadow really ticks all the boxes, I mean- the way he talks so stiltedly? The way he skates? The way he teleports? The fact that he doesn’t even initiate the majority of fights? The fluffiest little ultimate lifeform in ever, truly, 2024/10 for the year of Shadow-

I like this Shadow. The opening scene of him escaping is just beautiful. Him being all drenched filled me with an urge to blowdry him so he could puff up like a lil angry cat. He’s so legitimately awkward and confused watching the Eggmans that I watched his expression more than what either Robotnik was doing. He looks so confused! He’s over there like “somehow, the human has grown weirder with age… and here I thought humans were supposed to grow wiser…”

Also Maria’s face when Shadow gets sad because the movie they’re watching is called “Alien Freak” or whatever??? Beautiful, amazing, outstanding, give this lady an Oscar.

Sonic’s relationship with Shadow throughout the movie is so fun to watch progress. He just canNOT stand this guy!!! This new hedgehog who has definitely been around longer than him!!! Let Sonic be angy, it is so cute.

Tails and Knuckles are also very cute, though they feel a lot more sidelined. Which, I mean, literally every single character aside from Sonic, Shadow, and Robotnik have no character arc. And that’s fine! That’s good, even! Side characters don’t need to be focused on so intently! It only feels strange because Sonic 2 was so different in where it focused, but it isn’t a bad thing! Do I wish there was more Tails? Always. Do I think Knuckles was great just because he could have punched through the barrier really at any moment? Absolutely. I think the characters fit their roles in the movie very well.

All in all, I like Shadow. He is the saddest little ultimate hedgehog lifeform in the history of ever. He isn’t even all that angry for most of the movie. He’s just sad and lost and hopeless and it’s very depressing! Guy really tried to taunt his way into being killed, and I just think him trying to irritate Sonic into committing murder is funny, especially since it very nearly worked. Also, the scenes of Shadow jumpscaring everyone makes me assume that he has been jumpscaring people for years, which causes me to imagine that there were many occasions of GUN agents finding a Shadow where there was not a Shadow five seconds before. When did he get into the cupboard? How long has he been standing behind that door? Can we put a bell on the hedgehog, please, this is getting out of hand!

In my imagined future Shadow series where Shadow becomes friends with Sonic and pals, Maddie makes him wear a little bell so he stops giving everyone heart attacks. He still manages to give everyone heart attacks. I like to think they will occasionally wake up to find him standing at the foot of the bed ominously. Shadow is a eldritch cat monster, I’m pretty sure that was made canon-

Anyway. TLDR: 10/10 movie. The creators listened to the criticism they received on the second movie and made changes. Shadow was perfect. Sonic being taken off guard by Shadow will never not be funny, nor will their banter grow old. The dog has subtitles and I can only assume it’s because Knuckles and only Knuckles can understand him. Stone’s love was reciprocated in the very end. And yeah, I’m with the menacing hedgehog, Gabriella should have just killed Juan and Pablo both and been done with it.

[thevioletscout]

Got to see Sonic 3 early at a fan event! If you saw a brunette white girl in a black and white striped jacket who had keychains on her cat backpack of a dark chao and knockoff Shadow, that was probably me.

Gonna share my thoughts because I need to. Spoilers under the cut.

- I personally still like 2 the most. That doesn't mean 3's bad, it was great, but 2 just felt like a stronger film.

- I was honestly pretty wary about Keanu Reeves as Shadow, but I think he did excellent, and for a very peculiar reason that surprised myself; At certain points, he sounds like a teenager. Obviously its the kind of gruff Shadow voice we’re all used to, but there were times he would sound strangely youthful, and its a nice reminder that despite the 50 year stasis, despite the ultimate lifeform thing- Shadow's still a kid, just like Team Sonic.

- My brother even pointed out that Commander Walter objected to shooting the Robotniks and Shadow when they were escaping because "they're kids!" He said kids, plural.

- I think Jim Carrey did great as both Eggman and Gerald Robotnik. There was even a scene near the end where he was downright scary as the latter. That said, I wasn't a big fan of many of the scenes where they interacted. It kinda felt like the plot of the movie would get pulled to a grinding halt so we could just watch extended Jim Carrey comedy. I could probably be in the minority about this, and I can accept that, I just personally think cutting out some of the bits would have helped the movie flow a bit better.

- Fight scenes were so cool. It's not usually something I’d care that much about, but I think with Sonic in general getting the action right is a huge draw, and damn did this get it right.

- I'm not a big fan of Maria's illness not being referenced at all. I can kinda understand it because they're on Earth the whole time now, not in space, but it removes a lot of the important factors of Maria's character. It especially feels bad in the wake of Sonic x Shadow Generations, where the effects of her condition were actually shown, and when compared to the Wicked movie adaptation where they actually went out of their way to do a more respectful depiction of a wheelchair user.

- I like her using rollerskates though. That feels like a cute parallel between her and Shadow, and that could have been an interesting detail Robotnik worked into Shadow's design if he was actually made by him in this version.

- Sidenote, I swore that the whole Shadow was found in a meteor thing was a coverup for the real story, but no thats just his origin in the movies. That definitely carries some interesting implications for Shadow in the SCU.

- They kinda cutely referenced Sonic and Shadow looking alike, but otherwise it didn’t affect anything. G.U.N. didn't even try to use that to frame Sonic for what Shadow was doing. I kinda don't mind that though, I think there's enough retroactive implications to draw from.

- I wasn't sure they would actually use Live & Learn, but they did and holy shit it was so worth it! And Sonic and Shadow did the Adventure 2 pose!!! Theater went nuts, and I was going nuts with them.

- I'm once again probably going to be in the minority about this, but I kinda wish we got more Tom and Maddie. Like it or not, they were major characters in the previous movies, but in this one they just feel like they're there. I would say that it probably would have made Tom's near death experience more impactful, but to be fair my entire theater was in shock and scared out of their minds that they actually killed him so I think it was plenty impactful.

- They just straight up yeeted Gerald into incineration. I get it, there was no other neat way to take him out but damn. Tails and Knuckles killed a man.

- And finally the mid-credits scene holy shit.

- Okay so- I want you guys to know that I was a "Amy's secretly in the movie" truther. Every time Team Sonic was in trouble I was waiting for Amy to suddenly make her debut. I had this vision of her hammer being the first thing we see before Amy herself is slowly revealed. And yet, nothing. Every time they would find a different way out and around the G.U.N. infiltration I finally accepted that Amy wasn't going to appear.

- But then that scene during the credits. Sonic is confronted by Metal Sonic- who looks FANTASTIC btw. That's when I knew we were probably getting Amy next, but I wasn't sure when and how. Then Sonic gets surrounded by several of the metal copies, and like I predicted; first we see her hammer, flying through the air as it takes out several of the bots. Then we see her, dressed in a cloak to hide her features just a bit longer. Finally, she puts the hood down and- GOD SHE'S SO CUTE, I LOVE HER.

- I cannot impress upon you how crazy everyone in the theater went. We love this pink hedgehog.

- Wade only had one scene thank fuck.

There were probably a few other misc things I can talk about but I need more time to process it all. As I said to someone sitting in front of me; "How am I supposed to wait another two years???"

EDIT: ONE MORE THOUGHT

- One thing I find interesting is that after Shadow escapes, he just wants to be left alone. Most of what he's doing when Team Sonic finds him is just self defense from G.U.N. If I remember correctly he even tries to tell Sonic and the others to just walk away, and he dips on the motorcycle as soon as he's able to, once again warning them not to follow. He even spares Sonic and simply handcuffs him to something when the fight's over. It seems like it isn't until Gerald finds him that the revenge plan even gets started for him. He didn't want to go out of his way to hurt anyone, he just wanted to grieve in peace. Unironically, such a good understanding of Shadow's character.

[crusherthedoctor]

I can't really argue against writing out of spite anymore, because it's grown to fuel mine like A Generous Backer fueled Mighty No. 9 (the joke is that there's four hours worth of it).

Eggman being the uncontested big bad of a serious story with dramatic stakes? Spite towards him always getting screwed over in serious plots, with Forces being the single exception.

Eggman being at his most ruthless yet? Spite towards how fans (and various official works) choose to portray him.

Starline's inclusion with his original simp persona? Spite towards them throwing out a refreshing concept in favor of turning him into Toothpaste Snively.

Sonic getting riled up by Eggman's increasingly cruel actions, across more than one scene instead of a minute at most? Spite towards the notion that Sonic is apathetic towards Eggman than he is with other villains due to their long history (or in IDW terms, the idea that Sonic VS Eggman is "too routine" and that shittier villains who aren't even that powerful are required to shake things up).

Emphasis on Sonic CD-esque visuals for the zones? Spite towards Grass Simulator 2022.

Amy's friendly banter dynamic with Sonic? Spite towards fans who are somehow unable to find a middle ground between 2000s Amy and Current Amy.

Tails actually doing things? Spite towards him always being nerfed by fans, if not being made to be outright useless and always needing to be defended by Sonic or Shadow because "he's just a kid".

Trudy actually doing things? Spite towards the notion that OCs should never interact with the official cast in any meaningful way.

Trudy having some femininity? Spite towards Flynn's insistence that femininity = lesser.

Bringing back Trudy's previously unused cape despite possible comparisons to Whisper? Spite towards fans who accuse her of ripping off every comic character under the sun regardless, even though she predates the whole IDW cast.

Juxtaposing a bright and whimsical setting with a story that grows gradually darker than it initially appears? Spite towards the notion that things always have to look overtly grey or "realistic" (quotation marks because the actual real world is still plenty more vibrant than how fans frame it) on the surface in order to write the latter. I know the very first scene is Metal Sonic tearing down G.U.N. headquarters in a fiery blaze, that was supposed to be an early hint that things will get intense.

Mario fic where Eggman still weasels his way into the main villain role anyway? Spite towards fans who think the guy who builds Death Stars every Tuesday would be a sitting duck in other universes.

[REDACTED]? Spite towards Twitter. They can boo all they want, I've seen what makes them cheer. :P

The key, of course, is that you shouldn't be motivated solely by spite, because when that's the only thing motivating you, then it just becomes draining. I write all of these with genuine passion and love as well, because that's where the meat of the fun lies. Most of them were already set in stone due to personal preference, long before I had reason to add spite into the equation. :P

[spiderman616]

i mean the sonic characters don’t solve their problems through pure strength alone. (i’m looking through game lenses first hold on.)

Racing is more of their thing. they tend to talk the other down from fighting as much as possible with 50/50 chance of it working. some of them need power boosts to beat their opponents. (super forms) sonic has to adapt to new mechanics despite being the fastest thing alive. (some spinoffs, and frontiers)

some prefer not to use their full power to keep things fair (shadow restrains himself from using his doom powers against sonic in sxsg) 

comics, well it depends on the writer right? and who they want to win. even if the execution can be a hit or miss. 🤔 sonic has really scary abilities during the early era but he can’t use it all the time, cause it’s a gag or it poses risk to him and by the time it was late preboot, these abilities weren’t seen. (idk about you, but archie sonic fans do tend to pull up the early panels displaying his powers.)

in-universe reasons, some of the examples i listed above can apply here too….

the metal virus affected shadow’s capability in battle. silver is strong but he realized he had to flip dark enerjak’s strength to win. surge needed the dynamo wisp cage to be a threat. tails has to rely on his smarts and knowledge of machinery to also win. eggman is physically strong…it just happens that his opponents are super-powered mobians so ofc he’s gotta rely on his machinery. some need to hold back their power for obvious reasons. talking down someone has worked before on numerous occasions. talking someone into powering down from their most strongest…

now with shadow, he’s skilled with chaos energy and is as formidable as sonic. has the alien dna and chaos energy born into him. but knuckles is the guardian of the master emerald for a reason, he punched the emeralds out of super sonic who is supposed to be invincible and not only that he is heavily connected to his ancestry who deals with the chaos emeralds their whole lives. and ofc his base strength alone is no fucking joke.

i can keep going but i hope what i say makes sense enough.

i guess... saying the sonic games are somehow combat averse is kind of blatantly untrue though. no they arent 😭 it just fits the story or gameplay sometimes to have a specific scene not be a direct fight. all the examples you are saying are things that can change the circumstances of a battle they dont really invalidate like. feats. because most people take those into account... i feel like you are approaching this from the wrong angle

[fantasiac]

going to ramble about my Sonic AU's Sonic characterization

sonic is a cocky character in the beginning because he's proven himself unbeatable and untouchable, this is amplified by his only real weakness being water, which barely ever comes into play on floating islands, so while his cockiness and ego would have been very much reduced with Knuckles to ground him in reality, his ego would have absolutely been murdered by Water Island, he gets HUMBLED to HELL in this chapter, finally being his true nature (Japanese sonic) by the island I'm most excited to write; Dark island (because it has shadow)

his character would have gone through 70% of its ark by Thunder Island, where both Tails and Amy notice how... not-an-asshole he is.

sonic is a speedster that is untouchable, he perceives things about half as fast as he can move, so he can't get hit by normal attacks in hand to hand combat unless he is caught off guard, which he will be in the first few chapters because of his cockiness

there will be no scenes like CW Flash where sonic will get hit even though he shouldn't be able to.

sonic is untouchable, but he's not the only one.

there will be plenty of characters that are as untouchable as him; Blaze, Shadow, Metal Sonic...

Sonic can and will get hit by characters while he can perceive and move at Super speed, because those characters can also move at that same speed... to an extent, Blaze is the first rival (besides knuckles) on his path, being the guardian of the emerald in Chapter 1: Ash Island, and she is as fast as "the legendary blue blur" at that time period, this Blaze isn't meant to be sonic's equal, she's closer to Sonic 06 Blaze than Rush Blaze (storywise), so she can keep up with sonic in Chapter 1, but sonics top speed is drastically reduced in chapter 1, similar to the thought experiment of "if superman is infinitely strong, why is he ripped? he can't work out on anything to build muscle", Sonic has had no competition by this point, so Blaze being able to match Sonic's speed is not on the same level as Shadow being able to match it.

to be clear

Dark island and Thunder island are planned to be the best chapters thematically, but I will not skip out in filling the other chapters full of good writing, I will put as much effort into all the chapters, but I have so many story focused ideas for chapters 1, 4 and 7, for sonic and Knuckles; the main characters.

but they aren't the only ones in the stories, Amy and Tails having as much screentime and gametime in their parallel stories, that run along side the red and blue duo, as well as all the side characters; the Guardians, the Chapter Antagonists, the side characters, and Eggman, who has a presence after he's introduced, but he's not the main villain in a few chapters, he is a main villain in Thunder Island, but Infinite is the main villain of Dark Island for example, even though Eggman is as important, and even when Jackal squad is in Thunder island, sonic and Knuckles even interact with them, as if they're built up to be the main villains, before Eggman shows up and steals the show, unannounced, making Jackal Squads team up with Eggman make more sense, and even then, Dark island has Jackal Squad, Eggman, Shadow and then Metal Sonic right at the end as a cliffhanger for the next chapters, to show that there is absolutely still more of the story after Sonic and Knuckles traverse the 7 islands (the main story base the whole time) Eggman is still around and he has a strangle hold on the islands, Sonic and Knuckles failed their mission to protect the islands from the rumored robotnik

this is the first failure where Sonic and Knuckles feel energized from the failure, so what if they got knocked down? they get back up, they had built up their strength of character, just in time for the last 3 chapters (I actually don't know how long the chapters after the island chapters will be, but my OCD in planning makes me want to make it 10 chapters, so that's what I'm going with until i actually write the stuff instead of just come up with cool ideas.

sorry for rambling lol

[spinningbuster98]

You know the funniest thing about N!Isaac's influence on the macroplot of NFCV?

You can have a story told by multiple POVs, some of which less important than others. I'm thinking of Sonic Adventure. Sonic is basically the core of the macroplot, Tails and Knuckles assist, and Amy, Big and Gamma are doing their own thing, only marginally tied to the story.

Gamma is probably the character that I can compare to N!Isaac the most, as his story is largely about his development and breaking free of Eggman's programming, having very little to do with the threat of Chaos - a character-driven story, not an events-driven one.

And yet. And yet Gamma does more for SA1's plot than N!Isaac does in NFCV. He takes Froggy to the Egg Carrier, which eventually leads to Chaos reaching his sixth form. He frees Amy from her cell. The scene where Amy pleads Sonic to not kill him is crucial to make Sonic realize Amy is more than a silly fangirl, but someone to be trusted.

N!Isaac's only contribution to the story is being such an arrogant cock that he allows Carmilla to do as she pleases, leading to Dracula's demise. Then I suppose he kills her too, but as Deats revealed, the story would have worked just fine without that fight - Carmilla didn't kill herself for him, she was insane anyway. (same with Lenore's suicide: despite what some fans believed and what she whines about, it was not about him keeping her in a cage, it was because she didn't want to go insane like Carmilla.) And that's not mentioning how Carmilla herself didn't matter to the macroplot, because the protagonists never learn about the existence of the Forgemasters and Styria as a whole.

N!Isaac is not just less relevant than Gamma. He's less relevant than Big the fucking Cat.

I cannot contain all these bruhs man.

Well you see that's because SA1's story, despite its own issues (coughknucklesgettingtrickedagsincough), was still written by folks who actually cared about the material and wanted every character to feel like they mattered to an extent with no real favoritisms

NFCV was written by an arrogant asshat who couldn't give two shits about the series and was only in it for the paycheck, and supervised by immature fans whose idea for a story is, at best' "hey wouldn't it be super cool if this happened?" and who are more in love with their vision than anything else

I'd actually argue that the closest analogue to Isaac is actually Knuckles though: the only things he accomplishes in the story is getting tricked by Eggman and rounding up six of the Emeralds so that Chaos can later steal them. Basically he only exists to further the villains' plans. To top it all off the story does next to nothing with him and Tikal's flashbacks, which makes his story just feel hollow: he's only there because the Master Emerald contained Chaos and Knuckles is its guardian, so inevitably he was gonna get roped into things, otherwise he's literally detrimental to the plot as his actions literally make things worse for the heroes

The big difference is that Knuckles is not a misanthropic, hypocritical asshole, who constantly sounds like he wants to give himself a blowjob over how awesome his supposed offscreen character arc is, so he's instantly far better than Isaac, because even a whole lot of nothing is better than utter garbage sometimes

Y'know I realise that NFCV has dealth with a lot of time constraints due to Netflix being shit, and that's not their fault...but how come SA1, a similarily rushed product, was able to keep a far tighter leash on 6 parallel plotlines, while the big deep show couldn't handle 4 of them?

[skaruresonic]

Sonic's outward attitude towards Eggman may not (or at least should not) be a guide for how the *audience* should treat Eggman, but I do think it contributes to the fans' perception of him that despite there being various moments in the games where Sonic does get more notably serious with the doc... those moments tend to be relatively brief, easy to miss, or easily ignored compared to something like his final confrontations with Erazor and Merlina in the Storybooks. This probably accentuates the fans' mistaken belief that Eggman is somehow less dangerous, and combine that with getting usurped and/or forced to team up with the heroes all the time... yeah. Being an Eggman fan is a rough time sometimes. @_@

Sonic's... always kinda trash-talked Eggman, though? His very first words upon seeing Eggman in SA1 were "Oh look, a giant talking egg."

Not to mention other characters trash-talk Eggman as well, not just Sonic. Tails also calls his competence into question in Forces when he gives him that little dressing-down about how scientists always double-check their work, which tbh does frustrate me some. It's like my dude what do you want, Eggman had 99% of this world in a vice grip for six months, cut him some slack lol. But then, my stance is the narrative's already done its job. If fans choose to take Tails' heavily biased words over the hard evidence the game provides to the contrary, that's on them, not on the game. The narrative can only go so far before the audience needs to meet it halfway.

I get the frustration. However, I honestly don't think it's fair to place SA2 on the same tier as Heroes or ShTH as a portrayal that risks making fans believe Eggman isn't dangerous when SA2 is one of the only, if not the only, game(s) where we get to see his plans unfold from beginning to end and even partake in that process. Sonic saying "You've turned into a big-time villain, doctor" doesn't inherently negate the fact that he walked right into the trap Eggman laid out. He certainly wasn't cracking any jokes once he was inside the capsule. And obviously the capsule scene is not the end-all be-all of SA2!Eggman's character, but there is a reason why so many people point to it as a quintessential example of his cunning. Lastly, I know some people will hold up SA2!Eggman as the most badass iteration just to dunk on Forces!Eggman, but not all of us do. (points at self) When I say SA2!Eggman deserves credit, it's not For the Aesthetic or to put down other versions of the character. It's because I genuinely believe he did some pretty cool evil shit in that game, regardless of whatever Sonic may have said or however the Last Story played out. It's not like the moon and Prison Island can suddenly reverse entropy and unexplode. We saw the consequences of Eggman's plan in ShTH's version of Prison Island and they weren't pretty

[therummesoccupied]

FANG THE HUNTER, ISSUE #3 - THOUGHTS

Issue #4 comes out tonight at midnight for me, so now is literally my last opportunity to write this post before it comes out. Better late than never, I suppose.

Firstly, my thoughts on the art. Everything continues to be really solid here, but there are a few particularly clever bits I'd like to point out.

I really like this bit here where they use the highlights on Eggman's glasses to indicate him squinting.

I also love this whole page. Somewhat predictable of me, as I've spoken at length about how much I adore level design architecture showing up in these comic stories. I really wish we'd get more of these Classic Zone-style sets in the Modern Stories.

There're some points where everything looks a little... flat? But it's not really an issue, just a little awkward if you're really looking for it. Fits the cartoony Classic aesthetic, though.

The story here continues to deliver, and even surprise in some ways. We get a really nice scene of Eggman using deadly force to coerce the Hooligans into doing a free job for him.

I like this a lot because, in IDW, there's always been sort of a tonal divide between the Classic and Modern eras - with Classic being more light-hearted and comedic while Modern tends to be more plot-driven and intense - and it sort of comes to a head with Eggman. Often, Classic Eggman feels... whimpier? than his Modern counterpart to me?

I dunno, it's really that "It was very rude and hurt my feelings" line in Seasons of Chaos and the fact that he keeps all his robots with personalities around in Dr. Eggman's Birthday. Not to say this is bad, but then you compare it to Modern Eggman, who is just an absolute bastard a lot of the time and they don't entirely feel like the same character. So it's nice to see a little glimmer of that Modern ruthlessness here, with Eggman concerned about his territory and threatening to just murder Fang, Bean, and Bark if they don't work for him. He's Evil, I like it.

I also love this little Sonic & Tails scene here:

I believe I mentioned back in my Issue #1 thoughts post that I like Sonic to be a little bit immature, and man, that's just on full display here. The frustrated pacing, the little outburst, the pouting. I like Impatient Sonic! More, please!

We also get a surprising amount of competence out of Fang here.

Really, Fang has been great for this whole arc - which you'd hope would be the case, given that it's his arc, after all. Seeing him gather evidence and make an informed conclusion really lends to the idea that he's every ounce as skilled a Hunter as he claims to be. It's this kind of thing that makes me Very Sad that the Hooligans aren't allowed to appear in Modern stories, because an IDW Hooligans vs. Chaotix story would be so much fun. They're such great parallels to one another. That being said...

We do get another allusion to the Hooligans splitting up after this job is complete.

At this point, I'm pretty sure it's going to happen. Issue 4 is probably going to end with these three sadly going their separate ways. This will help lead us into Sonic Superstars, in which Fang is all by his lonesome once more.

Speaking of the lead-in to Sonic Superstars, let's talk about the plot twist. Ohhhhhhh boy, the plot twist. If you read My Big, Dumb Post About Sonic Timelines, you know I have some things to say about that.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD - BE WARNED

Near the end of the Issue, Fang infiltrates the rogue Hard Boiled Heavies' teleporting flagship and tracks down the item powering it. After all the buildup, the fabled eighth Chaos Emerald is revealed to be:

The Warp Topaz.

This is kind of huge because, since its introduction, the Warp Topaz has always been treated as a Modern Exclusive Plot Device. When we first see it, Dr. Starline is carrying it, and by that point he claims to have been studying it for years. Already this leaves us brimming with questions about how it got to be in his possession after this.

Beyond that, however, there are some implications.

See, like I said in my Issue 1 post, this isn't the first time an eighth Chaos Emerald has been brought up. In Sonic the Fighters/Sonic Championship - which is, incidentally, the first game to feature Bark and Bean - there are mysteriously eight Chaos Emeralds you have to collect to get the good ending. This is the first and only game to feature more than seven, and that was probably because it was created before the franchise had much in the way of worldbuilding under its belt.

Still, since that point, the lore has always been very firm: There are only seven Chaos Emeralds. And it is never, ever explained why Championship had eight. It's never even addressed. Nobody seems to remember it.

Which is interesting because, years after this story takes place, we hear Dr. Starline warn of the dangers of running too much energy through the Warp Topaz, only for Sonic and Silver to run the full, limitless power of all seven Chaos Emeralds through it, and what happens?

Sonic is flung into another dimension without his memory.

Because of this, we know that the Warp Topaz can not only warp time and space, but also the memories of those in its proximity. So why does nobody remember the eighth Chaos Emerald in Sonic Championship?

This could be a stretch, but my theory is that it wasn't a Chaos Emerald at all, but the Warp Topaz.

If you want, you can take it a step further, too. Fang was present for the events of Sonic Championship, and he's the one hellbent on tracking the eighth Emerald down. Yet, when asked how he knows about it, he never gives a straight answer.

It's possible that he can't say where he heard about the eighth Emerald, because he doesn't remember.

Now, I said before - This has some big implications to me concerning the Sonic Timeline. SEGA has been insistent recently that all Classic stories from (Classic Sonic's perspective of) Generations onward take place in the Modern Characters' past, but that doesn't make sense because none of the Modern Characters remember them, right? So the only reasonable explanation is a Zelda-style Split Timeline, right? But SEGA keeps saying there is no Split Timeline, so how does that work?

But what if we had a plot device - a plot device with evidence that these characters have run into multiple times before - a plot device that has been shown to be able to warp the memories of those who come in contact with it?

Heck, this actually made me notice that, back in the main series, the Phantom Ruby made Eggman lose his memory!

I know I'm swimming in some deep headcanon waters, here, but with this, Ian Flynn and SEGA may have finally, finally brought me around on the Unified Sonic Timeline, operating off of the idea that the reason the Modern Characters don't remember certain things from the Classic Era is because of exposure to the memory-warping properties of the Phantom Ruby and the Warp Topaz!

You can actually take this a step further and use it to justify all kinds of headcanons and inconsistencies. Two versions of one game with significant differences between them like Generations or Colors? Pick your favorite, the other is a fabrication brought on by Phantom Ruby or Warp Topaz memory shenanigans! You really like a game, but its position within the canon is dubious because it never gets brought up in main-series material? Congratulations, you can now safely consider the game canon - The Warp Topaz just made everyone forget!

I have no idea if this was an intentional move on Flynn's part, but if it is, it is actually genius. So many questions that I now no longer care whether or not they get answered because I can just go "Eh. It was probably the Warp Topaz."

I know this can only be stretched so far. I know there's a point where you just can't make excuses for shoddy or inconsistent writing. But at least in terms of everything that has existed in the Sonic universe up to this point, I'm really happy there is some version of an explanation for me to cling onto.

Heck, Sonic Boom could be canon now! Amy mentions Sticks in Frontiers! Why is everything so weird and different in the Boom continuity? The whole thing is portrayed the way Sticks remembers it after having her memory altered by the Warp Topaz!

Anyway, I'm not asking anyone to hop on board this theory. I just think it's neat, and the fact that I even get to have my fun with it at all has made me extremely grateful for the Fang the Hunter miniseries, and easily secured it as one of my favorite arcs in the comic.

[asoulofatlantis]

Look I know for a fact that nothing that big happens in this update in between the start and the end and I am actually really tired so I decided to jump to the end and see if there is anything worth mentioning there.

I know that in between the beginning and the final there are A LOT of useless conversations and only a few good ones with Sage and Eggman but I feel like we can still skip them. All in all this was just added because people wanted to play the other characters and I am not keen on watching this as it adds more to a players experience not to the experience of someone who just watches it.

So Sonics Friends have trouble with their corrupted state but still managed to get the Chaos Emeralds for him. But going by their expressions and Body-Language, I think they have reached their limit. Which is interesting given how Sonic lasted 4 and a half Islands, collected the Emerald 3 times and fought 3 Titans before he corruption ate him alive. And his Friends barely managed one island and like two Emeralds, minus any Titans ^^' Speaks for Sonic once again that he lasted that freaking long.

Sage made a shield to protect Eggman from the Bosses attacks that this time are hitting much harder it seems...

Knuckles, Amy and Tales come to help her... which is nice and all but... uh... weren't they barely able to stand the last time we saw them? Now they can suddenly fly and use their "strength" to help with the shield? O.o

So there is a cutscene triggered shortly after that and if you have less than 100 rings left at this point you die. The new Horizont update is a nightmare in terms of difficulty, I tell you XD

Super Sonic is absolutely cool in those scenes during the fight!

Looks like for his big attack Sonic actually embraces his corruption. Bold!

He did it! This time he beat the End. But... damn! Don't pull a Shadow on us, Sonic!

Nope! We're good. Sonic survived.

Guys! Guys! Look! Look! This time, she is standing next to him! She is there! She is fine! AHHHHH!

Much better ending! Much, much, much better!

Isn't it wonderful? *sniff* *sniff* Shut up! These are happy tears this time!

Okay now I feel like I am still a bit entitled to some sort of review for this game as I've played though half of it (and I saw some footage of the Final Horizont Update previously so its not like I really only saw the ending of it...) and I've watched Charriii play though it and heard his comments and I believe I still can voice my thoughts and feelings on it.

So...

The story was great. Amazing and interesting and entertaining and even for me, who has seen most of the cutscenes before and knew the overall Plot beforehand, it was still something I loved to experience myself (as long as I could) and also see someone else experience it on YouTube. I feel like this game was made for longtime-Fans of the series. With lots of references to other characters and previous games. They even managed to include their hiccups with Tails character in Forces in a way that shows the players that they know and acknowledge their mistakes but the way Tails character develops shows that they are working on it. All characters have an amazing character-development in this game. I admit... I have a bit of... uh... a hard time getting used to an Amy that is not constantly suffocating Sonic, but the hug in the end was worth it all XD I do love me some soft Eggmann. I do remember people whining in Sonic X about Egmann actually only working with the Metarex to eventually beat them, or him preventing Sonic from turning dark or him not wanting to kill Tails at the end of the first season. But I loved it so much that this man is not just evil and that sometimes he shows that he has respect for Sonic and then we got his relationship with Sage and... it was so freaking good! It gave his character so much more depth. I know many people prefer their villains purely evil, but I love my villians with a heart and a soul and people they love and care about. It was great! I loved how the executed the Arcs for each character. I loved how Sonic was more understanding and empathic and less impulsiv in this game. I love how this game shows you how much he truly cares about his friends and also how different the dynamics are. The soft way he handles Amy, the rather rough way he deals with Knuckles and the brotherly way he handles Tails. It is really and truly wonderful. And I would have loved to experience all that myself, but it wasn't meant to be...

(Mind you there are a few plotholes and questionmarks in the plot as well... especially regarding Sonics movements when climbing the 6 Towers even tho in those cutscenes you saw how he could Barely stand, let alone really move... but there are minor and the rest of it is too good to even bother making a huge deal out of it!)

Because the gameplay is a totally different story for me! Now... my only issue with the game that has nothing to do with my Skill-Issues is the fact that the Camera is sometimes a freaking nightmare. Charriii too complained about it a lot. Especially some of the 2D-Parts in the open world were a nightmare to Manöver. It makes the Platforming harder than it has to be.

Now... about the rest of the game and why it wasn't for me. I've talked about my issues before, so I try to make this one short for once.

The jump in difficulty between the worlds was HUGE. Not to talk about how much harder the DLC was - and I could see and feel that just by watching someone else play it! The thing with the perfect parry is ridiculous! I've played that on easy and I feel like the only thing it did make easier was the bossfights. Maybe the requirements for the puzzles and stuff were also easier but if that was the case, I hardly could feel that after Amys Island ^^' The fact that most of the monsters couldn't be killed just by simply attacking them was also something that the easier difficulty did nothing about. Charriii didn't fight much either, so it wasn't really necessary but it was certainly still a problem especially as those monsters sometimes give you certain Items you might need or find rather useful. The rquierments for the optional scenes with the characters were sometimes really hard. In Knukkles World I gave up collecting them for two reasons: The first was, I just was so tired of collecting the Tokens for them AND I had no idea how to get to the place were Knukkles was. The immens amount of running around was overall a true nightmare, especially on the bigger Islands. There should have been more fast-traveling options available and from the start no less.

In any case... most of the reason I could not finish this game were my skill-Issues, as I've said before. But I feel like, they could have made sure that even players like me can get through the game, when they play on easy. That is probably too much to ask tho.

Plot and character-development aside, for me personally it was... not a bad game. That is the thing. Most of the times when I can not finish a game, its because the game sucks! And I should say that here too, what kind of game is so hard to finish even when you cheat? But as I was saying multiple times before, the game wasn't the issue, I was the issue. I was the one who couldn't finish it even with cheats. I think for the average Sonic player, the difficulty was fine. You did not have to get all the optional scenes, you did not have to find and finish all the Vault-Missions, you did not have to reveal the whole card to get through the plot (although it was increasingly harder on Chaos-Island to find your way to were you have to be to get what you need without the map...) and while there were some missions and puzzles and ways to certain places that were way too hard to figure out, most of them were easy enough or - once again - optional and thus you could have skipped most of them or not explore certain parts of the map.

I honestly am almost feeling like I should give this game a 9 out of 10 which is really high praise from me. HOWEVER... considering that there were things you needed to do or places you needed to go where the solution wasn't easy to find by yourself and the fact that the difference in difficulty from Island to Island was far too huge, I think I give it a 8 out of 10 instead. The final Horizont Ending was basically what Player wanted but it still kind of ruined a bit of the emotional impact of the actual ending and the impression the final boss fight left on the player. So I think 8 is fair. It certainly was a 10 among the Sonic Games tho. Sega got his Baby back on track with this game and they deserve applause for that. Very well done!

[atangledfate]

People always assumed Jet wasn't intelligent, or got the wrong idea about his abilities. They sometimes forget that he was fully capable of leveling Sonic if he wanted to. The two were closer in skill and talent then most gave him credit for. A fact that annoyed the Hawk to no end, really it just pissed him off more. More then anything Jet wanted that recognition! That's why he needed this grand prix! to finally silence the nay sayers--- kicking clutch in the teeth was just a bonus!

" OH you want me to cause a ruckus? make a scene? Well i think i can manage that! "

Jet stood up from his chair and placed a finger on the com button

" Eggman, and Clutch huh? maybe he'll off that old man--- or vice versa! don't worry bout metal! if he Shows his face i'll remind everyone why i'm the Legendary Wind Maser! an you'd do well to remember it! If anyone in this world can take Sonic down! it's me after all! "

As full of himself as he was, and maybe a boasting a bit to much he'd do his part if only to stick it to clutch and sonic both! he'd be the one saving everyone! people would remember HIM as the hero! and plus he still owed eggman a kick in the teeth for the first grand prix! he'd make short work of things and the people would adore him for it!

" Wave, Storm, meet me in the hanger--- we gotta bail the restoration losers out again! "

Jet snatched his Bashosen fans from the wall and, and made his way toward the Hanger--- this was gonna finally put Sonic in his place! and cement himself as the real star of this grand prix!

================================================

The chief rubbed his shoulder wondering if it was wise to enlist the Rogues. He wasn't convinced they meant well and certainly weren't doing any of this for the right reasons. Yet he hoped they would do there part, as he crossed his big arms and stared at the screen looking more concerned.

" Do you think that was a good idea involving those three? they are criminals you know... i just hope they don't mess things up..."

The Golden Tenrec even looked somewhat unsure as she looked at Belle wondering if the Chief was right. But deep down she trusted belle and seemed to take a more confident stance. Based on his personality Jet wanted the Glory, and reputation so failing wouldn't work in his favor.

" It'd be bad for him if he failed... and he doesn't seem the type to like that--- I dunno if he's reliable but based on what i saw he's at least doing it for self gain. Though how capable is he? i dunno... didn't he go toe to toe with Surge for awhile? guess that's something..."

Not that gold thought Jet could beat Surge! but keeping pace was something for a guy with no powers right? Well she just put her trust in Belle and prayed this would all be over soon! mostly she hoped those people would be ok!

She was worried though... was Tails ok? How was miss Jewel? what was that foreboding feeling on the ship? was that clutch or... was it something else?

================================================

Amy looked distant for a moment as the landscape sped by and she held onto Blaze loosely so as to not hurt her. Not many knew the real story to Tails, how sonic and he met or why he was always so clingy to the other. Those two found one another by chance, but there friendship had saved them more times then she could count.

" It's not that surprising those two are so close. Sonic practically raised him after Eggman blew up the Orphanage where he grew up. Kinda shocks me that Sonic took him with him, but what ever his reasons. The two have looked after one another since then... "

She giggled a little and looked up at Blaze with a smile

" Course let's be fair its more Tails looking after Sonic! That's never really changed, if i know tails he's already got a complicated plan in motion... "

She doubted Blaze's Magic and her own were the same, but anyone with any knowledge might be helpful. Her magick was rather unique, drawing from an unknown source. It allowed her to summon objects though she still didn't know if it was pre-existing items or a bit of reality warping. What ever the source it was quite powerful she just wanted a better handle on it.

Plus when she hit puberty it nearly killed her... she'd like to avoid that another outburst like that.

" I never considered our worlds magick was so different... All mom left me as a clue was her Grimoire. But it has some kind of enchantment on it...doesn't open for anyone... and few times i got it open bad things happened..."

She sighed and looked back toward the racing ground in front of her

" Temples? I've heard the stories... but i've never seen one myself--- but yea we should focus! figure out what is happening back at HQ! "

"Well, Tails is on board so I'm sure he'll try to do everything he can to capture Clutch, though Eggman is there as well. I think we both know what'll happen to Clutch if Eggman gets his hands on him." Even if Eggman wasn't here to end Clutch she was sure at the very least she'd strong arm him into working under him. After all, who would be stupid enough and crazy enough to say no to Eggman right to his face. "Not to mention Metal Sonic. You shouldn't try to engage him."

"As for what I need. I did need you to distract the guards in the main deck of the airship, though access suddenly opened up so I just turned off all weapons. So, what would be helpful is if you and Storm could cause a big enough racket to distract all the guards which will leave Wave the chance to start guiding people to shuttles." Best to get all civilians and all non-combatants out of harms way first.

"I also just detected a EMP went off which should already gain some of the guards attention. Not to mention I'm sure Eggman and Metal Sonic has already cut then number down. There's also someone else there. They have a cloak and seem to be helping Director Jewel. I guess they're a friendly." Belle wondered just who they were.

===========================================================

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before Tails ended up taking more after Sonic with how often they're together. I can't recall a time where I ever saw those two apart for even a second." For the most part if Blaze ever visited Sonic or Tails the other was usually there or at the very least close by. She often heard people call them the closest of friends, though they were more like brothers.

Blaze did hope Tails would continue maintain more caution than Sonic as she's seen just how truly reckless the hedgehog can be at times. The feline was sure the fox had more than a few stories of all the times he's had to save the speedster from falling into a trap or from getting seriously hurt. Thinking about asking made her resist the urge to chuckle as she was sure Sonic would try to play it off as no big deal and he had things handled.

Blaze then thought about the question for a moment before answering. "Well, I am a master of Magick, though I am unsure if that would be of much help as the difference between our worlds is noticeable. Magick is Mobius comes from Chaos Energy while Magick in Sol comes from the Jewel Specter which are polar opposite in terms of energy." The feline was sure that wasn't the answer Amy wished to hear.

"However, during some of my travels I have heard tales of ruins and forgotten temples that might hold teachings of Magick. Perhaps after things are settled with whatever is happening at The Restoration we can attempt to locate some of them and see if there is any truth to these tales." Blaze was sure there had to be some old teachings of Magick in Mobius.

[prowerprojects]

I actually did like that scene where him and Eggman were mouthing off each other; and praise his VAs for their performance, I just wish it was done in a better context. (Like, not RIGHT after the team up happens.) Heh, I remember one of those AUs called "Where Was My Hero?", almost hits kinda close to Nine conceptually, except with much more tragedy. (But yeah, I can understand to a certain extent that certain emotions for characters can feel "off" in the way on how they're triggered. Like Shadow snickering feels more in line with his personality when he finds something amusing than him giggling gleefully; which would be more something Amy would do. Tails being cheerful and optimistic does not mean he can't experience anger and frustration. And how he lets it out might be different from Sonic's. Cosmo's death and aftermath was a good showing of that, hope to see that [under a different context] in the games one day.)

Nuances are very important, it keeps flanderization at bay and characters complex and dimensional. Too much focus on certain traits can skew how someone can come off to the audience.

Hmm, I wouldn't say it's completely on Sonic. But I'd be lying if I didn't say sometimes it does feel he's used as a writing crutch for Tails. (Not even just in canon.) A solo quest won't completely undo his current fan reception, but might give him a second look. And if it goes well, then there's a standard we expect from there.

For as much as Tails Adventure gets the occasionally mentioned these days, who knows? We could get lucky one day; my main concern is the quality and story, rather than just the existence itself. (But yeah, I agree, it'll likely just back to old grind.)

Him working on the sidelines isn't necessarily a bad thing; it might be more in how it's presented. (Gathering intel and explaining is fine, less running around in confused stated, and formulating plans to tackle the problem. But providing air support via plane, opening up a weak spot during a boss fight, incorporating him into levels without disrupting Sonic's gameplay. Stuff like that helps too, doesn't have to be a bot-smasher the whole time. It's cool for sure, but providing support to enhance your teammates' rate of success is not a bad thing.)

Yeah I think the individual scenes are mostly fine, it's how they relate to each other is what gives me a whiplash. (Oh. I heard of that au but never felt like checking it out.)

Hmm I don't think I quite understand what you mean by a "writing crutch", sorry >_<"

Even if we don't get a game any time soon there's always a chance to get it somewhere down the line, like... "It's been 15 years since Frontiers, don't you guys want to know what Tails was up to when he went off on a solo adventure? Boy do we have a game for you" bahahaha fjdndnxnc (Even if it's not particularly good I hope it's at least fun)

It's true, it's true. Though I would be lying if I said I myself didn't want Tails to be the center of attention sometimes haha

[tenebraevesper]

Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer, Issue #12: The Cost of the Battle for Angel Island

Even though the battle is over, this arc still isn’t done yet. We are shown yet another amazing cover, with Metal Sonic being chained up. Despite being defeated and powerless, he still acts as a catalyst of destruction in this story.

The story starts with Sonic and Tails repairing and awakening Metal Sonic. Tails questions Sonic’s idea, but Sonic remains optimistic. Also, I know that this decision Sonic made is just as controversial as him not punishing Mr. Tinker in any way, but I will get to that.

Metal Sonic awakens and immediately goes for an attack, breaking the chains that restrained him, and immediately collapses in Sonic’s arms. Sonic remarks that, while he is compassionate, he isn’t stupid and that Metal Sonic isn’t in any shape to fight, as Tails fixed only the worst damage.

He then adds how it’s over and how Metal Sonic is now free to decide his own fate, now that Dr. Eggman is gone, and hopes for truce.

Metal just looks at Sonic, seemingly hesitant, then promptly slaps his hand away and flies off, his answer clear. Tails asks Sonic whether he’s fine, and while Sonic says he is, he does look a little hurt by Metal’s refusal for peace between the two. He then adds how he gave him a choice to live how he wants and he’ll honor that decision, with Tails noting how, since Eggman isn’t around anymore to repair and weaponize him.

Now, hear me out here. I don’t think that the point of this scene is to be fuel for readers to get angry at Sonic for his compassion and blame him for what happens later on. Far from it. There are several things to analyze here, one being the obvious consequences of Sonic’s decision, but more importantly, the way he views Metal Sonic.

We know that Sonic could just easily tell Tails to shut down Metal and be done with it. After all, Metal Sonic is just a robot, right? Except, Sonic doesn’t just see Metal as a robot, but a living being. He saw that Metal has free will and he wants to appeal to that free will by offering him to live a life without Eggman. While his compassionate side might be his weakness in this situation, it is also his greatest strength. If it worked on people such as Knuckles and Shadow, why not try it on Metal?

If you’re still complaining, that’s on you. I had a discussion with a close friend of mine on the topic and we both noted that Sonic being compassionate is in-character for him, even adding how people screaming for Sonic to kill Eggman and/or Metal Sonic is pretty much the same as the hypocrites being up in arms if Batman even dares to break his “no killing” rule, but then bitch about him not killing the Joker. You can’t have your cake and eat it, people!

As for Sonic, I said it before in a conversation and I’ll say it again - he is not a hero. *hears gasps of shock* Yeah, how dare I claim the main protagonist, who helps people and save the world isn’t a hero? Well, let me tell you one thing - Sonic himself stated that, even adding how he doesn’t mind being the bad guy at times.

My point here is that I feel that people act as if Sonic has to be some kind of paragon of good, that they’re putting Sonic on a pedestal and that he isn’t allowed to be flawed. The reason I love this iteration of Sonic is that he is flawed, he makes mistakes and he owns up to them, never betraying his own beliefs. Hell, that is also why I liked Sonic’s conversation with Scourge in Sonic!Archie (with Scourge actually becoming a good character after Ian Flynn took over). Scourge had pointed out that Sonic could easily bring ruin to the world if he wanted to, but Sonic’s own determination to stick to his beliefs is what makes him a himself. Hell, even the lyrics of his own song, It Doesn’t Matter, tell how he doesn’t care about right or wrong, he’ll follow his own morals and those dictate to protect those he cares about.

Rest assured, this will be brought up again once we get to Surge.

We then switch over to Dr. Starline at one of Eggman’s bases, talking to Rough and Tumble about not understanding how he failed to bring back Dr. Eggman, all while Mr. Tinker works happily on repairing a Motobug. We also learn that Starline freed Rough and Tumble from their prison, promising Eggman would build them weapons if they help him out. Starline figures Mr. Tinker just needs some kind of emotional trigger, with Orbot and Cubot walking in. We then have a hilariously heartwarming scene of Tinker doting on the bots, all while Orbot and Cubot are confused, with Orbot even wondering whether they want their old boss back.

Suddenly, Metal Sonic appears.

Mr. Tinker quickly runs over to Metal Sonic, checking on him (and I’m sure as hell Metal didn’t expect to see him at this base meaning that this whole meeting is pretty much a coincidence, accidentally caused by Starline; as Neo Metal had no way to find Eggman despite searching for him all over the place).

Suddenly, we see memories resurfacing, those being of Eggman praising Metal Sonic as his finest creation and then repairing him after a battle with Sonic, fussing over Sonic damaging Metal and praising him after the latter confirms he punched Sonic in the face. Honestly, it is oddly heartwarming, showing that there is some kind of father-son relationship between the two. The fact that it is Metal Sonic out of all people that triggers Eggman’s memories speaks of how close the two are.

Oh, and Eggman is baaaack!

As it turns out, he lost all of his memories of being Mr. Tinker, pretty much going back to his old ways of yelling at everyone for an answer. I agree with Cubot here, Mr. Tinker was nice while he lasted. Starline quickly introduces himself, revealing to be a deep admirer of Dr. Eggman’s craftsmanship - so a fanboy - and explains what had happened to him.

As Eggman repairs Metal Sonic, Rough and Tumble quickly introduce themselves, with Eggman’s reaction falling flat. He is not impressed by the skunk brothers, but Starline assures him they’re just minion fodder since they hate Sonic as much as Eggman does.

Starline then shows off the Warp Topaz, a gemstone he used to find Eggman,... as well as the Chaos Emeralds! Eggman (and me too) is impressed by Starline’s competence, welcoming him aboard The Eggman Empire and calling him his best lackey yet (which he isn’t wrong about; yeah, we had Snively in Archie!Sonic, but I’d pick Starline over him any time - also, I know they’re different continuities, I’m just doing some cross-comic comparison here).

We then switch over to Sonic telling Knuckles how everything on Angel Island is in-tact, with Knuckles deciding to remain on Angel Island and continue with his guardian duties now that the world is, seemingly, safe. He then casually tells Sonic how the Resistance is disbanded and to get off his island. I just love these two’s dynamic.

Sonic then informs Amy about the Resistance being disbanded, with Amy not being too happy about it. Our “hero” then abandons her to deal with Team Chaotix, who are hoping for a pay for their detective work. Stay classy, Sonic.

We then see Tangle befriending Whisper, although being a bit too forward for the latter. Still, Whisper seems to be quite happy around Tangle.

Meanwhile, Blaze informs Sonic and Silver that she’ll be going back to the Sol Dimension, with Silver adding how he’ll be staying in the present, as he feels his work still isn’t done.

Lastly, we cut to Rouge, who made herself quite comfortable on Eggman’s lawn chair, as well as spying on the Master Emerald. Apparently, some things never change.

She also informs Sonic that Shadow is already gone, never looking back. Sonic just tells her to pass him a “Thanks” message if she sees him and leaves.

Sonic meets up with Tails, who has the battleship prepared and ready to launch so they can finally return home, with Knuckles seeing them off.

Back at Eggman’s base, Starline suggest they could reconstruct the corrupted Bio-Data Metal copied from Sonic and Shadow, but Eggman axes that plan. I agree here with Eggman, as the only reason Metal’s plan could work was because of the many lucky breaks he had: the heroes searching for Eggman and being unaware of Metal being around (having only fought the Phantom Ruby copy), Angel Island remaining unguarded and Neo Metal being able to snag the Master Emerald, as well as absorbing Sonic and Shadow’s Bio-Data.

Instead of heading into another confrontation, Eggman moves forward with another plan, placing Starline in charge of keeping Sonic distracted. That is actually a fairly smart idea, as Sonic doesn’t even have the slightest clue of Starline’s existence, meaning the platypus can easily blindside the hedgehog. He then leaves Rough and Tumble with the instructions for their new weapons and moves over to his latest creation.

Welcome to the beginning of the end!

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#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)  

[just-a-guy119]

(This was originally posted on #shadamyheadcanons as a submission but for some reason when I submitted it the paragraphs were missing, no idea why that was the case so I’ve decided to resubmit it here to make it much more easier to read)

Convoluted title I know but this one is going to be pretty jumbled up as it’s just an idea I’ve thought off and wanna see if anyone does anything with it.

You know how Amy has the rings similar to Shadows inhibitors, hers are probably weights whilst shadows are inhibitor rings, I’m not sure if this has been mentioned or something but I think this idea could be cool, though it would also deviate from the original story of SA2 quite a bit, let me explain.

My idea is that with Amy’s modern design for SA1 and SA2, her outfit would be the exact same but without the rings on her wrists (maybe replace them with the bands she has on her riders design).

Instead she doesn’t get the rings until the end of SA2 when sonic returns to the ark after him and shadow fought the final hazard. Obviously the story would have to get reworked slightly with Shadow and Amy possibly having a few more scenes together and give Amy her own character arc, she still doesn’t fully believe in herself as she isn’t treated as an equal. (because let’s be honest the early 3D days Amy was ignored and not taken seriously by almost everyone in CD, SA1 and SA2, including Sonic).

One way to make Amy more important to the story of SA2 is to have her get to the ark much quicker so there could be an extra scene or two with her and Shadow. (It doesn’t even have to be shipping stuff but Shadow having flashbacks of Maria through Amy’s words similar to the how Amy helps Shadow remember Maria’s final words in SA2)

A way I think would work best to get Amy on the Space Colony Ark quicker is during prison island, instead of Rouge being trapped fighting the R-1/A Flying Dog she fights Amy instead.

The way this would occur is that when Amy would free sonic, he would tell her he needs to find that faker and make him pay, then runs off instantly, leaving Amy behind. In the hero story, after the stage metal harbor there would be a cutscene with Amy walking around, saying that she’s lost and she’d get annoyed and say out loud

“I would sacrifice anything for everyone to take me more seriously, even that fake hedgehog”

(Remember this)

(Also this might seem out of character for but at this point she‘s like 13? I’m not sure but she’s angry and this is something someone her age would say. Keep in mind she only sees Shadow as a Sonic copy, thinks he’s a Villain so she doesn’t really care about like, same with her and metal sonic.)

This part would be in the dark story Playthrough.

Then she runs into Rouge, Amy remembers she was with Eggman and fights her, trying to get answers however they both get locked in the room like Rouge did in SA2. The story would continue as normal with shadow showing up and surprisingly, he’d save both of them without hesitation, teleporting to the ark just before prison island blows up.

A scene would take place right after with Amy looking confused and relieved however Rouge instantly begins questioning why he saved them, Shadow says it would’ve been more hassle for him to get the emeralds off Rouge in a few seconds but Rouge counters by saying that’s a fair point but he could’ve just left her behind (pointing to amy) however he actively ran over to her and saved her too. He just walks off saying she talks too much however amy runs grabs his hand and says.

“Thank you”

Shadow just stares back for a second and says “it won’t happen again…” then walks off. (This would purely be a dark story cutscene)

To me this makes more sense as she doesn’t really do much in the story other than help shadow, maybe even have sonic and tails think she died (and in the hero story, actually have the player think she’s dead for most of the story) and have sonic realise that he should’ve treated her much kinder and as an equal and not someone who holds them back. This could even make sonic wanna go after shadow even more as he thinks that him and eggman killed her, to further set up the rivalry his shadow but that part is just me throwing ideas around for a potential SA2 rewrite I’m thinking of doing. This new concept also won’t be a typical “damsel in distress” as it’s flipped on its head since Shadow actually saved her by “kidnapping” her.

Let’s say in this hypothetical rewrite Shadow starts off like the others, he doesn’t take Amy seriously at all similar to everyone else as he’s only known her as “sonic’s fangirl” but Amy begins to learn that there’s something more to shadow, he doesn’t just want to conquer the earth like eggman, he wants revenge on everyone on earth (maybe he’d say something like “they took everything I cared about away from me” when she’d ask him why he’s doing this, I dunno) and she’d grow to understand him.

Through this, shadow would learn to treat Amy as an equal as she says she’s fed up of not being taken seriously by anyone so shadow does just that, he actually begins to listen to her closely. Through shadow treating her as an equal and talking to her, he begins to realise she’s making valid points about how no-one deserves to be killed but he doesn’t falter in his mission however she’s slowly chipping away at Shadows exterior as he acts slightly kinder to both her and Rouge.

Maybe even Rouge could get some development from Amy too with Rouge listening in on one of their convocations and amy says that

“I try to be kind to everyone, even though sonic doesn’t treat me as an equal…I know being kind works because you’ve treated me as an equal because of it…”

This causes Rouge to hold some of the master emerald shards and think…She’s used to being around selfish people so that’s all she knows but being kind…She’s never tried that.

(this could explain why Rouge gives the master emerald pieces to Knuckles after he saves her because she’s learning to be kind as well)

At the end this, all this buildup and the extra scenes would would make it more believable for Shadow to be convinced by Amy and she will also learn a lesson here, correct me if I’m wrong but shadow would be the first person to treat her as an equal. The way shadow would truly treat her as an equal is by actually thanking her, at the risk of sounding too cliché he would tell her.

“Thank you…you’re worth much more than you think, Amy Rose”

This coming from the ultimate life form himself would mean something, at least to Amy.

After that he says

“I need to keep my promise to Maria…and to you” then he runs off.

When Shadow appears to fight the Biolizard, Knuckles would ask why he suddenly changed sides, he could say something like

“That friend of yours, Amy Rose, you should all thank her…”

With sonic responding with a in a guilty tone

“Yeah…I know that now…”

And the same thing would happen, Super Sonic and Super Shadow would fight the Final Hazard and using the chaos emeralds to become super for the first time along with taking off his inhibitor rings would take its toll on shadow and cause him to fall to earth…only leaving his inhibitor rings remaining like in the original story.

The final scene of this version of SA2 would have Sonic returning aboard the ark without Shadow, he has a smile but it looks sad most of them would congratulate Sonic but Rouge would ask where’s Shadow?

Sonic would close his eyes and let out a shaky breath, saying that he couldn’t have won without Shadow…

(I do recommend that this part is best experienced whilst listening to SA2s “the last scene” OST on loop whilst reading this part for extra emotional kicks, trust me it makes a difference. this all is purely emotional but in a good way so you have been warned.)

(Each “ending scene” between the rivals would take place in this order)

Firstly a unique one, amy and rouges reaction to shadow death.

Sonic walks over to Rouge and Amy who are standing at the centre of the room, giving them Shadows inhibitor rings and says

“This is all I could get before I saw him fall to earth…”

He’d give one to both of them and say he’s sorry. Rouge would look away and walk off, holding her tears in however Amy’s eyes widen…like she’s realising something. The blue hedgehog would look at amy and speak.

“I’m sorry…I never took you seriously, even after you’d stop chasing me…I promise to listen to you like I do with Tails, Knuckles and even Eggman…”

He puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her but she drops shadows ring and she slaps sonics hand away and shakily whispers…

“No…”

This confuses everyone but this time she shouts...tears streaming from her eyes

“I did this to him…I don’t deserve any of your respect… I sent him to his death, he wanted to help because I begged him too. I killed him”

“I even said I would sacrifice anything for all of you to take me seriously, even him and…it feels like I did! It feels like I sent him to his death just to get you guys to listen to me! It’s all my fault!”

With that she runs off, running past everyone, sonic and tails would try to chase after her however surprisingly Rouge tells them to leave her, that she’ll talk to Amy.

The second “ending” scene would take place and it would be another unique one.

Rouge would find her where the convocation between Shadow and Amy took place about how she knows being kind pays off because shadow begun to treat her as an equal. She’s crying and Rouge walks over to her and just watches, unsure of what to do however Amy wipes her tears and says she can’t be weak…

Rouge nods her head and helps her up however Amy asks Rouge something…

“S-Shadows inhibitor rings… could I have them?”

Rouge at first looks confused but then after smiles and nods her head, giving them to her.

The final scene between Tails and Eggman would play.

Eggman and Tails look ahead at the stars…The fox is unsure on how to feel, they won but it feels like they lost…surprisingly Dr Eggman speaks up in a tone Tails has never heard before.

“As a child, I looked up to my grandfather because of all the great things he accomplished in his life. He was my hero, and I wanted to be a great scientist like him. But... did he really mean to destroy us? To destroy Me?”

Doctor Eggman, the most renowned genius in the world sounds so defeated, even cracking at one point, even after Tails and Sonic have stopped him time and time again, the mad Doctor has always bounced back…but now…he sounds so defeated.

Much to the doctors surprise, Tails speaks up, attempting to comfort him.

“I’m…Im not sure but one thing I know, he was tipped over the Edge, pushed to a limit that no person should ever have to endure, he lost everything and took it out on everyone…he had the right to be mad but he didn’t have the right to destroy everything… I…I don’t know what to say Eg-“

Tails stops himself

“Ivo Robotnik, I’m sorry you had to go through that, I can’t imagine what it must feel like.”

The Doctor looks down and wipes his glasses clean…

“T-Thanks… I’m going to be shutting down the Space Colony Ark in 30 minutes, that’s all the time everyone has up here, then it’s never to be set foot on again”

With that, the Doctor walks off, tails looks back to see Sonic look at Ivo Robotnik. They seem to stare at each other, almost as if they’re having a mutual understanding through their sight alone but the Doctor kneels down and sonic does something unexpected, he surprisingly hugs the Doctor, he can’t hear what they’re saying but Tails figures it’s private…but he could’ve sworn he saw the Doctor wipe his eyes…

The scene between Rouge and Sonic would play after that

Rouge walks over to the blue blur and speaks.

“I calmed Amy down…I don’t know when she’ll feel better, could you and the others…be there for her? Help her get over her grief?”

Sonic looks at the bat and slowly nods…

“I will, I promise. Me, Tails and even Knuckles will help her, or at least try as much as we can… Again I’m sorry about Shadow”

Rouge looks at him and shakes her head.

“You tried your best…in the end that’s all that matters. But do you think…that the doctor only creates him for revenge? Or something more?”

She questions with sonic looking at the planet below.

“I’m not sure…but what in do know is that he was a brave and heroic hedgehog who sacrificed his life to save everyone, that’s who he was.”

Rouge nods her head and walks away.

The scene between Knuckles and Rouge would play.

Rouge is standing, looking out to the coldness of space, uncomfortably with her Arms crossed and biting her lip, trying desperately to hold back her tears, she may not have known shadow for long or as personally as Amy did…but it still doesn’t change anything, right now all she feels is the coldness surrounding her.

“Got any plans”

A gruff but soothing and kind voice asks, Rouge slowly turns around to see the Echidna looking at her with…worry? Surely that can’t be right, the same Echidna who crashed the shuttle the heroes used to get here…

“Y-yeah, I think I’m going to give up this line of work, too much work for too little pay, plus-“

She looks at Knuckles’ reflection in the window

“I’ve got something better than jewels in mind…”

She says with a crack in her voice, she hopes that the Echidna didn’t pick up on it, that’s he’s as dimwitted as everyone thinks he is but obviously he catches on…

“Hey…are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…I’m just looking down below. It’s beautiful, don’t you think?”

She says, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from current events.

Knuckles looks down at earth and grunts…

“It was…but after today…I can’t look at anything the same way again”

He pulls out the master emerald which has shrunken down.

“Heh, Tikal helped me learn to do this, makes it much more easier to carry around, want to hold it? I know you love jewels…”

Rouge looks at him wide eyed…why had he offered to let her hold the master emerald? Surely he’d know she could easily run off with it, Knuckles opens up her hand with his own and gives it to her, letting her hold it.

“I-I think it might make you feel at least a little bit better…”

That’s when it clicks in her head…he’s trying to comfort her, in his own little odd way, he’s trying to comfort her, make her feel better, sadly at the realisation of this, here eyes begin to water up, her vision getting blurry and the facade breaks, she slowly begins to let the tears fall from her eyes…

She drops the master emerald on the floor and cries into knuckles’ shoulder, hugging him as hard as she can, expecting him to push her away or shout at her that she dropped the master emerald but…that’s not what happens, he holds her tightly and tells her.

“Don’t worry…It’s alright to cry, he was your friend”

And finally the scene between sonic and Amy would place but slightly altered.

Here it is…

Planet Earth, such a beautiful and disturbing place, after this day, after what he’s heard and seen happen, he can’t look at it the same way again, what anyone can be capable off if they are pushed enough to the edge…

Sonic looks ahead at Earth, the stars and and feels…guilty…he was there, he saw Shadow fall however he lied to everyone…

After the final chaos control on the Space Colony Ark which retuned it to its normal position in space, no longer heading towards earth, Super Sonic looked around and saw two Rings floating, he picked them up and flew over to where he saw shadow, no longer in his Super form, very slowly moving away from the ark and towards earth.

Suoer Sonic quickly flew over to shadow however what happened…was heartbreaking.

Sonic would’ve been able to catch the ultimate Lifeform, in fact he should’ve but Shadow…Shadow pushed him away, he said that he doesn’t deserve to live after what he’s done, he broke Maria’s promise, hurt so many people and almost killed everyone. Sonic told him that he deserves a second chance to make them happy but Shadow smiled…

“Sonic…it’s funny you know, I think in another time, we could’ve been friends, maybe if things turned out differently we would be…but we’re both running out of energy, my super form has already run out and yours… it’s going to run out anytime now. So this is my final gift to you…goodbye, Sonic The Hedgehog.”

“SHADOW! NO!”

Shadow ended up using his remaining energy to use chaos control on sonic to teleport him back to the Ark, which right after it happened, Sonic’s Super form ran out…

From the observation deck Tails told sonic that Eggman was going to shut down the Space colony ark in 30 minutes which was around 20 minutes ago so the teleporters from earth and the Ark wouldn’t work, Sonic said he’s gonna catch up with tails nodding and walking off, leaving Sonic alone in the observation deck…

“The Ultimate Life form…Shadow The Hedgehog”

Just as he goes to walk away he sees Amy walk over into the observation deck, her eyes are puffed from crying but he can tell she’s trying to be strong, he smiles and walks over to her.

“I’m…Im so sorry Amy…I don’t know how close you got with Shadow, but I couldn’t save him… I appreciate you easing off on the romance but I shouldn’t have just ignored you when you needed my help…”

“I forgive you”

Amy replies with a smile, a sad smile but a smile nonetheless.

“People make mistakes, we’ve seen that today…but we also know that we can change for the better…so here’s to a better tomorrow Sonic.”

Amy extends her arm for a handshake with Sonic smiles and accepts.

“Here’s to a better tomorrow”

However he looks down at her wrist and sees something…new.

“Hey…are those?

Amy looks at her wrist and let’s put another smile, but this time it’s not a sad one…

“Yeah…these were his, I asked Rouge if I could have them, she said yes. Even when Eggman saw me wear them I could’ve sworn I saw a genuine smile from him. I think they look great but I also want to remember him like I remember you.

As a hero, someone I admire and want to be like.”

Sonic closes his eyes smiles.

“Me and you both Amy…me and you both”

Amy asks if he’s ready to leave and sonic Smiles.

“Yeah, let’s go back to the planet as cool and blue as me…”

They leave the room and the lights turn off but sonic looks back one last time.

“Sayonara…Shadow The Hedgehog”

The End…

Author’s notes:

(you can skip if you want cuz this is long enough already but it gives additional context to some scenes. There are also some other submissions I’ve written noted here to)

If you haven’t noticed I have written some submissions here before as (I think?) an anonymous user but finally made an account, specifically for this blog.

Most notably

Submission #59: A take on Shadamy

I’m 60-40 on this, it’s not written the best but I think my concept of their relationship is good enough

Submission #68: Yet another take on Shadamy

Not particularly proud of this one I can’t lie, the concept is decent but I didn’t proof-read it so it’s it’s sloppily written, I might either make a part 2 as a submission or just rewrite it and make it a complete story, though there was that one person who enjoy commented that they enjoyed it, I’m glad they did

Submission #74: Yet another Shadamy Scene Rewrite

I think it’s my best Shadamy piece I’ve done, it’s a very simple SA2 (can you tell it’s my favourite sonic story/game yet?)scene rewrite based on shadow and Amy’s first encounter on prison island.

Though I kinda wish I called the title of my first submission “yet a take on Shadamy” to fit in line with my “yet _____ Shadamy _____”

I wanted those final scenes to pull at the heart strings, sure it’s possibly too emotional for a Sonic story but I really don’t care, all of those scenes were based on experiences in my life so I tried to write the characters as “realistic” as I possibly could. I even snuck in some Knuxouge because I think it’s the only sonic ship that should be canon in the games, it makes the most sense to me. I also really hope I didn’t come off as bashing Sonic, that really wasn’t my intention, I really like Sonic as a character but I think this was the most realistic character development I could’ve given him. Rouge was definitely more emotional here but I think that makes sense, I didn’t even think of knuckles consoling her until a bit after so I promise it wasn’t just for a knuxouge moment. I couldn’t really do much with Tails, best I could do is have him sympathise with Eggman and referring to him as “Ivo Robotnik” was my was of showing that tails truly cared about Eggman in that moment. Also Sonic hugging Eggman might be slightly out of character but everyone is at their emotional limit here, including Eggman himself was hurt here, he found out the man he admired, his grandfather didn’t just not care about him but was willing to kill him, if felt personal to him and sonic saw that…

What I tried to do was not to create a Shadamy story (even though it certainly comes across as such because even though I love Shadamy, I don’t want any relationships in any main sonic games, hint at them sure but not proper relationships). Instead I tried to create a story with the basis of Sonic adventure 2 (my favourite sonic story) and improve certain aspects.

It just so happened that in my eyes, giving Amy a proper role would do exactly that and filling in details such as making it even more believable that Shadow would turn good at the end, giving a proper character arc to Amy and improving on Rouge’s and giving Sonic a character Arc with both realising that people can change for the better because knuckles wasn’t evil in 3&K, he was tricked. Sonic would also learn to take Amy more seriously.

Side note but I’ve always head people say that sonic has always been a flat character however I disagree, I think that became the case after SA2 because in that game, he learned that not everyone is purely good or bad, he learned that people will do bad things for good reasons and good things for bad reasons.

Another detail this adds is making it way more believable for Sonic to go back to Eggman when he takes Amy hostage because in SA2, sonic and tails just leave amy wondering around, both creating a liability and ignoring their friend however up to this point (in the hero story), Sonic, Tails and eventually Knuckles thought Amy had died on Prison Island but hearing her alive and being taken hostage would make it a good twist from a story standpoint along with making it WAY more believable that Sonic would rush back to Eggman. (even though tails was there).

Of course I had to add a scene between sonic and shadow, making it make more sense as to why shadow fell to earth and sonic couldn’t save him, I wanted to add shadow saying that they could’ve been friends in another time because that WAS true at one point, in heroes and 06 they respected each other and were friends with a slightly rivalry. In shadow the hedgehog, minus all the “evil” paths (which I don’t seem as canon) shadow and sonic are usually on good terms. Only in Boom is where there was an active distaste between the two.

Anyway that’s enough of me rambling. I originally wasn’t going to write some scenes and just skim through them like I have done with others but the ones near the end were too important for me to just simply skip. I’ve been writing this for about close to 3 hours now on my phone and I still have a few things to say but I’m satisfied with what I’ve written for now.

I’m going to be honest but this is the most emotional piece of work I’ve ever written, (coming from a guy who doesn’t think these characters beyond a few should be all “lovey-dovey” but speak through their actions and what they’re willing so do to make friend/partner happy) like I did with knuckles here.

Anyway I’m not going to link my AO3 here because my work isn’t nearly as emotional, it doesn’t have much shadamy and I also don’t wanna self promote here as well but if I write a SA2 rewrite with this concept, if I’m allowed to link it I will however it won’t be for a while as uni is killing me.

I hope you all enjoyed me rambling, I apologise for it being so damn long but I just has WAY too much to say and just ended up writing another part of a fanfic. Leave your thoughts below and owner of the blog (is that what I call you? Idk) keep up the great work.