#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.

[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.

[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.

[skyfcx]

"you did this all by yourself?" amy's impressed by something their lil bro made!

Random Questions || Prompt

     “Well... me and a very tired 3-D printer. But if you’ll ignore their assistance, then... yeah! I did.”

     It wasn’t Christmas, a birthday, or any other holiday where it’s deemed socially required to get a loved one a gift of some sort, but the fox just had an idea in his head that he felt like bringing to life. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less. The heart beats and oftentimes wants to be heard, so to deliver that unto someone and give them the gift of visibility? Why wait for a date on a calendar to do a thing like that?

     But if you asked the ever-humble fox kit, he’d say that diorama cube handed off to Amy without much pomp or circumstance was just a little thing. It could range from a fancy paperweight to a spiffy shelf-filler. After all, it was nothing big or elaborate, truly. It would fit in the palm of your hand, a wood-grain base with a smooth and sanded finish. It its inside held up small and cute depictions of past events and stories told by the pink hedgehog. And there she was, multiple tiny versions of her reliving them! 

     Inside a glass case, some of the times depicted insight the diorama were less positive. One of the itty-bitty Amy figures was in the process of being lifted and toted away by an adorably proportioned Metal Sonic. Her hammer was brandished and bonking it on the head, though, even if didn’t seem to be doing much. 

     Allow your eyes to follow their flight path forward and sights would soon find a visage that was similar yet different. A tiny Amy was toted once more, but this time by the true blue hero himself, Sonic the Hedgehog! They were bounding from the corner of the glass toward the cube’s center, little pieces of silvered rubble exploding out behind their back. The illusion of a bigger scene when there was only so much space to work with, though a mind could just imagine the daring escape from Little Planet after the place was coming down! 

     Or... an approximation of said daring escape, of course. It wasn’t like the fox was actually there to see it, but an active imagination had mixed with a memory like a steel trap to make a scene from the tales told of that day. Though, what those sky-blue eyes of his had seen were an older Amy face to face with Team Sonic, a small fight breaking out against Team Rose in the upper-most reaches of Grand Metropolis! Misunderstandings seem to run rampant in their friend group, didn’t they...? 

     Everywhere the eyes looked, there was a bit of history unfolding: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy running out to save the day from another world domination attempt from Eggman, the team relaxing and laughing together in Station Square’s town park. Amy’s protecting a Flicky, she’s protecting Gamma. She’s raising arms against Chaos, she’s fending off ZERO. She’s becoming her own while remembering the people who helped make her.

     The eyes could look into the slice of life paused in time forever and spot all of the little neat nods to past adventures, but when the view had been soaked in, it was hard to ignore the would-be title of this diorama. Carved in the wooden base’s front, words can be read plain as day.

     ‘Don’t Forget Yourself~’

     “You were all of these iterations, did all of these things... you grew and changed with every rise and every fall. And despite the fact that it seems a million years in the past, despite how it can sometimes feel like a different person walking through those memories inside your head, you’re still the same person as the ones depicted in this diorama. Different, and at some points indistinguishable, but it’s still you. Despite everything...

     And I just think that’s neat. And I don’t want it to be forgotten. So... that’s yours, do with it what you will, and...! I love you! I love you very much and I’m glad that I was able to know all of you thus far. Can’t wait t’see where we go from here!”

[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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[greenhills-montana]

My Thoughts on IDW Sonic comic Issues 1-10

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE IDW SONIC COMIC RUN. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT-- PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Also, this comic is apparently four years old-- wtf are you doing? me @ myself.

So like my last post, I think that the rebooted comics taking place post-sonic forces is a great idea. It works really well in my opinion because there are a lot of themes and characters you can tinker with from that game. I would have loved to have more clarity about more events during the war or even the aftermath of those events to clarify the feelings each character had about it.

And for the most part, I'll say the comics have excited me about the story going forward. It gave me some of what I wanted and many more questions I didn't think of. Coming at it strictly from the perspective I have, mainly being a game fan-- I always felt a Knuckles and Amy friendship would have been stellar, so it's cool to see that realized. Actually, Amy's character overall has been given this second wind that I didn't see coming at all. I always figured she had a deep respect for Sonic and that's where her crush comes from, but to have it outright stated and how Amy's and Sonic's powers complement each other is really really sweet and interesting. It leads to the art of these panels being dynamic!

Amy's leadership role in the absence of Sonic has really matured her, and you can honestly feel it in issue two. In fact, Tails and Amy both have retained a lot of change from Sonic Forces that I didn't expect, but I'm not opposed to. I'm really in favor of these little micro-expressions of anxiety or stress that both Sonic and the audience can intuit from the art. It makes for something you have to pay attention to and be rewarded for doing so.

Issue six is where the story starts to really pick up with the reintroduction of the Chaotix, Shadow, and Rogue. (or, as I like to call them Team Dark Plus)

Shadow will always be a complex character to portray, given the fandom's broad interpretation of him. But I think this issue sets up his internal conflict pretty well and doesn't make Shadow out to be a hypocrite-- he's just someone who's exhausted of fighting. Or at the very least fighting Eggman. I also thought it was interesting that Shadow was coming at it from the angle of "well, what about you, Sonic? doesn't it matter that he tried to hurt you?" instead of making his motivation selfish. Sonic then defuses the situation by pointing out that Shadow got a second chance; therefore, they have to extend the same to Eggman. It will be interesting to see if they keep this characterization up or default to a regular grumpy aloof jerk.

I will say the art in issue six was really hit or miss with me, especially when it came to renderings of Rogue. There was just something about her that seemed really off-model, like her eyes are at this constant half-lid which makes her look odd-- and not to mention her chest-- I don't know what it is about comic books and boobs but they just don't ever seem to mesh well. I think the comic peaked at the Sonic and Shadow fight scene, though; a lot of it just felt perfectly moody with the colors and lighting.

That is not a problem in issue seven. Issue seven's art was so fantastic I thought it boarded on too good. You know what I mean? Overall that issue was probably my highlight. It'd be the one I'd send to someone to get them on board. That being said I still think its weird they haven't redone Neo Metal Sonic's design, I can't imagine that being fun to draw repeatedly for several pages. I mean even Sonic makes fun of how Neo Metal Sonic looks.

Gosh, I may be skeptical of Shadow's characterization, but Silver-- oh my gosh-- I didn't think it was possible for this character to be treated so lovingly by the canon. I'm tempted to tell my brother (a self-proclaimed Silver stan) about the number of cute things they kept from Sonic 06 to embellish Silver's character. I found his naivety and gratefulness towards Whisper to be adorable!

Speaking of, the comic introduces a few new characters along with our familiar faces. Whisper the wolf and Tangle the Lemur. I'll be real I think they have a lot of potential to be interesting characters, especially Whisper-- but I do think Tangle's first impression was kind of uninteresting to me. I was a little surprised they brought her back because the narrative was so lowkey about her existence. I assume this might have something to do with those SEGA mandates or something. Speaking of, Doctor Starline's entrance was anything but lowkey, his design was immediately eye-catching and striking and his little villain monologue about how he's made a habit out of studying Eggman is interesting. Like the idea that there are some of Sonic's kind that seems to agree with Eggman's philosophy is interesting to me and I want to see that explored. It's such a shame that Mr Tinker had so much crap happen to him though, I think the "what if Eggman was a theme park engineer without all the evil" was a cute stay for a few issues. It just strikes me that deep deep deep down Eggman has this need to make people happy, or at the very least he wants to be liked at his core. Which seems to be the only thing Eggman and Tinker have in common.

This post has gone on a bit too long, I wanted to talk a little bit about my new appreciation for Blaze, but I'll save that until the next post.

That all out of the way, I easily give this first arc of the comic a high eight out of ten! I really look forward to the rest of it. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

[mixithon]

i’m bored so uhh heres my insight on shit cause i like talking, as well as some opinions on your opinions because i’m EVIL

- I feel like theres not really a great understanding on “Sonic character design,” even from Sonic Team themselves. Sonic character design isn’t just using Sonic’s body as a template- we wouldnt have Big or Vector if that were the case- instead they’re built very differently with a unifying style that ties them together. What SEGA is doing now is like if Goofy had the same body type as Mickey. Sure, it’ll be designed around it, but you use a lot of visual clarity as well as recognizability.

- True and Real

-I don’t know much about Sally, but i defo feel like Amy’s hate was unjustified. She’s so damn boring now let a girl be exaggerated and silly :(

Lanolin, though? I feel like she fell victim to IDW’s fuck-ass awful pacing. With her commanding and overwriting Silver’s words and beliefs, we end up on Silver’s side because we barely KNOW Lanolin, AND Mimic’s.. mimicking got revealed early. So not only do we know Silver is RIGHT, but we are placed RIGHT AGAINST Lanolin (who, again, got introduced as an actual character like, what, 6 issues ago?) who is doing what she thinks is right. (I used to hate Lanolin so uh.. yea)

- True and real, same people who don’t like when Tails falters in confidence i feel (pointing to Forces, where i feel like Tails just sitting there like a bitch while Sonic “dies” right in front of him mighta made him lose confidence- but this goes unexplored so Thats Just Headcanon! as well as the IDW scene, where he was powerless and it was all up to Sonic.)

-Don’t know enough about Fang to say shit

-dont care much for Shard but isn’t Eggman using Metal Sonic Kai, the model seen in Chaotix- that was using the main and sub CPUs from the CD Metal? Can’t like a Shard-like Metal Sonic rise up from CD Metal or is the contradictory Sonic 4 still canon

-Why can’t Classic Sonic just be like a skin for Sonic, again? I don’t like the weird “This is younger Sonic” and “This is older Sonic” stuff let me just play as Classic

-I think a low-stakes comedic Sonic story is a refresher i just wish it wasn’t done with Roger and weird Sonic writing. That combo personally just doesn’t work.

- I don’t care much for Sonadow being canon or noncanon i just like Sonic and Shadows dynamic in general

-I think they should, because honestly its an artstyle difference for characters like Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. It would be fun!! Let there be some fun, yknow?

-TRUE but its also funny seeing them scramble for reasons why these classic characters are gone like bro you’re telling me that “always on the move for thrills” Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t run into Mighty and Ray again or is the explanation that they’re dead in a cave somewhere

-I don’t care for the Babylon Rogues being integrated into the Battle Kukku Empire, i just wish that it wasn’t the Battle Kukku Empire being integrated into the Babylon Rogues, if you get what i mean. Cocoa Island is already pretty tied to South Island, with how Battle Lord Kukku and Eggman’s search for the Chaos Emeralds on the respective islands leads to destruction, and with how both games share the exact same Chaos Emerald colors from what i can recall- not to mention if you consider South Island’s floating shenanigans canon, then Tails ressurected South Island from out of the sea- paralleling how the Master Emerald on Angel island created Newtrogic Island!!! I personally would prefer if they tied the Battle Kukku Empire to South Island, yknow?

-I haven’t played much but i got a dancing chao and i can’t get rid of it HOW DO I GET RID OF IT ITS EVIL

-True but SATAM gets soloed by AOSTH (/hj, i prefer AOSTH but don’t have much against SATAM’s cast. I just wish it was more in line with the games)

-I think Sonic is SOMEWHAT exempt from this but hear me out hear me out- considering his dynamic with Eggman, he is the maturity to Eggman’s immaturity. Eggman is this rotten, spoiled-brat like villain who is book smart and Sonic is this kind, selfless character who is street smart. But with Eggman sometimes having his mature moments, Sonic can have some immature ones as a treat. Oftentimes with character analysis they skim out on character dynamics and what you can learn about the characters from them and that STINKS

-Haven’t spent much time with Silver to really get into it, but i think he can cool it a bit with the pep in exchange for some seriousness. I thhhiink i like him when he has this curious wonder about the past that leaves him speechless at times, but again, not much time with Silver.

-I think in general i don’t care about ships being canon except for the straight Sonic ships for some reason??? Like i am against those hard either Sonic’s hard aroace or he’s a twinge gay

-TRUE

-barely spent time with shuffle so i can’t say shit

-TRUE!! CHARACTER VARIATION IS AWESOME!!

-Okay but what if they provided the wackiest explanations to explain why Tails Doll is gone like “Oh, Tails Doll! i tried to use him for parts but he started floating toward the clouds, and then YOU hit him with the Tornado!”

-I don’t care that much, i just need to know if the caterkiller line prefers soup or bread

-I feel like Hyper Sonic being Super Sonic 3 is kinda weird if it JUST functions as a stronger Super Sonic. also power creep i GUUUESSS but who tf gives a damn Sonic can win against a wrecking ball and then die to a sandwich for all i care

-I’m in the process of reading STC but i haven’t seen enough of Amy yet- I’ve just gotten past Knuckles throwing out the Marxio Brothers off Angel Island, so no comment. I’m really enjoying it, though!! Love how Sonic’s absolutely a bitch here

-TRUE and also the South / Cocoa Island stuff i mentioned before.. + “but tails got bullied on Westside Island why is he on Cocoa Island” HOME AWAY FROM HOME BITCH!! would also make sense on why he doesn’t have his TA stuff and had to build a new Sea Tail model (seen in Triple Trouble, a detail that TT 16 Bit lost) - Cocoa Island is canonically small as shit and isn’t on any map so he probably deadass lost it

-yeah okay but how else will annoying person make the same joke about TA?? Tails is a MURDERER, amirite?? LAUGH!! + i feel like aspects they can go into (the lack of wings on a certain bird..) they wont because it’ll take too much- like implying Jet has wings under those gloves and having to design wings for him or whatever, or the Battle Kukku Empire being a seperate entity from Eggman- or the EMPIRE PART of the NAME!!

-can’t i see both :(

-“Metal Knuckles, oh, he went and flew into the ocean! Haven’t seen him since!”

-Preboot Archie designs is i think a large example of misunderstanding Sonic character design. also yeah Antoine’s palette stinks very bad

Sonic opinions that may or may not be controversial

Sonic character design is at its worst when they try to make it as "Sonic-like" as possible, and at its best when it's at its most unconventional (i.e. Fang the Sniper, the Witchcarters, the Kukku Empire, the humans in Sonic Unleashed and Chronicles, SatAM and AOSTH characters, etc)

Infinite's maskless design is lame

Sally Acorn, Amy Rose, Princess Elise and Lanolin aren't the worst characters, you just want to hate female characters. There are way worse written characters and you choose those three to bash on

That said, Chris Thorndyke and Charmy Bee aren't annoying, you just hate children. Chris' unwilling to let Sonic go in the finale of Sonic X's season two wasn't a dick move, that's his character arc. And of course Charmy being loud, annoying and basically dooming the resistance by turning himself into a zombot to try and save someone makes sense. He's a god damn six year old

Ian Flynn trying to "simplify" Fang the Sniper takes away all that made him interesting, his weirdness and confusing design (he literally took away Fang's hybrid side and him being originated from the Special Zone. Blaze exists, why can't Fang be from another dimension too?)

Gemerl not having Emerl's personality isn't neither a betrayal nor a bad take on his character. In fact, it makes his contrast with Emerl and comparison to Omega and Metal Sonic better. Shard is not coming back guys. Cope

Sonic Forces should've been less focused on Classic Sonic and more on the Rookie. In fact, Shadow should've replaced Classic Sonic in the storyline

Sonic Colors is worse than Sonic 06 in terms of storyline and the DS version should've been the real deal

As fun and awesome and amazing as Sonadow is (totally not speaking from bias), making it non-canon is the best for everyone

Characters like Shadow and Omega shouldn't have a classic form, but it would be interesting to see other modern characters in classic form

Classic characters shouldn't be confined to the "classic universe". Archie's best parts were when classic and modern characters interacted (Mighty and the Werehog, Shadow and the Hooligans, Jet and Speedy)

The idea of the Babylon Rogues being associated to the Kukku Empire in the past IS an interesting concept. What isn't is the Kukku Empire being associated with the Babylon Garden. They should be their own villains

As goofy as Sonic Chronicles was, it wasn't a bad game at all

Western and eastern Sonic media should be treated with the same respect

Sonic characters acting immature shouldn't be a big deal. They are kids, no matter how many times you point out how they removed the ages at the Sonic Channel site. Amy Rose herself was at her best when she was an immature hotheaded girl

As much as I wish Silver was more serious at IDW, him acting excited and happy isn't bad either. He's healing from multiple broken futures

Silver and Blaze are better staying out as platonic. If Sonic and Shadow's tanabata references can be seen as platonic, then those two can two. That said, their relationship should still be seen as meaningful to both of them (perhaps more to Silver than to Blaze). Male and female friendships exist without it being instantly romantic

MORE. UNSEEN. CHARACTER. INTERACTIONS. PLEASE

Sonic Shuffle shouldn't be shafted just because of the weird gameplay and human-like characters. The Maginaryworld characters should make a comeback (ESPECIALLY with to the implications of the angel statue in Sonic CD's Wacky Workbench)

We need more truly irredeemable female villains (Surge doesn't count, I'm talking about characters like Witchcart, Lien-Da, Thunderbolt)

For the love of God, Sega. Bring Classic characters back

If you can give personality to Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic II, you can give to the other robots (and no, making Tails Doll an eldritch horror doesn't count)

Hyper Sonic should come back. Maybe even make it the "third stage" to the Super Sonic and Super Sonic 2 duo

As good and amazing as Amy's everything was in Sonic the Comic, that shouldn't be the blueprint of her canon character. At max bring back her crossbow (and her girlfriend)

Tails Adventure is better taking place before Sonic and Tails meeting. If he was confident enough to follow Sonic and help him defeat Eggman's ass he should be confident enough to abolish the monarchy (last part is /hj lmao)

Tails Adventure mentioned, the Kukku Empire should make a comeback too. If Shadow can come back the Kukkus can. They weren't cntrl+alt+del from existence like Mephiles was y'know

We don't want to see the classic universe. We want to see classic CHARACTERS

Sega. Hey Sega. Sega. Are you hearing me. Sega. Bring classic characters back Sega. Sega-

Post-genesis wave Archie character designs sucks ass. The color palettes make it worst (Antoine I'm looking directly at you)

[sage-nebula]

It’s no secret that I’ve really enjoyed the IDW Sonic comics so far. It’s one of the few series that I keep up with regularly (and one of only two comics, the other being Spy x Family), and I love it enough that in addition to buying the issues digitally when they come out, I’ve also been buying the physical compilations as well, so that I can have a legitimate collection on my shelf. For this reason I really don’t want to feel negative about or disappointed in the comics, though I have to admit that this season, I have been feeling both of those things. And worse still, I know the main reason why:

It’s Belle. I do not like Belle. I didn’t always feel that way, but I do now, and it’s tarnishing enjoyment of the comic for me overall. Criticism beneath the cut (as well comparisons between how the different original comic characters have been handled, and why some worked while Belle hasn’t), for those who don’t wish to see and would like to easily avoid it.

To be clear, I liked Belle just fine when she was introduced. Although her design was a bit off-putting to me (I much prefer the mouse design that Evan also pitched alongside her actual design, just in case Sega didn’t go for the design we ended up getting) I was curious to see what she would bring to the story. To me, it was obvious from her introduction that she was created by Mr Tinker. She wears the exact same clothes as him, she was looking for someone in an Eggman base . . . come on. I will say that I do imagine that the target audience of children probably had a harder time putting it together, depending on the age of the child and how much experience they have with visual storytelling mediums. I recognize that I’m not the target audience here, and that’s fine. Nonetheless, I will say that it being obvious from the outset made it so that The Reveal later wasn’t really a Reveal so much as a, “Ah, she’s finally admitting it.” 

All of that said, I still didn’t have a problem with Belle at first. While I’ll admit that her character type (clumsy and nervous) isn’t my favorite, I liked her little catchphrases since they set her dialogue apart from others, and her interactions with Tails were cute. I also thought that Sonic being a bit suspicious of her after what happened in the Metal Virus arc was a nice touch. Even when Belle tagged along in "Test Run”, I didn’t have a problem with her, particularly since it seemed like her story got wrapped up there. She found out that Tinker really had become Eggman, she admitted this to the crew, they accepted her regardless. Really, the only thing that bugged me here was that she could cry actual tears, meaning that Tinker built her tear ducts and then filled them for . . . some reason. Like at least if she was crying oil or something it would make a bit more sense? But whatever, it’s a children’s comic, I can roll with it.

However, since then Belle has been forced into every single arc, with the same angst over her dad being brought up again, and again, and again. Whereas “Chao Races & Badnik Bases” ended with Starline interested in Tails and copping some of his DNA, “Zeti Hunt” had him solely focused on Belle instead, seeking her out specifically to kidnap and study her. This was excused by him wanting to study how her emotions worked, but it isn’t as if she’s the first Badnik to have a personality or emotions. Cubot and Orbot do, as does Omega. Belle is not unique in being a badnik who a.) has emotions, or b.) has turned against Eggman (not that Cubot and Orbot have, but Omega did, as did Gemerl, etc). That Starline wanted to examine her, specifically, felt a bit off to me. In that interrogation scene Belle gets the specifics of what happened to turn Eggman into Tinker, and then we get that pity moment at the end where she says he (Starline) broke her heart . . . but we already saw her cry over this once before. We already saw her sob her heart out. And not only have we seen it before, but we saw it just a couple issues ago. While it’s not impossible to have a character’s problem last multiple issues and feel growing sympathy for them, it has to be a problem that is getting worse and harder to manage, such as Sonic’s infection during the Metal Virus saga. With Belle, nothing changed except she learned more details. The situation is the exact same as before. So I can’t feel very much sympathy for her, especially when this issue (that Tinker was her father but he is now Eggman) has already been resolved as much as it can be.

Then we move to the current arc, which is the camping trip. When the solicits for this arc came out, I was already feeling irritated. It’s no secret that I am a huge Whisper fan, and I admit that I do have bias for her. She’s a character I would read a whole spinoff series about. That said, I don’t need to see her in every issue, but she hasn’t been present in any of the arcs this season save for “Zeti Hunt”, and even there her role was minor, though still appreciated. So to hear that there’s an arc focusing on “the girls” going camping, that didn’t include Whisper, but did include Belle? Even though Jewel and Tangle are Whisper’s closest friends given that all of her other friends were murdered? (She not only had the whole miniseries with Tangle and went ballistic when Tangle was turned, but she also freaked out when Jewel was kidnapped as well and jumped out of an aircraft to save her. Whisper cares for Jewel very, very much.) It rubbed me the wrong way, to say the least. It felt, to me, like Whisper was being cast aside to make room for Belle; that perhaps because Whisper seems to be the most popular original IDW character (both she and Tangle have been breakout hits, but Whisper’s the only one with a plush at the moment, though that better change because I want a Tangle to go with her!), the idea was that if she was there she would steal attention from Belle, who seems to once again be a main focus of the arc (setting the forest on fire / being in danger) and who the writers want us to like more.

The problem is . . . this is having the opposite effect on me.

In “Chao Races & Badnik Bases”, I liked Belle well enough. In “Test Run”, I again was okay with her, but perfectly happy to see her story wrapped up, because I wasn’t feeling invested in her. In “Zeti Hunt”, I was beginning to get annoyed. Now in “Trial By Fire”, I’m super annoyed, and not just because I feel like Whisper was pushed out of the plot in order to make room for and cast attention on Belle. No, it’s because once again her issue seems focused on the Tinker issue, when that is already resolved and isn’t going to change because we all know that Mr Tinker is gone for good.

I’m exhausted, and frankly annoyed because I feel like I’m being yelled at to like and care about Belle, and every single time that happens, it just makes me dislike her more.

Now you may say, okay, Tangle and Whisper got a whole miniseries to themselves, so how is that different? How were we not told to care about them? And if you are wondering that, then I would be happy to explain.

The Tangle & Whisper miniseries came a while after the two debuted in the main comic. When they debuted in the main comic, they both did so within a single issue. In Tangle’s debut, her village was under attack from Eggman troops, and she helped Sonic and Blaze fight them off. We got a good look at her personality (spunky, naïve, brave, friendly), and then Sonic left to go do other things with other characters. In Whisper’s debut, she was breaking into an Eggman base at the same time Sonic and Silver were, and helped them out. We got a glimpse at her personality (shy, reclusive, brave, hesitantly friendly), and then Sonic left to go do other things with other characters. We did get a glimpse in Whisper’s debut that she had some major beef with Eggman, but we had no idea what that was and wouldn’t find out until her miniseries, which came much later. Similarly, even though Tangle and Whisper returned for the “Battle of Angel Island” arc, they were balanced among a huge cast of characters. We got a very small glimpse that Whisper had some sort of beef with Shadow (so small I missed it until my friend pointed it out!), and we saw Tangle and Whisper hit it off at the end because Whisper told Tangle a funny joke, but again, we didn’t get too much from them. We still didn’t know Whisper’s backstory, only that she had beef with Eggman (who doesn’t?) and Shadow (very nearly a “who doesn’t” here too tbh).  We had that small story with them in the annual, where Jewel was kidnapped and, again, a hint at Whisper’s backstory, with her shouting that she wouldn’t lose someone again when she jumped after Jewel, but again, nothing major. We still had no way to predict what the truth was.

So when their miniseries was announced, it was exciting that we would finally get details about Whisper’s mysterious past. Why did she have beef with Eggman and Shadow? Why she was she terrified of losing a friend again? Plus, her interactions with Tangle were already good, so that would be fun to see, too. In the four issue miniseries, Whisper’s backstory still unfolded slowly; although she told Tangle the full story in #3, we got glimpses of it from the get-go before the whole story came spilling out. All of the foreshadowing and pieces that had been laid out about her in the main issues and the first two issues of the miniseries finally slotted into place. And not only was the story tragic enough to garner sympathy (she listened / watched her entire found family be slaughtered and was hunted down by the traitor who caused it), but we had been given enough time to grow to care about Whisper naturally for our hearts to really tug for her.

And that’s key.

Whisper was introduced in August 2018. “Tangle & Whisper #3” came out in October 2019. We didn’t learn Whisper’s backstory until OVER A YEAR after she was introduced. We got to see her in the main comic (including in the Metal Virus saga, which was ongoing at the time!) and in the annual prior to this. We had the first two issues of the miniseries prior to this. We had plenty of time to get to know, like, and love Whisper as a character before we learned her tragic backstory. So when the truth finally did come out, it wasn’t as if we were being told, “This is why you should care about her!” It was, “This is a thing that happened to this character you care about.” As a result, it worked splendidly.

Now, to be fair, this exact approach wouldn’t have worked with Belle because it was obvious from the get-go that she was created by Mr Tinker and that she was going to therefore be sad when she realized / admitted that Mr Tinker was gone forever. Trying to spread that out over a year (like a year of steady releases; Belle’s sad backstory reveal came almost a year after her introduction, but in reality that was only seven issues after her introduction, so not a long time at all) would have been absurd. But it’s for that reason that a different tack should have been taken with her. Specifically, after she learned in “Test Run” that Tinker = Eggman and would never come back and had a good cry about it, Belle should have gone to the background of the story. She could go off-screen for a while to get herself together, and then, when she was brought back in for a plot, it should have been to fill a niche other than “sad orphan girl is sad about being an orphan.” Maybe feed into the clumsiness and use it for comic relief. Maybe have her be overzealous about helping fix things up in the Restoration as a way to counter what Eggman has done / honor Tinker. Something, anything other than going on, and on, and on, and on, and on about how sad she is about her dad, especially since we know this isn’t going to gear up to a Tinker and Belle reunion because that’s impossible. Unless she’s going to go rogue and join Eggman, I’m not sure exactly what the point is here beyond, “Please feel sorry for and like this character, because we’re not going to stop putting her front and center and reminding you how sad she is until you do.”

This is all very negative, and believe me, I don’t like being negative about this comic. I like being positive about the things I enjoy! But this has been bugging me for a while and I had to get it off my chest. I think that Evan is great at certain things. She writes great dialogue (I especially love the brotherly banter she adds for Sonic and Tails); her expressions and art are fantastic; and she has creative ideas for short little mini arcs. But so far, I think I prefer Ian Flynn’s approach to the comics. He’s not perfect, but when it comes to introducing new characters (Whisper, Tangle, Dr Starline) I think he does a much better job at warming the audience up to them, and at creating stories that allow the audience to develop care for them naturally rather than trying to force it. And while I can understand if Evan has taken this approach because Belle is her first original heroic character in this comic and she wanted her to be as big a hit as Whisper and Tangle were . . . I just don’t think it’s working. And it’s especially not going to work if it’s done at the expense of giving proper attention to established characters that are already well liked, such as Whisper (or making established characters that are well liked act out of character, such as Tangle simply letting Whisper go after Mimic alone without argument, which their miniseries already established she wouldn’t do).

All in all, I’m going to keep reading, but I really, really, really hope that Belle is benched for awhile after this arc. I understand having a shiny new character that you want everyone to love, but you need to give the audience time to miss them after getting to know them. Otherwise, they just get very old, very fast.

[crusherthedoctor]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- This game understands amnesia better than IDW does.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Um...

- Er...

- I like Shade's design?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[jennsterjay]

y’all I’m so excited to share this with you XDD

So I have this Adventure-style story idea that is driven by Knuckles’ and Shadow’s interactions with each other as they face a new threat. The story is called Never Turn Back From M.E. which is a fusion of Shadow’s Theme “Never Turn Back” and Knuckles’ Theme “Unknown from M.E.” 

I hope you enjoy :) !

-----

Never Turn Back From M.E. [Full Plot]

Act 1: Knuckles and Shadow only know each other through their friends and comrades, but every time they try to interact they end up fighting due to one reason or another because they both have the tendency to square up and act tough rather than rely on others. Eventually they interact more because there are a growing number of problems happening on their planet due to the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds acting up. As the Master Emerald Guardian and Master of Chaos Control, they go on more missions together to figure out what’s going on and learn that they’re not so different from each other after all. Between missions, they start to hang out more and Shadow visits Knuckles on his island from time to time and they talk about anything, everything, and sometimes nothing at all.

Act 2: Eventually Shadow asks Knuckles if he can help him control his raw energy so that he can learn to fight without his inhibitor rings, but still be in control of how much power he uses. Knuckles helps him by telling him to take off his rings while Knuckles himself acts as an inhibitor that regulates Shadow’s power when he powers up. He does this by holding Shadow in place by his arms. During this scene, since they’re on Angel Island the ground under him starts cracking from immense power and Knuckles asks him if it’s working. Shadow almost gives up because he admits his power is like this because he still has inner turmoil from his past. Knuckles reminds him of all the good that he’s done and that he still has a future he can protect and then Shadow finally accepts this. It’s then that he is able to finally control his power without his rings. After that, Shadow feels as though a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders and laughs. Knuckles congratulates him and they really become close.

Act 3: Shadow acts slightly different. He’s still mostly the same stoic and ‘few words more action’ kinda guy, but he’s not as rough around the edges. He even interacts more with his friends on a personal level. His friends and comrades notice this, and they also notice that Knuckles seems to be the person he interacts with the most. When Shadow and Knuckles are alone one day, it’s then that Shadow realizes he’s fallen in love with him. He doesn’t outright admit it or say it, but when Knuckles catches signs like Shadow laughing around him, staring or making eye contact a bit too long, or Rouge straight up giving him massive hints, Knuckles realizes that he has feelings for him too...but he also has a duty as the Last Guardian of the Master Emerald, and tries to tell himself that his duty comes first.

Act 4: They address it, Shadow confesses first. He knows he may get rejected because Knuckles has a destiny, but he also knows Knuckles does have a social life with others despite his duty, so it’s at least worth a shot. When the words are finally in the air, Knuckles is torn as to what to do, and what he wants. Shadow understands this and gives him time to think about it. More chaos-related instances occur and seem to be getting worse with no lead and no source. Even Eggman is working with Tails and Eggman Nega who has also contacted the prime dimension to report that it’s happening in every dimension. A few days after, Shadow and Knuckles feel something shift on Angel Island and explore the disturbance together. A new part of the ruins has opened up that Knuckles has never seen before. They explore it and discover an ancient prophecy, one where the Last Guardian battles an interdimensional monster on Angel Island and sacrifices himself to save everyone. Knuckles thinks about how this is what he is here for, his destiny. However Shadow refuses to accept this. Shadow and Knuckles have a falling out over this, but Shadow comes back to tell him that he’s not alone and doesn’t have to do this by himself.

Act 5: Knuckles and Shadow’s friends and comrades as well as Silver, Blaze, and a few others that have traveled to their timeline all meet up on their planet to hear Knuckles account of what’s going on. Knuckles tells them about the prophecy and Shadow occasionally says more info, and Tails and the Eggman’s say their account of the data and research they’ve collected. They predict that the arrival of the interdimensional monster will be in three days, and they’ll have to stop it. Everyone plans and finishes collecting the Chaos Emeralds, Sol Emeralds, and other game related powerful items to prepare. Knuckles with his role as Guardian, and Shadow with his role as a tactician and G.U.N. Member means the two don’t interact much, but on the last night before the big day the two find each other because they don’t know if this will be the last time they’ll ever be with each other. Knuckles finally tells him he loves him, and they finally kiss and spend that night together at Shadow’s place and fall asleep together in each others arms.

Act 6 Final Story: Shadow wakes up but Knuckles isn’t there beside him. He has a sinking feeling about this and soon after he gets red alerts on his communicators. He thinks about last night an for a moment feels like he’s going to lose him, but he remembered what Knuckles said to him in Act 2, and Shadow smiles and says “no one can tell us what our destiny is, we make our own” and he leaves his place with newfound determination. Shadow arrives to the base of operations with everyone involved and everyone looks worried at Shadow. Shadow asks what’s wrong and what’s going on. Tails shows him that there is a giant chaos energy field around Angel Island and no one is able to get through. Knuckles is also trapped on the Island. Shadow breathes for a moment, then has his game face on. He asks if there was anything they could use, and Tails says Super Sonic tried to get through but got burnt out, Burning Blaze found a weak point but no entry, and Super Silver tried to create an opening with his telekinesis but it only thinned the barrier out somewhat... Shadow then says “Then how about you send me”.

Meanwhile Knuckles has woken up on Angel Island against his will and has resigned to completing his destiny. He’s aware that his friends are trying to get through the barrier, but even with the Master Emerald he couldn’t lower the barrier. There’s only 12 minutes left until Doomsday and Knuckles really thinks he’ll have to do it all alone. Suddenly the Master Emerald glows brightly until it becomes blinding, and when the light subsides Knuckles sees someone that he thought he’d never be able to see again. In his super form, surrounded by the Chaos Emeralds, Sol Emeralds, and other powerful items...was a slightly worn out Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow the Hedgehog who had used the Master Emerald and other items to connect a portal and get back to him.

Knuckles walks towards him in disbelief and gives every excuse why he shouldn’t be here asks why he would do this, and Shadow runs and kisses him.  He hugs him tight and then puts his hands on his shoulders so he can face him. Shadow says “Because you and me...we’re in this together and that’s a promise. No matter if the world is against you, or you’re at the end of your row, you’ll always have help at your side”. It’s then that Shadow lets go and uses all the items at once as well as the Master Emerald’s power and says Chaos Control. It’s then that Knuckles sees one by one as all of his friends, enemies, and comrades appear avengers style on Angel Island in their super/hyper/powerful forms and cheer and prepare for battle. Sonic and his friends who heard everything through Tail’s tech cheer Knuckles and Shadow on which momentarily embarrasses them and Shadow laughs while Knuckles is confused and a bit overwhelmed. Shadow refocuses and holds out his hand, and asks Knuckles “So Knuckles the Echidna...are you ready to do this together?” and Knuckles breathes and then smiles at Shadow and says “Yeah, let’s show that beast what were made of!” and the moment Knuckles grabs his hand he turns into Hyper Knuckles.

When Knuckles turns the hand grab into a hug, something else unexpected happens. A bright light shines where the two stand to reveal an entirely new person in a form greater than Hyper, Sol, and Super.

In Knuckles and Shadows highest combined form, and as a fusion of them both stands someone ready to take on any challenge, even destiny itself.

Primordial Knuxadow: “Are you all ready to do this??!!”

Everyone: YEAH!!

A golden helmet and armor forms on him, and the interdimensional being finally appears and roars.

Primordial Knuxadow: “Then let’s show them OUR destiny!!”

----------

(The End)

[magmahurricane]

Assorted IDW thoughts

Let me preface this by saying Ian Flynn is not a perfect writer. 

I personally believe his greatest weakness is in writing this long, spanning arcs. We’ve seen this even in Archie with the Mecha Sally arc, and in post-reboot with the Shattered World Crisis arc. And it’s reared it’s ugly head again with the Zombot arc in IDW.

He also has a habit of favoring certain characters and trying a little too hard to argue why they’re good/likeable - this was especially a problem with Sally in his early run. 

With that said: I mostly enjoyed the Zombot Arc. I am someone who has been absolutely exhausted by media’s fixation on Zombies, but I found the Zombot arc... endearing, actually. 

The Zombot concept was a fun, fresh take and arguably more nightmarish than the average zombie, in that they were largely indestructible and you’d only need the slightest touch to be infected. And again, they couldn’t be put down.

An unfortunately common criticism I hear about the series is that this arc was “too dark” for a Sonic the hedgehog comic, which I find to be an odd take.

The Sonic series has always dipped its toes into darker concepts. We have the bad ending from Sonic 2, and far less implied is the death of Maria Robotnik in Sonic Adventure 2 - in which we witness, as part of Shadow’s backstory: an unarmed, terminally ill 12-year-old girl being shot and killed.

In that same game, Eggman acquired a super space Fuck You cannon and destroyed a part of the moon, and made a very clear threat to fire it at the Earth.

Sonic Adventure 1 showed us an entire civilization that was wiped out after harming a bunch of innocent Chao and angering a god. Perfect Chaos leveled an entire populated city - even if you make the argument that an evacuation was put in effect and nobody died (which I don’t believe), that’s still an entire city’s worth of people who are now homeless.

There was also Sonic Battle and Emerl’s entire plight, which saw the entire main cast coming together to raise this robot like a sibling, who all loved him and were loved by him in turn, and ended with Sonic having to kill him. 

Sonic and The Secret Rings had Shahra die on-screen. I mean, she got better but still.

And don’t get me started on all the fucked up things that happen during the events of  the Shadow the Hedgehog game.

The point is, the Sonic the Hedgehog series has always had these bleak, dark moments. I don’t feel like the Zombot Arc was any darker than what we’ve already seen in this series. We’ve seen these characters backed into corners, we’ve seen on-screen deaths, we’ve seen these characters break before.

I feel like this criticism is misdirected; I think when people say the arc was too dark, what they mean is that it’s too long.  If we’re counting the Zombot saga starting at issue 15 (when Rough & Tumble got infected), this story arc has been going on for... 14 issues. With delays in mind, this arc feels like it dragged its feet horribly. 

Now, with regards to Characterization...

I think we all can agree SEGA’s recent takes on Shadow’s character are ass. There, I said it. Taking away all the development he had over the course of SA2, Heroes, ShTH and other instances - and making it so he apparently doesn’t consider Rouge and Omega his friends - is such a mind-numbingly stupid move.

Ian usually writes a good Shadow (seriously, Sonic Universe arcs “The Shadow Saga”, “Treasure Team Tango”  - both pre-reboot arcs - and “Shadowfall” + “Total Eclipse” from the post reboot were really good!) but these mandates on Shadow’s character kill me. 

But unfortunately, Shadow isn’t the only character who suffered during this arc. Eggman started off the arc really well, but his choices and lackadaisical attitude towards how rapidly his plan spiraled out of control was so wildly OOC and frankly, dumb. It was frustrating to read through and didn’t feel like Ian’s usual mastermind Eggman.  It read as though Ian hit a bump in which he realized he needed a work around for why Eggman wasn’t doing anything about losing control over the Zombots and  decided to just have him not care. I can’t remember if a reason for this characterization was ever given. 

 Now, this on the other hand...

This is a scene I’ve seen people rag on for being OOC for Tails, and even comparing it to the abysmal portrayal we got in Forces. 

Here’s the thing: I don’t think this was OOC for Tails. 

Lets look at Tails’ characterizations in, say, the Adventure-era games. His entire character arc in both was him realizing his own potential as someone who can stand on his own two feet, without needing to rely on Sonic. And he did it! By SA2, Tails has achieved his own independence. 

When he believes Eggman has truly killed Sonic, Tails is sad, but he’s also determined to stop Eggman, to keep fighting no matter what and hold his head high, because he knows he can do this. He won’t let Sonic’s faith in him be misplaced. 

... But this isn’t like that situation, now is it?

Lets review Tails’ ploy over the course of this arc: He studied Sonic to the best of his abilities to try and discover how to cure his friend. He was confident and certain he could figure it out.

But the infection kept spreading. People - innocent people - were being claimed by the outbreak, and the pressure began to build. People Tails knew and cared about were being turned. The situation was growing more and more desperate. 

All the while, they slowly lost faith in Sonic, who was showing signs of fatigue. We also know from when Tangle was infected that the transformation into a Zombot is uncomfortable, if not painful. 

People around Tails were suffering, losing loved ones - and we, as the audience, knew that nobody was actually dead from this, but the characters don’t. Silver came from a future where the whole world became infected.

And just as soon as Tails came close to solving everything, it was all cruelly ripped away. Every time they thought they had a solution, it was lost. 

When the Zombots reached Angel Island,Sonic was at the point where he could hardly fight the infection off anymore. Zavok was advancing. They’d lost poor little Cream. They lost Knuckles. 

And Tails was slowly succumbing to the infection. 

I don’t think this was OOC. I think it made perfect sense, because the world was literally falling apart right in front of Tails’ eyes, and unlike SA2, there was nothing he could do about it at this point. He’s being infected and watching his friends fall while knowing that Silver’s future is a possible outcome.

He’s having to resort to pleading Sonic to succeed because this poor kid has watched the world fall before his eyes - and worse yet, he came so close to having the means to save it. 

I don’t agree that strong characters breaking makes them OOC. I think this serves to show just how broken Tails is by everything that’s happened, how bleak the situation is, and how genuinely scared he is. And who could blame him?

In conclusion, I think IDW Sonic has its flaws - Ian has some serious faults as a writer, but he’s also really good and has a clear passion for the series and characters. 

I enjoyed this arc for the most part - I just wish it had been trimmed down some.