#I also think white jungle is the turning point in her character for sa2. as I always do

[carnation-damnation]

I have sooo many thoughts about Rouge. Of all the main Sonic cast we know the least about her. She's a stealthy spy. She worked for the president despite being a thief and probably a double agent in that case?? She's extremely cunning. She's capable of detecting the emeralds despite not having that innate connection with them like Knuckles can.

In her theme there's a persistent sense that she doesn't like to be helped or controlled, possibly. She's searching for something she can call her own and that can only be hers. Nobody else can take it from her.

There's this sense in sa2 that she doesn't trust who she's working with, exactly. She doesn't show it by being cold like Shadow would, for instance, but she puts on this air of professionalism despite sometimes not thinking ahead (Giving herself 5 minutes to find 3 chaos emeralds despite it originally being fifteen and getting her locked in a vault as a result.) And this shows in her empathy and compassion. She doesn't show it as openly as somebody like Amy but she clearly cares and finds herself affected by the relationships she's gained since her introduction. She's probably told herself that she doesn't need anybody, that she can do everything by herself, she doesn't need to lean on anybody for help but she forms Team Dark herself.

#longpost #going bonkers. Love u guys <3 #Shes seen as the most mature of the sonic cast despite being a teenage girl (18) and so clearly silly. Look into her eyes the silly #Is in there. #Anyway yeah. #da aura of mystery around rouge t bat <3333333333 #be nice to me I dont usually talk abt sth lore bc its so. everything #but I LOVE coming up with backstories for characters that dont have one <3 #I also think white jungle is the turning point in her character for sa2. as I always do #This little weird bioweapon kid risked everything to save your life off an island set to blow up #Despite the circumstances being your fault #sure he needed the emeralds. but something about rouge reminded him of maria. his best friend. his family. #Rouge may not know that exactly. but at the end the first thing she says when sonic comes back after the boss? #'wheres shadow?' #she doubts the perception of his original purpose. to destroy humanity. because thats not what shes known of him.

[egg-emperor]

to combat the hate anon here's a love anon : how DARE you mention you had an alternate ShTH path and not expand upon it in true, beloved julian fashion???

Aaahhh I’ve had this idea for years without sharing it and I seriously didn’t think anyone would want to hear it so this means a lot to me, thank you so much!! I would love to finally talk about it!  

It includes a looot of Eggman, which really goes without saying for me. And of course since it’s about Eggman I naturally have a lot to say!

Like all of the other story beginnings in the game, the first cutscene of Shadow recalling the ARK’s events and the entire scene goes exactly the same. Black Doom appears and he listens to him, running to Westopolis to start his search for the emeralds. But after he collects the first one, the green one, it reminds him of one of the only things that he knows is real for certain.

After his fall in SA2 and being rescued by a robot, he recalls waking up in Eggman’s base, restrained, panicked and confused. The man himself walks in to see that he’s awake and is met with tons of Shadow’s questions. Eggman, being the oh so loveable bastard he is, ignores all of them, is very vague and constantly refers to himself as his ‘master’ and ‘creator’. He puts Shadow to sleep to research him and collect the data to create the clones. This is a chance for him to really dissect his grandfather’s creation. Then he encapsulates Shadow and seals him in the room with Omega. The screen of the capsule was green.

Now remembering this situation, he isn’t so sure if the events on the ARK ever happened. Because of how confused and vulnerable he is, Eggman partially convinces him that none of it was real, with the false knowledge of him being another android. Shadow comes to the conclusion that his memories are of the ‘real Shadow’ that came before him, just like he did in the other android routes.

Eggman is actually physically present in a bunch of these levels because that’s something that the game needed for me. The first is Sky Troops, where he initially shows up with his communicator but directs Shadow to where he is. When the hedgehog enters a room that Eggman is in, the temple reacts to his presence because of the black arms blood in him. 

Eggman takes note of this and boldly confronts him, asking if he’s been involved with their established enemies, hence being able to ‘control’ parts of the ancient building. That’s when Shadow reveals Black Doom had visited him. Shadow wonders why he’d suspect that the aliens were involved with him if he really was his android, but Eggman stays cool and says that Black Doom is just trying to trick him.

Cryptic Castle is another where Eggman meets him long before the Egg Breaker fight, where Cream walks into the castle while Eggman is on his way to fetch the white emerald. She gets in without him noticing and gets trapped behind a door in one of the spires. Amy and Shadow happen to arrive at the same time and she begs him to help her locate Cream. Eggman demands him to help out with the activation of his defenses instead. Shadow eventually obeys and has to leave Cream there. (This isn’t Shadow’s fault, it’s Eggman’s.)

Also deeper into the heart of the castle, Eggman gets to see that some of the walls that he warns will crush you, has actually caught a person. And he’s just like “well, looks like someone got a little too curious about this place and met their demise!” Y’know, because the wall fucking crushed them and he just expects dead intruders. (LMAO IT’S NOT CREAM THOUGH DW, Amy freed her.) 

They still fight over the white emerald because Shadow is having second doubts and keeps thinking about changing his mind in helping Eggman at this point. Shadow almost gets away with the emerald but ultimately stays with Eggman despite his uneasiness because he’s lost and doesn’t know who to trust at all.

What’s different about Iron Jungle in this story, is that this is where Shadow discovers the existence of all the other clones, but the difference is that Eggman had already convinced him that he was artificial long before it. It’s not an abrupt discovery and instead the surprise is of everything piecing together as the ‘truth’ of his existence. That he’s just another copy, easily replaceable and his memories of the ARK aren’t really his own.

I have a lot more planned out for this story, only I haven’t structured it enough to explain them coherently in full yet. Some other ideas include: 

Eggman physically being present in Circus Park and getting Shadow involved with the show

Eggman being in Westopolis himself at one point with a very interesting objective (but not during the actual attacks)

Eggman is also in Mad Matrix beyond the Egg Breaker fight where a LOT of dramatic shit goes down with him, Shadow and Espio. He’s basically physically present in a l o t of the levels and scenes because that’s what I always needed more of in the game XD

There’s also a scene in Glyphic Canyon where Knuckles is desperate for Shadow to realize that he’s being tricked after his past situations with him. But it’s gone too far for Shadow to believe him at this point. A few new levels I came up with are part of it too, one being a cemetery that spans off of Cryptic Castle. I might share more of it as it builds in the future.

There are two different endings to this story depending on what you decide to do. Shadow can either end up being so lost under Eggman’s control that he believes him and joins the empire to collect the emeralds, stop the aliens and GUN and then serve him.

Or Shadow finally snaps out of it when the Commander tells him his story and gets his revenge on the doctor. The ‘canon’ ending to this would be the betrayal, so Eggman isn’t killed but the situation does turn out very badly. Those healing units come in very handy after it.

The GUN Commander is one of my FAVORITE Sonic characters and the BEST character with heterochromia. He has a big involvement in this path too but the reason I’m not sharing any details yet is that I’m still deciding on the part where his involvement becomes a main part of the story. At the moment I’m considering it to be Iron Jungle.

What Eggman does throughout all of this is fucked up as usual but all of his personality design goes unchanged, just like the actual game of course. That’s what I love about them not changing his design in games that got deep and serious, like ShtH and SA2 for example. Eggman as the way he always is + a darker story is constantly proven possible. 

The reason I bring this up is because of 06, I was pissed when they seemed to took away all of his goofiness and changed his design like they believed that it wouldn’t work with for the tone of the game. It’s obvious that the two don’t have to be exclusive. In my path, he’s also balanced in that regard, showing how cold dark while still being the same man that has a couple of tantrums over some of the most ridiculous things in this same story lol

Woaahhh this got way longer than I had meant for it to be but I’m super passionate about ShtH, it’s my second favorite Sonic game after all and I think it had so much potential that I love to explore. One thing’s for sure though, I would definitely like to talk about this more in the future!

#shth #my post #my fics #asks #dr. eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr eggman