#plot: sp:r2

Magic, in this multiverse, originates from something called the World's End Energies. There are seven- of course- and they make up the very fabric of the multiverse. (The word multiverse is important here, as this also applies to alternate dimensions and timelines.)

The seven World's End Energies are:

Time (self-explanatory)

Space (primarily involves the first 3 dimensions and gravity)

Luminance (involves presence and matter)

Obscurity (involves absence and antimatter)

Electromagnetism (also self-explanatory)

Radiance (radiation and strong & weak interaction and everything attached to it)

Animation (involves soul, thoughts and emotions)

There's some overlap between these in everything, obviously- they're connected, and can't really be isolated even as concepts- but these energies are at the very core of the multiverse.

Gods, then, are primordial beings made almost entirely of these energies in their purest form. This can manifest in different ways, and most if not all are shapeshifters. Solaris is a god primarily of Time, with some Radiance and Animation. Light Gaia and Dark Gaia are almost purely Luminance and Obscurity respectively, with varying levels of Animation.

Animation as a World's End Energy is particularly interesting, as it's almost a cop-out the way it's in pretty much everything. Even if something isn't sentient or sapient, and is otherwise an inanimate object, it still has the ability to collect memories and emotions from the creatures around it. This allows people with psychometry (like Silver) to learn the history of objects, or even for non-sentient objects to gain so much Animation that they become sentient, like Caliburn or even Metal Sonic.

Chaos Energy isn't a World's End Energy, but it is a very specific blend of Animation and Luminance: Imagination turned into matter. This is why people say the Chaos Emeralds turn thoughts into power, because it is an energy that allows for the transmutation of something primarily made of Animation into something made of Luminance.

...So, how does the Paradox Prism come into all this again?

The Paradox Prism is what gods generally call a World's End Entity. These are made entirely of a condensed, near-limitless supply of one or more World's End Energies. The more there are, the less likely an Entity will actually exist, so most Entities have one to three Energies within them. At most, four, although regardless of how many there are Animation will pretty much always be one of them. Gods can create them, but normally they're just funky little products of the multiverse multiversing. They can come in batches of seven (such as the Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones or World Rings), or they can be solo (such as the Master Emerald or Paradox Prism). They usually have some sort of sentience due to the aforementioned constant presence of Animation, and having so much of it, although they generally don't choose or aren't able to make mortals aware of that. Gods can communicate with Entities pretty much instinctively, which is why the Chaos Emeralds work so well with Mephiles. They are extremely empathetic to him and Iblis, as they understand the notion of being used and hurt in a failed experiment.

Anyway, the Paradox Prism is a combination of Animation, Time and Luminance, with snaller amounts of almost all the others. It was built by multiple gods, including Solaris, his divine counterpart Lunaris (who is a god of Space and Electromagnetism), and several others who don't get involved with mortals nearly as much. (One of these gods actually gave Shadow his abilities as well!) As such, it has a defined purpose: to contain and provide easy access to alternate timelines, and allow the creation of new ones.

Due to the nature of its' power, the Paradox Prism, when whole and undamaged, exists simultaneously in every universe and dimension. When damaged, it restricts itself to a few like it did in Prime. Its' creation of the Shatterspaces we know was a defence mechanism: it latched onto the Animation of the people around it (and as such their thoughts and emotions), rapid-fire created new timelines, and scattered itself across them to stop it from being broken any further. It also essentially forced some of itself into Sonic (similar to the way he absorbs the Chaos Emeralds to turn Super, but the Prism did it instead of him) to drive him towards fixing things. It was essentially quietly subconsciously pushing his mind towards getting the Prism fixed (although he was already focused on it, so it kind of just made it worse).

This whole deal is also why the situation in Sonic Prime: Round Two is significantly worse this time around, as the Chaos Council now has access to literally any timeline they want and is going after duplicates of the Prism. They're just not creative enough to actually think of searching further than what they know is there rn. (If you went even further into the void, you would find the Arabian Nights and Camelot, as well as the original 06 Iblis future timeline! They're close to Green Hill, in the grand scheme of things, but still fairly far away from the other Shatterspaces.)

That's about it as far as the Prism is concerned, I think. If anyone has any questions please do send an ask or put it in the notes <3 I'll be happy to answer hehe.

Part 1: Orientation

The reason the Grim was underdeveloped was because each Shatterverse, when created, was influenced by the thoughts and experiences of the people around it when the Paradox Prism broke. The Grim belonged to Shadow, but because he vanished, it couldn't fully develop. Once Green Hill was restored to its' former self and the Paradox Prism recalibrated with the Shatterverses, though, Shadow went from an anomaly to a Shatterverse resident, and the Grim could finally finish its' development, becoming The Haven.

The Haven itself is actually the equivalent of the Space Colony ARK- As the Earth was ravaged by war and the Abyssal Arms (Shatterverse Black Arms) invasion, many civilians were evacuated to the Haven. Its' Paradox Prism lies in what once was the Eclipse Cannon, now powering a full biodome on the other half of the Haven. Nowadays, the Haven is the safest place to be.

Part 2: Crew Compartments

This one needs a bit of explanation. When a Shatterverse lacks a variant of a character, another Shatterverse will make up for it with multiple. (Hence multiple Eggman variants.)

Eclipsing Shadow: One of the successful outcomes of Project Shadow and endlessly curious. Now manages much of the science around the Haven, and it was his idea to use the Paradox Prism to create and maintain a biosphere. Shadow's variant.

Daylight Shadow: One of the successful outcomes of Project Shadow, he's a child at heart and wears that heart on his sleeve. Loves high-energy sports, especially surfing. Shadow's variant.

Rain Shadow: One of Project Shadow's successful outcomes, at least in the sense that he's alive. His mind wanders, zones out, and loses track of things a lot, and he lacks a sense of identity. Shadow's variant and the only one of them to not have gained a Doom Power.

Horizon Shadow: One of Project Shadow's successful outcomes, and named for the Event Horizon Shadow in a black hole. Fell prey to Abyssal Doom's influence and went down the Dark path in their version of shadow 05, and only resisted and killed the Abyssal Arms right at the end when he realized what he'd done. Though he was taken back upon the Haven by his brothers, he's under careful control, and has a strained relationship with most. Shadow's variant.

Terra Maria: a childhood friend of the Project Shadow brothers, and a lead scientist aboard the Haven now that her NDIS is manageable. Maria's variant.

Atlas Tower: A childhood rival-turned-friend of the Project Shadow brothers, he now works in the legal and peacekeeping department of the Haven. Responsible for many plans to evacuate citizens to the Haven. Abraham Tower's variant.

Artemis Rouge: (yes that's an artemis II pun.) A civilian evacuated to the Haven. A jeweller who prides herself on restoring people's prized possessions. Rouge's variant.

Custodian Knuckles: A citizen evacuated to the Haven. After his home island was destroyed, he made it his duty to continue his tribe's culture by caring for areas of the Haven's biosphere that matched his home. Knuckles' variant.

Moonlight Rose: A citizen evacuated to the Haven. Formerly an activist, she helped greatly in ensuring as many innocent people as possible were brought to safety, and was one of the last to leave Earth herself. Amy's variant.

Satellite Tails: A trainee in the engineering division aboard the Haven, and a young prodigy who frequently comes up with great ideas. Tails' variant.

Nine: Originally from New Yoke City, he found his empty Shatterverse shifting around him and watched the Haven form around his Paradox Prism. Though not at all happy about it, he allowed himself to be taken in by the Haven's people and become a citizen, although he still prefers to be alone. He's a bit lost as to where to go now, although he's not telling anyone that. Tails' variant.

Comet Cat & Froggy: Citizens evacuated to the Haven. Nowadays they enjoy a more or less peaceful life. Big and Froggy's variant.

Syzygy: A former activist like Moonlight Rose, and one of the few who survived trying to protect the Earth through both the wars and Abyssal Doom's invasion. Only evacuated to the Haven when he absolutely had to, and even now he still tends to push his limits just to help someone out. He's helpful and protective to a fault, and that fault is lacking self-preservation. Silver's variant.

Metal Shield: A mechanic aboard the Haven, in charge of maintaining the outer domes and the protective shields that keep everything inside alive. Metal Sonic's variant.

Saturn & Cassini: A civilian refugee and her Chao, evacuated to the Haven. Vanilla & Chocola's variants.

Moonlet & Gali: Saturn's daughter and her own Chao, evacuated to the Haven with her mama. Attending school upon the Haven and full of curiosity. Gali is named after Galileo Galilei, btw. Cream & Cheese's variants.

Biotech Barry: A civilian evacuated to the Haven who somehow ended up as a research assistant for the biologists on the Haven. Has no idea how they got the role given they have no experience and did not go through the hiring process. Just somehow ended up there. Barry's variant.

Part 1: Mapping It Out

The Boscage Maze's Paradox Prism is kept safely guarded by a group of its' inhabitants, though under a mutual deal not to touch it. And for a good reason- the forest was created thanks to the Prism's power overflowing the local wildlife, basically supercharging them into rapid growth. There's a few groups and solo survivors out in the woodland, but coming across them (or hunting them down) can be tricky, as there's so much space and so many spots to hide among the leafage.

Part 2: The Local Life

Thorn Rose: The forest's most avid protector and the most familiar with the Paradox Prism's power after she used it to chase the Scavengers out. Amy's variant.

Prim Rouge: One of the Scavengers and Thorn's friend (albeit a tentative one). Rouge's variant.

Gnarly Knuckles: One of the Scavengers and the primary hunter of the group. Knuckles' variant.

Hangry Cat & Froggy: One of the Scavengers and his frog buddy. Big & Froggy's variants.

Mangey Tails: One of the Scavengers. Tails' variant.

Leaf & Log: A rabbit and her trusty Chao who built a home in the trees, a fair ways away from the Scavengers' territory. Vanilla & Chocola's variants.

Petal & Flower: Leaf's daughter and her Chao partner, budding experts in the local wildlife. Cream & Cheese's variants.

Bushwhack Barry: A loner who lives near the edge of the forest, where the woods meet the waves. Barry's variant.

Metal Scrap: Metal Sonic's variant. A robot from ancient times, abandoned and claimed by the forest until he was found and reactivated recently. Now lives with Bushwhack Barry.

Anyway, first up is Rain Shadow. I was trying to avoid shading on his, so I turned his lineart darker. (So if you want to eyedrop or use as a ref, go with the lighter grey on his fur.)

Rain Shadow is derived from Shadow's amnesiac self and his lack of self-worth and identity he had at the time. He's named after the geological term for an area that becoems dry or deserted because amountain range blocks cloud or rain from accessing it. His mind wanders, zones out, and loses track of things a lot, and he lacks a solid sense of identity, and thus needs the most care and consistent companionship out of the Project Shadow brothers. He's the only one of his brothers to not have gained a Doom Power from Abyssal Doom. Still, he's often gentle, and will quietly react to things if he's paying attention. A smile from him sometimes feels a little like a gift.

Seaglass yes but only when dealing with someone who's not in his crew. He'll bow to Captain Fathom and his crewmates, but if someone else is getting a little too uppity, he's always happy to remind them that he is, at any given point, the arbiter of whether they live or die. He's grown into it as he has his powers and battle prowess- prior to being taken in by Fathom, he wasn't confident enough in his ability to survive a pirate attack (and for good reason given Fathom found him after getting mauled by one), but as he's grown stronger and become more skilled with his abilities he's gotten a bit of ego, although he doesn't let it go to his head.

Sorrel, like Silver, probably had a bit of a superiority complex most of the time, but Sorrel's failure to protect the future took that down hard. He's definitely sitting in extreme inferiority complex territory.

Syzygy I think has a bit of a superiority complex, but different from Silver's in that it doesn't power his straightforwardness quite as much. He's generally still willing to detour to help someone out.

Eclipsis feels like he'd do well with someone who's like him- organized and logical- but you just knooooow his heart beelines for someone the total opposite. Loud and loving, but also someone who can let him relax. Not stupid, just silly- the eccentric one who's not afraid to get a little wild. The kind of person that he'd instinctively try to leash, until he realizes he's actually happier letting them derail him for a while.

Daylight's a rep of Shadow's inner child, so it's fairly tricky, but I'd say if he were to get a crush it'd be on someone just like him. Unabashedly enthusiastic, always down for a good ride, a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Lots of cuddles. Daylight getting a partner is probably Eclipsis' worst nightmare lol.

Rain Shadow i have no idea. Something tells me the amnesiac with very little sense of self is probably not a hugely flash candidate for going into the dating pool and i doubt he's thought about it lol. If i was held at gunpoint i'd say that he might be the kinda person to do mostly hookups and then have a mental breakdown about intimacy cravings Rabbit Hole-style, but honestly i think he just doesn't care.