Poor Shadow - Tumblr Posts

"To Shadow and Sonic, do you hate each other?"

I've been thinking about the response the Sonic team gave to this answer SO MUCH and I just can't help but wonder about the implications of it.

They immediately turn it into a "Does Shadow hate Sonic" question and completely ignore the fact that Sonic is supposed to answer wether or not he hates Shadow too. I'm guessing the original intention was to imply that Sonic can't possibly hate Shadow because Sonic doesn't hate anyone, but I don't think that fits his character. (Or maybe they didn't want to encourage any Sonadow shippers, the fuck do I know?) All I can think of is how everyone else goes along with the notion that Sonic doesn't have to answer the question because whatever his answer would be should be obvious...

And that makes me have so many headcannons...

All of the angsty misunderstandings! I can easily see Shadow interpreting Sonic's refusal to answer as Sonic obviously hating him but not wanting to say it. Sonic does tend to say unintentionally hurtful things at times. (And in the IDW universe Sonic literally implies that Shadow IS AS BAD AS EGGMAN TO SHADOW'S FACE.) It would explain why Shadow is so ready to throw insults of his own at Sonic. Meanwhile, Sonic, not reading the room because he is neurodivergent as fuck, just refuses to answer because why should he when the answer is "obvious". Now THAT is an angsty ship dynamic I can get behind: character A likes character B but is so bad at communicating that they unintentionally make character B think that they hate them. It's so fuckin sad and also kind of hilarious.

Summary of the angst:

Sonic: *I don't need to answer the question because it's obvious to everyone that I don't hate you and I'm not brave enough to admit that I like you yet.*

Shadow: *He doesn't need to answer the question because he has made it pretty clear in the past just how much he hates me.*

Here have some pics about it:

The distress as it prints! 😭

ultimate lifeform? more like ultimately confused lmao

i’m so funny

Hedgehog claims to be “the ultimate life form”, then DIES⁉️ smh smh

All men do these days is lie🙄🙄🙄

THIS WAS LITERALLY SO FUNNY I DROPPED EVERYTHING TO DRAW HER JGHBFFDHBGHHD

i have a zoom meeting in two hours

Sonic Prime Theory: On Shadow This Time!

I know, it's not Nine! I'm surprised too, but this popped into my head and I think I have an idea of why Shadow can communicate with Sonic and can't go into the worlds.

Remember when Sonic shattered the Prism, that Shadow protected himself by Chaos Controlling? The energy of the emerald while it protected Shadow it also REJECTED the power of the Prism.

This might be why Shadow can't enter the other worlds because he has an emerald that rejects its effects of it! It just doesn't allow him to, because the energy of the Prism most likely contrasts against the Chaos energy of the emerald. Also, remember how the power of the Chaos emerald affects the user of it? Yeah.

In the context of Shadow being able to communicate with Sonic, again it might have to do with the emerald.

Shadow might have also been able to see what happens if Sonic shatters the Prism also because he had the emerald in his possession.

Although why he was looking for it is beyond me. He does use it constantly in any adaptation of Sonic with him in it though so, there's that possible reason that he just searches for it because he wants to teleport and shit (and...I'd honestly do the same thing ngl).

But it saved Shadow from being affected by the Prism so it was worth it.

Also, the fact that Chaos emeralds show up when they're needed might explain why it was in a random rock.

Also apparently Chaos emerald can also "sense" people's thoughts. Shadow wanted to communicate with Sonic, and Sonic was the only one other than him that wasn't affected by the Prism (at least from what I can tell).

Shadow didn't want to be affected by the Prism shattering so the emerald protected him and itself.

Shadow however didn't seem to want to know the future, but the emerald might have warned him what was about to happen so he could stop it.

The reason why Shadow wasn't affected by the Prism might also be the reason why he can't do anything in the void, due to the different worlds being created by pieces of the prism, might be why he can communicate with Sonic (it also might be because Sonic can also harness the Chaos energy), and it saved him because it was trying to warn him.

Idk, 's just a random theory but it fills in all the holes in my opinion. It's also better than just being "ShaDoW waS JuSt TheRe FoR The FaNs aNd The PloT". He's there for a reason, and that's why I love his depiction in Prime, there's a legitimate reason why he does things other than him just being a plot device and an angry edge lord.

Why he punched Sonic in the beginning? 1. Sonic doesn't even listen to his friends, what would make him listen to his rival? 2. Shadow quite literally has to knock sense into Sonic to make him stop and 3. let's all face it, Shadow's not the best at communicating, especially with someone as hyperactive and bad at listening as Sonic.

Why he tries to communicate with Sonic? Sonic is the only one he can communicate with, not to mention, Sonic broke the world.

They put so much more purpose and depth into him and I LOVE it!

The Bittersweetness of Sonic Prime

You know when I go back and rewatch the episodes of this show because of how it ended, and because of its interesting story, I realize how horribly bittersweet it is.

Usually, Sonic stories have epic adventure stories or happy positive feelings but Prime is just...bittersweet. It gets even worse when you remember the ending of the first batch, which leaves SOO many interpretations.

Sure, there's some action here and there, but the main focus is the characters and their feelings. It's not about the fights or good vs evil, it's just about getting home, and trying to find light in a pitch-black room.

Hope.

Which makes the ending of the first batch worse. Home doesn't exist anymore, Sonic broke it. The way they handle Sonic's character is actually well done in my opinion. He's bubbly, positive, and cocky, but ultimately well-meaning, and unconditionally kind. There are some things he says that are annoying, but nothing too bad. Nothing too unwatchable.

I absolutely enjoy it when they put flaws instead of making Sonic a perfect hero like they usually do. He's more real, and easier to get attached to. He's immature, but he is still a teen, still growing and learning about the world.

The other characters are really good too. And one thing Prime does is show deep empathy for its characters. Each character has more depth to them, and when they express distressed feelings, you can understand and feel it. At times, you can even relate to their pain.

(The way he poses XD, he knows he's a bad bitch)

And I couldn't use this pic without this one.

(Period. End of discussion)

Shadow is another really well-done character, not an overly edgy asshole, but a cold person with a hidden heart of gold. He's standoffish to Sonic, and most likely his friends, but his and Sonic's fighting probably is nothing but competitive sport. Not to mention their fighting ACTUALLY MADE SENSE. Shadow saw Sonic was going to do some stupid shit again, except this time he would break the WORLD, so naturally, he tried to stop it.

Of course, he was going to fight Sonic, the blue bitch doesn't even listen to his friends. Of course, he's going to literally knock some sense into him the first chance he sees him, he broke THEIR HOME.

I agree Shadow could've tried to talk to Sonic, but again would Sonic have listened? Not to mention, Shadow is...a complicated person when it comes to communication.

The variants of the main characters are really good as well. Each of them has goals, ideals, and sides. Of course, there's one that stands out to me, and if you've seen my posts you know who it is.

I can't NOT talk about Nine! He's just so interesting and well-written. The show emphasizes a LOT of mystery around him. Like we KNOW this is another version of Tails, but what happened after he took the shard? How did he see Sonic? What did he discover about Prism's power and how to harness that power? What is going on in his head?!

We'll have to wait for these questions to be answered in the second batch, but he's still very fun to watch. In my opinion, he's not only the best character in Prime, but he's also the most bittersweet in the Sonic Franchise. when Sega tries to write a bittersweet character, it's either too sad or too happy, too edgy or too go-lucky, but Nine is a perfect in-between.

Nine is edgy done right, I am so sorry Shadow SEGA ruined you, and has moments where he's happy too. He's just a very complex and interesting character.

It's hilarious that "emo Tails" written by Netflix is better than any other edgy character SEGA made up. When he blows up or becomes cold, it's understandable.

Attacking Sonic the first moment he meets him? Sonic called him something he was abused for YEARS for, so naturally, he thought Sonic was another "bully". Taking the shard over helping the rebels? He watched the only person he ever bonded with get sucked into this shard, he never bonded with any of the rebels anyway. Doing it again when there was a battle? It wasn't his problem, it was the rebels' he was only working with them because he was helping Sonic anyway.

However, back to the topic, all of the variants Sonic bonds with reminds him of his friends back home, so yeah, he helped and bonded with them, but he doesn't belong in that world. Except his world is destroyed, his home where his REAL friends are, his friends that he mentioned are what make his home, home.

If he does manage to get all of the Paradox Prism together, those worlds and those variants will likely disappear. The variants would go through the equivalent of dying. They'll become one again, but they'll cease to be nothing more than mere traits, they won't be alive anymore, and they won't be their own person anymore. They'll cease to be, nothing more than the shards they are.

No matter what, how happy they are, or how satisfying the conclusion is, they will still have to "die", all just to become a shard of someone who will never know they existed. No matter how optimistic you look at it, it will have a pang of heartbreak.

And I think the chance of them remembering is highly unlikely because it would take away from the main theme of Prime. This isn't about them learning something, it's SONIC, and probably Shadow. If they remember it would kinda ruin the main tone of this show.

If anything, they'll just think it was a simple dream and think nothing of it. Because that's all it was to them, not a deep journey, not a meaningful bonding, just a weird dream that they don't need to think about ever again.

What will the varients think of that? What will NINE think of his worth? Nine and every other variant are just copies, things that aren't as important as the real thing. They aren't worth much, they're just variants, just "shards". With how Nine suffered, with how much Nine WANTS, I don't think he's just going to overlook it and help.

I also think that with his villain arc will come another solution. Another way the world can be restored is without simply converting him, mashing him up with the other meaningless shards, and becoming the real Tails. Another way where he won't be just some shard.

And to be honest, if there's another way that involves Nine going crazy but getting his way, getting to be HAPPY, while restoring the world and bringing everyone back without having to "die", I'm DOWN.

Some people hope there will be a redemption arc, and so do I, I'm hoping that the thing I mentioned just now will be it. Redemption is not always happy, it can be sad or bittersweet. When he does get that, it'll most likely be the harshest bittersweet ending of all.

I keep reading posts that Nine is a good boi or going to be a villain, but I want to say something that needs to be clarified, Nine isn't a good person, but he's not a bad one either, he's simply a kid, and we CANNOT forget that.

He's just a kid with NOTHING to lose, and when he finally finds something to be worth living for, he's never going to have it (unless he does things his own way).

There are some quotes from other Sonic games that I think fit well with what I'm trying to say that sum up ALL these characters, especially Sonic and Nine. All of these were said by Sonic btw.

"Don't be afraid to accomplish your dreams."

"When you want to do something, do it right away. Do it when you can. It's the only way to live life without regrets."

“Every world has its end. I know that’s kinda sad, but that’s why we gotta live life to the fullest in the time we have.”

“If the world chooses to become my enemy, I will fight like I always have!” -(Actually stated by Shadow, my b)

“I’ll never look back, I’ve got no regrets. Cause time doesn’t wait for me. I choose to go my own way.”