mad4turtles

[mad4turtles]

Now that I think about it, Shadow lost everything: His only genuine friend was slain like a dog before his eyes. Almost everyone he ever knew aboard the ark was killed . He lost his home. Not to mention shortly after witnessing the murder of his best friend, he was forced to sleep in a pod for 50 years, only to wake up all alone in a strange time period where he doesn't really know anybody. Since he was asleep for those 50 years his grief for Maria was fresh (If he wasn't asleep then he would have had a serious case of And I Must scream) . From his perspective Maria's murder felt like it only occurred a few days ago.

That's not even taking into account that it's implied that Gerald modified his mind and brainwashed him

No wonder he tried to destroy the world.

But that isn't grimdark enough so we need to say that his life on the ARK was a living hell where he was experimented on and treated like a lab rat too

There is definitely a period of time inbetween the capsule Maria launched him out of from the ARK landing on earth and Shadow ending up in the freezer in GUNs basement that is unaccounted for. It is presumed that during that period of time, Gerald was able to "complete" his work on Shadow whereupon the presumed mind alteration took place, and after which Shadow was tossed in the fridge and then Gerald was executed. SA2 's story leaves a open of open space in the timeline for our imagination to fill in the gaps. How much during that time Shadow was conscious and aware of what was happening is also left unanswered.

I would say that Shadow seemed to pop out of his containment pretty on the ball and ready to hit the ground running on the whole revenge plot. He sizes Eggman up pretty much right away, and then dips to start swiping chaos emeralds and slotting them into the ARK. He doesn't come across as very disoriented, he seems to know where and when he is and is resolute about what he needs to do.

My personal read on things is that Shadow wanted to destroy the world because he thought that's what Maria wanted, moreso than out of personal desire. His initial flashback scene has him saying that he only wants to fulfill Maria's final wish, which he believed was revenge.

Personally it seems like that if Shadow had come to a realization that Maria's wish was for him to give the people of earth the chance to be happy and NOT to take revenge, he would have stopped the plan right at that moment. He had a very low opinion of humanity because of the loss he suffered, and those feelings don't seem to go away even after he gets his proper memories back, but it doesn't seem like his personal desires are factoring into his actions at least to me.

His scene after achieving his goal and the colony drop being initiated also seems significant to me

He's not exactly cackling with evil delight over the people of earth about to be destroyed. He seems pensive. Almost somber. He's about to die too, after all. His line reads in both japanese and english are quiet and resigned. Compare to the Pure Dark ending of Shadow the Hedgehog for contrast

This being the ending where right before the final level, he hears the memory of Professor Gerald's voice in his mind. He's fulfilling GERALD'S final wish, not Maria's. There's a clear difference

I don't think Shadow is willing to forgive the world, but he knows without a doubt that Maria would be very willing to forgive the world. And her wish is what matters to him in the end. He doesn't seem happy that his plan to initiate the colony drop succeeded in the end of SA2, and he turns INSTANTLY upon realizing his mistake. Like I said, I feel like if he remembered Maria's proper wish earlier on then he would have put a stop to the plan right then and there.

But there's a lot of open questions and room for interpretation too. SA2 gives you just enough to wonder for more.

[mad4turtles]

SHADOW GENERATIONS SPOILERS BELOW

By far the funniest thing Shadow Generations has done thus far is give Shadow THREE WHOLE LEVELS of places he has no memory of because a) it never happened, b) it hasn't happened, and c) he was never there. It probably doesn't even bug Shadow. He either figures his white space isn't entirely based around his "past" like Sonic's is or he just... Has leftover amnesia from Heroes???

Tbh tho, my FAVORITE part is the idea that Frontiers Era Sonic was going THROUGH it on Chaos Island only to see Generations Shadow off in the distance ALSO going through it in a completely different way cos of time shenanigans. The whiplash Shadow must have experienced if he encountered THAT Sonic only to run into HIS Sonic a few minutes later.

[mad4turtles]

I just can't stand for Gerald slander man. He was very troubled and flawed and made bad dangerous decisions out of love and desperation to the point that in the moment he didn't care what it cost him which he himself acknowledged, and he ended up doing something awful when he fully broke but like his bio said, at his core he was driven by benevolent ambitions. It's so much more tragic and impactful when you look at it for what it really is. And also makes him way more interesting for his intended complexity

He cared about benefitting humanity with science and Shadow said he told him that in SA2, he cared about trying everything he could to help Maria, he cared about Shadow and built the Eclipse Cannon with it set to be used to destroy the Black Comet in the future and addressed it as a gift to Shadow while apologizing for giving him a battle he never asked for in his journal, he apologized to Shadow for the path he put him on but is proud of how he's walked it in SXSG when he's in his right mind, he loves him like a son and calls him such

It's all right there and you're only fixed on the person he became when he reached the tipping point and went insane when what he loved most was ripped from him tragically. Then he clearly couldn't think clearly to think about anything he had left like Shadow and no longer had love for humanity for how they took Maria away from him when he originally wanted to make people happy through the power of science

Even the whole deal with creating a rift between his sons and how they don't talk much to him much, likely because of they didn't like the idea of his way of treating Maria and such high priority of her and stuff, even then in the journal he says "my love for them shouldn't be a divisive issue" it was out of love for them too. No matter what he always acted with the best intentions and love and care for others and it's WHY he made bad choices. He made a deal with Black Doom because he was getting desperate for the same reason

Does it make what he ended up trying to do right? No, obviously not, but there's still a reason and insisting he was always a horrible abusive asshole that genuinely didn't care about anyone or only Maria isn't it. He's not Eggman who literally only does it for selfish gain in ways that benefit nobody but himself while in his regular state of mind. Gerald literally went insane and became a shell of who he was while Eggman's intentions were evil and selfish from the start. People have it backwards and I'd wish they'd have that energy towards Eggman where it's true instead of slandering Gerald

I might just make a big Gerald post gathering all the proof lol

[mad4turtles]

"should we tell authors on ao3 when we have discord conversations about their fics" i don't speak for everyone here but if y'all ever find a group chat discussing my fics you can should must and WILL send me screenshots of the whole damn thing. inflate my ego. gimme

[mad4turtles]

Based on my husband losing his mind while playing Sonic Generations. The absolute OFFENSE

[mad4turtles]

ryuji forgot to bring an umbrella that day

[mad4turtles]

"And if fate draws us apart,I will always be in your heart."

[mad4turtles]

SXSG SPOILERS

I just need to talk about the way Maria says "no" in this final scene because I keep thinking about it.

Absolute kudos to Stephanie Sheh for the delivery of that one word because oh my god it's just perfect.

It's so gentle. It's not surprised, or desperate, or demanding. Just a soft "no."

Maria and Gerald have been talking while Shadow is off saving the day, clearly. The Robotniks are smart. They know this isn't their Shadow. They know something is wrong. They can see he is grieving. And they know he would do absolutely anything for them. But they know that can't happen. They can't let him do that. And they don't want that, even if they can clearly tell that something goes wrong in their future. They've discussed this and made up their mind before Shadow could even suggest a solution.

And I think Shadow knows that too. Which is why that finite, simple "no" is enough to stop him in his tracks, and bring him back.

She's not persuading him here. She's not begging. She's simply stating what they all know.

It's just so gentle and so absolute so perfect and I-

[mad4turtles]

Isn't the Earth beautiful tonight?

[mad4turtles]

[mad4turtles]

"kids don't pay attention in class anymore Because Of Phone" is so funny as an argument. students haven't paid attention in class since school was invented. my parents' generation were in there making flipbooks out of the corners of their notebooks and doodling random shit instead of taking notes. and they didn't have phones.

[mad4turtles]

I feel like id be fucked in this situation

[mad4turtles]

[mad4turtles]

always thinking about this image

[mad4turtles]

[mad4turtles]

Even when I’m not….🩵

[mad4turtles]

I missed these sillies 🩵💙