vowered

[vowered]

𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙰𝚁𝙼𝚂 / 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙳𝙾𝚆'𝚂 𝙱𝙸𝙾𝙻𝙾𝙶𝚈 :

Alrighty, this repost has been a looooooooong time coming and I'm going to do my best not to ramble too much and keep it short / condensed so that I can cover a bunch of stuff in a single post lol. Okay, Edgelord time lets go:

Starting with the Black Arms as they're most important to everything in my Shadow's headcanons and lore. So what are the Black Arms exactly ? Where did they come from ? The TL;DR is that in my personal headcanon and lore, like Chaos, they're decedents of Chao. Doom, in particular, was the first Dark Chao, turned "Devil Chao" who mutated into a powerful, god-like being through his ability to harness chaos energy, specifically dark chaos energy. I've always been heavy into the idea of the chaos force being heavily related to life and emotion, and like all things, it can be dark and negative. Doom found humans, creatures with little to no natural ability to perceive or harness chaos energy, to be weakling pests to be conquered, consumed and toyed with at his leisure ━ which is, frankly, how Doom came to view most beings outside of himself.

A natural enemy of the human race, Doom was eventually opposed by the echidna's and the chao, who came to the aid of ancient humans against Doom and his demonic followers. After a long battle that raged throughout ancient history, Doom and his followers were forced within what would become known as the Black Comet and banished from the planet. Doom spent the next several millennia conquering and consuming alien planets, working up the strength of his followers and progeny, who came to be known as the Black Arms, who all, along with their leader, mutated into frightening monsters over their thousands of years of exile.

Ultimately, yeah, Doom is meant to be perceived as a satanic archetype and the personification of evil. Like Chaos, he's essentially chaos energy personified but to the darkest extreme. A god. But a very twisted and wicked one. This is how I explained how and why the Black Arms were suggested to have ancient history on planet Earth, with ruins and old temples belonging to them recovered on the planet in Shadow the Hedgehog 2005. Not only this, but the various forms and shapes of the BA reminded me of the Chao, except in a way that could be really fun and horror adjacent given their much more frightening appearances.

Anyway, as far as the Black Arms in particular go, this similarizes them to me to the Xenomorph of the Alien franchise. The following is copy pasted from a pervious headcanon post, with additional context added :

Shadow  was  never  actually  “born”  and  his  creation  is  only  similar (to being born) in  the  way  that  this is  when  he  came  to  exist  in  the  world  as  an  ‘independent’  being.  The truth  is Shadow  was  never  really  born.  He  was  never  an  infant,  he  was  never  a  child. State  of  “being”  for  Shadow  has  always  been  as  he  is  now,  all  of  his  stages  of  development  prior  to  that  took  place  within  a  test  tube.   He  was  “grown”  artificially,  engineered,  “developed”,  altered  and  “built”  essentially,  and  the  unique  genetic  make  up  of  the  Black  Arms  is  what  really  made  this  possible,  and  moreover  possible  to  achieve  at  such  an  accelerated  rate  due  to  the  Black  Arms  pre-existing  alien  biology  which  I  PERSONALLY  headcanon  as  very  much  the  same  as  the  Xenomorph  from  the  Alien  franchise,  as  I  believe  there  was  a  ton  of  similarities  between  the  two  and  a  big  key  part  of  this  was  the  Black  Arms  inherently  parasitic  nature in my personal headcanons about them. Basically, Black  Arms  rely  on  host  organisms  and  borrow  the  genetic  structure  they  lack  which  drastically  alters  their  appearance  and  abilities  as  they  take  on  a  likeness  of  the  "host."  Horizontal  gene  transfer  is  a  big  part  of  this  basically  and  accounts  for  why  it  made  it  very  easy  to  engineer  a  powerful  being  like  Shadow  and  why  Gerald  was  effortlessly  able  to  make  Shadow  appear  more  hedgehog  than  Alien.

We've also since had the introduction of the "Ancients" in Sonic Frontiers which I can also weave into this lore very well.

Young Black Arms are considered sanguivores exclusively. But more mature members of the race are more like standard Carnivores. This said, Black Arms, as decedents of Chao grow a special fruit that they have cultivated over thousands of years that they enjoy eating. These are decedents of Black Doom's favorite fruit, a now extinct form of cherry. He doesn't know it, but Shadow's thing with coffee beans is actually because coffee beans taste most similar to the taste and texture of Black Arms "Red Fruit". These fruit however are highly toxic and dangerous to non-Black Arms. To note, Shadow has never been a sanguivore as he was never a darkling / never had a "larval stage" unlike Other Black Arms.

Shadow himself is an exceptional case among the other BA as he was biologically engineered by Gerald directly from Doom's flesh and blood, rather than a result of Doom's parthenogenesis. Shadow also shares more of Doom's direct DNA than any of the other BA soldiers who, while also being born from Doom, relied on absorbing the genetic material of other creatures to complete their life-cycles. This means they are drastically less powerful than Shadow and their DNA match to Doom resembles more of a traditional parent and offspring while Shadow's DNA match to Doom more resembles that of monozygotic twins. Gerald's tampering, however, meant that Shadow is able to access certain 'benefits' that Doom, in his immense power, cannot. Shadow's regeneration specifically is done "automatically". There is a "blocker" in Shadow's consciousness that allows him to tune out the pain and thus allows his body to begin automatically healing itself without restriction. Doom's healing factor, however, makes this process more tedious as he has to manage the mental distraction of the pain and of course consciously focus energy toward the regeneration as a result. This is what gives Shadow and edge against Doom, and, frankly against most other god-like monsters. Just like Doom, Shadow CAN obviously be harmed, but his healing factor during and after injury is more efficient. Shadow also possesses Doom's longevity in the sense that once reaching physical maturity, Shadow seemingly ceases to age. I've left it vague whether or not Shadow's immortal in this sense or if he simply ages at pace so drastically decreased it doesn't appear to be that he is aging at all and thus will have hundreds of years of life on other characters.

Some of Shadow's other physical attributes and biological differences to mobian hedgehogs include: Denser fur. Shadow's consider "fluffier" than Sonic or Amy who have pretty standard fur length and texture. This makes Shadow like the Norwegian forest cat of hedgehogs. Furthermore, what exists of Shadow's hedgehog DNA is from your standard garden Hedgehog, not the popular African Pigmy hedgehog. Shadow's quills are much sharper and more weaponized than the quills on a normal hedgehog. Many of his quills are serrated and their natural position means his quills are almost always raised. When Shadow balls and spin dashes he practically becomes a living buzz saw.

His teeth are sharp and though not outwardly obvious, if you were to get a good look inside his mouth, they come in rows like similar to a shark and for the same reason as a shark: if Shadow loses a tooth, another tooth will rise and slip forward to replace the lost one.

Shadow's deeply and inherently in tune with the "chaos force" and as a result he seems to have a sixth or even seven sense, making Shadow able to perceive others and his surroundings in an extrasensory way. His senses such as sight, hearing and smell are also highly advanced and he does have biological guards to protect these senses from being harmed or damaged. This includes nictitating membranes (or "third eyelids) in his eyes. He's able to close his nostrils like a seal to prevent anything unwanted from getting in it and he can do a similar thing with the insides of his ears for similar reasons to reduce / prevent sound damage in the event of loud noises. Shadow can harness the chaos force without the use of a chaos emerald in the most proficient way we've ever seen. IE: Shadow can pluck chaos energy seemingly from the air and from it into projectiles (Chaos Spear) or build it up and disperse it outwards to cause a high powered explosion (Chaos Blast). There are many different forms of chaos energy that Shadow is in tune with, but some are more diffcult for him to use. Naturally, offensive / destructive energy is something Shadow can use easily, but he's still learning to use other types of energy. As a result. he does need a chaos emerald with him to amply his power and use certain other types of powers, such as "Chaos Control", to teleport through space. Shadow's reflexes are remarkably fast and so is his mental processing power. Shadow is able use chaos control to warp through time and space with no physical or mental recoil because he is processing his environment that quickly. It was noted in 2006 that Shadow possesses genius level intelligence with an IQ of easily 200 and above. He has a mind like a computer, however, Shadow is completely organic in nature. This is a combination of Shadow's extrasensory abilities and predatory instincts stemming from his Black Arms DNA that make it appear as if Shadow has some kind of computer brain.

On that note Shadow's instincts are VERY powerful and they are inherently predatory. Shadow's "prey drive" could be blamed for a lot of his "single minded" behavior when perusing his "goals" and "enemies." He has an overpowering need to locate, pursue, overpower and destroy anything that manages to become his "target", which again, has likened him occasionally to AI. He'll always be instinctually driven to take down the weakest member of an enemy group first. (SORRY TAILS.) And often, Shadow wont listen to anyone/thing he hasn't assigned his superior. If you're not assigned as one of Shadow's "superiors" the only hope you have of "changing his mind" on something its set on is overpowering him. And Uh... Good luck with that. As a note Shadow has assigned "superior" to characters such as Maria, Amy, Rouge, Commander Towers, Gerald and Omega, practically in that order. In Shadow's word, drawing from his Black Arms biology, these are people Shadow will not harm and will almost always listen to their instructions. They are not kin to him in the sense he thinks of them as "family" but more as his "superiors" who he will serve. He has organized them this way in his little alien brain by order of how likely they are to be "in the right" in any given situation. I wrote a huge detailed post about it in the past that was deleted with my old blog, so like, in a nutshell the Black Arms have a caste system. Shadow mentally allocates people he cares about as his "superiors" even if the are not technically superior to him in any way. ( whereas, with the Black Arms its always decided by power and viciousness. ) This is his attempt to protect them and others from himself. They're like... Fail safes if Shadow ever gets 'carried away' by his darker instincts, which can happen as again, Shadow is VERY heavily dominated by his instincts and as a living weapon, these can sometimes be negative things.

Also to note, I don't portray Shadow as faster than Sonic or physically stronger than Knuckles. Though he's "close" to them in terms of power and speed, what Shadow actually has over Sonic and Knuckles is stamina and precision. With Knuckles, he can outmaneuver him and outlast him, leading to an easy victory. With Sonic he can overpower and outlast him, leading to an easy victory. Its not a matter of him being Stronger than Knuckles or Faster than Sonic. Shadow is just more combat effective and has a nearly infinite supply of energy. Shadow is aware of this, but still considers himself stronger and faster of those technicalities. Finally, something Shadow doesn't have in common with his BA brethren : The Black Arms are poisonous. I portray this as both literal in the sense that they have venomous properties (ie: A sting or bite from a BA can cause sickness / death) but also in the "corrupting"/polluting way. They have a corrosive and occasionally mutative effect on other lifeforms. This most obviously shows itself in plants and vegetation but can easily effect animals and other creatures as well depending on their exposure to BA. While Shadow doesn't possess any of these properties outwardly, his blood can still be considered a mutagenic under certain circumstances. This was explored in a Halloween event on one of my old blogs where, basically, Nack the Weasel gave everyone a case of fleas and when Shadow got them ? We ended up with horrific mutated insect monsters. It was a whole thing. This lead to the old, old Sonic RPCs version of the Zombots. Very Resident Evil Core. We ate with that. I'd love to do more fucked up horror inspired plots like that tbh.

[vowered]

yall ever just yearn? ever get filled with the most profound sense of longing for something you cant understand? yall ever crave? ever have an unexplainable ache?

[vowered]

ラストバル  by ~あのこ

[vowered]

Maria  had  always  been  kind  to  him,  and  though  it  wasn't  as  if  the  researchers  weren't  "kind"  to  him,  with  Maria,  it  was  different.  With  Maria,  he  felt  like  he...  Mattered.  More  than  the  scribbles  on  paper  the  researchers  made  when  they  poked  and  prodded  him.  With  her  hand  in  his,  he  contentedly  followed  her  along,  his  eyes  locked  on  the  bracelet  she'd  given  him  in  thought.

He  felt  like  he  was...  A  person ?  Maybe  that  was  a  stupid  thing  to  think,  given  he  certainly  wasn't  a  person,  not  like  Maria,  the  Professor  or  the  researchers...  His  attention  returned  to  her  as  she  spoke  of  the  bonds  between  people,  a  small  smile  forming  against  his  muzzle  as  she  did.  It  was  like  he  thought.  She  considered  him  a  person,  too.  That  felt  good,  even  if  he  didn't  entirely  understand  why  and  knew  he  wasn't  "a  person".   

❝ Could  we  give  one  to  the  Professor ? ❞   He  asked,  an  air  of  certainty  to  his  tone  as  he  did.  Was  it  okay  to  call  the  Professor  a  friend ?  He  thought  so,  but  he  wasn't  sure,  among  many  other  things.  Speaking  of  those  other  things,  he  decides  to  ask.  ❝ Maria...  I  am  not  human...  But..  I  can  still  be  a  person,  is  that  right ? ❞ 

     Truly he's adorable. She'll never understand the people who say otherwise. And the moment he says that she can't help but giggle, hand rising to her lips for a moment to try and stifle it. She doesn't want him to think wrongly of her reaction after all.      It's just so sweet.      Yes, friendship is definitely a kind of power.

     When hand lowers a soft smile follows. ❝Good! The bonds between people are some of the strongest things in the universe.❞ And always something to cherish. They're certainly what keeps her going when it gets bleak.      Her own adorned hand reaches for his, a gentle grasp as she turns and tips her head down the hall. She can't quite remember if he has anything else scheduled this afternoon, frustratingly she's not always told that sort of thing, but he deserves a break regardless and she's going to offer. ❝Come on, I have more bracelet materials in my room. I can show you how to make them! Maybe you'll find someone you want to give one to.❞

[vowered]

Starter for @lunargcat 🖤

He  came  here  often  enough.  Perhaps  more  than  anyone  would  ever  realize.  This  was...  His  home...  At  least,  it  was  the  only  one  he really knew.  He  was  born  here  aboard  the  ARK.  It  was  deserted,  and  some  pieces  had  become  damaged  and  derelict,  but  it  would  always  be  his  home.  Some  part  of  him  enjoyed  the  peace  and  quiet  up  here.  The  dim  serenity  amongst  all  the  twinkling  stars.

Sometimes,  when  he  was  up  here,  he  felt  like  he  could  feel  her  presence.  He'd  been  lost  in  a  memory  when  his  dark  quills  began  to  bristle.  His  eyes  shot  open,  suddenly  entirely  aware  that  he  wasn't  alone.  Who  or  whatever  was  with  him  now  wasn't  Maria.  On  the  defensive with his  quills  raised, he  stood,  his  blazing  crimson  eyes  scanning  the  shadows  of  the  abandoned  research  facility  for  any  sign  of  movement.

❝ I know you're here. Show yourself, trespasser ! ❞

[vowered]

@tellescope : ❝There you are, Shadow! Hold still.❞ Maria instructs while reaching into the pocket of her dress to pull something out and clasp it around one of Shadow's wrist rings. A twine bracelet with pairs of beads in red stars and blue hearts. And stepping back to admire her work, it suits him well. ❝Perfect! I read about friendship bracelets and thought you should have one.❞ If Shadow were to check her wrists he would see a matching one on the opposite side.

His  ears  sit  forward  at  attention,  and  he  pauses  just  as  instructed,  a  look  of  curiosity  plastered  on  his  furry  little  face.  This  wasn't  unfamiliar  to  him.  The  professor  had  given  him  adornments  for  his  wrists,  too.  The  inhibitor  rings  helped  him  control  his  power,  which  meant  he  could  fight  without  overdoing  it  and  getting  too  worn  out.

They  were  very  helpful,  so  Maria  was  giving  him  a  very  similar  item  as  far  as  he  could  fathom !  Indeed,  seeing  her  matching  "friendship bracelet"  made  him  feel  a  surge  of  something  inside,  something  really  strong. He felt great !  He  held  his  hand  up  triumphantly,  taking  in  the  bracelet  in  all  its  glory.  ❝ Thank  you,  Maria.  I  feel  more  powerful  already ! ❞ 

[vowered]

love a character that's like. i survived (<- not a brag) (<- this is a curse that weighs on me every waking hour)

[vowered]

Here’s Shadow 🤙🏻✨

[vowered]

Many  questions  were  swimming  around  his  head  when  he  woke  up,  most  pressingly  being  where  he  was  and  what  happened  to  him.  He  pulled  himself  from  the  ground  and  began  to  walk,  with  no  direction  in  mind;  he  was  just  walking,  just  moving,  his  mind  clouded  with  so  much  and  yet  nothing  at  all,  scowl  ever  present  on  his  face,  his  brows  knitted  together  with  a  pressing  sense  of  concern  that  he  couldn't  place.

That's  when  he  spots  it.  The  pink  form  in  the  distance  quickly  adjusts  in  his  vision.  Another  hedgehog ?  With  a  hammer ?  She  looked  serious  ━  strange,  considering  her  pink  fur  and  pleasant  outfit  made  her  seem  far  from  intimidating.  He  didn't  realize  he  was  staring  at  her  or  that  his  legs  had  continued  to  carry  him  forward  with almost a sense of purpose until  he  was  only  a  few  feet  away,  close  enough  for  her  to  throw  that  Hammer  at  and  hit  without  an  issue  ━  if  he  was  a  normal  creature,  that  was.

His  head  tilted  slightly,  his  mind  overflowing  with  thoughts  and  questions.  So  much  so  that  he  simply  blurted  out  what  was  on  it  in  the  most  blunt  and  matter-of-fact  manner  possible.  ❝  Is  that  so ?  You  look  far  too  cute  to  be  a  fighter.  ❞  Was  it  offensive  and  uncouth ?  Disarming  and  charming ?  It  was  said  with  such  polarizing  sincerity  it  would  probably  be  hard  to  decide  on  what  to  make  of  it.

ㅤㅤㅤShe stands at the edge of the clearing, the soft breeze of Green Hill brushing against her quills as she simply stares at the unfamiliar figure —ㅤdark fur blending into the shadows around him, piercing crimson of his stripes standing out even in such a dim light.ㅤHackles rise, a warning & precaution.ㅤThere’s something about his stance, the way he carries himself,ㅤ[ which… despite herself, she can’t help but mirror; he’s not the only tough hedgehog around here! ]ㅤthat immediately sets Amy on edge. He’s nothing like the blue hedgehog, & yet…ㅤthere’s an energy about him, controlled & deliberate, that demands attention. Her attention; well… he certainly has it!

ㅤㅤㅤThe rosy hedgehog grips her weapon instinctively, the weight of it grounding her as she steps forward just ever so, choosing caution above all else,ㅤ❛ You’re not from around here, are you? I mean… Here, this planet… ❜ㅤshe calls out, her voice steady with just an undertone of curiosity. Fierce jade orbs don't waver, scrutinizing him closely for any sign of his foul play.ㅤ❛ I don’t know who you are, but if you’re looking for trouble, you might want to rethink that, ❜ㅤmuscles tense, grip tightens; a prelude to battle if necessary, eyes takin on a rising pink glow…ㅤ/ㅤ@voweredㅤGETS THE HAMMER ,

[vowered]

Shadow's  perched  on  the  outside  of  the  machine,  watching  the  Doctor  operate  it  over  his  shoulder.  Subconsciously,  he's  taking  note  of  the  complicated-looking  controls  that,  in  his  mind,  somehow,  made  sense.  He's  sure  he  could  fly  this  thing  if  he  needed  to,  but  fortunately,  he  had  Eggman  to  do  that  job  for  him,  which  meant  he  had  a  different  job  to  do.…

It  wasn't  clear  how  Shadow  knew  what  he  knew.  There  were  things  he  just  knew,  almost  as  if  ingrained  into  him  by  instinct  ━  understanding  complicated  mechanisms  with  brief  observation.

He  locked  eyes  on  their  rivals,  G.U.N-owned  machines,  complicating  the  Doctor's  ability  to  maneuver  his  own  craft  freely.  Not  for  long.  With  a  powerful  leap,  Shadow  launched  himself  from  the  craft  and  directly  into  one  of  the  G.U.N  machines,  like  a  spikey  little  wrecking  ball,  belting  it  off  cause  and  sending  it  careening  toward  another,  causing  a  terrible  domino  of  destruction  between  the  G.U.N  crafts  before  leaping  himself  back  to  land  where  he  had  been  before,  unphased  if  not  clearly  satisfied  by  his  action. 

❝  Is  that  better,  Doctor ?  ❞

@vowered made some demands;

"the way you drive, i can see why." - POV @/vowered Judging how you pilot your Egg machines.

"No one likes a back seat driver, Shadow." He spoke, not looking away from the screen in front of them. And a sharp bank to the right. "It's not my fault these fucking GUN pilots can't. Pilot. Correctly." A frown. He lost his train of thought. This giant Egg bitch he was flying was unruly on the best of days, but that didn't mean he was about to lose it to GUN.

[vowered]

❝ I don't need to be invincible to beat the likes of you. ❞ He'd  never  seen  creatures  like  himself  before  ━  for  a  long  time he  thought  he  was  the  only  one.  And  that  blue  hedgehog ?  Their  likeness  was  uncanny  ━  Why ?  It  was  hard  enough  to  believe  he'd  been  sleeping  for  50  years;  now,  he  had  to  contend  with  the  fact  there  were  creatures  just  like  him  running  around ?  Creatures  that  wanted  to  fight  him ?

Well,  he  guessed  they  weren't  exactly  like  him.  They  were  a  lot  weaker.  Which  made  their  desire  to  fight  with  him  even  more  perplexing.  Were  they  simply  daft ?  Hadn't he already taught  them  this  lesson ?  And  where  WERE  the  other  two  right  now,  anyway ?

❝ Walk away before I have to hurt you.... Again. ❞

@umbreerie ♥'d for Knuckles! ↪ @vowered

"I don’t care how powerful you think you are—you’re not invincible."

[vowered]

”match my freak” match my melancholy. be nostalgic about a past you weren’t even that happy in. find something to be haunted about throughout every second of your day

[vowered]

Really like his new wings✨✨

[vowered]

Here he comes rougher than the rest of them.

His  ears  had  begun  swiveling  around  as  the  sound  of  an  energetic  hip-hop  beat  could  be  heard  playing  steadily  in  the  distance.  He  looked  up  and  around,  unable  to  find  the  exact  source  of  the  tune,  his  nose  twitching  and  brows  furrowing  together  in  confusion.  Where  was  it  coming  from  ?? 

Knuckles ... ?

[vowered]

@hiswrlds : just trust me , okay ?

How'd  he  let  himself  get  into  such  a  stupid  situation  again ?  Thats  right.  He  agreed  to  come  to  this  stupid  get-together,  a  get-together  with  Sonic  and  his  friends.  So  far,  the  others  haven't  bothered  him  too  much,  but  Sonic ?  You  could  count  on  the  blue  blur  to  be  a  pain  in  the  neck.  The  thing  sitting  before  him  is  a  "super  loaded  chili-cheese-dog",  and  he's  looking  at  it  with  deep-seated  scrutiny,  his  expression  shifting  to  annoyance  as  his  attention  moves  back  to  the  blue  hedgehog  who  has  served  it  to  him.

Shadow  wasn't  exactly  "new"  to  food  on  earth.  But  he  wasn't  exactly  what  you'd  call  an  adventurous  eater,  either,  so  this  "delicacy"  was  new  to  him,  apparently  in  a  way  he  wasn't  sure  he  wished  to  get  to  know.  It  was,  of  course,  the  sloppy  presentation  of  the  dish.  Sure,  he  enjoyed  pizza  and  hot  pockets,  but  the  toppings  on  a  pizza  were  an  organized  chaos.  This...  This  thing  was....  A  sloppy  mess. 

❝ No,  I  don't  trust  you,  Sonic.  This  ...  thing  is  far from  whetting  my  appetite. ❞

[vowered]

@pikos : take this with you . it's a good luck charm

The  ultimate  life  form  didn't  need  a  good  luck  charm;  that  much  was  certain  to  him.  He  probably  would  have  said  as  much  if  it  had  been offered to him by  anyone  else.  But  it  wasn't  anyone  else.  It  was  Amy,  the  pink  hedgehog  who,  for  whatever  reason,  he  seemed  to  think  of  differently  than  a  lot  of  the  others.  He  wasn't  sure  what  about  her  gave  him  such  pause.  Maybe  it  was  the  way  she  looked  at  him  with  those  big,  bright,  hopeful  eyes.  Not  a  shred  of  malice  behind  them.  Maybe  it  reminded  him  of  someone.

His  stern  crimson  gaze  fell  upon  the  little  beaded  bracelet  in  Amy's  hands  as  she  offered  it  to  him.  It  was  pink  and  baby blue,  with  matching  flower  charms  dangling  from  it.  He  didn't  seem  bothered  by  the  item's  girlishness;  in  fact,  it  seemed  completely  lost  on  him  as  he  took  it  from  her  with  a  soft  huff  of  resignation.  ❝  Hmph,  sure,  if  you  say  so.  ❞  And  just  like  that,  he  slipped  it  onto  his  left  wrist  with  solemn  purpose, nicely  layered  before  his  gold  inhibitor  ring.  It'd  be  the  last  thing  his  enemies  saw  as  he  laid  waste  to  them.

[vowered]

𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙸𝙲 & 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙳𝙾𝚆 ::

FIRST  OF  ALL,  I’ve  mentioned  it  before,  I  don’t  know  how  “canon”  it  is  but  I  don’t  care  this  is  kind  of  important.  I  talked  before  about  why  Sonic  and  Shadow  look  so  much  alike ( Deleted post, kill me. )

Keep  in  mind,  despite  Shadow’s  physical  appearance  he  is  not  as  much  a  hedgehog  as he  is  an  alien  weapon.  He  is  a  bio-organic  chimera  that  has  been  engineered  with  the  outside  form  of  a  hedgehog.   Shadow  being  made  in  the  image  of  a  hedgehog  was  due  to  Professor  Gerald’s  interest  in  ancient  Echidna  mythology  and  their  prophecy  depicting  a  hedgehog  hero/savior. This  also  serves  to  explain  why  Shadow  and  Sonic  hold  such  a  resemblance  to  each  other  as  it can  be  argued  that Sonic  is  literally  the  prophesied  hero.

* This  hero  hedgehog  shone  gold  and  had  upturned  quills ( Sonic’s  super  transformation ) * Shadow  has  upturned  quills  naturally  as  a  result.  His  dark  coloration  is  thanks  to  the  Black  Arms.

Shadow  was  made  pretty  much  to  be  who  Sonic  actually  is.  He  was  made  to  be  a  hero,  he  was  made  from  light  and  hope  and  meant  to  aspire  such  things.  In  Sonic  Battle  it  was  even  explained  that  Shadow  has  the  pure  heart  and  soul  of  Maria.

However….. Despite  what  Shadow  was  made  to  be  he  doesn’t  fit  that  mold  as  much  as  he  would  like,  whereas  he  can  see  Sonic  does  to  a  T.   (  Though  Shadow  is  totally  unaware  of  the  inspiration  behind  his  design ) This  causes   a  lot  of  conflicted   and  confused  feelings  for  Shadow.  He  finds  Sonic  fascinating  because  he's  another  hedgehog,  bares  a ridiculous  resemblance  to  him,  is  a  big  hero  and  on  top  of  that  possesses  some  abnormal  abilities  that  rival  Shadow’s  own  which  has  even  lead  Shadow  to  wonder  on  occasion  if  Sonic  was  “like  him” ( Ie:  an  biologically  engineered  super-creature )

Sonic’s  existence  in  a  way  contradicts  his  own.  In  a  way, they're both  the  “same  hedgehog”.  Shadow  always  holds  conflict  about  this  steaming  heavily  from  both  pride  and  shame  which  is  the  great  contradiction  of  Shadow’s  nature.  He's  the  ultimate  creature,  he's  suppose  to  be  superior  in  all  ways  and  somehow  this  “normie”  rivals  him  and  not  only  that, he's  probably  “better”  at  being  the  “hero”  Shadow  is  suppose  to  be.

Which also causes  a   huge  amount  of  respect  and  admiration  from  Shadow.  He  admires  that  Sonic  is  that  good  guy,  that  pure  hearted  hero,  he  looks  up  to  that.  He  wants  to  be  that  too  but  simultaneously  he  feels  deeply  insecure  and  troubled  by  the  fact  that  there  is  a  completely  opposite  part  of  him  that  literally  contradicts  everything  he  aspires  to  be  and  everything  Sonic  is.   Shadow  was  made  to  be  a  weapon  as  much  a  saviour.

He's  perfectly  built  to  kill  and  destroy.  He  has  moments  of  ‘evil’,  cruel  behavior,  violent  streaks,  theres  something  inside  of  him  thats  constantly  blood  thirsty  and  nasty  and  its  ridiculously  easy  for  him  to  act  upon  it  at  any  given  time  like  a  second  nature.   And  he  tries  not  to  but  its  there,  he  knows  it,  hes  always  fighting  with  it  and  he  hates  it.  

So  this  really  just  leaves  Shadow  feeling quite envious  of  Sonic,  who  is  everything  he  was  meant  to  be  and  everything  he  wants  to  be.  That  also  causes  him  to  feel  embarrassed  in  himself  and  overall  discontent  because  he  doesn't  think  he's  suppose to  feel  that  way  and  yet  he  does  which  is  why  they  still  have  this  rivalry  going  on.  Shadow’s  fascination  with  Sonic  and  conflicted  feelings  cause  him  to  not  really  know  how  else  to  act  but  to  be  kinda  hostile  and  antagonistic  even  while  he  thinks  of  him  as  a  friend  and  admires  him. ( Something he also will not admit for similar complicated reasons. )

Pride  is  Shadows  biggest  issue.  It  drives  this  in  a  lot  of  ways  and  is  also  the  reason  Shadow  has  such  trouble  opening  up  about  things  but  at  the  same  time  he  hangs  on  to  it  fiercely  because  its  one  of  the  only  things  he  has  had  to  keep  him  going  until  recent  times.  He  now  has  friends  and  people  who  support  him  to  lean  on  but  he  still  hasn't  fully  mastered  opening  up  and  allowing  that.