Shadow Musings

[ladybug_archive]

Been watching Sonic X season 3 the last few days. And while I really think I prefer seasons 1-2 in English, especially since they didn't really seem to cut/change much (and since I love the English voices), I prefer season 3 in Japanese. X3 It really was the most mangled of the seasons. The finale in 77 and 78 = AMAZING. And of course, heartbreaking. So much more so in Japanese. And 68 ... heartbreaking too. ;___; Oh wow.

I just got done watching 67, the one with Dark Sonic. And I still feel gypped that he only appeared for a short few minutes near the end of the episode! I really thought they'd do more with the idea. I feel a need to rectify this. There so should have been an episode where Sonic goes dark again, either from the Metarex experimenting or from something else to do with more of the same fake emeralds, only this time he would not be able to break free so easily. And Shadow would probably have to be the one to go head-to-head with him and stop him. Shadow's always the one who provokes their battles, so it would be intriguing to see what would happen if their roles switched.

He's always such an intriguing enigma. I love in the last episode, where Sonic is going to use Chaos Control on the thing about to explode with all of the planet eggs' powers and Shadow suddenly punches him in the stomach, sending him careening through space and back to the ship. Now I can't remember what he says in the English, but in the Japanese I saw, he said something like, "Don't be angry; there was no other choice. I couldn't risk you controlling the chaos." Then he uses Chaos Control himself to stop time in that spot and contain the explosion. The implication seems to be that he knew Sonic wouldn't survive using such a strong burst of power, so he sent Sonic away where he would be safe. I *think* in the dub, that's made a bit more apparent from what he says.

And speaking of Shadow, does anyone else not like the fact that in his game, you have the power to have him either be good or bad? I mean, one possible bad ending you can get has him deciding to blow up the planet. Um, no. Post-SA2 Shadow would not do that, because no matter how much he detests humans in general, he will give his all to save and protect them, as Maria hoped he would do. The only possible ways I can see him being driven to such a point as blowing up the planet would be if he either does not regain his memories and goes back to trying to carry out Gerald Robotnik's crazed wishes (which would be a tragedy) or if something happens that pushes him right over the edge and he ends up deciding Maria was wrong and humans just aren't worth protecting (another tragedy). Either scenario is possible, I suppose, but gah! So depressing and discouraging, not to mention setting at naught one of the most beautiful things about his character.

And he's immortal, which resulted in a plunnie of him wandering through a cemetery and thinking about how someday everyone he knows will be dead and he'll keep right on living. And that if there really is any kind of afterlife, he will never be able to go there or see Maria again. He "lives an endless life forever." Plus, I've heard he has concerns that with his destructive powers, he will never be able to be anything more than a creature of destruction. ;___;

I've never had the opportunity to play Sonic Adventure 2 in full (whyyyy won't they release a PC version?! They have a PC version of the first one!), but I can't help thinking I'll probably always prefer the Sonic X version of the SA2 story best. I do actually like Chris, but what's more, I think it's far more powerful for him, a *human* child, to be able to convince Shadow to remember Maria's true wish, rather than it being the fellow hedgehog Amy Rose. And I do *not* like the Shadow/Amy pairing, either. Unless she's a great deal different in the games, she's just not mature enough for him. **likes Shadow/Rouge much better.**

Sometime I wanna write a fic about Chris and Shadow. It would probably be post-season 3, as Chris's fate was ambiguous and unsatisfying for those who did like him. That's partially why I'm watching season 3, as I'm trying to see all of the interaction they had that season. Most of it was saaad, though, so I'm not looking forward to that.... **remembers the one where they finally got to talk and Shadow admitted that he couldn't remember any of what Chris was talking about.** And the one where Chris says Shadow should help them and he just doesn't want to work with them.... Though he does do his part fighting the Metarex in his own way. And of course, he does end up teaming with them at the final climax.

And, switching gears ... it has to be said ... YAY SEPTEMBER FIRST! It doesn't really feel like fall, even though for me it is (hooray meteorological seasons!), but in other ways it does indeed. I noticed the sun coming in with a very autumn flair in the late afternoon.

... In a couple of weeks, it will be a year since I got back into the Carmen fandom. X3 Yesssss.

Comments

[rose-of-pollux.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I haven't seen much of Season 3 actually... XD; But ooh, those eps sound so intense.... ;___;

Is Sonic Adventure 2 the same as Sonic the Hedgehog 2? Because the latter is on that PS2 game I'm thinking of getting...

Oh, yeah, Shadow/Rouge definitely fits... XD;

Hmm? What *did* happen to Chris?

Yay fall! LOL, it sure feels like it for me; it dipped into the 40s' last night. XD;

And yay Carmen anniversary! Mine was technically when I first emailed you about the snowball chase, but it wasn't as intense until fall. X3

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

They are. ;____;

No, that's just Sonic 2. XD; From yeaaaars ago. Anciiiiient. Sonic Adventure 2 is from 2001.

Shadow and Rouge had some really good scenes together, like in 68. Rouge is *so annoying* around Knuckles! I hate Knuckles/Rouge too. XD; But around Shadow she starts to show a different side of herself.

He was sent home from Sonic's world, but it never showed whether he got there safe, or whether he was the proper age. There was a chance he would not be the right age.

XD

**hugs the show.**

[i-heart-rocka.livejournal.com]

That's cool about the Carmen fandom you really do write awesome Carmen fics

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Thanks! ^^ Man, I wish I could get A Change in My Life finished....

[i-heart-rocka.livejournal.com]

oh dear *hugs*

I also put up another blurb awhile ago

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

**hugs back.** I wrote a ... paragraph of chapter 8, LOL.

Yay blurb! X3

[twitchytwitch.livejournal.com]

I really need to continue Sonic X.

Awww, that sounds like such an awful ending for Shadow! ;_;

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Yes you do! ^^ **hugs it.**

Totally! ;___;

[cskazaam.livejournal.com]

Oooh. I totally need to get back to watching the show! I only got a few episodes in so far. XD; Season three sounds so intense! >3

Ugh, yeah that would be so depressing if he actually got to the point where he'd blow up the planet! Does the game show that, or is it more along the lines of he's evil so that's what he decides to randomly do? XD;

That would be such a sad story! ;___;

They should totally have a PC version! I wonder if there's a version of the game for PC that's downloadable, even if it's not official? XD

Yay September! I was thinking of that on the way home today, and couldn't believe it was already here. >3 Seems like not too long ago that I was coming home from Christmas vacation. XD

Awesome! That's probably the same for me, too. X3 Got anything planned to celebrate?

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Season 3 is amazing in so many ways. *___* So much character development!

You know, I don't know. XD; I just read about that possible ending on Wikipedia. But it's kind of a Choose Your Own Adventure game, so I'm assuming it shows what leads up to that ending.

;___;

I wonder too!

**hugs September!** ^O^

Watch favorite episodes, if possible. X3 **would rather watch them downstairs, where stuff loads effortlessly.** And play the album!

[cskazaam.livejournal.com]

XD That could be really intense, though, if they did it right!

**hugs it too!** So awesome. .....Now if only the weather could take a hint and get cooler. XD

Sounds like fun! X3

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Definitely intense. But so discouraging! And it would negate the potency of Sonic Adventure 2.

Yep. XD

X3

[cskazaam.livejournal.com]

**nods.** Yeah, it definitely would.... It's just a horrible note to end on, with everything being destroyed. It would totally leave you wondering what the whole point was if it all came to that!

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Totally! ;____; The only ones who'd enjoy that are probably the ones who like pointless destruction and/or seeing Shadow as a villain. XD; Luckily, the ending meant to be canonical in the game has Shadow on the good side.

[northeastwind.livejournal.com]

I preferred the game voices (Rouge sounds like a 40-year-old woman in Sonic X o.0), but not everyone did. I didn't mind SO much when the game voices were changed because of Bristow's death, because otherwise they would have gotten someone crappy to be Eggman.

Dark Sonic? Why have I not heard of this? *goes to watch*

In the English dub, IIRC Shadow's line goes something like, "Sorry buddy, but I/we can't have you sacrificing yourself, now can I/we?" I wuv Shadow ^^

Sonic Team really likes the "good or evil" thing apparently XD; And if they were going to make a bunch of evil possibilities, of course they had to throw in "DESTROY TEH PLANET." I think they definitely could have done better.

I've only played up to Shadow, so I was under the impression he just hung out in the space station for all eternity. Obviously he didn't, which is good (that would DEFINITELY not have been good for his mental health >_<). You should write those ideas sometime, I'd read them. But I've never liked Shadow pairings at all, which is really strange >_> And, uh, I never even considered Rouge for him before now o.0

I seriously have the only mature tree on the block that isn't a red maple, so I was very happy to see red leaves on the tips of the branches!

YAY for Carmen Sandiego! Awesome show is awesome.

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Well, still English voices though, right? ^^ I like the game voices too! X3

Yes! Watch!

Oh yes. X3 I knew it was more specific in the dub.

XD; Do you know what they had happen to lead up to that ending? **curious as to how they'd explain Shadow acting like that post-SA2.**

Oooh, Shadow staying at the ARK for eternity would be so heart-breaking. ;___; I have an image of him wandering the Earth as the years go by.

I probably wouldn't have thought of Shadow/Rouge if not for Sonic X season 3. XD But in the end, I also do prefer Shadow single the most ... though I do have a plunnie of him with Rouge and telling her about how she'd die someday and he'd keep on living forever....

Yay red tips! ^O^ And Carmen! Time to start writing creepy ghost stories again. X3 Like the Beaches of Cheyenne plunnie....

[northeastwind.livejournal.com]

Yup! Though I heard the Japanese ending of the SA2 arc with Live and Learn was utter win. I would have liked to hear that song again.

C-creepy Sonic is creepy ._______. I'd love to have seen him and Shadow face off.

The beginning cutscene makes it clear that Shadow doesn't remember anything except a stray memory of leading Maria through the halls of the besieged ARK and her getting shot; he doesn't remember who she is supposed to be. Then the Big Bad shows up and goes "I know you bring me Chaos Emeralds and you'll know you too." So Shadow says to himself, I quote:

"If he says he knows who I am, then like it or not I have to believe him." Which is really crummy logic to me, but whatever. If you steer him on the right wrong path the Big Bad eventually gets around to telling him that the one person he loved was killed by humans and pulls the whole "They deserve to die!" thing. The fact that the GUN commander has been after him for no apparently obvious reason doesn't help. But the mission where you get to go after the president is kinda fun o.0

There are a whole bunch of endings that my sister and I thought were worse than that: in every ending involving Eggman, the camera goes black with Shadow aiming a karate chop at the defeated doctor, who is going "Noooooooooooo!" .__.

I know... At the end of the game he just stands at the control center holding a photo of himself and Maria, tossing it casually away and saying "Goodbye forever, Shadow the Hedgehog." A little melodramatic, but I definitely got the impression that he'd stayed on the ARK forever, and was sad.

XD It's hard to imagine him romantically, except ambiguously like that.

The Truth at the Wax Museum was the first Carmen story you wrote that I read, remember? I'd love to hear more ^^

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

I've seen the end of the SA2 adaption in Japanese. Yes, they use Live and Learn. ^^ It was very poignant. Also, what Chris says to Shadow is even more powerful.

Totally! I must write the fic. The question is, what do the Metarex do to make Sonic flip and not be able to regain control of himself? o.o Or, should it not be the Metarex deliberately doing something, but just Sonic finding a stash of dark fake Chaos Emeralds and getting corrupted? o.o Though that would make it a lot like my Carmen Ring fic, I bet. XD;

**nods.** So Shadow decides to go through with Gerald Robotnik's plan then and that's how the one ending goes? ;___;

The Eggman endings sound really creepy. o.o

I saw that ending. So saaad! ;___;

**nodnod.**

Yep, I remember. XD If I can just finish A Change in My Life, I think I'll start doing the creepy Halloween fics again.

[ladyamberjo.livejournal.com]

It feels like fall for sure, here. D: It's supposed to be in the 40s at night this week. If it snows for Halloween this year, I will be quite. Put. Out.

I read a Sonic fic a long time ago about Eggman kidnapping Tails and brainwashing him to eat Sonic. I think they illustrated it, too, and cited as inspiration for the fic that "foxes are hedgehogs' natural predators." And I remember being surprised that it was the first I'd seen of anything like that, because I learned that during an animal-assembly in elementary school, and we were all "Butbutbut what about tails and Sonic? DDD:" ...that was sort of off-topic, but your entry reminded me of it.

...does this mean you'll be drawing Sonic fanart again~?

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

The 40s sound awesome! *___* But hopefully there will be no snow for Halloween! o.o

... Wow. Creepy. XD; Did he snap out of it?

Well ... I tried, actually. Discovered I'm way rusty on animals. ;___;

[ladyamberjo.livejournal.com]

Not so awesome. I like when it stays around the seventies...then I can sleep with my window open. But snow for Halloween would be awful. D:

...actually, no. XD;;

Really? o.o Sonic-style, or just animals in general?

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

**definitely tired of desert heat this year.** XD

Then I have to say a big WTH.

Animals in general, really, but I was thinking of Sonic-style specifically. **tried to draw Shadow.** I haven't drawn animals much at all since I figured out how to draw anime people. XD