#–signed‚ a sonadow shipper and multishipper

[galaxitix]

(Just adding my two cent)

Alternative title, let shippers be shippers, you ship you, I ship me (also when the hell did canon become so interlock with shipping. Nothing wrong with canon ships obviously. But like let me ship two or more characters because I think they're neat, forget canon)

🎶I don't care!! I ship it!!🎶 (<<officially shipping anthem you can't convince me otherwise)

Also, as a multishipper, shipping wars were always dumb to me (unless it's harmless fun where you just rant and promote your OTP then sign me up) I never see the appeal in 'proving a ship is better' or 'why that ship will never work' and so on

I can see the appeal of both sonamy and sonadow. I am a shipper that ships on different criteria. (I have never read the idw comics so this is solely based on the games and what I remember)

(long look in both ships from my pov)👇

For me, I started on sonamy because it was the canon ship of sega at the time but what really rope me in were the fanfics more so than canon (favourite sonamy is boom sonamy).

I agree that sonamy in most sonic games and lore is one-sided romantically. Amy the fan girl/damsel in distress and sonic the hero. A bit of a love at first save really. (I am not a fan of love at first sight, i don't get it but then again I'm a demisexual so... :p)

Canonly speaking, Anyone with half a brain cell can see that Sonic charities Amy as a great friend just like he does with everyone else. However when it comes to romantic wise is another thing entirely. Sonic is a free soul that loves adventuring and exploring the wonders of the world all while kicking eggman and any villians' butts. He does have his moments where he's a bit of flirt now and then.

I think sonic opposed more to the repetitive sappy gestures than being in a romantic relationship itself. For a guy like sonic, repetitive actions that lack action and excitement can easily bored him or disinterest him. He likes his freedom and probably thinks dating will tie him down or something of the sort (since that is how Amy always portrays it) But since he values Amy as a friend, he pushed that aside and goes along with it even when slightly uncomfortable.

But Amy also kinda make it seems like he has to do it, which to me can easily made a person unease or uncomfortable(especially when threatened with a hammer) Amy, in some case, can also be toxic and manipulative whether she realises it or not. She is a good person don't get me wrong but I hate how sega handled her character in early sonic games. 'self-proclaimed girlfriend', if that doesn't scream a bit of entitlement I don't know what does. Her character traits can't only be that she likes sonic and has a hammer come on.

Amy is a passionate and strong person, she can be stubborn but she stands for what she believes in. She encourages others to be the best version of themselves. She helps persons see reasons(like with Shadow in SA2) She is a fighter, not the damsel in distress(tho even heroes needs saving/a helping hand)

let this girl be independent

Tho also keep in mind, both are still young and have a whole life ahead of him. Both still have a lot of time to grow but at the same time both live dangerous lives, especially Sonic and his hero complex.

What I love for sonamy is authors' portrayal of these two personalities and interests and how it would work for these two.

Some sonamy authors tone down Amy's obsession with Sonic and let her be her own person rather than having her personality built on her being Sonic's love interest. (I would link some however my mind is of a goldfish so I don't remember titles and my fanfics list is a garbage dump so...:p)

For this reason is why I love canon boom sonamy the most. Amy is her own person and you can see the two genuine love they have for each other (whether as friends or lovers, however you want to interpret), Amy isn't afraid to call Sonic out if he being dumb, same via versa. She doesn't put him on this high horse and acknowledge his strength as well as weakness. She also doesn't baby him or play favourite cause she 'likes' him. She stands her ground because she wants what she thinks is best for her friends (tho it doesn't always work out that way but that's just life)

On the other hand with sonadow, I had always loved rivals to lovers and opposite attract. This is a chaotic ship and i am here for it. I like a ship I can take from scratch and built it up, showing the journey from one point to other. The struggles, the reward and the bickering, especially the bickering

Now canonly speaking, the two started out as enemies, (which at this point is just a trend for sonic, befriending his enemies in one way or another) shadow being awoken by Eggman and so on (you know how it goes)

Shadow, following the game timeline(which is all over the place at this point, was one the first person sonic lost (I think). Sonic finally found someone who could give him a run for his rings (literally) and the moment they get along to team up, he loses him.

Fast forward to the Shadow the hedgehog game, shadow is revived or whatnot, (I know they're is a route where he teams up with Sonic but I for the life of me can't remember).

The two form a rivalry at this point. Sonic pushing Shadow's button and Shadow rebutting in turn. Sonic get a trill out of their competition like he does with all his other rivals/friends(like jet and knuckles) we all know Sonic like a challenge. He was never one for easy/slow. And shadow can easily match his speed and hold on his own, being the ultimate lifeform and all.

Despite Shadow's cold exterior, he respect Sonic and his moral, they share a common goal which is protecting this planet, though both go different ways about it. Shadow has never hesitate to access Sonic if the situation calls for it. Of course the two still bicker even when working together.

Also keep in mind that Shadow has his own issues to work out. It's not really addressed in the games. However you can't dismiss Shadow's trauma: watching someone who was basically a sister to you, dead to save you. Killed by the same persons you 'work for'.yeah... that can mess anyone up.

Shadow is calculative and a realist, he gets all the facts before he acts tho he does have his moments of reckless(nobody's prefect, ultimate lifeform or not)

Sonic is the complete opposite, relying more on his instincts and guts. Rushing in head first in any situation. And like shadow, he too has his moments where he thinks before he acts

I see them as yin and Yang, in a sense.

The two balance each other, all while pushing each other to push pass their limits constantly (cus they're both competitive)

Shadow has own way of expressing emotions which takes time to understand. He is blunt and doesn't hold back. He calls Sonic out without sugarcoating it. He see Sonic as another being rather than the 'untouchable hero'.

Beside the two are entertaining to watch, (like I said I like chaotic in all forms) and no one is getting hurt...well not life threatening at least but Sonic is a guy that lives on the edges, the danger zone.

And again both are young and still have a long way to go and many things to learn and all that.

(I would include Sonic Prime in this however I had no idea where it would fall in the sonic timeline so...yeah)

Fanfic wise, the portrayal of Sonic and Shadow in some fanfic are just incredible. Shadow's slowly understand the world around him while dealing the expectations of being the ultimate lifeform(that he puts on himself). Sonic having someone who he doesn't have to hold back against, someone who can keep up. Someone he respect and who respects him in turn (even if he,shadow, would never admit to his face, sonic had an ego no surprise there) there are many portrayal of the two that just leave me speechless and wanting more.

All in all, everyone has different taste and what they look for in a ship. So some like the cliche sappy romance, others like the complex back and front romance.

Personally, like ships with favour, let them have problems, I don't want a yes girl/boy, it's gets boring after a while. (No one is prefect, relationships are not linear. There isn't a right way for a couple to look. It all depends on the persons involved) essentially I like a romance with plot. So I also ship based on that potential in fanfic. The 'what if', the build up to that relationship and the sweet satisfaction when they finally do.

Sonadow, Sonamy...

OK so we all know that there's a civil mid-joke war inside the Sonic Fandom about preferences between Sonadow and Sonamy, right?

And, I thought, "hey, what if I actually give my opinion about this one ship because I actually can relate this one to my, less romance-inclined, more lore-related train if thought about these guys?"

REMINDER THAT THIS WILL NOT SIDE WITH EITHER SIDE MUCH UNTIL THE END ("In my humble opinion..." part)

THERE'S ALSO AN ANALYSIS! But at the end, since it's more of a personal analysis that is not fully factual, just a study of the characters.

Yeah so here it goes...

(Everything with a "*" means that it will be explained at the end with the more "sonic" stuff, less related to the ship.)

Sonamy

Realistically, Amy was created to be more of "just an addition to the Sonic team" with more female representation. She started off as just Sonic's girlfriend or love interest, even though he never showed as much interest for her as she did for him. In short, her interest in him did show since she made her first appearance, clearly showing that that would be the main or most shown romantic relationship in the franchise.

At the beginning, she was completely a Sonic fangirl and had much interest in him, specifically shown in shows or some comics... but as they realized the potential of the character, they stopped making her whole reason to be there sonic, changing it slightly, but still firing the character. This also meant that they stopped making her be "madly in love" or that interested in sonic, who was never interested in the first place. This, outside of the franchise is clearly the creators noticing the potential of a character with a heart as big as Amy's, but inside of the franchise it was probably her maturing (going from typical teenage romance-obsessed phase to just a normal crush), which was (ok this one thing is my opinion, yeah...) a big improvement to the character, to give her a story, more personality...

Now, about the ship itself... Sonamy has always been one-sided, or at least in most cases. And this had been stated and was seen clearly throughout the franchise (ok realistically I did not watch sonic boom but that one is not really canon in the main story which is the one that I am talking about). At first, maybe it was not shown in a very modern or uh... less obvious way... but listen the 90's are the 90's ok. but they showed it nonetheless. So, respectfully, Sonamy has not been canon from both sides clearly in most of the canon storyline.

Sorry Sonamy shippers...

(further study of this ship is after Sonadow, but that is a more personal review so I understand if you are not so interested)

(I'd add a single picture of these two but all I can find is FANART...)

Sonadow

So yeah I think we can all accept that no matter how gay it looks we have no proof that they are canon with facts and from a less biased point of view...

We have Sonic's line "I heart you too, Shadow" hope that's enough to feed ya xd

Nah but seriously there is an analysis to these two, it's just not that based in facts and hints like Sonamy had.

The analysis...

Now that the factual part has been explained, let's see this from a more Sonic POV, okay?

Sonic

Sonic is a character that likes to do everything, achieve everything, and be the fastest. His quote is quite literally "Gotta go fast". Of course, in a relationship, he would, not only be interested in, but also need, someone who can "keep up", as toxic as that sounds. He does not really need someone as fast as him, just someone that he can trust to be there by his side at every fight (or most of them), someone who will be at his level enough to fight by his side, otherwise it would be too dangerous. Something else that I've noticed is that the ones he is closest with, or has shown more attachment towards, are also people that can keep him with his feet on the ground, people that know when and how to say "You are not going to do this" and convince him, or, people to just keep him company and remind him who he is when he forgets (and, hey, it's Sonic, he also likes to have a few laughs).

As coincidental as that sounds, being able to both keep up and slow him down are traits that both characters mentioned earlier fulfil (yeah maybe Shadow more specifically... but shut up this is also supportive for Sonamy shippers ok LET THEM BE HAPPY LET THEM ALL BE HAPPY)

In any case, Sonic is a free-spirited supersonic hedgehog that will go wherever he wants whenever he wants, he helps people that are in trouble if he has the chance, and will fight and laugh alongside people who were once, currently are, or have tried to keep up. But being in a relationship itself is more effort than occasional visits, and Sonic knows that; he will be in a relationship with someone that can "keep up" and stand by him for the good of both of them. Obviously, he will also give, put in the effort to make the relationship work, but he knows who, when he gives 50, can give back 50, and those are people that will keep up with his adventures.

In my opinion... (the logic of the analysis applied to my train of thought, this is more biased from now on)

Sonamy

I understand why people see these two as a cute couple. Honestly, it makes sense. She does fulfil most of the traits and he does fulfil many of her expectations, from what I have seen of her...

But it's the keeping up part. Amy is a kind, warm hedgehog who loves nature and loves protecting nature. I have always had the feeling that, at some point (when she's a young adult probably), she would get a small house, near a natural area, where all her friends are, and stay there to protect them in that area. She would stay in one place that would fully grow on her and she would spend all her life there, protecting what she wishes to fight for and taking care of nature, as well as some visits every now and then to her friends if they are far away.

I have never been a fan of the concept of a one-sided ship, due to how toxic it can be. But there is something about the way that Amy, even with her crush, respects Sonic's boundaries, that makes me feel like this is the one single one-sided ship I find interesting and perfect as it is. Sonic is not uncomfortable with her, on the contrary, he enjoys spending time with her a lot, but when she goes to a more romantic mode, he does seem more uncomfortable in most cases.

Plus... this one small part is way more of a personal opinion, but Amy staying single and possibly being a single mother feels very in-character and sweet.

Sonadow

Shadow. As cryptic as he chooses to be at times, he has shown that he cares about Sonic before, which for the character, someone who lost everything in a person who meant the universe to him, is quite a lot. He has been open- or as open as he can be- with Sonic before, which clearly makes their friendship-rivalry slightly more different that his relationship with other people. Shadow's only "problem" is that at times he cannot express himself well.

They respect each other, even if they don't always show it. They care about each other, and even admire some actions the other does. Their rivalry is not toxic, it's just competitive.

Shadow does have the traits that Sonic would be most interested in, like Amy, but in his case, he is less feeling, but he can definitely keep up and even slow Sonic down. He has followed him when he thought he could put the world or himself in dagger multiple times, but he has not shown that well his ability to encourage Sonic (yeah no he has his own way with words and that way is not saying anything, much less to someone with Sonic's high self-esteem)

Apart from that, my pov again for the future, both of them could make great parents, and their relationship in a family could be interesting since they already act like a married couple xd but then again, Sonic does not seem like the kind of person who will just have a kid unless something "eye-opening" or lifechanging happens to him.

Conclusion

But then again this is just an analysis that would be in case he would settle with either of them for life, so it might not be the best if we are just keeping them with their current age or a bit older xd

Plus, this is more related to their personalities, facts and lore... since I'm not the most adequate to judge how romantic and other kinds of attraction work haha (aroace nation rISE)

Also, as un-biased as this is, this still has a bit of personal opinion, so don't take it too canon and stuff

And remember everyone had the right to have their own opinions, even if we don't like them. Respect everyone and their opinions! They aren't hurting anyone anyway, right? (unless it's something highly immoral or just straight up not legal worldwide)

So yeah, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you ship Sonamy, Sonadow or something else, we're all just having fun after all, and if you insult people's opinion you're just being the angry bully in the playground who steals toys and breaks them because it's fun for them, a bitch.

Sonic's got 2 hands after all, ammaright

(this is totally official art trust not al all made in 2 minutes in board with a mouse)