#uhm. yeah. based off of personal perspective. germs are gross and disgusting and i try not to think about it too hard

[steeltwigz]

Misc. Thoughts abt Germ-phobic Shadow headcanons:

(under the cut becuz it's a bit long but also mentions some things that might be slightly triggering if anyone reading Also has a hard time w the thought of germs and such)

I think Shadow would b kind of hyper vigilant (?) about potential germs in his home. It's one of his traits that's otherwise very unexpected unless you know him. He picked it up from the mindset on the ARK that treated any possible contamination as almost Certain Death and now he can't quite shake it. I also think he would just try avoid things that he thinks are 'gross' or get upset when something is unexpectedly gross, like jumping in a puddle (cool and fun!) And not connecting the dots that you would also get covered in mud (BAD AND EVIL). He can withstand it to a point but after a while being too dirty starts to affect him and he NEEDS to go get washed. I think he would also force Team Dark to clean their apartment more. Maybe even to the point where he walks around personally inspecting every small thing to check for dust or potential hazards. Like scanning with black lights to see if something is dirty and shit.

And he always has some kind of quick sanitizer on his person, just in case. Like a small case of wipes and hand sanitizer or smth. His fur routines are very specific too, and can take a long time to complete. And there's that bit from the takeovers about how his bed must always be made and clean and ironed properly if he's going to sleep in it.

I think he'd also find it kinda gross when people around him share food with each other. ESPECIALLY drinks. The thought of sharing straws makes him turn green.

He refuses to open the window in his bedroom because of all the "smoke and city pollutants" that could flow in. Rouge has taken to just rolling her eyes and shrugging him off. She likes things to be in order and clean, but she isn't rlly worried about mess to the same level of urgency. Like if she spills something, she won't stop everything to fix it if she doesn't have to. One time when she's cooking she leaves a mess on the floor or maybe the countertops for longer than an hour and Shadow starts contemplating setting the kitchen on fire. Or she cooks something and lets it sit on the stovetop for hours after it was finished cooking and only puts it away because Shadow is about to Chaos Spear the whole thing into oblivion.

Like yeah illnesses won't affect him, but I think he could potentially still carry them, so he still tries to avoid them whenever possible, even if it means refusing to share a drink with someone which would Probably not do anything to him. Plus, in Maria's case, even the smallest contaminant was very dangerous, so he'd be on edge even for the slightest things. Went out and someone was coughing or sneezing without proper covering? Come home, clean door handles, clean gloves, clean fur. Had to go on the subway? Come home, scrub down boots, scrub rings, clean gloves, clean fur. Stuff like that.

His accessories are mostly metal so they're easy to sanitize, but if he happened to get blood that was Not his own on his gloves or in his fur I think he'd try to burn them. Obviously with his fur he can't do that, but he would want to. Depending on the severity, Rouge or OMEGA might have to physically stop him from trying.

He isn't allowed to watch Invader Zim becuz its portrayal of earth makes him so so disgusted that it's hard to go exist in public spaces. Have you seen that show. I couldn't even THINK about going out for AGES after watching some of those episodes. Genuinely made my stance on dirt and grime one MILLION times worse. And I watched it in high school so it eventually overlapped with when I had swim class in gym. TERRIBLE TIMING. Shadow would HATE public pools and he's a real one for that.