Okay just one extra little art thingy plus a yap session below the cut sorryyy I usually prefer posting my art in clumps
Uhh okay so shades!!! We love bro at least I do lol
So identity issues I essentially always thought he struggled with this, and first in foremost I’m gonna go into the gender related stuff rq to expand my perspective a bit more since I know some hc shades as transgender (I enjoy this, just not my hc)
Personally I see him more as simply gender nonconforming and just queer, not a lot of labels
But anyways it’s pretty clear that shades definitely isn’t entirely strict to being a guy, I mean sure the cross dressing bit was played off as a joke but I love looking deeper idgaf, he clearly ended up taking fun in dressing more feminine, as when seen with knuckles, he clearly got a boost in confidence and u can’t tell me he didn’t have a bit of fun, which was a surprise upon his usual softer personality
(Of course he showcased bravery before with rescuing Amy albeit bawling his eyes out after lol)
Plus generally the activities he’s interested in tend to be more feminine leaning, as well as getting along more with the gals: Amy, rouge and cream, think vanilla too
I think as he observes more about the world he would definitely explore his gender expression, maybe go by she/they for awhile before deciding what he prefers, he strikes me as someone who’d be shocked at first but willing to learn and lean into it upon finding out more (I mean the whole “but I’m a boy!’ Objection to cream into actively having fun in that dress lol)
WHICCHH is why I totally see the transgender vision other people have #u guys cooked trust
Okay onto non gender related identity issues
So shades clearly is vastly different from shadow and I feel he would, in shorter words, essentially live in shadows shadow for quite some time if not most of his life
Like other people would definitely approach him like “OH MY GOD SHADOW WHATRE U DOING HERE WEARING THAG SWEATER LOL?!” And I’m sure after awhile, no matter how kind the rando would be, it would definitely get under his skin
Admittedly in one of the authors notes it’s mentioned that they intended for shades to take on a braver more heroic role and make Sonic feel bad for brushing off his friends, so I don’t think he’d remain soft and docile forever forever, but I think his sensitivity would remain, just that his bravery only really comes out during situations it’s needed in (like with Amy) although I think he fumbles through them only to somehow come out on top lol
I feel he’d develop really bad imposter syndrome (from fumbling through situations) and likely shame from not being as aurafarming as shadow
Plus side note, I like to believe his abilities sometimes malfunction due to him not having fully cooked in the capsule (he was released early)
And I know he definitely has a good support system I mean Amy, vanilla, and cream, but like, sometimes even with support shit still happens
Honestly I think his main struggle is just trying to break out of the mold of simply being a shadow clone, I feel like he’d try out different clothes and hairstyles or maybe even dye his fur, but due to the black doom genes, (pretty sure in Sonic eggs they’re biological clowns not robotic but I had fun in this art) I feel like due to those genes, the next day the dye would fade and his quills would bounce back, constantly stuck in a form he has to make an effort to change












