a negative post under the cut (not from me, I'm just commentating on it)
due to the nature of my blog normally I wouldn't even bring this up but a) I'm bored while IT is working on my computer (AGAIN) and b) i like a good discussion.
I'm gonna skip over the obvious fallacies of shadamy being a fake ship (bc what does that mean, I have no idea) and that SEGA never acknowledges it (they clearly have) or markets Shadamy (if the Shadamy Sakura series and them being marketed together didn't clue them in, then they are willingly ignorant abt it lol)
I did want to discuss the Amy Rose Minnie Mouse aspect and her "purpose of the franchise" bc i actually have a lot of thoughts to this! And before I go one, it should go without saying but I do love SonAmy, it's very cute and they're characters who can have good chemistry and deserve good things! Anyway, here's my thoughts.
Amy being created to be Sonic's Minnie Mouse as far as I had read it was pressure from the company to make Sonic more marketable (i.e. adding girl character, hero saves damsel quests etc). What i love about how they went about it was flipping the script, especially for the era, it was more commonplace for damsel characters to be the sweet, love interest (Minnie, princess peach, princess daphne) that the hero pursues as a goal to complete as well as a reward for his efforts.
Sonic being adverse to Amy's advances, who is supposedly created to be the love interest, is unique and adds to his personality which was a really good move imo. it added to the edge that Sonic kind of gives as a protagonist, his sass, his impatience, his cock sure nature while also being altruistic and loyal of course, but him viewing Amy as a friend that he occasionally has to rescue and bear the affections of is objectively silly and fun.
Now, pertaining to Amy's purpose of the franchise being Sonic's endgame love interest, I do take a lot more issue with. Not only does it invalidate Amy's space in this franchise, making her no more than a romantic reward for the ending of Sonic's hero's quest (because, if SEGA thinks Sonic won't "slow down" for Amy now, it implies he will have to undergo some sort of change or, less noble, when he seems himself ready to reciprocate Amy's feelings on his terms, irregardless of how long he makes Amy wait for him) but it also ironically makes Sonamy make less sense canonically.
Like, if Amy is only meant to work as Sonic's female, romantic counterpart, why does SEGA not let it happen canonically? Because it's not a ship war thing honestly, most of the GP already assumes they are and there's plenty of valentines merch to suggest otherwise, so...why not just do it? probably because it doesn't make sense for Sonic's character and I don't just mean for SonAmy, honestly, I mean it for any and all Sonic ships. It isn't that Sonic doesn't love or wouldn't have romantic feelings, it's that I think he doesn't allow himself those attachments. Friends are everything in this world and I've always loved this franchise for showcasing an array of lovely strong friendships, but the difference in friends and significant others is that there's compromise, there's balance, there's giving up things, there's building a home and a family and doing things as 2 as opposed to only needing to worry about yourself. friendships are no less of a love than romance but there's also a lot more grace in friendships when it comes to responsibilities and emotional compromises. I'm getting into the weeds a bit here but what I mean to say is that Sonics character doesn't make sense for a romantic partner, free like the wind and on an eternal hero's journey. It has also never appeared to be a want of his to be able to have these things (but im willing to be proven otherwise) Maybe down the road it would, but that's not fair to Amy or any other partner for that matter. Amy's whole world doesn't need to revolve around waiting for her hero to be ready to accept her, especially to a character so full and rich in love and affections to give.
It doesn't escape me that one of Amy's most defining and strongest showing was because of Shadow. This is kind of where I can get extremely biased and go on and on about how great a story arc would be for Shadamy to become endgame. Briefly, Sonamy being canon kind of takes away from Sonic's character, while Shadamy enriches. Amy who obsesses and does everything for the attention of her first love finding her own purpose and making her world bigger by being her own hero which was the case for her finding her courage after feeling useless by helping Shadow to remember his promise just by being herself. Shadow who is jaded and hurt and isolated from friends and the world he now lives in finding love and affection and strength in those things because of Amy Rose's big heart. Idk, it's all very poetic to me.
So in conclusion, Sonamy and Shadamy good, but writing wise, Shadamy has a lot more going for it. One of my irl friends who watches sonic things over my shoulder has always taken issue with Sonamy being the canon default bc of her pursuing and Sonics pushing away. When I introduced her to the idea of Shadamy she hoped on with more enthusiasm haha probably bc it was around the mosth era and that was a pretty good showing for them haha. anyway. these are my humble thoughts. I'm not all knowing of this franchise or think myself correct in every way but idk. I don't think its fair to rule out character shipping just bc it wasn't the original intention. that happens all the time with things after all (RIP canon zutara) so maybe op can take a chill pill 😅
