Oh hello been a while I made a new ref for Shade! There was gonna be doodles that go with it but dropped it as I have other stuff I wanted to do. This has been sitting in my drafts for like over 2 months figured might as well be time to post it since I got other interests holding me lol. Here's some info I wanna share
-When I originally created Shade in 2022 he was lot different from now used to be a hated traveler of some kind (this honestly got nowhere) to him considered being a bit stern to others but meant well and now him being a big softie with a lot of inner turmoil
-His name is a reference to my oc stuff Miracle Universe! In one of my worlds named Aurora Nights there was a villain named Shademoon for a while I was going through a drought from Miracle Universe and decided to take a break from it so I moved to Pokemon wanting to play around with ideas. There are some mira uni references scattered around and the name one I thought was fitting for a darkrai but eventually decided I'll shorten it down to Shade instead to keep the two separate from one another.
-Original drawings I had of Shade his hair was styled different from current design. I mostly gave him in rai form long fluffy hair because in gijinka form it is like that and to me it felt weird in rai form his hair is flat giving his gijinka hairstyle was a fun choice I made. He had a lot of hair that's too heavy it can't float anymore so it stays down. He puts a lot of care into his hair and does worry someone accidentally cutting it too short.
-I like imagining Shade as a magic cast user as Im a huge fan of magical media so I decided with that to make him a staff. The staff was originally a scythe made for Shade as a means of protection as Shade considered himself weak but when he took hold of it the scythe had transformed into a staff instead. A little fun fact when I cosplay as Shade in real life I use my scythe as a placeholder for his staff I want to make it someday but for now my scythe works and thought would make a neat little reference to that. Also the ring and staff are inspired by Stella from Winx Club as I always liked the Ring of Solaria transforming into a scepter when she uses it thought could use that good inspiration.
-Shade has a huge sweet tooth and is an enjoyer of cakes. Is good acquaintances to a Alcremie named Holly that runs a bakery with her sister and is her most loyal customer. If were to ask what's his favorite cake it would be Marble Cakes
-He can no longer tell whenever he gets called a fluff ball if its a insult, joke, or compliment as he often gets called that
-Designed the wedding rings for him and Crescent!! Tho he went through a "fun" quest/adventure for those rings hehe it surely was great and I hope this moment didn't lead to any enemies being made whatsoever yea there totally isn't a lot events that happen just because of wedding rings but hey he made some new friends and that's what matters :3
-His voice claim is Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon Crystal (Robbie Daymond)
I believe that's all I can share for now have any questions feel free to ask them
-Up in his mind there's a manifestation of his guilt living there toying with him whenever it gets the chance calling itself a unwanted shadow
