#shadow prompts

[grainofsaltadvice]

Journal Prompt #11

Talk about something that you consider is a weakness within yourself. What makes it a weakness? Does it hinder you in any way? If yes, explain the ways it holds you back. Is it something that you can improve upon? If so, how?

[iamshwee]

🌺 shadow work “saturday”

Hello~ I’m Shwee! 🥰

I’m a shadow worker and hellenic eclectic witch from the depths of Ohio. I specialize in self-love, self-care, and self-worth!  I focus on sharing tips, affirmations, and journaling shadow work prompts  🌺

These are my favorite mini-shadow work starter prompts and I wanted to share them to help those on their current (or starting!) shadow work journey!

Please feel free to respond per question/post in replies if called to! I adore hearing your answers to the prompts, but your comfort and desired privacy is what matters most! So, remember, you don’t have to publicly share anything, shadow work is a very personal journey 💗 

(and yes-- these can be done any day of the week! I just love doing my shadow work on saturday and sundays!)

🌺 1 ▫️ start by keeping track of your feelings/emotions throughout the day; record how you felt and try to pin-point why you felt certain ways in different situations

• how could you have handled it better..?

• why did you react the way you did..?

🌺 2 ▫️ write a letter to your past or future self, then break down your thoughts on why you said or did certain things; address any emotions that pop up during this process and record them

• why did you feel that way..?

• what events in your life made you right a wrong..?

🌺 3 ▫️ consider your life today and the reality in this moment

• are you living true to yourself..?

• are you changing who you are based on who you're around..?

• if so, what are those changes..?

• why do you make those changes..?

🌺 4 ▫️ allow yourself to remember a person you miss or unintentionally distanced from

• are you holding on to someone you should let go of..?

• dig deeper, do you know why you're hold on to them still..?

• what are small steps you can take to let go of them..?

🌺 5 ▫️ think of your deepest honest fear; but your REAL fears, but not just spiders or heights

• could this fear be irrational..?

• why do you think you're afraid of those things..?

• are there any steps you can take to lessen that fear..?

🌺 6 ▫️ mention the people closest in your life

• how do you treat each of those people..?

• are you being a positive healthy influence on their life..?

• if you're are you a toxic one, what changes are you able to make in your behavior to stop the toxicity..?

🌺 7 ▫️ acknowledge the things you often hide about yourself, especially when it comes to certain people in certain situations

• what do you wish other people knew about you..?

• why do you keep these things so hidden..?

• do you feel more embarrassed or scared..?

🌺 8 ▫️allow your mind to take you back to a rather traumatic time in your life; try to outline this incident

• are you allowing yourself to heal from past traumas or incidents..?

• what healthy ways could you address unhealed trauma in order to move to a healthier place..?

🌺 9 ▫️ make a list of people you don't like, tolerate, or understand

• try to be completely honest, why do you believe you don't like them..?

• are they actually bad people or do you see bad parts of yourself you hate  reflecting in them..?

🌺 10 ▫️ write down everything that happens to you in a week that makes you feel bad in any way, time stamp these entry's for later comparisons!

• are you mostly feeling overwhelmed..?

examine each of these and ask why certain events make you feel bad throughout the day/week

✨ BONUS-- write down what you believe about a variety of things in life; from religion and karma all the way down to relationships and your career path

• why do you believe those things..?

• are these feelings set in stone or are you willing to accept alternate views..?

[babysfirstpentagram]

Shadow Work: Week 2

Day 1: Do you consider yourself petty? Like, legitimately petty. Someone that goes out of their way to rant about someone to that person. Why do you consider/not consider yourself petty?

Day 2: How do you see yourself? Not looks wise, personality wise.

Day 3: Are you the one that does the peer pressuring, or the one that is peer pressured.

Day 4: Do you have morals? Do you break them? 

Day 5: Would you put everyone else first? 

Day 6: What is your proudest achievement and why? 

Day 7: What emotion do you feel daily? What is causing you to feel this way?

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

[Prompt 40: “Copy of a Savior”, ~700 words]

Ciel fixed her eyes on her terminal as she worked. Her fingers blazed back and forth across the keyboard, conducting the multitude of lights dancing on the screen, the clacking of each input contributing to the effort of drowning out all other sounds.  Several other researchers ambled about the lab behind her—most were Reploids, though there were two human scientists hanging close to the far wall.

“Kind of weird, isn’t it?” one said. “Engineered or not, she’s still a kid.”

The other nodded.  “It is rather unsettling, seeing one so young doing such advanced work. Even I can’t understand all of it.”

“Me neither.  Being outdone by a kid…just doesn’t seem right.”

“Hm.  It is what she was designed for—that’s enough solace for me.”

“Is it really?”

“Well…”

They both turned at the sound of someone clearing their throat.  Standing there was X, giving them a harsh look as he said, “Something the matter, doctors?”

“O-Oh, Master X!  No, sir, nothing at all.  We were just about to get back to work.”

“Good.  Carry on, then.”

The two of them slinked off in a hurry.  X walked over to Ciel, gently setting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.  She jolted as if emerging from a trance, then smiled up at him. “Oh, I’m sorry.  How are you today, Master X?”

“I haven’t reason to complain, Dr. Ciel.  How have you been?”

“I’m okay!  I’ve been coding a new model of Pantheon specialized in reconnaissance, and I think it’s going pretty well.  It might be a while before it’s finished, though.”

X scanned her monitor.  “Take all the time you need, doctor.  One cannot rush perfection.”

With a giggle, Ciel resumed her work.  X cast another look around the lab: the other researchers were each buried in their own project, scattered about seemingly at random.  The desks closest to Ciel, however, all remained empty.  He quietly hummed to himself.

“Dr. Ciel,” he said, “how have your colleagues been treating you?”

Ciel frowned, but didn’t stop working.  “We, um…get along alright, I guess.”

“Truly?  If they are being unkind, I would like to know so that something can be done.”

“It’s…well…they…”

She looked back and forth.  Her typing ceased.  After a few silent seconds, she pulled her goggles down over her eyes and hunched over her terminal.

“...It’s only natural they think I’m weird,” she mumbled.  “I’m not a normal human.  They have no frame of reference, so of course they’re unsure how to approach me.  I get it—it’s no big deal…”

“I must disagree, doctor,” X said.  “Your DNA may have been modified, but it is 100% human; and regardless of your origin, they should still treat you with the respect you are due.”

Ciel kept her head down.

“...Do you think you’d be happier if your birth had been more conventional?”

She looked up.  “No way!  I want to use my gifts to make this world a better place, I…just kinda…wonder…”

Ciel hunched over again, pressing her goggles into her face with both hands.  X knelt next to her seat and waited.

“My DNA was…mostly based on the scientist who programmed Mother Elf, right?”

“Right.”

“She made the world a better place…so, maybe what I’m feeling is just…”

X inclined his head.  “...A copy of what she felt?”

Ciel nodded.

“I highly doubt that’s all there is to it. Your DNA draws from multiple samples, to say nothing of the enhancements made to it during gestation.  And that aside, even if you were an exact copy, your thoughts and feelings are still your own: how you act on them will prove the difference between yourself and your original.  Who knows? You may even be able to surpass her.”

She looked up slightly.  “You think so?”

“I do.”  X chuckled.  “What, are copies such terrible things?”

“Oh, no!  I didn’t mean—”

“I know, doctor.  Just a joke.”

Ciel sighed.  Slowly raising her goggles, she said, “Thank you, X.”

He nodded.  Leaning in, he quietly added, “Anything for my creator.  I know better than anyone how hard it can be to live up to someone else’s legacy.  Let’s support each other as we make our own way in the world.”

Ciel grinned.  “Yeah!  Absolutely!”

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

[In a desperate attempt to write s o m e t h i n g, I decided to actually try the idea proposed in this post of using the 326 path names from Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) as writing prompts.  I make no promise of actually getting through all of them, but I want to try randomly picking one every now and then and giving it a shot.  Anyway the first one I got was 138, “The Black Hero’s Rebirth”, and this one’s actually about Shadow, trying to think of a way his friends could reasonably convince him to bring back his character development.  ~940 words.]

“So, tell me how long you’re prepared to keep this up.”

Shadow glanced across the table at Rouge, but just for a moment before staring off at some desolate corner of the diner.  “What on Earth are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes.  “Right, sorry.  I’ll be blunt.  How much more is it going to take for you to leave G.U.N.?”

“Tch!  And why would I do that?  Scared I’ll make you look bad?”

“Please—I don’t need any help looking bad.”

Shadow scoffed and grabbed a fistful of coffee beans from his cup.

“And you shouldn’t need any help to see that you’re just not getting what you need out of this job.  But if someone has to step in, it may as well be me.”

“Spare me your delusions.  My position is every bit as rewarding as I could possibly want.  If it weren’t for my efforts, the safety of people the world over would be in perpetual jeopardy.  What more worthy goal could there be?”

Rouge sipped her coffee.  “That’s a very ‘big picture’ way of looking at it.  But it seems to me that you’ve forgotten how to think small.”

Shadow just crossed his arms and grunted.

“I’m serious!  Here, take your last mission for example: separate it out from the big picture and think about it in isolation for a minute.  Willing to call that a rewarding job?”

He ground his teeth.

“How about the mission before that?  And the one before that?  When was the last time one individual mission felt like a job well done?”

“Well what does that matter?!”

“Well, why wouldn’t it?”

“You understand nothing!  It’s up to me to keep the peace in this world—I won’t run away from that responsibility like some coward!”

“And working for G.U.N. is the only way you can do that?”

Shadow scoffed and chewed on his beans.  Rouge sighed, then took a long sip of coffee.

“Listen, Shadow,” she said.  “You and I have been through a lot together.  I’ve seen you at your best, and I’ve seen you at your worst.  And I don’t think I’ve seen the former in a long time.  I know you think you have to keep doing this, but you obviously aren’t happy, and everyone can see how it’s wearing on you.”

“Even if you were right about that,” Shadow said, “that still wouldn’t change the fact that I have to.”

Rouge jabbed a finger at him.  “What I’m saying is, you don’t.”

“Hmph!”

“Enough ‘hmph’ing already!  Shadow, if this keeps up, you’re just going to keep being miserable, which not only makes you miserable to be around, but limits what good you can actually do.  If you’re trying to be efficient in your ‘noble duty’ or whatever, you’re doing a bad job.”

Shadow shot to his feet.  “Bah!  Keep out of my business, Rouge!  Your approval is far from the most important thing I’m after.”

He turned to leave, only to find his face inches from a wall of metal.

“...Omega.  When did you get here?”

Shadow scowled up at the robot.  Omega stared back unflinchingly, saying, “TIME OF ARRIVAL IRRELEVANT. PRIORITY SUBJECT OF CONVERSATION: YOUR IMBALANCED MENTAL STATE.”

“Ugh, not you too…”

“SHADOW.  I HAVE REVIEWED MY DATABANKS, AND HAVE CONCLUDED THAT YOU ARE NOW 43.002% MORE IRRITABLE THAN WHEN WE FIRST MET.  ACTION IS REQUIRED TO PREVENT REACHING THRESHOLD OF 50%, AT WHICH POINT, THE LIKELIHOOD OF OUR FRIENDSHIP TERMINATING RISES EXPONENTIALLY.”

Shadow turned around and crossed his arms.

“THIS OUTCOME MUST BE PREVENTED AT ALL COSTS.  ERGO, CONFRONTATION HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED.”

Rouge said, “See?  Even Omega’s worried about you.”

“I don’t care!” Shadow said.  “I have a job to do.  If you aren’t backing me up, then just stay out of my way!”

As he stomped towards the door, Omega said, “OUTBURST ADDED TO LIST.”

Shadow whirled.  “What was that?!”

“AS PART OF DATABANK REVIEW, A LIST OF UNCALLED FOR OUTBURSTS WAS COMPILED.  QUANTITY OF DATA POINTS INCREASES AS TIME GOES ON, BEGINNING SHORTLY AFTER THE COMPLETION OF YOUR G.U.N. TRAINING.  BEGINNING RANDOMIZED PLAYBACK…”

Shadow opened his mouth to shout.  Before he could, he heard his own voice yell from Omega’s speakers: “Quit wasting my time with your nonsense already!”

A chill ran down his spine, forcing him to stop and listen.

“Clearly you don’t understand the importance of this operation, so why don’t you do us all a favor and get lost?”

“Unbelievable.  This is why I don’t work with amateurs.”

Shadow’s gaze slowly fell.

“Judging by your vacant expression, you couldn’t even think this far ahead.  Or am I wrong?”

“Pathetic!  Is that really the best you can do?  What a farce.”

“Here I thought at least you would know better.  Rest assured, I won’t overestimate you again.”

Shadow shut his eyes tightly.

“I don’t know why I’m surpri—”

“That’s enough,” he said.  “You’ve made your point.”

Omega complied, shutting off the recording.  Rouge sipped her coffee.

“...Funny.  Despite having said all those things, I can’t remember why I said even one of them.”

His teammates stayed silent.  Shadow turned, but he did not leave right away.

“Perhaps you do have a point.  I’ll need some time to think on it, but…thank you, Rouge, Omega.”

Once he was gone, Omega turned to Rouge.  “FORMAL INQUIRY ON THE NECESSITY OF FURTHER ACTION.”

Rouge shook her head.  “No, let’s give him some space for now.  Don’t want to overdo it.”

“AFFIRMATIVE.  NOW ACTIVATING PATIENCE PROTOCOLS.”

Kicking her feet up on the table, Rouge said, “You know, Omega…I have a good feeling about this.  I think we might just get the real Shadow back after all.”