#synthshade

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

Sorry if this is way too long, because it's INSANELY long, originally it was just something simple like:

If the 6th stage of the Werehog is a quadruped, does Sonic lose his thumbs?

But then I started thinking about it WAY too much, and then I got really into the possible symbolism and themes of it. So I ended up writing like a full length essay below by going on a long tangent on my interpretation of what the comic's central theme might be.

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Anyway, if the 6th stage of Sonic's transformation is quadrupedal, does he lose the ability to walk upright and use his hands? Because I can imagine Sonic mid-tf, thinking "at least this can't get any worse", and then it does get worse, when he gets forced onto all fours and his thumbs become useless.

Either way, considering how distressed Sonic already is over his condition, being (physically) reduced to an animal is not going to go well for his mental health, that's for sure.

(And here's where that essay/tangent starts)

Speaking of mental health, the Werehog could represent the surfacing of Sonic's negative emotions, or 'inner darkness' so to speak. Sonic has a tendency to keep his real emotions to himself, so he hides them behind a cool and confident facade, not wanting to let on that he can be unsure and insecure. Sonic feels he has to be strong for everyone else, so he hides his issues from others and ignores them. Sonic is avoiding his 'darkness', but avoidance is not a solution.

Both Sonic's emotions and condition are only going to get stronger, and oftentimes, when someone's negative emotions get too strong, it twists them into a scared animal.

Which Sonic has literally turned into.

Unable to see past his fear, Sonic's reason is being clouded by his self-doubt and self-loathing, and he might be feeling the constant fear of: "if I can't even love myself, how can I expect anyone else to love me?"

How do hands tie into that? I think hands symbolize support and comfort.

At least three times, Shadow reaches out to Sonic to comfort and support him, showing him that he loves and cares about him.

The first time, on p28 of Issue 4, Sonic is having a rough change and is in a lot of pain, and is probably at his most vulnerable, so Shadow reaches out and lets Sonic hold his hand so that he knows he's there for him.

The second time, on p6 of Issue 6, Shadow just about tells Sonic what he needs to hear. He's going to be okay, it's alright to be like this and Shadow's not going to hold it against him, and he's there for Sonic. Shadow reaches out to comfort, and not only does Sonic accept it, he pulls in and hugs Shadow close, knowing that Shadow really is there for him.

However, on p3 of Issue 7, the third time doesn't go so well. Shadow hadn't told Sonic about Holoska's polar night, afraid that Sonic would bail if he had known. Because Shadow had doubted and didn't trust Sonic, Sonic now doubts and doesn't trust Shadow.

When Shadow reaches out to support him, Sonic sees it as Shadow just trying to "play nice on [him] now", and so Sonic refuses it, slapping away Shadow's hand.

"[He] relied on [him], Shadow. But it seems like that was a mistake", Sonic responds as he leaves, now isolating himself.

Now believing that he can only rely on himself, Sonic goes back to trying to do so. Looking at the cover to Issue 7, I believe that hand is Sonic's own hand -- Sonic is trying to support himself.

Symbolically, if Sonic lost his hands he'd lose the ability to support himself.

No one can handle negative emotions by themselves forever, and Sonic needs those around him as much as they need him. He needs their comfort and support, because he can't rely on himself forever.

And Sonic knows those close to him love him, so why is he so afraid to ask for help? Vulnerability.

All his life, Sonic has been strong for everyone else, helping those and need and being a hero. Being the one who needs help for once, goes against his whole life. It's not just the fear of being a burden, it's the fear of not being what everyone else expects him to be, both in body and mind.

But if Sonic would just let himself be vulnerable by showing this side of himself to everyone else, and admitting he has issues he can't handle on his own, Sonic would realize that those around him only want him to live his best life, regardless of who or what he is.

Even if what's on the outside is sometimes a beast, what's on the inside will always be Sonic.

No matter what, those close to him will always love him, through all his good and bad times. Like night and day itself, it's all part of the same cycle. The darkest nights always lead to the brightest days.

Sonic's friends will never hold this 'darkness' against him, because it's still part of him -- it's still Sonic. And while Sonic may have bad moments, but that doesn't make him bad, and even if he doesn't believe it, he still deserves compassion and acceptance.

After all, this 'monster' still has a heart.

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Anyway, sorry again for writing something so long. It was actually kinda fun to look back on and analyze the comic, but I definitely overdid it.

It'd probably be an understatement to say I love this comic, but I do absolutely love it.

NO SORRY I THINK THIS IS VERY INTERESTING!!!!!!!!!!

especially the last few paragraphs have me clutching at my heart

#fan lore #synthshade #long post #text heavy

[personadescent]

𝙲:\𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙶 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾\

(I'll edit this and add to it at some point)

First off, if you see any 'reposts' on here from @/synthshade -- that's my old blog, I'll be moving some posts over to this one. I'll leave the old blog up for now, but I'll be clearing it out as I move over to this blog.

With that out of the way--

Masterposts:

...I don't actually know what to put in an info post. I guess I'll start with the AUs?

STH: Dark Crisis

STH: Homecoming (I don't have a masterpost for it yet, I'm just putting this here as a reminder to make one.)

Hyperphantasic. I've got "hyperrealistic imagination" -- and yeah, I can watch a movie in my head, it's really that detailed. (If you see me use the abbreviation HP, I'm talking about hyperphantasia.)

I can't think of anything else interesting to add, but I guess if you want to know a bit about me--

I might have synesthesia too??? I'm not sure. But as far as I can tell I might have a mild form of it.

Trans man, been on T since June 2022. You can ask me about it if you want, but don't be an ass. (I'll tag posts about this as 'Des_T.txt', I'm not sure if I want my posts to show up in the main tags.)

I can't think of anything else to say so that's it for now