#that goes. dhshfbbf

[dogt-eeth]

use this ask as an excuse to talk about maria robotnik :D!! love to see what you have to say :]

THIS HAS BEEN IN MY INBOX FOR SO LONG IM SO SORRY DHDJDN

Sorry this became kind of just a rant of me doing weird speculations UHM. Dhdndbdb

Maria is just sooo. Everything about her is so compelling to me! The way she's treated as secondary in her Own Story. Even when we're supposed to be thinking about her, Shadow or the ARK is always looming just slightly in the background. She exists in this vacuum of being one of the most important and recognizable human characters in fandom, yet we barely know anything about her! She's related to THE main antagonist and we've heard him talk about her maybe 4 or 5 times. She's a ghost and a martyr and a sacrifice and another name on a list of tragedies and Shadow's sister and Eggman's cousin and a sickly little girl and the catalyst for So MUCH Sonic lore. Everything we now about her, how she acts and why, what she was like, how she felt about her family and the ARK, is determined Mostly by fan interpretation (as far as I know. I mean, she was in Archie as a ghost or hologram or something, but I haven't read that far yet). Even still, the interpretation from fans seems to be always the same! That she was courageous, curious, reckless and active despite her illness. She sought out danger and excitement even if it meant she might accidentally hurt herself. Often times I see Shadow being written as the voice for reason, instead of her! They also agree that she inherited the Robotnik family trait of being intelligent and inventive (something that's actually actively supported by Sonic Channel artwork featuring her reading or excelling in classes). Fans like to think that she wasn't helpless, despite what her game writing would imply, and they kind of reject the notion that she was a perfect young girl who was quiet and polite and attentive which imo is the exact Opposite of what SEGA seemed to want for the character. I really really like this!! It's so fascinating to me how everyone seemingly agrees on these traits despite how little we know of her. What caused that? Coincidence? Did the way Sonic X rebooted Maria with the character Helen affect anything? Fans have given her so much more depth and I love to see it!!!

I want to know so MUCH about her. What was life like on the ARK, where are her parents, what's the Robotnik family tree look like, etc.? We know so Much about every other character, we kind of take it for granted I think. We know most of their favorite foods, songs, colors, flowers, bands, activities, weather patterns, where they live and who they live with, what they do for a living, what their daily routine is like. We even know some of their favorite Gaming Consoles!! But for Maria we get Nothing! Does she even like the color blue? How does she feel about the ARK? What's her favorite movie, song, food, animal? Does she like bugs or reptiles? Does she talk to the other scientists on the ARK? If so, what about? Does she like them? Do they like her? What was her relationship with Commander Towers, and why do we rarely see them mentioned together? When Shadow was created, did she start avoiding Towers, or were they never great friends? What books does she like to read? What's her favorite genre?

She's also just so tragic in a way that's so. Gets me ILL when I think about it for too long. She was Never going to reach the Earth. Did she know? Did she lay awake at night and think about it? She's so so optimistic and hopeful, I don't want to think she ever let herself give up on that dream tbh. And if GUN successfully shut down the ARK without killing her, would she have survived the trip back to the planet? She HAD to live on the ARK for a reason, and the government knew that. Was her death something they had already accepted as collateral before even stepping foot on the ARK? Did the soldier that shot her see her as a dead girl walking? Was the plan always to kill her as a way to make Gerald vulnerable and weak, and the soldier only thought about it enough to recognize it as himself taking the opportunity where he could? Did anyone else develop NIDS before or after those events? Did a proper cure ever develop? Did the citizens of the Earth ever do anything to honor or acknowledge the ARK tragedy? Did GUN ever formally apologize? Is there a monument or something out there?

And about her death! Did the Robotnik family ever find out she died? How long did they have to wait until they got confirmation? Did Maria ever get the dignity of a proper grave and funeral? How long did that take? Was she religious? If so, which religion? Shadow the Hedgehog (the game) is steeped in nods and references to Catholicism, was he Catholic? Was Maria? How did she feel about her religion? Would she have got along with Sonic and Co.? How would she feel about Eggman?

And she was like. Always going to be Shadow's Sister or The Sick Kid. How did that affect her? She's got the Secondary Character To Her Own Life and Doomed By The Narrative swag and it leaves me BEGGING for more information. We can learn a bit about her from Shadow, and assume some things about her based off the way he acts, but a story focused on her specifically would be so so interesting to me.

And about Shadow! Does he ever visit her grave? In Sonic X uncut, he makes a grave marker for Molly, someone who was a lot like Maria too. Did he do that for Maria as well? And if Shadow and Emerl were made "with her soul" or whatever, how much of them are traits of hers? If Gemerl was reprogrammed to be like Emerl, is he similar? I don't know how Maria acted, but I know Gemerl's personality well. Was Maria like that too? How far can you abstract from the original before there aren't any original traits left?

Anyways. Idk. She's so so cool to me. She can be projected on in basically any way becuz of how Little we actually have confirmed about her which is cool too!! Idk what SEGA's obsession with making little girl martyrs is, but I think all of them are cool. Thank God Helen didn't kick the bucket too, idk how many Maria clones my emotional state can handle. If Tikal is the original little girl martyr, would that make Maria a Tikal clone..... Much to think about!

#maria robotnik #sorry if this is Incomprehensible. uh. i kinda just started typing and then kept on typing. and i have ADHD. SOOOOO you can imagine how well #that goes. dhshfbbf