made purely for sonadow heh

I finally watched The Summer Hikaru Died, and dang, y'all were right. The parallels to BOTGP are amazing. It's also just a fantastic series on its own. I highly recommend

I wanted to try redrawing a scene from the show with da bois and ended up with this ✨️

Not gonna lie, I really struggled with this one, I tried experimenting with some new techniques while copying my previous work's palette, but Im not as pleased with the final result. Can only get better by practicing, though, so I will keep trying 🫡

I also can't get the image of the last panel looking like the "no you're cringe" meme XD

Here's the original sketch just cuz

I wanted to put my spin/interpretation on a particular scene you wrote and I hope you like it! (I really love this story!)

A part of this story I especially loved, @nebrasska-alasska was how you wrote what Shadow experienced when he transformed with Sonic for the first time, and how he got to see Sonic's true soul and raw being. And I was reminded of this song, Gorecki by Lamb, which I felt really evoked the way you described their love in that moment, both in vibe and lyrics. (Just something I wanted to share while making this piece, I hope you agree!)

The moment where Shadow asks the phantom/Sonic 'What was your first impression of me when we met?' and he responds with 'I thought you were the most beautiful creature I had ever laid my eyes upon'. My interpretation was, if this is Sonic, or at least an imprint of him from his last moments manifested by chaos energy, then his answer to Shadow's question (in my interpretation) was based on Super Sonic's first impression of him when they transformed, since that's the form that is being taken right now. (And because the first time he truly 'saw', SHADOW, was when they transformed and he too got to witness Shadow's raw soul.) You put so much beauty into writing what Shadow experienced when he transformed with Sonic, I liked to interpret Sonic's words as coming from the same point of reference, as a kind of bittersweet connection.

The Headcanon

And this is where my own favourite headcanon projects onto it, and sorry haha, but you just really inspired me to finally share something about it and I hope you like it. I love your idea that Shadow was always drawn to the light and goodness in Sonic's soul, and to mention my own Sonadow headcanon, I love the thought that Sonic in return was drawn to Shadow by his rawness and ruthlessness and by what Shadow brought to his life by being his rival.

Realising that Sonic had met someone who could match his power, speed and will all at once, meant that he wasn't the sole most powerful being in the world anymore. And deep down that was something Sonic desperately craved to feel, that he wasn't the only person who could carry the world- someone could match him. Not just match him, but challenge him, push him to be better, be able to witness him fail without losing morale, be able to step in when he wavers. Not need him the way the rest of the world does. The fact that Shadow is his equal, is his rival, means he's the only other one capable of carrying the burden that he does.

He's been his secret lifeline since the day he got to feel their heartbeats as one. When Shadow is around, he feels like nothing can go wrong, like they can achieve anything together, like the world won't end if he breathes for a moment. When Shadow is around everything feels just that little bit safer for Sonic, in a way that he's never realised he needed before. Sonic's presence makes the world feel safe, but Shadow's presence makes Sonic feel safe.