I want my FF being perfect. Just 200 words to erase (I have a better scene in mind) and I'm back to Maekawa's cut scenes to better undestand Shadow.
I must say, I can't complain anymore about why people make Shadow an edgelors, now I even understand their choice. Writing Shadow like Maekawa is hard, because you need balance, sincerity (that is the most important thing) and you need to think and feel like Shadow (so you have to embrace his pain). He is ice cold outside but you must make sure people understand clearly he feels like everybody and his emotions and feelings are intense and rich. When in front to a dilemma or a mission, you have to make him act as he has no other choices, chosing the smarter solutions instead of the spectacular ones. He is never reckless. He may do things he doesn't want to do, even things that can hurt himself if this allows him to reach his purpose.
I realized his 'hardware' actually is truly the one of an autistic. It might not be just an headcanon after all. Using this base makes him surprisling transparent and it helped me a lot to keep him consistent.
Shadow is tricky because using a character sheet to keep him IC is useless. it can even be counterproductive (see the poor results of the mandates). Despite being a logic driven character, he is mostly right brained. You need to reach a state of trance without losing control on him.
Left and right brain. Shadow uses the right side to do the left side tasks.
Edgelord Shadow - a different approach
Writing edgelord Shadow does means looking instead of observing. Edgelord Shadow actually exist, he is like this in most recent media. His traits have been simplified to a great degree and his most complicate sides have been removed. I only tried to write this Shadow for fun, unlike Maekawa's Shadow, who needs to be understood and then absorbed, edgelord Shadow should be written with restrains, trying to avoid to get too villanous (is tempting).
Archie Shadow
Archie Shadow is a good reference if you are to afraid too approach Maekawa's Shadow. He is simplified to be easier to write but he still has the vibes of Maekawa's Shadow. The pre reboot is more similar to Heroes Shadow while the post reboot one is closer to 06/Black Knight version of him.
Trying to write Maekawa's Shadow is a true challenge, exausting yet fun. You should try at least once if you write fan fictions regularly. Do not worry too much of the results. To be honest, I really don't know if I did well or not. Just forget the mandates. When you finish I'll assure you you'll get happy, is a healthier happines than the one you get from a Tik Tok video.
