this is so trueee oughghhh... i subscribe to a particular interpretation of shadow's character where i think that he really isn't sonic's rival so much as he is his own character with his own goals that just happen to coincide with sonic's. because of this i feel like his personality is more or less stoic but he really does care a lot deep down and will gladly be extremely soft and vulnerable around people he really cares for. in other words, i imagine rouge deciding one day to go ahead and spoil the hell out of shadow and by the time he's bloated up to 700lbs rouge cannot stop fondling him because he's so CUTE. i didn't know hedgehogs could purr but it's increasingly getting harder for shadow to tell her to ease up and let go of him... if he even wants to in the first place...