one of the things i love about zestiria is that it's not a classic chosen one story. they set it up like it is one in the beginning with the legends but in reality the only requirement is that the shepherd have high resonance so he can communicate with lailah and form the pact. there's no destiny there's no "chosen by the gods" it's just about being able to see seraphim. really the only thing that makes sorey special is that he grew up around seraphim instead of humans
and even further, the role of the shepherd isn't something you have to take. it's not "a calling" it's a choice. lailah makes a point of confirming with sorey that this really is something he wants to do. he could have refused if he wanted to and i think that's really interesting cause you see a lot of destiny stuff where the protagonist has to take it on and zestiria is really refreshing in that way
i really hate destiny type shit in my stories. and i love that zestiria doesn't do that
Heyo, I'm Alice escaping from twitter. I'm gonna gradually post my old puzzleshipping art from there!! Hope I still get my tumblr etiquette right, it's been a while😭
i feel like people forget that canonically shadow the hedgehog was always a little horrified at the nature of his existence. i see a lot of stuff where shadow is an innocent little baby before maria dies and its very cute, but i think the reality is infinitely funnier. he's like "maria. i woke up in a tube with the ability to think. i was told of my purpose in this world and i somehow understood, despite the fact that my consciousness had existed for mere minutes. people learn through their experiences, then think through the lens they've created in childhood. i was never a child. to have no childhood... but to have thoughts... whose thoughts are they? are they mine? are they that of the men who created me? if my thoughts are not my own... am i even a person?"
and then maria's just like "shadow you're so silly let's get some hot chocolate" and he goes "okie"