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Frankly, I'm of the opinion that if Shadow is the only person Silver's around (and Shadow's probably protective but you didn't hear it from me) then it could still produce that naïve-ness that we see in the games, not socializing properly can jack you up in all sorts of ways. It's important to learn how to talk to strangers and new friends and learn how boundaries work, and you can't get that from a parent. And if Silver didn't know Blaze for a good while (like until he was nine) then I think it's plausible.
But tbh, you're not really talking about funny hedgehogs so much as you are talking about child psychology. (Nerd time from someone barely qualified!)
The real question is Nature V.S. Nurture™ and it's like the trolley problem of child psychology. It's the question of what makes a person the way they are. Are they naturally naïve, or is it directly their upbringing. If someone was raised by a murderer does that automatically mean the kid will become one too? It's pretty complicated, but if you want to grasp the concept better then go and watch Megamind again. I'm serious.
The point is, if you're someone who's fond of the idea of souls (as a loose concept not like in a fanfic way) a "that soul is a naïve one and if they weren't then it's not their soul anymore" idea, then you might be more inclined to Nature, whereas if you're more of a science, brain neurology, "our experiences make us who we are" kind of person, then you'd be more camp Nurture.
I'll give you a hint: it's both, but how much of each is debatable.
You're absolutely right in the fact that being raised by Shadow would make him less like how he is in the games, though. Which I commend you for. Though a Shadow raised him thing is more common, I change Dadow flavors once a week, so I'd love to see other scenarios implemented more in fanfiction <3
(I don't mean this to be "um actually" or anything, I just thought it was cool to think about. I hope I didn't come off as aggressive)
Silver would be a very different person if he was raised by Shadow. Silver is naive precisely because he wasn't raised by anybody.
yeh you right!
i think the way i imagine dadow is different from how most other people imagine it; where silver still grew up on his own and it was only after he first went back in time he meets shadow in the future n he becomes his dad, basically to explain why the first time silver came across shadow in the past he wasn’t immediately like “dad?”
so i imagine silver comes across old man shadow at fourteen and is like “shadow??? wtf???” and from there the father-son relationship begins, so silver’s naïveté would still make sense ‘cus he wasn’t raised by shadow from day one