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yandere-romanticaa · 5 months

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trigger warning: abuse, animal death, malnutrition, my horrible writing. not proofread, we die like men!

𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐎��𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍 - part 1. (you are here!)

masterlist.

The bitter scent of nicotine clings to him wherever he goes, his cold, brown eyes devoid of life as he wakes up and gets ready for another day. Every day is the same - wake up, get ready for work, work, head back home, rinse and repeat. He was living. But, he was not alive.

As long as he could remember, this was the life which Viktor Martinović (read as Martinovich) was leading.

Growing up his family was always distant. Cold. Even scattered at times. He had some siblings, some alive, others long gone from the Earth. To him they were all like air, non-existent and invisible but yet oh so relevant. His father hailed from Croatia while his mother was an American. Viktor could recall some more peaceful times as he would sit on the front porch of his house, his grandmother serving him tea while his grandfather told him many stories. Be it folklore, urban legends, random stories he made up, Viktor loved them all. Unfortunately, he could not see his grandparents very often as they lived in the US and the cost of travel was a rare luxury to him.

The time he spent with his grandparents was precious. He was positive that it was the only time he felt true joy and tranquility. With them he could be a little boy and do what all the little boys did - run around the streets with his feet bare, fall hard onto the ground and skin his knees, find dead animals on the ground and poke at their remains.

That last thing became a favorite past time of his.

Be it birds, dogs, cats, hedgehogs, no tiny critter was safe from his clutches. At first he did nothing but poke the dead critter with some random stick. Its lifeless eyes would stare back at Viktor, taunting him to take more action. However, one day his father caught him poking a mangled little bird which Viktor did not understand was wrong. The anatomy of the animal had caught his interest and he had no other children to play with. What was so wrong with having a hobby? His horrified father dragged Viktor by the ear back home that day, his grip so tight that crescent shaped marks were left behind on the soft skin due to his fingernails.

His father was an awfully conservative man. Everything and everyone had their place in the home and that included Viktor, who just happened to be at the bottom of the food chain because he was the youngest. Viktor does not remember his fathers face very well.

He never liked him.

All meals would start with prayer and would end with his mother and sisters putting away the plates, sometimes with Viktor's aid. He wanted to be good. He wanted to be useful. His father always taught him that he was a man and that men needed to be strong. This is not something you should concern yourself with, his father told him one chilly autumn morning.

This is a woman's duty, said his stone-faced father.

He was around 8 years old when his beatings started.

Despite his young age, Viktor was a very gifted child. He understood that something was off about his family. The way in which his siblings would flinch away once father entered the room, the way mother was always in a hurry to serve him coffee and a hot meal the moment he got back home despite being on her feet all day set him on edge.

He was very sensitive when it came to his mother.

She was his first and only real friend. She was his rock, his hero. Viktor was often sick which caused him to be physically frail and weak. His complexion was always pale as a ghost, his lips always thin and bloody from him gnawing on them and his tiny hands were always covered in cuts and bruises. The eldest brother in particular always just loved to make fun of Viktor when it came to his lack of strength. You can't even break into a sprint!, the cruel boy would taunt him as he held Viktor's book high up in the air, tearing pieces of the pages in the process.

Viktor hated his brother. He loathed him. Religion was not something he was 100% sure he believed in but during evening prayers, Viktor would always put his concentration on the fact that he wished his brother was dead. A grizzly thought indeed.

He wished for him to die the cruelest, most painful death imaginable.

The older he got, his dream only seemed to grow further and further away.

His two sisters never paid any attention to Viktor unless it was absolutely necessary, such as clothing or bathing him. Viktor was not capable of doing many things on his own because he was like a little doll. Frail and easy to break. He lived in a big house in coastal Croatia, an old city known as Dubrovnik, where the summer was long and the sun shined so bright that Viktor never wanted to go outside because his pale skin would turn a disgusting red even with the tiniest of exposure. He would spend his days locked away in his room, reading, studying or maybe playing a game which he had stolen from his brother.

He always took a little pride in the fact that his brother never caught him being so sly.

His sisters would usually be in school in the afternoon or somewhere out and about while his mother took care of the chores. Despite his fathers words, Viktor wanted to help her in any way he could. His heart would melt at the sight of his mother as she would lean down to give him a kiss on his forehead, her tired eyes shining with love. She would never give him tasks which could tire him too much which the young boy silently was thankful for. His favorite chore was chopping up vegetables and meat and in no time, he became quite skilled with using the blade. If it was possible Viktor even started to carve intricate shapes from fruits and vegetables, usually roses because his mother was very keen on them.

She never had the heart to eat any of them.

The outside world was filled with squeals of laughing children, frustrated fishermen and the bustling tides but Viktor did not need that world.

He had his own little bubble which he was more than content with. It was also convenient for him that he was homeschooled, which allowed him to spend even more time with his beloved mother. She was a doctor and a really good one too. Other than teaching him the basics such as reading, writing and mathematics, she would often throw in some more obscure things such as philosophy and anatomy. She taught him about the human body, where each organ was and their purposes.

Viktor was always enamored with this vast sea of knowledge.

The human body is like a machine, his mother would say. Treat it well and it will operate well.

Time passed. Viktor had started to grow and was 11 years old now. He was still sick, still useless according to his father. The man was a renowned fisherman and would always bring home the biggest and best kills. He would take his eldest boy with him and teach him everything he knew, hoping that one day his son would become a master at this craft as well.

Viktor hardly ever went on these trips. The sea was a cruel mistress and weak men could not be near it. His father had barely managed to teach him the basics but the scorching sun and the bustling activity was too much for him. Viktor's skinny little fingers would always be injured from carrying the heavy cargo, which his brother always made sure to make even more difficult for him by giving him even more to carry.

He was a lost cause when it came to fishing, which was his family's main source of income.

No matter, Viktor would think.

He had his own skill sets which those baboons could never understand.

Viktor would hone his skills with the blade in secret, his usual victim for practice being the very fish which were caught earlier that day. Sometimes he would stay up all night and sneak up back into his room at the crack of dawn, his hands smelling horribly which caused his sisters to gag a little if they caught a whiff of the air. Viktor studied the insides of the fishes, taking dutiful notes and hiding them all in the wooden floorboards where nobody could find them. Scattered carcasses of other animals become precious to him as he always had to be swift lest he wished to be caught by someone. Hiding them was always a pain and concealing the smell was the hardest task he could just barely pull off.

Not all secrets can be kept hidden though. Viktor found out that the hard way when his brother caught him dissecting a dead poodle. Viktor fell to his knees and begged his brother to not spill the beans, fat tears caking his face as he hiccuped horribly, his whole body shaking like a leaf. His brother merely looked down at him with a sneer as he shouted for their father to come to the garage. As Viktor heard the approaching footsteps his heart was beating so hard that he was positive that he was going to die of a heart attack right then and there.

His brother was the devil. The exact replica of his father. He was in every way, his son.

Viktor could not walk or talk properly for three months after that incident. He became something akin to a dying houseplant, unmovable and withering away in the darkness. He stopped eating completely and became skinnier than ever. His father locked him in his room but took his books away just to add more salt to the wound. Countless days passed and Viktor was rotting in bed, slowly dying from the lack of sustenance and the massive sorrow which took over his very being. Spring had been long gone and summer was over as well. He didn't even realize that it was October.

It was his birthday.

On October 31st, Viktor was woken up with a soft knock on his wooden door. It was his mother, who was holding a tray filled with food. There was even a little chocolate flavored cupcake with a single candle sticking on top, the whick not quite lit yet. His mother wished him a happy birthday and shared the meal with him. Viktor ate the food quietly, his appetite not quite out there but was still grateful for the miniature feast. His mother took out a small lighter and lit the candle.

Make a wish dear, she said softly.

Viktor gripped his sheets with all of his remaining strength, his knuckles so tight that he almost injured himself. He could feel the delicate touch of his mother who sat next to him, her presence like the calm evening breeze. With a sigh, Viktor closed his eyes but before he could blow out the candle a thought popped into his mind -

Just what was he going to wish for?

He did not see himself making it far in life despite his top notch grades. His family, father in particular, would always drag him down back to the ground. All of the money they had would most likely go to his siblings with just a tiny inheritance left to his name and when his parents both eventually passed the entire estate would go to his brother.

A lump formed in his throat as Viktor came to the realization that he had nothing to live for. He had no one on this Earth other than his mother.

He was no better than a ghost.

However, ghosts could not rest until they fulfilled some sort of quota in their lives, that one last thing for them to do so that they can finally take their final breath and bid their old life goodbye.

That goodbye came in the form of a cough.

It was his father.

His dark eyes stared down at Viktor, a strange glint of determination shining brightly inside them. With his arms crossed and mind set, he spoke:

"The weather may not be ideal but it is advantageous for your.... condition. You will not rot away in the sun, nor in this room like some coward."

His father took a few strides closer towards him, his footsteps so heavy that he could feel the floor creak beneath the heavy pressure. Viktor felt his whole body tense up as he was forced to look his father in the eye, his teeth clenching so tightly that it felt as though his jaw was going to break from the pressure. The only thing that gave him an iota of comfort was the fluffy blanket across his body, its softness a weak shield in stark contrast to the rough man before him. Viktor felt his fathers hand land on his shoulder, his touch disturbingly friendlier than usual.

"You will head out with your brother soon, to the sea. It is time you start pulling your own weight properly. I won't ever allow any son of mine to be weak."

Viktor's eyes widened - Christ, how could this be happening? Why was this happening? Cold terror came over him as he felt his lunch threatening to be spilt all over his parents.

It was soon prevented by a thought. A very devious thought.

On this little excursion it was just going to be him and his brother. All alone, at sea. The only thing keeping watch over them would be the grey stormy clouds high above them.

And just like that, Viktor had hatched a plan.

There was no going back from this moment.

🔪 TAGS: @shamelessdarkprince, @latolover, @yandere-wishes, @moyazami, @sunhareskies, @connorsui

Ahaha, here it is, the long awaited backstory for my OC, who finally has a full name! I decided to split it into several parts because it was getting kind of long and I really just wanted to post something about this guy. The demand for him is honestly kind of silly... Dare I say overwhelming even.

If you have any criticisms, ideas, complaints, literally anything - I'm all ears! My askbox is always open for a chit chat!

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere imagines #yancore #yandere x you #yanderecore #yandere aesthetic #yandere oc #yandere oc x reader #yandere oc x you #yandere oc x y/n #yandere mortician #yandere mortician x reader

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e-vay · 3 months

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Do you still lowkey like Sonadow as a “guilty pleasure” and if so, how’d you feel about the food that Prime gave us?

Oh yeah I still ship it. I never meant for that to be lowkey 😂

Oh man, Prime was so good to all of us shippers! I really like the way they wrote Sonic and Shadow’s interactions. I feel like too often Shadow gets written as someone who hates Sonic for absolutely no reason, and that’s not true! He gets annoyed with him and gets angry when he’s doing risky things and being inconsiderate but he cares about him. I think Prime did a wonderful job with that.

Spoilers below:

WHEN SHADOW WAS FIGHTING SONIC FOR THE GEAR AND HE HAS ONE IN HIS TEETH?!??????

I was like Shadow did you really just BITE THAT OFF SONIC?!?!?!! YOU’RE MAKING ALL MY HEADCANONS COME TRUE!!!

And we got to see a really caring, emotional side to Shadow. THE LOOK OF ABSOLUTE DEVASTATION ON SHADOW’S FACE WHEN SONIC HAD THE SHARD ENERGY EXTRACTED FROM HIM AHHHHH It lives in my head rent free! He looked so scared and I live for that drama

AND SONIC FLIRTING WITH SHADOW WHIDEIEJAJHWJEJAJAJWJ (granted I think he flirted with just about everybody on that show but whoooooooo). Boy you’re literally dying and you’re gonna flirt with the guy while he’s trying to save you? I mean I guess you might as well!

And also as someone who ships any arrangement of my three hedgehogs Sonic, Shadow and Amy, INCLUDING the OT3, ahhhhhhhhh I loved that it was both Shadow AND the Roses that got him home most of the way! All my needs were being met in that sequence heehee 💖💙🖤❤️

#ask me #evayQA #sonic trash #Sonic prime #sonadow #sonicxshadow #Sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #ot3 #sonamyshad #sonic prime spoilers

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twistedwonderlandshenanigans · 4 months

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“Guilty” Little Pleasures

Some of these will have references to my HCs about their family so check out my HCs here! (if you want) (also some of these are not guilty bc there are a few boys that are straight up shameless so...)

HEARTSLAYBUL Riddle - He’s done this since he was a kid. It started off as a tiny rebellion, and he never got caught, so he never stopped doing it. But late at night, if he happens to wake up, he’ll go to the kitchen and just slice a piece of butter to eat Just Like That. When he was younger he would only take what he could get without there being a visible difference, but in a dorm there’s no telling who’s using the butter and when, so taking a bigger chunk isn’t an issue...right? Trey - He’s a brony. He started watching MLP as a joke with his little siblings and then suddenly he was tucking away merch carefully in his room so that they wouldn’t find it. He’s more embarrassed about his family finding out than he is about friends finding out, so if he lets it slip somehow, please let him nerd out. Please. (Trey and Idia don’t interact much but now they have to) Cater - He has a love/hate relationship with catfishing/ghosting people. Not for long, mind you, he doesn’t want to genuinely lead anyone on, but using some photo of a hot model and a few minutes setting up a fake dating profile, he matches with everyone he can. He knows the compliments are meant for the picture of the person he posted, but for just a few minutes, he can pretend they’re for him. Instead of coming clean, he just leaves them on read and never talks to them again. Deuce - We already know how conflicted he is about his favourite food (eggs) so the mild guilt only gets worse when he finds he enjoys both the sound and the feeling of crushing the shells in his hands, especially after hard boiling eggs and parts of the shell are all connected and he can just make them CRUNCH. Ace - He likes to sneak out of his room at night- but not for troublemaking. He likes to go sit with the hedgehogs since they are nocturnal and just chill with them, because when nobody else is around he gets to babytalk them. Cater has caught him Once. (everyone else is below!)

Savanaclaw Leona - Similar to Trey, he watched Bluey with Cheka and Falena once and now he binges it when he needs a good cry, he will NEVER tell anyone he owns the vinyl for it though. Ruggie - Oh man my dude LIVES for starting drama without getting involved. He likes watching from the sidelines. HC that he will get paid by folks around the school to use his signature spell to get petty revenge on someone. It’s never meant to hurt anyone, but kinda just ruin their day. Someone landed the entire class detention with Crewel? Yeah, they might end up stuck standing in a water fountain for a half hour with their homework. Jack - To me, Jack is the youngest in his family (I expand on that in my family HCs ^^) and while he feels a little guilty, he is the #1 offender for licking a knife of peanut butter and putting it back in the jar to continue using it. He’ll do the same for jam and jelly. He drinks straight out of the milk jug. He got caught once by his sister and she made him pay for the jar of peanut butter in hopes he wouldn’t do it again- but it didn’t work. Octavinelle Azul - He spends a lot of money on outfits he wants to wear, but he doesn’t think he ever will, whether it be confidence issues or once he gets it its not what he expected, but its a self punishment to not return it and get his money back so that he can just look at it and think about whether he’ll ever be brave enough to take that first step and just try it on. More often than not, it’s a lot of extravagant dresses that he’s too shy to try on, but he loves shopping for. Jade - He prides himself on his composed personality, though when the mostro lounge closes for the night, when not even Floyd can see him, he likes first watching the lobsters in the tank like a cat, pupils blown up and grinning, ready for his little self indulgent time. When he finally gets bored, he partially reverts into his mer form, plunging his hands into the tank and grabbing one to snack on. He makes sure to write it off to “waste” before Azul can find out. Floyd - Eating things he knows he’s not supposed to. It’s not his fault land items look so yummy, and his teeth need something to sink into, harder than would be tolerated for affectionate bites. Anything with something tough on the outside and soft on the inside or makes a popping noise is the best, like tightly bound leather or bubble wrap or pop cans. Scarabia Kalim - I have a rather dark HC for him here, but if you’re looking for something lighter, he has a really bad habit at picking at his lips. When he does remember to wear chapstick, he usually licks it off because it tastes good... Jamil - TV dinners, man, this poor guy loves to cook, he genuinely does, but sometimes when Kalim makes him cook unexpectedly for 20+ people, he does not want to even eat what he’s made by the time he’s done cleaning up. At least when it’s under those circumstances, he can justify eating microwave dinners, but a lot of time he just has them when he’s straight up EXHAUSTED. Pomefiore Vil - Aw man, his weak spot is pizza. Sometimes he calls to place an order with a voice modulator and picks up his order in disguise just outside of campus and just....destroys two large pizzas a a 1 liter bottle of cola, hiding in a very specific spot in the walls by the gate of campus where there’s a gap just big enough for him to stuff himself into and hide his Gremliness.

Rook - Does this man even feel guilt for things he should feel guilt for? I don’t know. What he does do though, is watch potential couples on campus, and if he thinks they’re going to fall apart before they get together, forges a love letter from one to another. Epel - In case pocket onions weren’t enough, Epel likes sneaking into Vil’s room and trying on his clothes, only to mock him in his mirror. He is meticulous in putting everything back where it’s meant to be, but also shifts everything on Vil’s vanity just slightly to the left to fuck with him a bit. He always leaves through the window, he does not want to be found in the hallway by accident. Ignihyde Idia - He has so many...but his biggest guilty pleasure is doomscrolling Leona’s magicam page bc....Beeg kitty (I don’t ship them, sometimes people are just Nice To Admire) Ortho - (this is sad I’m sorry) he looks through photos of his human counterpart and wonders if he is filling the shoes that have been left for him properly. If he’s developing the way the human Ortho would have. Diasomnia Malleus - Obviously, he enjoys sneaking out, but sometimes when he’s out he just likes to go fishing. He could, catch a fish by hand in seconds, but he enjoys the peaceful quiet and patience the sport requires. He only fishes until he’s caught one worth eating, guts it, then takes care to cook it to perfection using his flames before eating it. Lilia - This man canonically picks his nose in public how tf am I supposed to top that. Silver - When someone other than his dad is cooking/baking something in the oven, like fish, he likes to peel up bits and pieces of the oil/seasoning and just eat it. If there’s the skin of something on there, yeah he’s eating it. Sebek - He has a stuffie collection that hides under his bed, which is part of why he was so enamoured by his stuffie in Harveston. RSA Che’nya - He likes to eat his bananas without peeling them. Just Because. Neige - He will drink shots of ranch. Sorry. Cheka - licks his play-dough. Knows not to eat it. But He Likes The Salt

#v talks #twst #twisted wonderland #twst hcs #twst heartslaybul #twst savanaclaw #twst octavinelle #twst scarabia #twst pomefiore #twst ignihyde #twst diasomnia #twst nrc #twst rsa #twst fluff #twst crack #twst angst #twst fanfic #twst scenarios

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cerastes · 1 year

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'stultifera navis' is a reference? I mean, when I saw people going "oh it means stupid boat" figured that that wasn't *quite* the whole story but no one's explained what else it means.

You know how we are intimately familiar with Plato's Allegory of the Cave?

This thing? Alright, so Plato didn't make just one allegory. Plato's Allegory of the Cave comes from Plato's "Republic", specifically Book VII. In Book VI, one can find the Allegory of the Ship of Fools. Long story short, the allegory's intent is to represent the problems of leadership and governance in a political system where the key figures aren't chosen based on expert knowledge, but rather, other things altogether ('divine right' is a good example).

Now, with this in mind, we talk about Stultifera Navis, a satirical allegory from 1494 by one Sebastian Brant, a German humanist. It's other title is Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam, in medieval German, all meaning the same: "Ship of Fools". It's worth noting that the Ship of Fools was a popular concept in this era, much like the internet really likes the Allegory of the Cave! Humanity has always been the same in some regards.

Brant's Stultifera Navis was about a fleet, the Fleet of Fools, bound for the Paradise of Fools and, without getting too into it, because it's a decently long read consisting of over one hundred brief satires, it serves as a criticism towards the Christian Church and how it was, largely, a mangle of underqualified fools not only having WAY too much agency in the lives of WAY too many people, but also, it was driving itself in such a hilariously self-destructive manner that it eventually sinking was practically inevitable. Brant creates a character, the Saint Grobian, whom Brant made into the patron saint of vulgar and crass people, so not only was he making a whole book with over 100 little stories about how much a dumbass collective the Church was, he also got spicy and threw in his own OC, Grobian the Hedgehog, the worst and shittiest of them all, and the one that codified the Church most closely.

Now, you may be thinking, "Hey, did Brant get fucking burned at the cross for this or something? Wasn't criticism of the Church the leading cause of death back in those days right after being invaded by Church for no reason?". Well, there was a SPECIAL JUTSU you could use back in the day, one that rendered you naught but a little birthday guy that couldn't be killed for criticism: Employing the voice of the fool. Y'see, Court Fools were allowed to say whatever they wanted, because they were court fools, and this little loophole allowed certain figures of the time, like Desiderius Erasmus, to criticize the Church openly, as he did in "The Praise of Folly", and when the Churchboyz came to his house with pikes and broadswords, demanding he step right out to they could eviscerate him for the SIN of speaking ill against Our Most Righteous, Loving, And Considerate Of Institutions, The Holy Church Itself, Erasmus threw his arms up in mock surrender and yelled "I'm just a little fool! The work was written from the voice and perspective of but a fool! I'm just a birthday fool! Come on, man, don't get so mad!" and then the Churchboyz, smoldering in white blistering ire, sheathed their arsenal and walked away FUMING because he was now impervious to Christblasts.

Well, Brant used the same jutsu, as the book is Entirely about Fools, he claimed it was just the fools talking, ergo, it's not what he REALLY thought, ok? Just some food for thought, a little what if, no need to get so spicy over a WORK OF FICTION. So the Church harrumphed and hmppphroomed their way home, stomping their feet all the way through because AGAIN they couldn't execute someone for their (alleged) opinion.

Now, moving to the Arknights' Stultifera Navis, given how much the event shows the longing for the Iberian Golden Age, and very much states how impossible it is to go back to those days, simply because, one, the world has changed to something that would never again sustain this Iberian Golden Age, and two, the 'Golden Age' in itself was built upon the systematic oppression and suffering of others, ranging from the Aegir persecuted within the Iberian lands to the Victorians and Bolivars raided and pillaged outside the Iberian borders, and it was the selfsame greed, close-mindedness and ignorance of Iberia that led to its natural end. The Inquisition is very much a Ship of Fools: Guided by old relics, fueled by archaic and obsolete beliefs, it's bound to collapse under its own weight. Saint Carmen himself is the perfect representation of the Inquisition: Tired, old, full of regrets, putting a strong front, yet completely ravaged and exhausted, his life artificially prolonged well past the natural lifespan of a Liberi, guided by ostensibly good intentions and yet adhering to principles that necessarily involve the oppression of certain people in order to exist. I wouldn't say Saint Carmen and Saint Grobian are one and the same, but you can't help but see some similarity. Patron saint of the vulgar and crass indeed.

The allegory also extends to Aegir to some degree as well, but we don't have the full picture just yet. Stultifera Navis does suggest that Aegir Beefed It to some degree as well, and not a minor beef, either.

Notably, Laurentina defies the trope: Her recovery stems in part to having let go of her "Golden Age": The times when she could have pursued her passions as a sculptor, the times when she happily hunted away with her fellow Hunters in the 2nd Company, the times when she didn't have a country's worth of Super Death Rock Cancer Juice in her spine, the entire swath of time she lost due to having been replaced by 'Specter', the time when she was blissfully unaware of her Seaborn blood, she makes it clear to Amaia: She's fully aware that all of these things are irrevocably lost, and that that's fine, she's got the present and the future still. She misses that Golden Age of her life, but doesn't agonize over it, she simply has to make a new Golden Age, comprised of other, unknown, exciting things, in the future.

Sometimes, you don't need to think too hard about it. Just tear apart what's in front of you, and move forward. She is not a crewmember of the Ship of Fools.

There's a few more comparisons and connections you can draw between the Allegory of the Ship of Fools and Arknights' Stultifera Navis, but I think the point has been made!

#biggaybunny #arknights #stultifera navis #specter

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emerald-antssss · 3 days

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Happy Sunday!

“Hey kiddo, what’s up?”

Sonic looked down at his communicator. It had been buzzing just seconds before, informing the hedgehog that his little brother was trying to reach him.

“Hello,” came the soft reply.

“You okay?”

The kit hesitated before answering his brother. “Yeah, I-I’m fine.”

“O-okay,” Sonic said. Even over the phone, he could read Tails’ emotions and knew for a fact that the kid was not fine. “Was there a reason for your call?”

“Did you know…” Away from the phone, the kit coughed and whimpered. Sonic winced. What was up with him?

“Did I know what?”

“French Angelfish stay together until one d-dies…”

The hedgehog smiled to himself. He thought he could see where Tails was going with this. He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in.

“And… it’s unlikely to find one alone. Pairs of-of t-these fish work t-together to defend their territory against other A-Angelfish pairs…”

“That’s a lot like us.” Sonic chuckled. “We partner together to save the world from Eggman…”

“…And it’s hard to find one of us without finding the other,” the two finished together.

On the other side of the line, Tails smiled at the ceiling of his workshop. “Did y-you know t-that Eggm’n has badniks t-th’t shoot arrows n-now?”

“What’s he gonna name them, ArrowBots?” Sonic snickered.

That got a small chuckle out of Tails, which ended with a whimper. For a bit, the line went quiet.

“Tails,” Sonic said quietly, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Dodging the question, Tails whispered “I l-l’ve you.”

“I love you too, Tails.” Sonic sighed, leaning forward in the chair. “But I need to know you’re okay. You were stuttering a lot, did you have another panic attack?”

Silence.

“You‘re a g-g-good b’other.”

“Thanks, buddy. Uh… is something going on?”

The blue blur heard shifting from the other side of the line. It stopped abruptly.

“N-no.”

“Okay then,” Sonic replied. He was confused, to say the least.

The line went silent again.

“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’m gonna hang up, lil’ bro.”

More quiet. Sonic could hear the AC in the background on the other line.

“I’ll see you tonight, keed,” the hedgehog whispered. Tapping his communicator, he hung up and leaned back into his chair, arms crossed against his chest.

Something was up.

And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

________

Tails was not picking up the phone.

It added some difficulty to Sonic’s dinner search. He wanted to know what the kid wanted to eat.

But at the same time, Tails was never a picky eater. Sonic knew he would eat anything he brought, even if it was absolutely disgusting.

And the hedgehog was pretty sure he had bought more than enough food to the point where he could share with Tails and still have leftovers.

But the brotherly part of him told his to get something the kid wanted.

Sonic pushed the Chinese takeout bags further down his arm. Tapping on his communicator, he tried to get ahold of his little brother yet again.

It rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four-

“Hello?”

Sonic sighed with relief. “Jeez, kid. What took you so long to pick-“

“You’ve officially reached my voicemail. I got you there, didn’t I Sonic?”

The hedgehog glared at his communicator in response to the kit’s smug voice coming from the speakers.

“Leave me a voicemail, would you?”

Beep.

“If you’re not gonna answer the phone, you’re just gonna get this takeout, buddy.”

Pausing for a moment, Sonic sighed. “You’ve been off today, Tails. I wanna talk about it when I get home, okay?”

Hanging up, the hedgehog glanced at the sky. “Come on buddy, talk to me,” he whispered.

________

“Hey buddy, I’m back!”

No response.

The workshop was eerily quiet. No tinkering, no food cooking in the kitchen…

Nothing.

And that’s when Sonic noticed the bloody pawprint on the wall. It looked dry now.

Something had happened.

The hedgehog sprinted through the different rooms in Tails’ workshop. Nothing in the kitchen, nothing in the kit’s bedroom, nothing in the-

Bathroom.

A thick stream of half-dried blood trailed out of the bathroom. A jagged knife laid on the ground. The bathtub was murky with bloody water.

Sonic felt his ears press to his head. He was afraid to touch anything.

Whatever happened, it wasn’t good.

He followed the red line out of the bathroom and into the main room, where he was greeted with a sight that he would never forget.

He didn’t hear the cry that exited his throat as his eyes fell on the corpse of his beloved friend.

The fox was laying on his side on the wooden floor, an oversized puddle of blood surrounding his small frame. The kit’s dusty grey eyeswere half closed, and his lips formed a small smile. The Miles Electric was on the floor, just above the kid’s head.

Sonic dropped to his knees, gently touching Tails’ face.

He didn’t mind the blood that smeared against his hands as he gently held the kid’s head in his arms.

Sonic stared into his vacant eyes.

They weren’t the bright blue he remembered.

Sonic gently put the fox down and slid the Miles Electric to himself. When he unlocked the device with his gloveprint, the first thing that he saw was the phone call screen.

There was a call to Vector from last week, and Tails had missed a call from Amy yesterday.

There was a more recent phone call.

The last thing that Tails had done was call Sonic.

The last thing he had done was talk to his brother.

He had compared them to fish who depended on each other and watched each other’s backs and loved each other.

Sonic’s Angelfish was gone.

And as he gently picked his kid’s cold body up and covered him with a sheet, the tears spilled over.

#Im so happy with the way this turned out #if it wasn’t clear mimic killed tails #I’ll make a detailed post about it later #emerald-antssss #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #unbreakable bond #my writing #ao3 #fanfic

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son1c · 1 year

Text

festival time :3c

falling stars fic masterpost

The construction zone was long and winding. Sonic and Shadow's race took them all the way through it, and the farther in they got, the more metallic their surroundings became. Green steel dominated everything, and hazards were abundant. Whatever they were building here was still far from finished.

The motobug swerved around cones and barriers, and even weaved in and out of stray beams whenever it felt like Sonic could fit. They had lost sight of Shadow awhile ago, but his dusty footprints were illuminated by the tall street lights lining their path, so they knew he wasn't far ahead.

After leaping over a small gap in the lattice floor, Sonic spotted something crumpled on the ground up ahead, and made sure to snatch it as the motobug drove past. It was a poster.

Eventually, the construction zone came to an end. Shadow was waiting for them at the foot of a flashing billboard. In big, shimmering letters, it read: WELCOME TO STARLIGHT, THE CITY THAT SHINES IN THE DARK.

"You certainly took your time," Shadow said, his smirk from before still on his face.

"Hey! Not my fault Buggy wanted to do a little sightseeing." Sonic stuck his tongue out at Shadow, teasing him. The race had put him in a good mood, even though he had lost.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Blaming the robot for your defeat, hedgehog?" His smirk faded, and his attention fell to the poster in Sonic's hands. Then, he asked, "You picked up a souvenir?"

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, it's not much. Just figured it shouldn't be left around as litter." He smoothed out the poster, looking it over curiously. When he read through it, a smile appeared on his face. "Looks like we showed up right on time! These guys are having a festival right now!"

"Let me see that," Shadow said. Sonic handed him the poster, and then Shadow confirmed the blue hedgehog's statement. "The Starfall Festival?" he murmured. It didn't ring a bell, but according to the advertisement, this would be the 100th annual celebration.

"Can't go wrong with a festival," Sonic said. "There's always food, drinks, and fun! Sounds like a real bash to me--we should totally check it out!"

Shadow rubbed his thumb thoughtfully over the poster. Sure, it sounded like fun. However, "Fun isn't my priority," he said. "I'm more concerned with the truth. About myself--and about you, as well."

Sonic considered this. The motobug beeped, also considering. Sonic reached down and scratched its cheek, causing the motobug to beep again, happier this time.

"Well," Sonic began, "if there's one thing I know about parties, it's that most people like 'em. So, there's bound to be a bunch of people at the festival, 'specially one as big as this. Maybe someone there will know something about what happened to us?"

Shadow was satisfied with that answer. He figured that Starlight City wasn't too far from where they had originally woken up, and so the likelihood of them encountering someone who had information about their situation was non-zero. At the very least, that crater they had found themselves in and the damaged forest that surrounded it was sure to have made a lot of noise. Enough noise to have been heard from the next city over, if they were lucky.

But first, they would need to get inside the city. And that proved to be a problem when, after walking up to the security checkpoint, the lady at the counter paled at the sight of them. She pointed a shaking finger at the robot Sonic was riding on, and said, "No, no! I won't allow it!"

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other. The motobug chirped nervously.

"You got a problem with robots?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

The security officer reeled back. Only her eyes were visible now, peeking out from over the top of the counter she was hiding behind. She seemed unwilling to take her eyes off the motobug. "Yes! Yes, when they're… those robots."

Sonic made a face. Then, he looked down at the motobug. The robot looked back up at him with its wide electronic eyes.

After giving the little robot a reassuring pat, Sonic asked the lady, "What's wrong with them?"

The security officer's nostrils flared. Her fear retreated to make room for anger, and she stood up to her full height--though she remained behind the safety of the counter. "Those little beasties are the reason why I can't sleep at night!" she spat. "They're like locusts! If they'd never come to our town, I wouldn't have to deal with all the jackhammers trying to rebuild everything!"

Shadow remembered his reservations from earlier. He frowned at the motobug before turning to the lady and asking, "Your town was destroyed by robots like this one?"

The lady's eyes flashed. Her wool, which was already very puffy, puffed up even more at the question. "Destroyed?" she repeated, her voice dripping with hatred. But then she sighed, and her death grip on her clipboard loosened slightly. "No, no," she said, sounding tired now. "Not destroyed… but almost. Pest control took care of it--or so I thought. Guess they missed one."

Shadow's eyebrows furrowed. That would explain why they had found the robot alone, deserted in the middle of the construction zone. And why it had been terrified at the sight of them. It was probably thinking they were there to finish the job, and exterminate it.

The motobug tapped its claws together anxiously. Shadow saw this, saw Sonic still riding on its back and as such, able to rest his broken leg, and decided to drop whatever reservations he still had about the little robot.

"It won't do you any harm now," Shadow said seriously. "We will make sure of that."

Sonic flashed the lady a thumbs up. "If you guys can rebuild, so can this little guy. Turning over a new leaf starts with being given a second chance, right?"

Pressing her lips into a hard line, the security officer looked down at the motobug. It spun its antennas in a slow circle, its eyes pointed at the floor. It looked so different now from how she remembered it--all caught up in a swarm of hundreds, thousands of them, their sharp metal pincers smashing through windows and breaking down doors.

They had almost ruined the festival. Almost.

"You hedgies better not make me regret this," she muttered. Then, she set down her clipboard, and pulled out a big yellow sticker from a drawer behind the counter. It was in the shape of a star. "Put this on it," she said, holding out the sticker to Sonic. "It's a pass. For the Starfall Festival."

Sonic grinned. He took the sticker from her eagerly. "Thanks!" he said.

Shadow watched as Sonic peeled the sticker off the sheet, and then stuck it on the motobug's forehead. The little robot looked up at it curiously, and to itself, it wondered what Eggman would think of the sparkly new decal. But it was best to reserve its meager processing power for the blue hedgehog, so it quickly stopped wondering.

Gesturing towards the city, the security officer said, "Head to Main Street for the directory, we've got a few extra events this year for the anniversary. There's a bulletin posted around somewhere too. Oh, and"--she cast a cold glance at the motobug--"if I hear anything about your beastie, I'll get pest control on the phone before you can say 'vermin.'"

With that threat in mind, the motobug drove Sonic to Main Street with Shadow walking alongside them. The city unfolded in front of them, big and bright and exciting. There were twinkling lights strung up on every corner, guard rail, and street lamp. More than that, there were people everywhere; some of them were holding sparklers, some of them were enjoying a yummy treat from one of the festival's many vendors, and some of them were painting murals of the night sky on the ground.

It was a welcome change from the oppressive emptiness of the ghost town. Even though the abundance of noise set Shadow on edge, it felt good to be heading towards a goal again. This time, the goal was a vendor, and the hedgehogs had the straightforward mission of finally getting some food.

The directory in the middle of Main Street showed them the way. And after turning a corner, they found themselves in the middle of a grassy pavilion.

The pavilion was filled with games, rides, and most importantly, food. Sonic urged the motobug towards the closest one, a chilidog vendor. The smell wafting from the cart enamored Sonic and made his empty stomach growl loudly.

The vendor chuckled at this, his blotchy red cheeks softening with a smile. "Enjoy," he said as he handed Sonic a fresh chilidog. He didn't ask for payment--the festival goodies were always free.

The gooey cheese, the tall stack of chili, the perfectly toasted bun… it all came together to create the most beautiful work of art that Sonic had ever seen. He was sure that it would've tasted amazing even if he wasn't starving, but his empty stomach cranked up the deliciousness factor to 11. He barely held himself back from eating it all in one bite--but he knew it would be really embarrassing if he choked on it. So, he ate it in two instead.

"Stripes, you gotta try this!" Sonic said, his eyes sparkling like a hundred million diamonds. Yes, he was really that excited about it.

Shadow looked uncertainly at the chilidog the vendor was holding out to him. He wasn't smitten with it like Sonic was. He was finally starting to get a little hungry, though. So, he took it, and took a single mousy bite. Sonic waited intently for his reaction, and was somewhat disappointed when all he could say about it was, "It's edible."

Sonic's disappointment was forgotten, however, when Shadow handed him the chilidog.

"I must admit," Shadow said, the tiniest hint of amusement in his voice, "I wasn't expecting to uncover a truth about your past so soon."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Sonic asked, already done eating the second chilidog and looking happier than ever. His face was a disaster, his cheeks covered in cheese and chili.

Shadow grabbed a napkin and dropped it on Sonic's head. "You're a mess."

Sonic snorted. "I was hungry!" came his indignant reply. He still took the napkin, though.

They continued on through the pavilion. There was a vendor for everything from spaghetti to ice cream to spaghetti ice cream, but none of them appealed all that much to Shadow. That was, however, until they came across a stand selling cakes. The irony was not lost on him, but when he cut into the slice of coffee cake and saw no green slime pour out, he figured the joke ended there. And it did--the cake had a bitter edge, and he found he liked the taste.

Meanwhile, Sonic tried his own slice of coffee cake and hated it. He had better luck with the more savory cheesecake.

By now, a few people in the pavilion had started staring at the motobug that Sonic was using as a scooter, and so Shadow quickly threw his plate away and ushered his companions out of the pavilion. The street they stepped onto was tighter than the wide open pavilion, with booths set up on both sides of the street. Festival goers had to squeeze past each other to get to the more popular booths.

It was when they passed by an unpopular booth that Shadow's ears perked up. He heard the woman at the table mention something about real shooting stars. He motioned for the motobug to stop, and it did, parking itself in front of the woman's ornate golden table.

The woman flashed a dazzling smile. "That's odd," she said, her big glasses catching the festival lights like a kaleidoscope. "I know everyone, but I don't know you. Are you folks new in town?"

"Brand new," Sonic replied. "Gotta say, I wasn't expecting all this fanfare, but I'd never flake on my own welcome party!"

"Ha!" The woman leaned forward, her eyes glittering. "Funny guy. I like you." She slid over a photo album from where it was sitting on the other end of the table. Then, she pushed it forward, in front of Sonic and Shadow. "This festival has a lot more history than you might think. See for yourself."

Shadow flipped open the album. Inside, there was an old black and white photograph of the night sky. Although it was grainy, the focal point of the photo was clearly the white smudge in the middle--a shooting star? When Shadow turned more pages, he saw that every page had a similar photo, one for every year from the past 100 years.

And the one from this year…

"Weird, right?" the woman said. "Every year we've seen a falling star, but this year we saw two."

Sonic and Shadow looked at the picture. It was in full glossy color, so the details were easy to pick out, like how the two stars seemed tangled together. Their twin tails streaked across the sky in an array of colorful fire, plummeting down to the forest below.

The two hedgehogs shared a look. Then, Shadow asked the woman, "When was this taken?"

With a long, bejewelled fingernail, the woman tapped her chin. "That one? Hmm… Three days ago, maybe four." She sighed wistfully. "It's a shame you folks didn't get here sooner. It was quite the sight to see! And right after that hubbub with the moon, too."

Sonic's ear twitched. He looked up at the clear night sky, and stared at the broken moon. It stared back at him silently.

"The sky's been a busy place recently," the woman continued. "First the moon, then the space station, and finally that pair of falling stars. It makes me wonder if that little planet will pay us a visit soon, too. I guess only time will tell!"

Shadow was quiet. He was thinking about what the woman had said. It caused one of the echoes to get louder in his brain, bouncing down the empty hallways of his mind until it was all he could hear. The space station… he knew it. He could picture it. See himself, pressing his hand up against the window. Looking down at the pale blue planet below.

Gently, Sonic nudged Shadow's shoulder.

The dark hedgehog snapped out of the memory instantly. "What happened to the space station?" he asked.

The woman blinked. "Oh, I'm not sure. I think it's still up there somewhere." The strange look on Shadow's face gave her pause. Then, she added, "They've been talking about it on the news for awhile. I just don't care to listen, since most of the reports are sponsored by G.U.N."

Shadow frowned. That uncomfortable acronym again…

The woman placed a small sack on the table. "Well," she said, "thanks for listening to an old crow squawk. In honor of the centennial celebration, please take this."

Sonic grabbed the sack with interest. Inside were two golden earrings shaped like stars. Grinning, he clipped one on immediately. Then, he held the other one out to Shadow. Shadow, however, wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about the jewellery, and was about to say as much, when Sonic asked slyly, "What's the matter? Afraid of a little bling?"

Scowling, Shadow snatched the earring from him and clipped it on with a huff. "Of course not," he said. "Don't be ridiculous, Blue."

Then, Sonic waved goodbye to the woman at the booth, and the two hedgehogs continued down the crowded street. They were now headed towards the tallest building in the city, the one with the bulletin board posted on it. They could see the screen glowing bright white as they approached it, but it wasn't until they were directly under it that they could read what was on it.

Make a wish for the hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. Late, but never slow.

There was a blurry photo under the text. It was of a hedgehog, but his features were unclear thanks to the low quality of the picture. Shadow couldn't help but wonder why they chose that one. Maybe every photo of the guy was a blur of motion?

Sonic turned to Shadow. Then, he looked back at the bulletin board. "Hey, Stripes," he said slowly, "that guy looks kinda like you."

#falling stars au #so when i made this au in 2020 before frontiers the festival was called the starfall festival.#i'm not changing it ghfghfghf #also. funniest joke in the au that i've had in mind since the beginning is in this part GOD bless #o7

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caffeine-clouds · 1 year

Text

The Pickle Jar Conundrum

Is 'Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesday' still a thing? I've seen posts around on Tumblr and wanted to give it a shot! So take my goofy oneshot that showcases their sibling bond - hope you enjoy! :)

------

Sonic's ears perked up as he walked past the kitchen - hearing the small grunts of effort coming from the room. He stepped back and peered his head around the entrance curiously, and saw Tails standing in front of the counter. He was trying his absolute best to twist off the lid of a pickle jar, but to no avail. He'd evidently been at it for a while if his red cheeks were any indication.

"Hey there, bud!" Sonic waved cheerily as he decided to enter the kitchen. "You need any help with that?" He asked, pointing to the jar.

Tails didn't respond right away, taking one last attempt at pulling the lid off. When that failed, he sighed and nodded. "Hey, Sonic... yeah, I could do with some help-" he admitted, setting the jar down on the counter and then rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"No problemo!" Sonic smirked, reaching out and grabbing the pickle jar. "Always a pleasure." That was indeed true, as Sonic secretly relished in the opportunies he had to help out the young fox. Often, Tails was often the one carrying the team with his clever schemes and vast knowledge of tech, so it was nice when Sonic had the opportunity to help him for once - to actually be the big brother that Tails referred to him as.

It was supposed to have been simple - just a measly jar of pickles. Sonic twisted his hand to pop off the lid, but it didn't move an inch.

"Uh, gimme a sec here-" Sonic quickly excused himself, setting the jar on the counter top to steady his grip on the jar. After another session of pulling and twisting - still nothing moved. All he got after his hard work was throbbing hand muscles.

"Huh." Sonic said, taking a moment to stop and stare at the jar. "Why do they make them so tight? Don't they want us to actually eat the pickles?"

Tails had been watching on, blinking in bewilderment as even his friend was having difficulties. "If your hand is aching, use a cloth to help you get a better grip on it." Tails suggested.

"Good thinking." Sonic nodded, reaching out for the dish cloth that hung over the oven door handle. He placed the cloth over the jar of pickles, making the lid much softer and easier to grab a hold of. Certain that there was no way this could fail, Sonic made one last heave.

It did not budge.

"Ugh! Come on, seriously?!" Sonic exclaimed in frustration, letting go of the glass jar and pouting at it. He then shifted his gaze to Tails. "Do you need these right now?" He asked him to make certain.

Tails averted his gaze, but slowly nodded - tapping the ends of his index fingers together. "I wanted a pickle sandwich..."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "A pickle sandwich...? So like - only pickles?"

Tails nodded.

"Weirdo."

The fox huffed indignanltly. "You can't judge me! You eat chili dogs for breakfast!"

"So what if I do?" Sonic asked, getting defensive. "It has a bun, doesn't it? That's bread - so it's basically toast! That's a breakfast food!"

Tails facepalmed, groaning into his hand. "You did not just compare chili dogs to toast..." Once he got over Sonic's baffling statement, he saw Sonic was pulling so hard on the lid to the point his arms were trembling, and the hedgehog was gritting his teeth.

"It's alright, Sonic." Tails said. "I'll just have something else, we have plenty of other stuff in the fridge-"

"Nope." Sonic shook his head. "If my little bro wants pickles, he's getting pickles." He spoke with a firm conviction. "I'll just use a knife to break the seal-" Sonic said, reaching into one of the drawers and taking out a sharp cutting knife.

Tails' eyes widened in alarm. "Woah, woah!" He waved his hands. "You'll cut yourself with that! Use a butter knife instead." The fox told him, grabbing the butter knife for him and placing it in front of the hedgehog.

"Alright, alright." Sonic placed the cutting knife down, grabbing the blunter knife that Tails wished for him to use. "If it makes ya feel better..."

"It's basic knife safety..."

"Boriiiing." Sonic remarked, causing Tails to fold his arms - giving a disappointed but amused look towards the hedgehog. Sonic tried placing the blade of the knife between the lid and the jar, twisting it around and trying to at last wedge the lid out of place.

His efforts were frutiless.

"Man! This has to be a prank..." Sonic frowned, contemplating what they could try next.

"Hello!"

Both of their heads turned to see Amy standing at the entrance, smiling, a bag hanging over her shoulder. "Sorry for interrupting! Just wanted to let you know I'm off to drop off some cakes for Vanilla... - Oh! Are you guys having trouble with that?" Amy asked, tilting her head towards the jar. "Let me try!"

Sonic shrugged, picking it up and handing it over. "It's being a real pain in the neck, don't be too bothered if you can't-"

Pop.

With one effortless twist, Amy had made the lid come clean off.

"There you go." She beamed, placing the open jar in Sonic's hand.

He stared at it blankly.

"Oh, wow- uh, thanks, Amy." Tails smiled gratefully, although still in a bit of disbelief.

"Don't mention it!" She giggled. "See you guys later, okay? I won't be gone long." She told them, swiftly making her exit from the kitchen as she hummed to herself merrily.

Sonic and Tails exchanged a stunned glance.

Tails broke first, letting out a giggle - and Sonic was quick to follow with his own snickers.

If there was one thing they had learnt today - it was that they should ask Amy for help opening tightly sealed jars in the future...

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #tails the fox #wholesome sonic and tails wednesday #sonic fanfiction #sonic oneshot #amy rose #sonic and tails are brothers your honour

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rabbithaver · 9 months

Text

i finally decided to actually write out some of my major headcanons for Silver. i like him a lot as a character and i think people overlook him too much lmao

I genuinely believe that Silver has been decoupled from the timeline completely. This means that changes to the future made in the present do not affect him. He may not remember the specific events of 06, but he absolutely remembers growing up in an apocalypse and frequently has lines that support this in the comics. Him being unaffected by changes to the timeline explains why his personal history has not changed, despite the future being saved multiple times. ALSO, Ian Flynn has confirmed that Silver is not in control of when or how he travels through time -- I believe that whatever or whoever is sending him back and forth is the same thing that separated him from the timeline.

Silver is deaf, pushing about 70% hearing loss. It's not congenital -- his hearing sucks because he's from a timeline where things blew up constantly and he had no hearing protection. He relies mostly on lip-reading and guesswork, but wants to learn ASL when he gets a chance... if he gets the chance. Time is wibbly-wobbly for him. (I should note that this one is personal to me -- I myself am HoH due to otosclerosis and I'm definitely projecting my declining hearing on him lmao)

I know Silver is canonically the exact same height and weight as Shadow and Silver, but I personally don't find that very... likely. All three of these dudes are 3'3" and 77lbs EXACTLY? Nah. Shadow and Sonic, maybe, but not Silver. I headcanon Silver as being smaller and lighter than the other hedgehogs because he grew up in a timeline where food was hard to find, and thus didn't grow as much. He's very scrawny and basically has almost no meat on his bones, but you'd never guess because he's got The Fluff.

Elaborating on the food thing: his relationship with eating is probably totally screwed. Think about it: he spent his whole youth eating whatever he could get his hands on, and he probably had to eat as quickly as he could so he could stay on the move. The idea of eating to enjoy the flavor is like, completely alien to him. He also tends to stash food away for later, as he's not used to knowing when his next meal will be. He does it entirely out of habit, even when food is abundant.

Silver's immune system probably sucks. Every time he goes back to the past, he catches some illness. This is largely because he's not used to the pathogens 200 years earlier, but I also like to imagine this is because he's got some sort of autoimmune disorder.

You cannot tell me this boy does not have asthma. I am aware that this is kind of a fandom in-joke, but it makes total sense. If he grew up in a world of smoke and flames, his lungs probably look like burnt toast. Someone get him an inhaler please.

Silver has PTSD and severe anxiety, both due to his personal history growing up in a hellscape and also because repeatedly going back to the future to find his time in disarray due to events in the present is probably traumatic as all hell. His biggest trigger is most likely building collapse, but I can't imagine he doesn't have kind of a hard time with explosions after the Eggman War. His cheerful optimism and helpful attitude is his effort to deflect from his trauma.

Expanding on the anxiety thing; Silver struggles when he doesn't have something to do. We actually see this in canon in the 2022 Annual story "Future Growth." He has no idea how to function when he doesn't have a mission to focus on. Being in the past with no clear directive is insanely triggering for him and he totally fails to cope.

While I'm talking about his mental illnesses, I want to make it explicitly clear: he is REALLY good at hiding this stuff. His friends in the Resistance/Restoration don't find out about his issues for years, and this is specifically because he instinctually hides anything that could be perceived as a weakness. He's been conditioned to hide any and all weaknesses because it was the only way to survive in the post-apocalypse. Being visibly affected by your trauma is a quick and easy way to get dead, so he simply... doesn't. This kid cannot stop masking his trauma at all until he's literally at his breaking point.

There is no way he doesn't have intense Survivors' Guilt. Going back to the Metal Virus arc in the comics, he's the only survivor of a shuttle crash in Issue #25. All of those people died. They actually died - if they were zombots, they would've survived that crash, but because they were still healthy, they didn't have the ability to recover. Silver probably feels that because he was trying so hard to get survivors to the shuttle, he led those people to their deaths. I specifically am pointing to his dialogue here as evidence of this:

He probably dreads going back to the future. Like, think about it. He's admitted to being lonely (IDW #8) in his own time -- probably because his history separates him from the average person! The only friends he really has are in the past, the vast majority of whom are likely long dead by the time he's born. And while his friends are always happy to see him, I can imagine he has a lot of anxiety thinking about the fact that they inevitably start to associate his arrival with something bad coming down the line. That's rough, buddy.

He's very proud of his ruff and he takes really good care of it. It's super thick and very soft. However, when he's having a rough time, he's not as thorough, and it tends to show. If you know him really well, you can get an idea of his current mental health just by looking at the state of his chest fur. A happy Silver is fluffy, a struggling Silver looks like he was left in the washing machine.

Silver has a really hard time with media that involves apocalyptic worlds. He knows that it's just fiction, but it reminds him of the fact that he's the only one who remembers the apocalyptic hellscape he grew up in. It reminds him that as much as his friends want to support him, they can't truly understand what he's been through; his background is only real to him. It just leaves him feeling lonely and sad, so he avoids it as much as possible.

Silver doesn't sleep well in real beds. Maybe it's just a lifetime of growing up surrounded by an apocalypse, but he has a really hard time getting comfortable in a real bed. For months during the Eggman War, he'd spend hours tossing and turning before finally giving up and curling up on the floor in a corner. It's just not what he's used to at all.

anyway i think about him a normal amount :)

#terin.txt #silver the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonic headcanons #idw silver

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nightfurylover31 · 11 months

Text

I really love Adam Bryce Thomas's cover for the 5th Year Anniversary issue! It's so cute! I was hoping the mini issue we were getting was centered around it, but we got something else. So I decided to write something about it! Capturing everything that happens in every picture, keeping it within canon range. I hope you all like it.

*takes place before #57*

The air was refreshing. Much warmer than it had been, yet the breeze had a bit of a chill. The cherry blossoms had bloomed and some of their petals had begun to fall. Other flowers had started opening. A clear sign of early spring. As such, the Riverside Romp was the place to be.

“Wow, it just started but the place is already packed,” Sonic said as he and Amy walked through the entrance.

“It is one of the biggest celebrations around the villages in this area,” Amy responded.

The river in this zone branched out into several villages. As such, everyone gathered in the field outside of Riverside, celebrating the new season. Sonic recognized folks from Vista View, Windmill Village, Barricade Town, Spiral Hill, and more. There were tents and food stands set up all over. The festival lasted all weekend, but even the first day was filled with guests.

“I’m glad you decided to join us, Sonic.” Amy was going with Cream and Vanilla, but decided to ask Sonic as well. Things had been tough on him lately, so she thought he needed to relax a bit. And she figured having the Rabbit family would put him more at ease about coming.

“Sure thing, I’ve always wanted to come to one of these.”

“With all that’s been happening, this is just the kind of break we needed. Especially you.”

“Oh come,” Sonic rolled his eyes. “don’t start that again. The last few adventures were rough, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Amy put her hands on her hips. “You were violently electrocuted, and then nearly brain swapped with a robot. And both times your leg was injured.”

Sonic let out a sheepish chuckle. “What can I say? Trouble always seems to find me.”

The pink hedgehog sighed, resting her hand on her forehead. While she admired Sonic’s spirit, she wished he didn’t take these kinds of experiences so lightly.

“My point is there’s nothing wrong taking it easy.”

“I know, and you’re right. Let’s just enjoy today. I hear they got special chili dogs at these things.”

Amy couldn’t help but laugh as Sonic licked his lips at the thought of trying the food.

“Mr. Sonic! Ms. Amy! Hurry!” The two turned to see Cream calling them as she and her mother had already entered the gate.

“What are we waiting for?” Sonic smiled. “Let’s go!”

The group spent some time together until Cream saw a face painting booth. She got the artist to paint Cheese’s face while Sonic and Amy continued. There were souvenir stands with handmade clothing, bags and accessories. Naturally, the former stopped when he saw a hotdog stand. With so many toppings he had to try one with everything. Next to it was a backed goods stand, which Amy was drawn to. The large heart-shaped cookies hanging overhead looked especially delicious. As the two headed over to the picnic tables to eat and rejoin their friends, Amy noticed a familiar woolly figure making their way to the river.

“Sonic, go ahead,” she said as she gave her treats to him. “I’ll catch up.” The blue hedgehog shrugged but did as he was told.

Outside of the festivities, Amy met up with a lone girl sitting on a log.

“Hello Lanolin.”

The sheep turned her head. “Oh, Ms. Rose. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Lanolin was part of the Restoration. She joined just after the Neo Metal incident. She had been helping regularly. If memory served correctly, she was now an assistant to Jewel.

“I came with my friends, and please, call me Amy. No need for formalities.” Amy sat down beside her. “What are you doing here instead of the party? It looks like something’s bothering you.”

Lanolin hung her head low, looking at her hands folded in her lap. “I just wonder… if I’m really making a difference.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you and Sonic saved my town, I realized how helpless I was. I couldn’t do anything. I wanted to do more. So I joined the Restoration to help. But even so, I feel like I haven’t done anything.”

“That’s not true,” Amy quickly defended. “You’ve helped with the evacuations when we were dealing with the Metal Virus. You even protected the survivors when we were in Spiral Hill and Angel Island. That’s something.”

“Barely. Most of the Zombots were focusing more on the areas I wasn’t in. And when the Zeti attacked HQ, I didn’t fight back either. I just grabbed as many people as I could find and hid. I feel like a coward.”

“Protecting people is just as important as fighting. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But it’s…” The sheep went quiet.

Sensing her discouragement, Amy took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s not enough. You want to contribute more.”

Lanolin nodded. “You and the others do such amazing things. I know I can’t do anything like that, but-"

“You just haven’t found it yet.”

“W-what?” Lanolin was caught off guard by Amy's interruption.

“You haven’t found your special skill yet. Something only you can do. I had my own problems figuring it out, but I kept trying.” With that Amy started fidgeting with her fingers. “Honestly, you remind me of how I used to be. I wanted to go on adventures with Sonic, but I was just getting in the way. Even after getting my hammer, I still felt like I was a bother most of the time. But even if I can’t run fast, fly, or anything super special, I still try to help in any way I can. No matter how small.”

Hearing this caused Lanolin to smile. She rubbed her cheek, as if wiping a tear. “Thanks for that, Amy. I’m still not sure what I could do to help more.”

“Well, is there any way you can think of to make the Restoration more effective?”

The sheep blinked for a moment, then put her hand to her chin to think. After a while, she spoke “Considering all the havoc Dr. Eggman has caused… if there was some way to get the jump on him…”

“Like a response team? That’s a great idea!” A way to stop Eggman before things get too out of control. That way there would be less collateral damage, and less Sonic would have to deal with. Amy knew he loved the thrill of the fight, and she didn’t want to take that from him, but so much weight had been put on him lately. Some have even blamed him for certain events due to his actions. If people did more, they wouldn’t have to keep relying on him or turn any distress towards him.

“It’s just a thought. I don’t know how to pull it off—”

“But it’s a start, and that’s what matters,” the hedgehog assured. “As a very special friend of mine says, ‘nothing starts until you take action.’”

“Smart advice,” Lanolin agreed.

Amy got up and motioned her hand. “Come on. Let’s get back. There’s still plenty of fun to be had.”

The two headed back to the festival. Lanolin saw her friends before Amy did, so they split up. She saw the gang still at the tables eating. Though she couldn’t help but notice a few bites missing from her cookie.

“I’m sorry Ms. Amy,” Cream apologized. “Cheese was hungry, and I couldn’t stop him.” The Chao still had crumbs on his face. His face painting had also been smudged trying to wipe them off.

Amy simply patted bunny on the head. “Don’t worry about it, Cream. There’s still plenty left, and we’re here to have fun."

After going around to more of the stands, the last event of the day was about to start. Sparklers were passed out some people. Amy watched the lights dance around, careful that the sparks didn’t hit her hand. Everyone gathered as the mayor of Windmill Village stood at the front. The old ram cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Thanks to all of you for coming out and joining us! I know the last year has been hard on us all, but that’s exactly why we need to celebrate the good days we have. We must cherish everything and everyone around us and let them know how they mean to us. Spring is a time of new beginnings. I’m sure new stories and opportunities are awaiting each and every one of you. So let us welcome it all with open arms.” He raised his fist in the air. “To a wonderful year!”

“Yeah!”

The crowd cheered with absolute bliss. Amy was so in the moment she didn’t even realize she was holding Sonic’s hand. Soon the music picked up, and everyone was singing and dancing. This went on for a few more hours.

As the sun began to set, everyone began to head home. Cream and Vanilla waved goodbye as they parted ways from Amy and Sonic.

“That was so much fun,” Sonic exclaimed as he stretched his arms in the air. “Thanks for inviting me along, Ames.”

“I’m glad you joined us too,” Amy beamed. She felt much more at ease than she had been in a while, and she could tell Sonic did as well. The way his quills bent down, the way he smiled. She knew how to read him by now when he was tense. She did not see that now. All cares and troubles were out of mind. It felt great to finally be able to relax without Eggman or anyone else ruining it. “We should come again next year. We could invite Tails, Knuckles, Tangle, Whisper, and the others to come too.”

“Or it could just the two of us and make it a date,” the blue hedgehog said casually.

Amy froze in place. Her face turned bright red. She looked at Sonic, who was sporting his smug grin.

She gave him a playful shove. “Don’t tease me like that!”

“What? I thought that’s what you wanted, right?”

"Sonic, you-"

The two friends continued laughing as they made their way home.

#sonic idw #idw sonic #idw sonic spoilers #amy rose #sonic the hedgehog #lanolin the sheep #cream the rabbit #vanilla the rabbit #fanfic

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howlingday · 10 months

Text

A Big RWBY Party

Yang: Hey! Hi! How's it going? Welcome to the party! Come on in!

Weiss: Ugh... Why did we agree to this?

Blake: Yang said it would be a great way to meet new people.

Weiss: Jaune isn't going to be here, is he?

Ruby: No. He had a thing going on already.

---------------------------------------------------

Jaune: (Sleeping)

---------------------------------------------------

Yang: Hey, how's it goin'? You enjoyin' the party?

"Fan": Hardly. This party is so boring?

Yang: Oh, really? What's wrong?

"Fan": This music is so loud and obnoxious, you could probably replace it with anything from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. It's also really annoying that it's always made by the same two people.

Yang: Uh-huh... Well, uh, I'll check the song list and see what else we got in the ol' music library.

"Fan": Whatever. It's not there's anything good to do with the music anyways.

Yang: ...

---------------------------------------------------

Blake: Hey, uh, how's the food?

"Fan": Terrible. It's all the same crap.

Blake: ...It is?

"Fan": It's either something so salty, it might as well be a bowl of salt, or it's so fluffy that I'd rather be eating a pillow.

Blake: Uh...

"Fan": And more than half of them are just bananas! Like, there's other fruits out there people can eat!

Blake: ...What bananas? Where?

"Fan": Ugh, and don't get me started on these "thirst" traps!

Blake: ...You mean the punch?

"Fan": You just know whoever made these are just hiding behind the "it's implied" excuse. We all know you're a pervert, so just admit it and jump off a bridge and die! Ugh!

Blake: ...What the hell just happened?

---------------------------------------------------

Nora: I love you, Ren~.

Ren: I love you, too, Nora. (Pokes her nose) Boop.

"Fan": UUUUUUGH! CRIIIINGE!

Weiss: Hey! What the hell is your problem?!

"Fan": This is so forced it hurts to look at! There's no way they should end up together!

Weiss: And who are you to decide that?

"Fan": Soneone who clearly understands how the real world works. Unlike SOME of us.

Weiss: What are you talking about?

"Fan": She was pining after him for years, and the only thing they have in common is their shared trauma. That is not any kind of healthy relationship. It's called enabling each other's flaws.

Weiss: Wh-

"Fan": Also, you are a shitty person because you didn't just stab Jaune when he couldn't take the hint.

Weiss: Why would I-?!

"Fan": Jaune was a stalker and you didn't tell anyone. Just like you didn't tell anyone that Velvet was being bullied.

Weiss: That was years ago!

"Fan": And what have you done now to fix it?

Weiss: I-

"Fan": Whatever. I'm done associating myself with someone who refuses to acknowledge that they're a terrible person.

Weiss: ...

Nora: You okay, Weiss?

Ren: What an absolute-

---------------------------------------------------

Ruby: Come on, midnight... I want these people to leave.

"Fan": And you.

Ruby: Huh?

"Fan": You are the worst, most sorry excuse of a character I have ever met.

Ruby: I am?

"Fan": First off, your look is so cliché, it hurts. Red Riding Hood with a gun? Real original. Also, what are you, fourteen? You shouldn't even be near these people, let alone going on the same adventures as them. You're a liar and a fraud, just like that idiot Jaune; you just cheated your way into school. The big difference is that you did it by breaking the law and being a vigilante who should have just let the police do their job. But with a thug like your sister, who breaks into bars under the legal drinking age and sexually assaults grown men before destroying their business without getting any punishment because her tits are somehow fatter than her head, I'd say it's no wonder.

Ruby: ...

"Fan": Of course, it's not she's the only bad influence in your life. Your deadbeat dad was a womanizer who got what was coming to him, and your uncle is an alcoholic mess who had to change his voice because he didn't know the meaning of the words, "no" and "stop".

Ruby: Hm...

"Fan": And finally, your "accomplishments" are so forced that you might as well change your name to Mary-Ann Susan. Everything just has to go ypur way because you know how the world works. You want to be so much like your mommy, but you don't want to put in the effort to actually better yourself.

Ruby: I see.

"Fan": You, your friends, this party, and everything you touch becomes a bigger and bigger trash fire the more you stick your nose into it, no matter how much you and your racist, sexist, homophobic "friends" try to make it better. You're a disgrace to your mother, and an abomination to your father.

Ruby: ...

"Fan": ...

Ruby: ...Are you done?

"Fan": I... I had some other things to say, but I can't remember them right now.

Ruby: Okay. I think I get what you're saying. Honestly, some of that stuff does kinda make sense when you think about it.

"Fan": Really?

Ruby: Mhm. But I also think you should leave.

"Fan": What?! Oh, I get it! You're trying to silence me because I'm telling the truth!

Ruby: No, I'm asking you to leave because you came to this party, but instead of just enjoying it for what it is, all you've done since you showed up is complain without offering anything actually constructive as criticism. This is a party for people to have fun, and you showing up, making fun of it, and then acting like you know how things should but not offering anything except even more criticism is just... dumb. Like, really, really dumb.

Ruby: They're here to have fun. And we're here for their fun, too. Because we believe in the message they all believe in, too. And that's why we're here. To make it better.

"Fan": I...

Fan: Can I stay? Just a little longer?

Ruby: If you promise not to be such jerk anymore, then I'm okay with it.

Fan: Yeah. I want to make it better, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now I know as I say this, there will be some [viewers] saying that they think [creator] doesn't have quality or quantity and that everything [they] do is wrong. People will often disguise their comments as 'constructive criticism' even though they word in a way that isn't just mean, but as pompous, and often to prop themselves up as some sort of authority because of their own experience while also disregarding the experience of the actual successful creator of multiple shows with millions of fans worldwide."

- Deep Cut, Cartoon Universe

#rwby #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #ruby rose #jaune arc #lie ren #nora valkyrie #renora #cartoon universe #deep cut

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superthirstparty · 1 month

Note

Sin, can I ask about the other German food crimes?

so basically, one rule of thumb where i live is that if you want truly authentic foreign cuisine, you should probably look for a restaurant owned by natives and their families, because germans might (and in a lot of cases WILL) fuck it up by germanizing it in some way. at least that's the experience i've made here in the east of the country.

(you've probably seen videos of US americans fucking up foreign dishes while some native of that country is reacting to it with pure horror. same shit, different country.)

i remember there was a german-owned mexican restaurant in my city that i wanted to try, and i got myself a burrito. it was so germanized that it was the blandest food i'd had all week. lacking spices and everything that makes a good burrito. i wish i had taken a picture that i could show you now.

i am not saying that germans can't learn or master foreign cuisine, but that takes some training / trial and error, which a lot of people don't really bother with.

to give you an example of why it might be a mistake to trust germans with foreign cuisine:

(pictures of strange german food under the cut, you've been warned)

this is a mettigel. a minced meat hedgehog.

i am not kidding you, this is just a pile of meat with onions and other decorative veggies to make it look like a hedgehog.

some germans consider this a must-have at parties.

this is sülze. from what we know it's been around before germany as we know it today was even a thing. but germany took and ran with it. sülze is nothing but meat and veggies in gelatin. i don't know many people who like it, but i've been told it's very popular with boomers.

i have more examples, but i guess you see why it might be a bad idea to trust germans with food they don't know shit about.

(i would have shown you pictures of foreign food fucked up by germans but i couldn't find good ones. apparently we don't take enough pictures of that stuff that make it beyond astronomically bad google reviews.)

#question answered #thegirlwiththemooglehat

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captain-mj · 1 year

Note

more spoils of war

if you ever wanna see your tibia again

Send the tibia to my po box

Soap let himself get ordered around, relaxing because it was Ghost yanking him around. He had his mask back on and they were outside for the first time since Soap was taken. Weird to think about.

The sun felt wonderful on his skin. Ghost’s hand was so firm on his back, leading him to the horse.

“So we’ll go visit your sister so I can show you they’re fine.”

“Can I meet your friends?”

“Uh… maybe later.” Ghost looked shy at the prospect. His eyes darting away from Soap.

Soap smiled at him. “Aye. Want to see my lil sisters anyway.” Ghost helped him onto the horse and then sat behind him. His arms went around Soap and suddenly, he understood why all the lassies thought this was so romantic. He could hear Ghost’s heartbeat like this.

“I promise to introduce you when we get back.” He shook the reigns and his horse started walking. Soap’s hands were tied in front of him, loosely and only for show since they were in public, so he leaned into Ghost to prevent himself from falling.

“I got you sweetheart.” Ghost mumbled in his ear and Soap flushed.

“You’re a fecking menace.” Soap growled to a very confused Ghost.

Once they were out of the town, Ghost pulled the rope and set Soap free. He rubbed at his wrists and grabbed the horse more firmly, finally relaxing.

“How long are we going to be traveling?”

“Just a couple of hours. Tell me if you need a break.” Ghost put one of his arms around Soap to keep him steady.

“I’ve ridden a horse before.”

“Fucking hell, I just don’t want you falling off and hurting yourself.”

“Uh huh…” Soap got more relaxed, or as relaxed as he could be riding a horse. He hummed softly and picked at the fabric holding Ghost’s gear together.

The ride was mostly silent, with the occasional conversation or them pointing out an animal and then stopping to stare at said animal.

They had managed to see a fox, a rabbit, a fallow deer a hedgehog. Most of them ran away as soon as they appeared, but some lingered, as unbothered by them as they were the sun beating down on them. The thought passed between them to kill one for food, but there really wasn’t a need and that day felt too peaceful for there to be bloodshed.

Eventually, they arrive and Ghost hopped off first.

“Need help?”

Soap didn’t want to admit it, but it had been a while since he had done anything as taxing as riding in a while. He hadn’t exactly worked out or done any training while staying with Ghost.

“Fuck off.” He jumped down, almost immediately stumbling from how sore his legs were. If he grabbed on to Ghost’s arm to stay steady, Ghost knew better than to say anything.

They marched into Valeria’s… castle?? She had a castle?? Soap grimaced. If his sisters were being used for fucking labor or mistreated or…

Davina ran over immediately. “Johnny!!” She collided with him, wrapping her arms around him. He immediately hugged her back, a little surprised.

“Davina…” Soap squeezed her hard. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Has she been treating you nicely??”

“Lady Valeria is very nice don’t worry! You made her sound so mean when you talked about her before.” Davina pulled back and smiled at him. She looked a lot like him, dark hair and blue eyes. She was the baby of the family though and she looked it. Unlike his sister Roisin, she was tiny.

“I’ve been so worried about you! How could I not! Were you not worried about me?”

“Val told me not to worry about you and I trusted her. Clearly it was a good choice.” She hit Ghost’s shoulder who stared awkwardly. Soap could see the tension in her shoulders. Despite how she was acting, it was clear to him that Ghost set her on edge.

“Nice to meet you too.” Ghost got out.

“He sounds like a villain in a play.”

Soap laughed before quickly stifling it. “Don’t be mean to him. He’s a nice guy.”

“Uh huh… Right…” She said it with a half smile, casually glancing at Ghost. “Anyway, Roisin is busy right now, but she should be out soon.”

“Busy? With what?”

“Oh, her and Valeria hang out alone sometimes. I don’t really care. I’ve been enjoying this bread they have.” She started to walk and the two men followed.

Soap leaned into Ghost and whispered. “I swear if Valeria is fucking my sister.”

“I had nothing to do with this. I promise. But like… is it any worse than us?”

“Yes!! Valeria is a blood thirsty monster and…” Ghost had continued to stare at him. “Okay, but my sister is a….” He and Roisin had the most in common.

Goddamnit.

“Look, I just think… she should’ve been talked to me first.”

“And I was supposed to talk to your dad or something?”

“My dad is dead. I’m the man of the house and Valeria should’ve talked to me!!” Soap groaned.

Ghost was clearly trying not to laugh. Soap wished he wasn’t wearing the mask. He loved Simon’s smile.

Ghost stared back at him, eyes softening just a little.

“You guys done?” Davina whispered and they both glared at her.

“Anyway, where have you been staying?”

“Lady Valeria gave me a room to stay in. Though I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. There’s this nice guy down there that slips me extra food.” She showed them where her room was.

Soap reluctantly agreed that it was a rather nice room. She had tons of pelts and blankets, an actual a mattress and just general it wasn’t too bad.

“I suppose… Valeria… isn’t too bad.”

“I was a little worried when she bought us but she’s cool.”

Ghost tapped Soap’s shoulder. “I’ll be back. You two can get… caught up.” He left them alone and Davina immediately changed. She dropped the happy go lucky act and immediately showed exactly how worried she had been.

“Are you okay? Has he done anything to you?” She hugged him again, though it was a bit tighter this time. “When he grabbed you that day I was so scared for you.”

“I’m fine. Simon actually is a nice guy.” Soap reassured. “I know that was probably… alarming.”

“Yeah. I heard of how cruel he was on the battlefield and…” She buried her face in his chest. “I was so worried. Val kept telling me that he wouldn’t hurt you but I was still just…” Her hands tensed on his arms.

Soap squeezed her. “It’s okay, kiddo. I’m fine. He hasn’t hurt me.”

“What happened to your hand?”

He glanced at the still healing wounds from where the knife had slashed him open.

“An accident. I dropped a knife.” Easier than explaining. “He’s nice. I like him.”

“You and Roisin started dating people?? Why couldn’t I meet someone here?” She groaned, clearly teasing. Her gaze traced him though, following down any skin she could see as if looking for bruises or something.

Soap was so glad he told Ghost not to make any marks on him the night before. Hickeys may have been hard to explain.

“I really am okay. Despite his… everything, he’s a really nice guy.” Soap smiled.

Davina nodded and hugged him again. “Do you think we can go home soon?”

Oh.

Soap hadn’t thought of that in a while. He had given up the moment he had ended up alone and beaten.

Would Ghost let him?

Part of him doubted that Ghost would do that to him. If he asked, he was certain Ghost would let him go.

But could he do that to Ghost?

Just leave him?

And what about Shepherd? Could he leave Ghost to deal with him alone?

“I don’t know. I’ll see okay?”

Davina nodded against him.

After a few moments, they separated and he found Roisin. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him.

Johnny held onto her a moment, relaxing into her. She fussed over him, very differently from Davina. Roisin didn’t care if Ghost was just a few feet away talking to Valeria.

Soap looked at him, making eye contact. He just sorta shrugged and Ghost waved him off, as if saying he understood how siblings were.

Did Ghost have a sibling? What a wild thought.

#call of duty modern warfare ii #cod mw2 #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty #mw2 #soap call of duty #johnny soap mactavish #soapghost #simon ghost riley #ghostsoap #spoils of war

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fruityuncleskeletor · 11 months

Text

On Vegas and his hedgehogs

I have accepted it as a fact that Gun made a habit of killing Vegas' hedgehogs even when they happened to be thriving and not die on their own.

Hedgehogs were a means for Gun to keep his son trapped in a childhood headspace, in a state of blind submission to him. The way Vegas talks about hid hedgehogs to Pete in that moment of heartbreaking sincerity at the safehouse, he makes it sound like a ritual, like a bonding thing his father extended to him... effectively stringing him along and reinforcing the illusion that they are a family and for that he is owed blind loyalty. Gun knew. Gun knew fucking well that Vegas is more capable than he ever deigned to be. The moment Vegas went into hiding, the family businesses went to shit one by one and instead of being a leader and taking the reins, Gun drove a four hour roundtrip every day to hit Vegas for not being at work, being exploited like a donkey to make Gun look good. The hedgehog, while cute, is not an animal that makes a good pet. You can't just throw one in a cage with a straw and call it a day. And from what we saw in the series, Vegas kept his in a bird cage, with straw or wood shavings on the floor and fed him food in powder form. My dad has hedgehogs in his garden. They are the size of small cats and eat centipedes, worms, larvae, small mice, lizards, snakes, every bug that crosses their path and cat food they extort from my dad's cats. They are noisy, they bully animals tens of times biger than them and are the biggest Gs in that patch of land. Vegas' hedgehog did not have a single item counting towards enrichment in his cage, he had shit food and got ignored for hours and days. And it's not because Vegas didn't want to do a good job and didn't love his pet. But again, Gun held him up to the expectation that pet care goes without saying and if he is not successful at it, it's a failing on his part. And I fully believe Gun made sure all of Vegas' hedgehogs died just so he could tell his son he is so worthless and incompetent, he can't even keep a small animal alive. If he can't even do that, how can he possibly lead a large crime family? (Nevermind that Vegas is already doing that, de facto). The hedgehogs and their repeated deaths are symbolic of Vegas being kept in that state of powerlessness and self-hate so that he doesn't grow strong and into a direct threat for Gun himself. When he finds himself alone with an unconscious Pete, Vegas sees an all too known scenario play out around him. We see him tell Pete over and over that he is treating him like a pet, then panic when Pete is unresponsive after the beating. He is scared that he won't be able to help Pete, and we know Vegas has no qualms about torturing people and killing them; but with Pete it's precisely because Pete carries the pet label, Vegas gave it to him to mock him and to inform his status as a captive. Vegas knows his track record with pets is terrible and he is afraid that Pete will die because of him, by his hand and not from punishments but from Vegas' perceived incompetence. If Pete dies, it means his father is proven right yet again, in an impossible to ignore or dismiss way.

Then, when the hedgehog at the safehouse gets sick, we see Vegas sitting next to a sleeping Pete with the animal in his hands, staring at it. It's only when Pete suggests solutions that he gets into gear and decides to take the animal to the vet. As though it only occured to him that is a thing that he can do. He rushes out the door and abandons his captive and his schemes for the moment, leaving the handcuff key behind. Vegas lives within the limits his father draws up for him every day, and while he can't see the bars, the cage is always there. It takes someone else from the outside (Pete) telling him he can just open the door and walk out for him to do it. The most heartbreaking things about it are this: Gun keeps his son in this dependent state to prevent him from surpassing and likely dethroning him, and he dangles the promise and specter of family love over Vegas' head. And it works because this is all Vegas ever wanted - to be loved, even if just in that mundane way of "at least don't shoot him down before the world does" that is a minimum for a parent to do. But as we know, not only does Gun not intend to give his son a single crumb of love and acceptance, he is also incapable of those things himself, so Vegas is chasing shadows and beating himself up for nothing. The lesson Vegas is meant to learn from the hedgehogs is not how to make himself comfortable in the cage, but to see that being forgotten and neglected in a cage inevitably leads to death.

#vegas theerapayanakul #pete saengtham #gun theerapanyakul #vegaspete #hedgehogs #long

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