#because i have so many fucking books to read

[captain-huggy-bear]

No because why do I picture that you and Jack are dating in secret, well at least from the public’s eye, and you had talked about going public but you didn’t say when, and Jack accidentally posts a picture of you guys in one of his photo dumps and the secrets out

Totally happy to take requests/ideas/prompts at the moment in my ask box :) Writing Masterlist

It's an accident, a genuine mistake. He doesn't mean to include a picture of the two of you in his latest photo dump to his instagram, he certainly doesn't mean to select a photo in which he has his arms around you from behind, lips pressed to your cheek in a kiss that was clearly not friendly. It's not that he's ashamed of you, rather it's that the two of you had agreed to keep things private for a while, to give yourselves a chance to really settle into your relationship without the peanut gallery getting involved. You'd discussed going public, but not set a date or made a decision and he was certain you weren't going to be happy with it happening suddenly without your knowledge...#

"Shit." He's trying to delete it frantically, but he can already see the comments flooding in. Even if he deletes it he knows someone will have screenshotted it, someone will have seen it and already written a blog post about it...the cat is out of the bag. He doesn't bother, leaves the post where it is, knowing it would draw more attention if it disappeared now.

"Jack? Everything okay?" You could hear him from the bedroom, his frantic swearing travelling to where you'd been reading. It had made you curious enough to put your book down even though the main love interest was about to make a massive declaration of love.

He's staring at his phone, tossed onto the coffee table, like it's just betrayed him, elbows pressing into his knees, head in his hands. Jack's fingers are tugging at his hair like he often does when he's stressed and it's enough to worry you that something seriously bad has happened.

He looks a little pitiful when he looks up at you, big blue eyes worried, brow furrowed, lips set in a pout.

"...If...theoretically...if I fucked up and accidentally posted a picture of us on my public insta would you dump me?" Your shoulders are already relaxing, whatever you thought had happened, it certainly wasn't something as minor as Jack making your relationship public.

"Is this theoretical or reality?" You're smiling at him and it only makes him more confused because you should be angry at him right now...you should be telling him off because you hadn't agreed yet on when you'd make things public and with him public meant very public.

"Reality..." Jack reaches for his phone, unlocking it to show you the post and the many, many, many comments already flooding in, "Fuck, I'm sorry I wasn't thinking and must have just picked that photo when I was selecting a few others..."

"Hey, hey...it's okay." You sit yourself next to him on the couch, leaning against him so he knows you're not angry. It's obvious Jack is panicking about this, worried that you're going to be upset with him, "We we're already talking about going public...it's fine."

"You're...you're not going to break up with me?" You're actually taken aback a little bit, that he thinks you'd be so fickle, so petty as to break up with him over an accident, a simple mistake. It has you cupping his face in your hands gentle, the sort of softness that has his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks.

"Jack Rowden Hughes, do you really think that something as small as an accidental photo posting would get me break up with you?" You smile at him so sweetly that he starts to feel a bit silly, a bit stupid because he loves you and you love him and why would he ever think you'd be so harsh as to break up with him over something like that?

"I don't know...maybe?" He's sheepish as he says it, shrugging his shoulders and avoiding your eyes.

"You're an idiot." You say lovingly, pressing a kiss to his lips even as he goes to protest about it. A kiss that has him melting, all worries about your reacti9on disappearing in favour of pulling you into his lap and kissing you silly.

[teddypoi-qd]

{ID - Series of tweets from @/grumpwitch about working in a public library:

"Things I have learned about the general public whilst working at the library: 1. A huge number of people under 20 can't face clocks, having grrown up with only digital ones.

2. Many people don't know how to spell "library." It's in our email address. This causes problems.

3. A disturbing number of young people don't actually know how book-lending at the library works. They assume it costs money! Teach your children about libraries!

4. Crime and thriller are basically the same thing in many cases. In fact, we have doubles of books because of that.

5. People use hidden codes like asterisks to mark which books they've read! The system will let you know if you've already borrowed something! Just ask.

6. If an automatic door breaks, people will walk into it instead of reading the sign at face height.

7. Libraries are a godsend for blind and deaf people and not just for audioboks. They can come for help with filling out forms and getting directions.

8. Some elderly people go through books at a TERRIFYING rate. They are to be feared and respected. 9. Some people are so afraid of computers that they will come to you with a query and then become upset if you offer to look it up on the compute instead of in a book.

10. Some poeple have never, ever used a telephone. Especially older women. Their husband did it for them.

11. The DWP fuck over everyone but especially the most vulnerable and I haven't met a single library worker who hasn't helped struggling library users with food or phone calls or even a cup of tea when it's cold and they can't afford heating.

12. The Job Centre regularly lie to people and like to tell them that they can get services at libraries that simply do not exist. We will try our very best to help you get what you should have been given at the Job Centre.

13. Most banks assume that everyone has an email now. In fact, some people have trouble proving they exist at all without one.

14. Library folk are good folk. We do this because we are passionate about it. We have to be.

15. Libraries aren't quiet anymore. They're community hubs now. They may have quiet study areas but most libraries are bustling with activity. Between kids' classes, singing and memory groups for those with Dementia, crafts sessions and noisy office equipment, don't expect silence.

16. Libraries remain the only place where you can spend hours in a publically-accessible building without being expected to spend money. Parents come to entertain their children for free on wet days. People in poverty come for a warm place to sit. Libraries are a haven.

17. Some people will go their entire lives only reading 2-3 authors but still have enough material to read a book every month. (See also: Danielle Steel, James Patterson, Clive Cussler, etc.)

18. A library lives and dies by the staff on the counter. You can have the best funding, all of the books and tech in the world but you'll only get footfall if your staff go above and beyond. Sometimes even that doesnt work, though and it's frustrating.

19. We're funded based on footfall. I've seen staff cry because we lost a youth group to a private hall that has fancier facilities like a cafe. We need all the footfall we can get.

20. Staff are hitting their head against walls volunteering to create events, classes and groups only to have them shot down because local councils don't understand social media or want to charge for it. I can't overemphasise just how much unpaid work staff do.

21. Most of the facilities are only working because staff pay out of pocket to get things working. My manager bought a new laminator when we couldn't afford one. She buys in colouring materials for kids. We sometimes bring in our own stationary. We even buy lightbulbs in.

22. Authors don't like to visit little libraries because they don't get paid. Bookstores often pay.

23. The "sexy librarian" trop has actually done a LOT of harm and has caused countless incidences of sexual assalt by men who can't tell the difference between porn and reality.

24. Old ladies keep libraries in business. Old ladies who read are the best. Old ladies who can tell you exactly which page features the most gruesome murder scene are the very best.

25. Library staff ALWAYS want to know what you thought of the book. We want to know what to recommend to others!

26. I'm not supposed to have favourite library users but I do: I love library couples, who bicker over each others' reading tastes or share books and then argue about the themes. I also love the autistic kids with special interests. I will crawl over hot coals to get you a book about the specific type of train you are interested in, tiny child. I will listen to you tell me about it in great detail. I will try to remember for the next time you come in.

27. The single best moment, for me, is when a library user graduates from Young Adult to Adult and suddenly the entire library is open tothem! They can read anything! No more tiny teen section! All of the classics! Sci fi! Horror! They often get overwhelmed.

28. And finally, because I've spammed you long enough and because my typos are mounting up, remember this: Library staff can overcome many challenges but Book Gods help you if you deprive us of caffeine. You don't want to see what happens then.

END ID}

[twopoppies]

hey Gina, this morning I randomly had this urge to watch Harry’s Zane Lowe interviews (both of them yes) and again realised 1) how much I missed harry 2) how wise he actually is, with all the quotes he made in the interviews from what he heard/read or told.

I was fairly young when I discovered harry and 1D, I was 17 when fine line came out and the Zane Lowe interview, I remember feeling something about fine line pulling me in. But I also remember not very much understanding what harry really meant in his interviews. So now in my age when I heard those interviews again, I was again reminded of his wisdom. Just the way he functions is so interesting to me.

I have seen so many people saying H must be a little “slow” or “not the brightest” because of what he’s done or said in the past, “he speaks slow”, or the famous “London’s quite big” line from AGEEES ago. But he isn’t “slow” at all. That man is pretty fucking smart. We might joke around and say “he doesn’t answer questions” or “he can’t answer with coherence” but no, I think no one does justice to him at all, especially tabloids and GP, and even his fandom.

That man is learning another language, reads a lot, not on social media (best way to live), obsessed with fashion/art, into sports.

long story short: I miss harry. And I wanna know sooo bad what he’s been up to, what he crafted, how he grew as a person. Just normal stuff 🥰

Listen, I get so angry when people joke that Harry said "nothing at all" in his interviews or that he just "rambles." I hate when people accuse him of being elitist or pretentious because he mentions books or concepts that require more than two brain cells to understand.

He does speak slowly. I think it's because he thinks about things deeply. You need time to think about how you want to answer something or what you want to express if you're interested in sharing something meaningful. If you don't, you can be someone who just rattles off memorized sound bites that are completely divorced from anything real and make a few jokes, and you're done.

It just feels to me that when people accuse him of being pretentious, it's because they don't understand anything he's talking about.

[ckret2]

I feel like historically, in the same way Bill uses he/him pronouns to exploit the patriarchy and denote power, having lots of human women indicates fame, riches, abundance, status. Like. He wants people to see him as a Chad, and Chads obtain women. What's better than being a playboy who gets all the girls? Getting the girls via RULE OF LAW. Does a dumb meathead human Chad have this many wives? I don't fucking THINK so. So Chad can not even SPEAK to him, do you see how many women he's collected in his hoard? It's objectifying sure, but he objectifies and uses all humans, big whoop. Women are what's "in" around here, and he's hip to the trends

I have trouble buying that Bill "It's Gonna Get Weird" Cipher, who taught a townful of Puritan women how to be witches and violently overthrow the patriarchy just because those oppressive Puritan men irritated him so much, would go, "I know how I'm gonna impress these humans! By ✨conforming to their traditional social norms✨!"

Especially since, immediately after marrying everyone's wives, he sets up a cult dedicated to a new god right on the border of the Bible belt (why not pretend he, the All-Seeing Eye, is actually the Christian god they've already been worshiping and co-opt the local religion?), and reads geometry erotica live on the radio in a deeply conservative rural area.

Like, before TBOB, I might could've bought "Bill's pretending to be heterosexual for the street cred." But post-TBOB it's pretty evident that his modus operandi isn't "impress humans by pretending I'm what they idealize," it's "impress humans by convincing them what I am is what they should idealize." He doesn't appropriate local cultural beliefs, he violently hands out new beliefs and tells humans to get with his program—and they do.

For goodness sake, he goes through the 50s starting multiple flop bands before it dawns on him that maybe humans might like music that's "good." Even at his most desperate—eternally trapped in a forensic psych hospital pleading through a book to some random reader to help free him—he tells the reader some self-aggrandizing story about his childhood and says he's not gonna give them a story that "makes his sharp edges easier to swallow." If he won't even deign to make himself palatable then, of all times, then why in Orchard Lake?

I don't think he'd ask for wives because he thinks the humans expect it; I think he asked for wives because he wanted it.

[eowynstwin]

I just love love love the way you write! Especially sex scenes! You make them so intimate when they need to be, and absolutely filthy simultaneously.

Have you taken any inspiration from published books? And by that, I mean have there been any notable books that have helped you navigate your writing process, or is it all just organically from the brain?

<3

gasp I love this question. I'm going to ramble.

So the first books that spring to mind are The Locked Tomb books by Tamsyn Muir, I love how simultaneously sincere and irreverent she is!! She has this way of describing things that i find really evocative and charming, and the charm contrasts really sharply with the subject matter (gore and grief and cosmic horror), so it makes it lowkey really funny.

Example, while giving a seminar about not getting swallowed by the ninth layer of hell, a character draws diagrams on a whiteboard with a "chubby marker." Chubby marker has always stuck with me because it's not a pair of words I would normally put together, and that's been pretty keystone to me. It taught me that the way you describe things matters just as much as describing them at all.

I also think about timing a lot thanks to The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. She's another writer who knows how many times she can make you laugh without undermining the seriousness of the things she writes about, and she is so so so good at character banter and relationships.

There's a bit in Blue Lily, Lily Blue where one character is harassing his friends by rickrolling them with a horrible song, and it's not really important to the plot, but it sort of embroiders the friendships that are important to the plot. Fucking with your friends is a time-honored tradition and it just makes everything feel a bit more real and precious—it makes you really believe in the verisimilitude of the relationships, like they have lives outside of the prose itself.

Then there's Robert MacFarlane! I've only just gotten into him. I'm reading Underland, and I started listening to The Old Ways audiobook but I'm gonna find the book at the library instead. i love the way he sets his scenes, or establishes his details. He's got an economy of detail that I've really been loving.

What I mean is—"The cave is dark and quiet around me" will become "Quiet cave, dark around me" or something similar. He eschews articles like "this" "the" "that" "is" and "are" because they're not necessary, and they'd slow down the pacing. It lends to a very dreamlike quality to his prose, I feel.

I feel like that's a commonality between nature writers too lol because I also love Robin Wall Kimmerer (who he quotes in Underland!!) so I'm going to search out others in that genre.

Honorable mention—I do love Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry for getting the cadence of a western too. Especially when listening to the audiobook. The narrator for that one is GREAT.

For sex scenes—lmao I've honestly never read any in published work that do anything for me. Fanfiction smut still blows trad pub AND self pub out of the water. I suspect that may be because very explicit sex scenes (ironically) put a good majority of readers off—I couldn't say why, though, other than to speculate that a lot of romance readers don't really have a good relationship with their own sexuality. (Hot take.)

How I write sex is instead influenced by the way my friends in this fandom write it, and it's also me thinking about what is noteworthy to ME about sex. I think about the smell, the weight of another person's body, where I want them to put their hands on me.

Sex is also sometimes the vehicle for the narrative, rather than the point in and of itself, so I ask myself "how do I characterize this interaction to serve the story?" It's a conversation, after all; two (or more) bodies navigating each other.

I think that's it! Dear god that got long.

[atopvisenyashill]

here's my rant about condal & hess introducing a few prophecies but it amounts to "oh my god shut up you guys are so fucking dumb" as usual.

i think it's especially frustrating because the number one issue people tend to have is that it "absolves" dany, rhaenyra, & aegon the conquerer of the damage they do and i think that's a really surface level and stupid reading on it and i don't understand it even a little. but then you get into the "the show favors team black" a) no it doesn't b) i'm sorry that it upsets so many people that the show refuses to shy away from the fact that misogyny does in fact play a huge factor in how the dance shakes out but that is simply a fact in both the book and the show. rhaenyra is usurped because of her gender. this doesn't mean the show is absolving her of any and all responsibility for any bad thing she does - in fact the show is not actually doing that at all! it's not! you made that up in your head! stop getting mad about the show in your head!!!!

what the show actually does is show us that this prophecy gets rhaenyra's mother killed and drives an insurmountable wedge between her and her oldest child and heir. it's not going anywhere positive and also she gets eaten at the end. we're not gearing up for a happy ending here and i think the constant handwringing about how "well condal is justifying her actions" well no? the show is pretty goddamn explicit that rhaenyra is doing a bad job handling jace, just like viserys did a bad job handling her, specifically because of the prophecy.

Gorghan of Old Ghis once wrote that a prophecy is like a treacherous woman. She takes your member in her mouth, and you moan with the pleasure of it and think, how sweet, how fine, how good this is . . . and then her teeth snap shut and your moans turn to screams. That is the nature of prophecy, said Gorghan. Prophecy will bite your prick off every time.

that quote is exactly what they're exploring in the show. it's not a bad thing!!! it's not "justifying" anything. the show literally starts with the line "the only thing that could tear down the house of hte dragon was itself" it's literally just explaining how they tore themselves down!!!

beyond that, there's all the "well daemon saw dany and that means she's the prince but she's actually the bad guy and and" take a fucking breath jfc. we have no idea how daemon is going to react to seeing the vision, first of all. but second of all...we also have no confirmation that the prince that was promised is, ya know, a HEROIC FIGURE. again, the main show literally ends with dany exploding king's landing - seems to imply this prophecy is more of an omen than a "here's the road map to be a good guy."

It was Dalla who answered him, Dalla great with child, lying on her pile of furs beside the brazier. "We free folk know things you kneelers have forgotten. Sometimes the short road is not the safest, Jon Snow. The Horned Lord once said that sorcery is a sword without a hilt. There is no safe way to grasp it."

Again...this is the concept they're exploring. It doesn't justify anything, it is simply taking book ideas and exploring them through the dance.

[dippedinmelancholy]

I think it’s as simple as a lot of women are lonely, that feeling can build up especially in long term relationships. Of course you love each other, but you start to feel like roommates, or to have nothing to share together, a hobby or joy outside of sex or the day to day life.

For many fans of ACOTAR, we’re obsessed, we love the characters more than we love the smut. We want to talk to the most important people in our lives about the thing that brings us joy - we want to share that joy. It’s far easier to discuss and debate about a series of both parties have read it.

How many things do women do for their partners just to make them happy? The silent labor in the house, listening to their partners own niche hobbies, trying to engage with them just to feel connection?

We know this isn’t a series our partners would pick up on their own, but we’re asking them to read it as an act of love for us. While the cliche of “gamer husband and reader wife” is cute, it’s still lonely to just exist without sharing, especially when in adulthood, making long term friends is difficult and your partner is often your closest companion and friend.

Personally, my husband and I trade books to read that the other likes just so we can talk about them together. I don’t generally like books without romance, but I read them for him, just so he has someone to share with. He read ACOTAR, just so he could understand my ramblings.

It’s an act of love. It’s an act of saying “hey, I know you love this, I want to partake so I can understand why you love it and share it with you.”

These women are turning to what is largely a female fanbase, and asking “how can I convince my partner to share and partake in this thing that brings me joy so we can be closer and share something that makes me happy?”

It’s really not that gross or complicated. People crave connection, especially from those who are supposed to care about them the most.

Do I particularly like Stephen King or the deep history of marvel comics? Not really. I still engage with it to share it with my husband, because he likes it deeply. Does he particularly care about the styles of twilight fanfiction, ACOTAR politics or the importance of the bodice ripper genre on romance fiction as a whole? Absolutely not. But he engages with it because it makes me happy,

Sometimes, you just do things to make your person happy. Given how often women are shamed for what they enjoy but the entire fucking world, their books boiled down to nothing more than “fairie smut” …idk man, it’s not that hard to read a book for the person you love.

What is with the posts asking strangers on reddit to help them convince their husband's to read acotar today? If your s/o says no or they don't want to read it why would you try to convince them? No is a complete sentence. Maybe they would like it but trying to force them is weird behavior. It's not like this is top tier fantasy and the smut is pretty basic and not mind blowing enough to need to read the books to copy lol (and none of these males are ones you should want your partner to emulate. They are all toxic in different ways, minus Lucien, Tarquin and Thesan lol).

I would never turn to strangers to try to manipulate my partner to like what I like. It's weird to me lol

[inkskinned]

you know, you know. no gods, no masters, no kings on pedestals. everyone is fallible. death of the author. you know! you are balanced about your intake of media - you allow the wiggle room, the grace, the gratitude, the skepticism. nobody above criticism.

but still. a weird gut-punch feeling, something akin to betrayal. you read the article. surprise! an author you love is actually: a serial fucking predator.

well, shit. what now. no, you knew he was a person (all people are), but now you're wondering - what have i overlooked by accident? what messages have i internalized that are strange and cruel? and also, like, what the fuck?

his actions lay a thick glaze on top of everything. like each place is now ruined, opaque in a new way. but okay, fine, you've done this before. you knew better, right? you've been betrayed by many a cherished childhood author.

still, this stickiness. fuck. can you pick up that book again. will you read it to your children. you've recommended it to others - will you ever do that again? and of course, of course, no parasocial relationships. you were theoretically above this kind of sentiment. but the artist informs the art, right.

so it's not something as clear-cut as feeling he owed you, specifically (a stranger) better behavior - just that you kind of, in a distant and odd way... sort of trusted him to do better. it's not like a real trust or something speakable, just the faint hope that the product (good books) was a thin representation of the soul. now it feels like the product (good? books?) was a mask. in some small or insignificant way, your previous support of this person lent them power. your money and your time and your laughter.

and the thing is - you have this terrible, echoing sensation. how many times will this happen? over and over. you find out that the singer you love is actually a predator. you learn over drinks that your favorite high school english teacher is in jail for what he did to her. you listen to the news idly and suddenly discover that a woman you used to idolize has been abusing her kids for an actual eon.

what can you touch without the static melting off. you can't even really complain about it too much (you were supposed to know better, and besides, you don't want the same re-split "it's not your fault, love what you love" basic advice), but now it's here. somehow, it feels like - you let him into your life.

it's not that things need to be pure or an artist has to be like, endlessly perfect, mindful. demure. it's more just this terrible truth that has been replayed through your veins so often it feels criminally vain. power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. did you want any one person to be worth that power?

it's just that he wrote books where he seemed to understand that. he seemed to know about hierarchies and unfair systems and bigotry and privilege. you thought they were books about what it means to struggle. you thought they were about having power and still using it for good rather than for control. he spooned you a narrative of being a good guy, a kind soul. you fucking bought what that fucking monster sold.

maybe that's why they were fantasies, after all.

[huginsmemory]

Said with love of course. Companion post to this.

[fluideli123]

Sonadow Fic Rec

Okay, before you jump down to the masterpieces listed below, I just wanted to state this:

These authors have given this phenomenal content for free, baked with time and effort. I have never once ignored this, hence why I try and comment on each and every one of these fics. However, my energy and ability to be verbose differs day to day. Some of these fics I have not given proper comments for, despite this, I will be on it the moment I can be. In the time being, (once I am able to find my comments on each of these fics) I will be sharing my adoration for them further in other posts (and most likely link back to this one).

With that being said, please, PLEASE take your time to check each of these fics out. If they're not your cup of tea? Valid! But hands down I have never dedicated myself to making a fic rec like this until now. But I MUST share and spread these works, they are much too dear to me not to, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

(All fics are listed by order saved in my bookmarks, not in the order read)

tangled threads and bite-marked shoulders by @rubyiiiusions

Words: 32,287 | Series | Complete

Shadow hissed in pain. The laser had just grazed him, but it still stung, and he instinctively gripped the wound it left on his arm. “You dare-” He stopped. The laser hadn’t hit him. In fact, it had struck Sonic, right on his lower left arm. So why did his forearm feel like it just got shot? He whipped around, fear climbing up his throat, and he suddenly became hyper-aware of something new. It was like a sixth sense, feeling the confusion that emitted from Sonic’s fur in waves as if it was his own. “What did you do?!” Shadow snarled. or, eggman accidentally soulbinds shadow and sonic, and no one has any idea how to undo it.

Sleepwalking by Tirainy

Words: 22,117 | Complete

'There is a strong arm curled around his torso, the appendage keeping him close to its owner, whose warm breath is ghosting over the back of his neck. Sonic is sure he went to bed alone the previous night, but he isn't worried about the intruder. After all, this isn't the first time this has happened…'

Secret Admirer by @trenchcoat-gecko

Words: 24,313 | Complete

Sonic understood well what it meant to be loved. He was a world-famous hero, after all; his presence never went unnoticed. For the most part, he lavished in that attention, he soaked it in and encouraged it. But not romantic attention. So, when the blue blur found himself falling in love? Well, the prospect was rather daunting, no matter how easy Amy had made it out to be. So maybe, just maybe, he should just take the easy way out...

Rose Drops Series by @magicstormfrostfire

Words: 122,489 | Series | Complete

Love, Intuition, and a little bit of magic ensues as Amy sends Sonic and Shadow on an unforgettable adventure.

Wolfboy by @trenchcoat-gecko

Words: 73,856 | Complete

World-famous monster hunter Shadow the Hedgehog has a job to do. It doesn't take long for the one-shot wonder to realize that this job won't be as simple as he'd expected: a small town, rumors of a lone werewolf, and a handsome, green-eyed, chronically-injured casanova who manages to worm his way into Shadow's heart... What starts off as a simple job turns out to be something much more life-changing.

Blizzard Bedfellows by @magicstormfrostfire

Words: 21,294 | Complete

When a rare blizzard takes over the island, Sonic is on the run to make sure a certain angry loner is safe and sound. Y-you know, because...uh that's what heroes do.

We never met but can we have a cup of coffee or something? by @whitejungle

Words: 3,630 | Complete

It's been almost two months since Sonic lost someone he didn't even know, but he can't stop thinking about it.

Clean Slate by nottheweirdest

Words: 155,880 | Complete | Note: Squeal pending and I am cheering you on author!! Whatever you decide I am excited to support you!!

Shadow has lost himself before. He knows what it's like to straddle the line between reality and false memories, but this time, it’s Sonic whose memory has vanished. A premeditated set of circumstances and an accidental injury leave Sonic with no memory of who he is, his life, or more importantly, his painful history with Shadow. It’s up to Shadow to remind the hero who he is in the midst of a global outbreak. It’s a chance for redemption. It’s a chance to right the wrongs of the past. It’s a clean slate.

say i reckon (i love you, for a millisecond) by @redamancering

Words: 30,205 | Complete

There’s a hand on his shoulder, barely making contact. A red gauntlet glows around the wrist. Sonic blinks, the pain having evaporated so fast he feels almost weightless. “Shadow?” Shadow’s breathing heavily. “Problem.” The retrieval of the ancient tech Shadow (and Sonic, in tow) has been sent to uncover takes a turn for the worst. In this case, the “worst” means… becoming physically and inextricably linked to each other. For the foreseeable future. OR: Metaphysical handcuffs, and general gay buffoonery.

Judge my sins, not my feelings by yellothebeeloved

Words: 228,479 | Complete | Note: Possible one-shots pending from the author for the series, I am here to support you author!! What ever you decide I'm here for it!

Maybe he's not meant to touch. It's the newest excuse he thought of in hopes that he could prolong the game a little more; a careful ruse to enjoy the bittersweet torture of seeing the days pass them by, while he pretends he doesn't seek azure blue whenever he's restless. At first, all he wanted to do was watch: but now the desire to touch, to have, to affect is at a point where he's not sure whether reaching for Sonic would truly be fruitless. He wonders that especially when Sonic's eyes light up upon seeing him. When he corners Shadow, when he invades his space and he touches and takes and then excuses it by calling it a fight. Shadow truly wonders then: if only he was brave enough to reach out, what would his grip find? Loose stars or a battle-worn body? Standing up, he glances at Sonic again, whose eyes have now met his own. There's something heavy in the eye contact, something Shadow doesn't dare name. Neither of them say anything, and yet Sonic's eyes move away from him again, like they did. Shadow warps away, hiding from the stars once more.

Child of Prophecy by @trenchcoat-gecko

Words: 139,321 | Completed

On the night the Mobius Castle was ransacked, the Queen received a prophecy. “One of three will not cry; send him down the river, for you can only save your kingdom if he does not grow up royal.”

Coming Home by nottheweirdest

Words: 55,740 | Completed

Shadow's life has been full of mistakes, some worse than others, but admitting his unrequited feelings to Sonic tops the list. He's spent the better part of a decade ruminating on his regret and hiding from feelings he couldn't bear to face. He never thought he'd see Sonic again, and he told himself that was for the best. Until now. At the bequest of his former rival, and in an attempt to finally get closure, Shadow has returned to Central City. The reason? Sonic the Hedgehog is marrying Amy Rose. And Shadow is invited.

[unstablequeerbitch]

WOAH WAIT REALLY OKAY IM TAKING THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO TALK. Ratchet/Transformers will be further below the bullets

-in case you did know the “war is war and hell is hell and out of the two war is worse than hell.” Quote is from mash.

-Charley O’clock. He can’t seem to hit anything so it turns into a daily party. I actually have a transformers fic based on this. It’s an autobot flyer that can’t fly or aim well

-so many jokes

-so much pain and suffering and hoping the latest science magazine can help.

-got some black market action to get meds or recover property

-making sketchy medical machines out of what they can find lying around

-a few mental breakdowns including one that became a “lets burn everything in site fuck this war. Fuck the government

-they whole new year eve episode. Here’s a clip. You can skip to 35 if ya want

-getting winter suppliers in summer and summer supplies in winter

-fighting in three wars and now being the only one left alive from your group

-some wonderful group moments,poker, singing, dancing, trying to celebrate before the war comes back full swing (like this time)

-complaing about staff meetings and regulations and how hard it is to get supplies

-sketchy high level officers

-doctors not giving up on a patient

-there’s so much more that I wouldn’t even be able to type all out and few that I want to keep secret for avoiding spoilers in case you do watch it or anyone reading this

-but like honestly it’s a comedy and a tragedy and a medical show rolled into one. I have never cried or laughed so hard until I found this show. It actual aged well somehow. 11 seasons. Deadass bought all the seasons.

And I can see Ratchet being a colonel potter being fed up with everyone and kinda giving up. On reigning in some of the terror so he comprises. Expect you know, the war in cybertron gets worse. Ratchet loses more and more mechs on the table. Ratchet starts losing doctors and nurses. It just gets more and more depressive. Add in like Pharma going mad from the stress or others swapping sides. Like maybe have Knockout being trained at their medic center then leaving one day. He’s seen chapters later at a con medic area.

Ratchet himself or maybe some of the doctors start going out further trying to scavenge out supplies from peoples works and homes, seeing the graffiti and destruction and occasional energon splatter on the wall.

Pulling out pads with medical books scouring through the index and pages trying to find something, anything to help the patient.

Mourning the low supplies that he can’t even give out normal routine additives/meds because he has to stockpile them for a try emergency.

Also like Ratchet would HATE having to bug out and would def say fuck all this and stay with a patient until they can move them.

Pre-war / no war au that focuses on a young!Ratchet and it's a parody of the medical dramas I love so much

[instantpansies]

life is hard for us oz fans who are only meh about wicked. have half a meme.

[mamawasatesttube]

sorry i need to be a hater for a minute. tim drake: robin is a plague upon this earth because it is late 2024 and i Still can't go into kon tags without seeing that stupid fucking blond bitch. enough

[they-didnt-last]

anyone interested in talking about the iconic 2000's middle-grade-bordering-on-ya book series gallagher girls??

[hanzajesthanza]

geralt and per procura no, PERPRO MOUNTAIN

[gingermintpepper]

hi, i haven't read the iliad and the odyssey but want to - do u have a specific translation you recommend? the emily wilson one has been going around bc, y'know, first female translator of the iliad and odyssey into english, but i was wondering on if you had Thoughts

Hi anon! Sorry for the somewhat late response and I'm glad you trust me with recommendations! Full, disclosure, I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to translations of the source text of the Iliad + Odyssey combo wombo, which means I tend to prefer closeness in literal verbiage over interpretation of the poetic form of these epics - for that reason, my personal preferred versions of the Odyssey and Iliad both are Robert Fitzgerald's. Because both of these translations (and his Aeneid!) were done some 50+ years ago (63 for his original Odyssey tl, 50 flat for his Iliad and 40 for his Aeneid) the English itself can be a bit difficult to read and the syntax can get confusing in a lot of places, so despite my personal preferences, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking to experience the Iliad + Odyssey for the very first time.

For an absolute beginner, someone who has tried to read one or both of these epics but couldn't get into it or someone who has a lot of difficulty with concentrating on poetry or long, winding bits of prose, I fully and wholeheartedly recommend Wilson's translation! See, the genius of Emily Wilson's Iliad + Odyssey isn't that she's a woman who's translated these classics, it's that she's a poet who's adapted the greek traditional poetic form of dactylic hexameter into the english traditional poetic form of iambic pentameter. That alone goes a very very long way to making these poems feel more digestible and approachable - iambic pentameter is simply extremely comfortable and natural for native english speakers' brains and the general briskness of her verbiage helps a lot in getting through a lot of the problem books that people usually drop the Iliad or Odyssey in like Book 2 of the Iliad or Book 4 of the Odyssey. I think it's a wonderful starting point that allows people to familiarise themselves with the source text before deciding if they want to dig deeper - personally, researching Wilson's translation choices alone is a massive rabbit hole that is worth getting into LOL.

The happy medium between Fitzgerald's somewhat archaic but precise syntax and Wilson's comfortable meter but occasionally less detailled account is Robert Fagles' Iliad + Odyssey. Now, full disclosure, I detest how Fagles handles epithets in both of his versions, I think they're far too subtle which is something he himself has talked at length about in his translation notes, but for everything else - I'd consider his translations the most well rounded of english adaptations of this text in recent memory. They're accurate but written in plain English, they're descriptive and detailled without sacrificing a comfortable meter and, perhaps most importantly, they're very accessible for native english speaking audiences to approach and interact with. I've annotated my Fagles' volumes of these books to heaven and back because I'm deeply interested in a lot of the translation decisions made, but I also have to specifically compliment his ability to capture nuance in the characters' of these poems in a way I don't often see. He managed to adapt the ambivalence of ancient greek morality in a way I scarcely see and that probably has a hand in why I keep coming back to his translations.

Now, I know this wasn't much of a direct recommendation but as I do not know you personally, dear anon, I can't much make a direct recommendation to a version that would best appeal to your style of reading. Ideally, I'd recommend that you read and enjoy all three! But, presuming that you are a normal person, I suggest picking which one is most applicable for you. I hope this helps! 🥰