#it feeds my soul

[thatdepressedgamer]

OH MY GOD THIS IS SOO ADORABLE AND SWEET AND WHOLESOME IM GOING TO EXPLODE 😭❤️❤️🥹

Hi!!! OMG such a big fan of your instincts/nuzzling one shot you did for shadow. Idk if you’ve done this before but if you haven’t, could you do Shadow x trader, circling the reader? Honestly you can do whatever else you want for the rest of it, I just want more media about hedgehogs circling their mates hehe 😊🥰

Orbit ⋆˚࿔

Shadow the hedgehog x gn reader

sfw

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

(ФωФ): gn reader, established relationship, nuzzling nudging circling..allat

HIIII IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE MY STUFF( ´∀`) i also maaaay go a little overboard w them cuz why is this so long

⠄･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠄･ ⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠂⋆ ･ ⠄⠄･ ⋆ ･

It started with a feeling.

A strange, creeping sensation at the edge of your awareness—like being watched, but not in an uncomfortable way. More like a presence. A quiet, unwavering force lingering just outside your immediate space. You had been sitting in the living room, curled up on the couch, minding your own business. The air was comfortably cool, the low hum of the television serving as background noise while you scrolled absentmindedly on your phone. Everything was perfectly normal. Or at least, it should have been.

But something felt… off. Not in a bad way. Just… weird.

The feeling intensified. A quiet awareness, like someone pacing just beyond your peripheral vision. You looked up. Shadow was there.

That wasn’t unusual—he was always somewhere nearby, lurking in that quiet, ever-watchful way of his after everything he went through, still not fully believing that he could just..be. But tonight? Tonight, he was acting… different.

He wasn’t sitting on the armrest of the couch like he normally would. He wasn’t standing near the window, keeping an eye on the outside world. He wasn’t even hovering in the doorway with his arms crossed, looking stoic as ever.

No.

He was circling you.

Slow. Measured. Purposeful.

His movements were silent, barely making a sound against the floor. His crimson eyes flickered in the dim light, unwavering, focused. Every few seconds, he would glance at you—quick, assessing—before continuing his path.

Around.

And around.

And around.

You blinked. “Uh… Shadow?”

He didn’t answer.

His gaze flickered to yours for a brief moment, and instead of stopping, he did something that made your breath hitch. As he passed by the couch, he nudged you. It was subtle—just the briefest brush of his muzzle against your shoulder before he pulled back and resumed his quiet, deliberate pacing. You blinked again, okay. That was weird.

“…Are you okay?” you asked hesitantly, twisting slightly to follow his movement with your eyes.

No response. He passed behind the couch again, circling like a silent predator. But he wasn’t predatory. His posture was too… relaxed. Not tense, not aggressive. Just persistent.

And then, as he passed by once more— Nudge.

This time against your upper arm. Your face scrunched in confusion. What the hell was he doing?

“You’re being weird,” you finally blurted.

Shadow exhaled sharply—something between a sigh and a huff—but he still didn’t answer. Instead, he nuzzled the top of your head as he passed, just briefly, just enough for you to feel the warmth of his fur before he pulled away again. Your brain short-circuited.

What.

WHAT.

You sat there, frozen, feeling your heartbeat pick up in a way that was not normal. Shadow was not the type to just—just nuzzle you out of nowhere. Sure, he had his rare moments of affection, but they were always brief, casual, barely there. He tolerated your hugs, occasionally let you cling to him, but this? This was deliberate, intentional, and he wasn’t stopping.

Around.

And around.

And around.

Nudge. Nuzzle. Circle.

You felt your breath hitch again. “Okay, seriously, what's happening right now?”

Still, he said nothing. Just a low hum in his throat, almost content, like he was fully aware of what he was doing and had no intention of explaining it. Your fingers twitched in your lap, this was going to bother you. You weren’t an idiot—Shadow wasn’t exactly the type to do something without reason. He was calculated. Everything he did had purpose.

So why was he—

Another nuzzle.

You practically jumped. “SHADOW.”

He finally stopped, just for a second. Standing at the edge of the couch, he tilted his head slightly, looking at you with a gaze that was unreadable but strangely… expectant, making your stomach flip.

You stared at him. He stared back.

“…What,” you said flatly.

No answer.

He held your gaze for another moment before he resumed circling.

You let out a strangled noise. Okay. Okay. You were going insane. That was the only explanation. Unless—

You hesitated, unless this actually means something..?

Your eyes narrowed slightly as you thought. You had been with Shadow long enough to pick up on some of his behaviors—his silent protectiveness, the way he always positioned himself between you and potential threats, the subtle ways he would linger close when he thought you needed comfort. But this? This was different.

Slowly, your gaze flickered toward your phone, still resting on the couch beside you, you hesitated again. Then, carefully, you reached for it. Shadow immediately nudged your hand.

Your breath hitched again. “Oh my god.”

His gaze didn’t waver, he was for sure doing this on purpose. Hand trembling slightly, you unlocked your phone and opened your browser.

Okay. Okay. Think.

What was he doing? Circling. Nudging. Nuzzling. He had never done this before, at least not this blatantly, your fingers hovered over the search bar before you swallowed hard and typed,

"Why do hedgehogs circle people?"

A beat of silence.

Then—

You clicked the first result.

Your eyes skimmed the page.

And then—

You froze. Your face went hot. Your pulse skyrocketed. Your stomach dropped.

Oh.

Oh.

OH.

Your hands shot up to your face, pressing against your burning cheeks. Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform. The strongest, most terrifying, most powerful being in existence who saved earth.

Was.

Flirting with you.

You made a choked noise, glancing at him. He was still circling, completely unfazed. This wasn’t just some weird behavior. This wasn’t just him being strange.

THIS WAS A MATING DISPLAY.

You were going to pass out. Shadow, completely unaware of your impending mental breakdown, nuzzled your arm again. You sat there, frozen, your phone screen dimming as your brain tried—tried—to process the absolute insanity of what you had just read, shadow was flirting with you, not just flirting—he was displaying hedgehog courtship behaviors.

Hedgehogs—actual, real-life, non-ultimate-lifeform-almost-destroyed-earth-but-then-saved-it hedgehogs—circulated their potential mates, nudging, nuzzling, lingering in their space as a way of bonding.

And Shadow was doing it to you. Your fingers curled around your phone as your entire body flared with heat, an uncontrollable mix of emotions flooding you at once. Shadow, meanwhile, was still completely unaware of your crisis. He continued his slow, deliberate orbit, eyes flickering toward you every so often, reading your reactions, gauging your movements. He nudged your shoulder again—light, brief, warm—before making his way behind the couch once more.

He exhaled softly.

Good.

It was working.

This wasn’t something he had ever done before, nor was it something he had ever thought he’d feel the urge to do. And yet, as the evening dragged on, as he watched you curled up on the couch—content, relaxed, safe—a quiet restlessness had stirred inside him. At first, he had ignored it. But the longer he sat there, the worse it got.

It was a pull. Something instinctive, something old, buried in the genetic makeup of what he was—what he was made from. It had no name, no clear purpose, but the second he found himself moving, it all clicked into place. His body knew before he did, he had begun circling you without realizing.

And the moment he had leaned in—just slightly—just enough to brush against your shoulder, to nuzzle the top of your head, to breathe in the faint warmth of your scent— Something inside him settled, as if it had been waiting for him to act on it, as if this was something he had been meant to do.

He didn’t fight it, didn’t want to fight it.

For once in his life, Shadow allowed himself to be guided by something other than logic, than battle instinct, than the need for control. He allowed himself to follow the motion.

To move around you, to orbit you and to..feel at home in your presence. And it wasn’t until your breath suddenly hitched—sharp, strangled—that something in his chest tensed.

Shadow slowed, his ear flicked, you were reacting differently now. Your entire body had stiffened. Your hands had curled into tight fists, your phone gripped so hard that he swore he could hear the faint creak of plastic under pressure.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“…What?” he murmured, pausing in his steps.

You visibly jumped, and that was the first red flag. Shadow straightened slightly, his gaze scrutinizing. You were still hunched forward, your phone pressed against your face, hiding your expression, something was off.

You had been giggling, teasing, smiling just minutes ago. But now?

Now your entire demeanor had changed.

Shadow inhaled carefully, catching the sharp shift in your scent. Your heartrate had spiked, your breath had gone uneven, and—

…Wait.

Why were your ears so red?

His gaze flickered downward. Your fingers twitched slightly, trembling, and— And then it hit him, aslow realization, something was wrong. Not wrong in a dangerous way—no, no, this was something else. This was something human, something he didn’t fully understand.

“…What’s the matter?” he asked carefully.

You physically shrank into yourself, making shadow frown. His arms crossed over his chest, posture rigid. His instincts flared again, this time in confusion rather than intent. His mind raced through possibilities—had he done something wrong? Had he triggered some unknown reaction he wasn’t aware of?

Had he… misunderstood this?

Had he misread the way you touched him? The way you held him at night? The way you laughed when he let you pull him into hugs, or when you played with his hands, or when you buried your face against his fur just to feel his warmth?

Was this—

Had he—

Did he just ruin something?

His jaw tightened slightly, an old, bitter habit.

“…Did I—” He hesitated, something uncharacteristically unsure in his tone. “…Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?”

Your head snapped up as your eyes widened.

“No! No—oh my god, no,” you sputtered, looking absolutely horrified. “That’s not it!”

Shadow’s frown deepened. “…Then explain.”

You made a choked noise, hands flying to your face again. Your body curled inward, shaking slightly, and he could tell you were fighting the urge to scream. His instincts bristled again.

“…My love.”

Your fingers curled into your sleeves, as if physically trying to contain yourself. Your breathing was all over the place now.

Shadow took a single step forward. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

And then, you lost it. You made a sound—somewhere between a laugh and a whimper, something overwhelmed, something embarrassed, something unbelievably flustered.

And then, finally—finally—you blurted it out.

“YOU’RE FLIRTING WITH ME.”

Silence.

The words hung in the air, frozen, suspended between you both like a loaded gun, shadow’s expression did not change. His body, however, went completely, utterly still.

“…Excuse me?”

You let out another strangled noise, looking like you wanted to sink into the couch and disappear forever.

“I—” You inhaled sharply, gripping your phone. “I just—I didn’t realize at first, but you’re—you’re doing, like, actual hedgehog mating behaviors—”

Shadow froze, making you clamp your mouth shut. The room went dead silent. A heartbeat passed. Then another. Then, slowly, Shadow’s eyes narrowed.

“…What?”

He took a single step forward, making you shrink back, shadow’s pupils contracted slightly, crimson irises sharp.

“What do you mean,” he said carefully, tone low, calculated, dangerous in a way that made your stomach flip— “by ‘mating behaviors’?”

You shoved your phone screen at him, he snatched it immediately. His gaze flickered downward, scanning the words at a speed far too fast for you to process. His expression remained unreadable, but you could tell—oh, you could tell—

His mind had just been completely, utterly shattered.

Another silence.

Then, very, very softly—

“…Oh.”

His arms lowered. His body tensed, his eyes widened just slightly. And finally—finally—Shadow realized.

He had no fucking idea what he was doing.

Oh.

That was all his mind could supply. Just oh.

Shadow stared at your phone screen, golden eyes flicking over the words again and again, as if trying to disprove them through sheer force of will. But no. No, the information was there. Plain as day.

Hedgehogs—actual hedgehogs—engaged in specific behaviors when courting a mate.

Circling. Nuzzling. Nudging. Purring.

Shadow had done all of that without knowing why—without questioning the instinct, without stopping himself. He had just moved, had just done it.

Because it felt right. Because it felt natural. Because his body knew before he did.

And now… now he knew why.

His fingers curled slightly around your phone, he was going to implode.

“…Shadow?”

Your voice was softer now. Not the flustered mess you had been moments ago, not the horrified realization that had made you shove your phone at him in a panic, this was different, it was gentle.

Shadow swallowed thickly, suddenly hyper-aware of the way the room had shifted.

The frantic energy was gone. The teasing, the stunned disbelief—all of it had melted away into something quieter. Something warmer.

Slowly, carefully, he lifted his gaze to you, you were looking at him softly, too softly.

His chest tightened.

“…You didn’t know, did you?” you asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Shadow exhaled slowly through his nose, jaw tight.

“…No.”

You smiled. Not mocking. Not teasing. Just… soft. His stomach flipped. And then, before he could process it, before he could tell his body to move, to pull away, to do anything but what he was about to do—

You reached out, and touched him. A slow, delicate motion—fingers brushing over his cheek, barely there, barely a whisper of contact.

Shadow froze.

A sharp, involuntary breath left him, but he didn’t move, didn’t pull away, couldn’t. His entire body shut down.

It was a gentle touch. So unlike battle. So unlike pain. So unlike everything he had been created for, he felt warm beneath your fingers, he felt real.

“…It’s okay,” you murmured.

Shadow exhaled shakily, and then—without thinking, without meaning to—A sound left him, a low, deep rumble from his throat. Something instinctual, uncontrollable, something like a purr.

Your eyes widened slightly, shadow’s entire body went rigid, again.

…Did he just—

Did he just—

No. No, that didn’t happen, that didn’t happen. Except it did. And you heard it, and he knew you heard it.

And now he was going to have to live with the fact that you knew the Ultimate Lifeform just fucking purred because you touched him.

He was going to self-destruct.

“…Oh my god,” you whispered, eyes shining.

Shadow immediately turned away, he was never recovering from this.

“…Forget that happened,” he muttered stiffly.

You didn’t, you never would, it's not like you could just forget your own fucking boyfriend purring for you. With how much he went through, with how the doctor had used him to reach his goals, and with how he saved earth? goddammit, he could have this, let the man purr.

Your fingers brushed over his cheek again, gentle, barely there, and Shadow felt it again—the quiet, low hum in his throat, the instinctual sound of comfort, of contentment, but he clenched his fists, forcing it back down.

You giggled—soft this time. Sweet.

“Shadow,” you whispered.

He refused to look at you.

“…Shadow,” you tried again, tilting your head.

No.

No, he was not doing this, he had already embarrassed himself beyond repair, he was done, he was going to leave the planet immediately, the moon again, maybe?

And then, quietly, gently, lovingly—

You whispered,

“I love you.”

Shadow stopped breathing, the words hit something deep, something raw, omething he wasn’t ready for—but always wanted to hear.

His fists unclenched..before his entire body relaxed, and before he could think, before he could stop himself—

He turned back, and nuzzled you, slow, deliberate.

His muzzle pressed against the crook of your neck, warm, real, here.

“…I love you, too,” he murmured.

And then—without a single ounce of shame—

He purred.

Loudly.

For you.

For you only.

And for the first time, Shadow the Hedgehog let himself be loved.

[thatkeira9000]

Me waiting for new byler content cuz I need it to experience joy:

[electricea]

i like to think ryuji could just make friends with anyone or anything - ghosts, demons, veggie buddies - hell, even a bottle of ketchup - he doesn't discriminate when it comes to friends - if it talks and it isn't an asshole, it's a friend in his book.

[angstitty]

I was not doing particularly good in February 2023

Lowkey wanna read some of these again MUHAHA

[house-of-hamartia]

I find comfort in the fact that, even if I cannot write smut for the life of me, I can at least draw it fml.

SMALL VICTORIES.

[everythingsab]

hey biz

[sleeplesssmol]

Happy holidays!

I'd imagine that Vertin would have a hobby of making mini things in her (very rare) free time. She'd be good at crafting and fixing things given that being alone in the suitcase meant that she had to fix a lot of things by herself for a while, even when the suitcase/wilderness is low maintenance to her. This is also because its easier for her when she has tasks at hand that might need a visual map and plan.

Vertin would have a puzzle board somewhere that makes up for the wilderness's mechanics, another one for her house in the suitcase, and a few little mini projects that she just made while reading and having tea. (think of the bifurcated skeleton, prophetic bird, and kern madam items)

She usually doesn't have much time to start or finish her mini projects. But she's happy to share about it and teach others the ropes at making some of them.

Yes! I love this! Vertin being a hands on type and taking on little projects. You're right she was on her own for so long she probably picked up a few skills to deal with issues in the Suitcase. Projects could be a time to bond with crew too!

Making a shelf for Sotheby's little indoor plants. Helping Jessica or Blonney with crafts for their films. Putting together a swing set in the Wilderness. So many possibilities!

Scenario: The crew is trying to build a shed in the the Wilderness to store fertilizer and tools. Vertin offers to help, but they say they got this because they know she's busy. Vertin leaves them to it. An hour later she decides to check on them and finds them completely defeated, laying in the grass.

They end up doing it together. She prefers this over paperwork anyway.

Luckily, Sonetto is good at Foundation bs so she took care of it while sitting under a shady tree nearby.

She occasionally looks up in case they needed help moving something heavy and keeps her ears open in case they call for her.

[pancake0706]

Incredibly new to tumblr but this is my latest drawing!! I take requests ^^

[eddiesxangel]

GOD, I LOVE GAY POP

[northernsuccubus]

Kinda torn about wanting to post pics.

[thatbanditqueen]

Ch. 3 pls!!!! 😭😭

Dear Anon,

Thank you for writing, your message made my day! It's coming I promise... I'm wrapping up another wip chapter and then its back to ch 3! I expect to have it out before the end of the month. If you want me to tag you, send me a message or comment on any post and I''ll add you to the taglist for ch 2 for i can copy and paste it for the next one.

xoxoxo

norah

[diari0deglierrori]

I just love sunsets so MUCH

[kiera-raelyn]

This is... beyond depressing to me.

I just don't understand what the deal is. Like. If you don't like prose-y fiction then... don't read it??? It's not for you. And that's ok. Leave it for the rest of us. Have these people ever even read a piece of fiction that just... connected with their very soul? I have to think not, because I have trouble believing you can experience that in fiction that holds your hand and leads you to all the messages, themes, etc.

As firelxdykatara says, you have to bring yourself to the experience of art - any art, not just reading. This is why it's joyful to me to re-read my favorite stories. Because I'm not the same person when I re-read them, so I find new things I missed before. And it just makes me love the work more. It changes, as I do, every time I experience it.

I have more thoughts on this, but they're ephemeral. I hope this is one of those trends we can turn around because the thought of this kind of writing becoming more and more rare in the future is just massively depressing.

This is a dangerous sentiment for me to express, as an editor who spends most of my working life telling writers to knock it off with the 45-word sentences and the adverbs and tortured metaphors, but I do think we're living through a period of weird pragmatic puritanism in mainstream literary taste.

e.g. I keep seeing people talk about 'purple prose' when they actually mean 'the writer uses vivid and/or metaphorical descriptive language'. I've seen people who present themselves as educators offer some of the best genre writing in western canon as examples of 'purple prose' because it engages strategically in prose-poetry to evoke mood and I guess that's sheer decadence when you could instead say "it was dark and scary outside". But that's not what purple prose means. Purple means the construction of the prose itself gets in the way of conveying meaning. mid-00s horse RPers know what I'm talking about. Cerulean orbs flash'd fire as they turn'd 'pon rollforth land, yonder horizonways. <= if I had to read this when I was 12, you don't get to call Ray Bradbury's prose 'purple'.

I griped on here recently about the prepossession with fictional characters in fictional narratives behaving 'rationally' and 'realistically' as if the sole purpose of a made-up story is to convince you it could have happened. No wonder the epistolary form is having a tumblr renaissance. One million billion arguments and thought experiments about The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas that almost all evade the point of the story: that you can't wriggle out of it. The narrator is telling you how it was, is and will be, and you must confront the dissonances it evokes and digest your discomfort. 'Realistic' begins on the author's terms, that's what gives them the power to reach into your brain and fiddle about until sparks happen. You kind of have to trust the process a little bit.

This ultra-orthodox attitude to writing shares a lot of common ground with the tight, tight commodification of art in online spaces. And I mean commodification in the truest sense - the reconstruction of the thing to maximise its capacity to interface with markets. Form and function are overwhelmingly privileged over cloudy ideas like meaning, intent and possibility, because you can apply a sliding value scale to the material aspects of a work. But you can't charge extra for 'more challenging conceptual response to the milieu' in a commission drive. So that shit becomes vestigial. It isn't valued, it isn't taught, so eventually it isn't sought out. At best it's mystified as part of a given writer/artist's 'talent', but either way it grows incumbent on the individual to care enough about that kind of skill to cultivate it.

And it's risky, because unmeasurables come with the possibility of rejection or failure. Drop in too many allegorical descriptions of the rose garden and someone will decide your prose is 'purple' and unserious. A lot of online audiences seem to be terrified of being considered pretentious in their tastes. That creates a real unwillingness to step out into discursive spaces where you 🫵 are expected to develop and explore a personal relationship with each element of a work. No guard rails, no right answers. Word of god is shit to us out here. But fear of getting that kind of analysis wrong makes people hove to work that slavishly explains itself on every page. And I'm left wondering, what's the point of art that leads every single participant to the same conclusion? See Spot run. Run, Spot, run. Down the rollforth land, yonder horizonways. I just want to read more weird stuff.

[beast-of-bray-road]

All I’m saying is.. if/when I write the alternative version of When The Flame Burns Out where Kremy dies and Gideon is left to deal with his grief… this will be what I’m listening to:

[thatonegayspacerock]

oh i forgot to ask you

what’s your favorite canon taocc ship?

mine’s’s bee stuffie :33333

I will admit, I’m not well versed in all the ships yet but from the few I know:

I’m a hardcore Astrion and Radio shipper. My guys are so dysfunctional in the best way

From what I’ve heard from Mod Star about Issac and Achilles, I’m gonna sob or throw something when I get around to them

Also adore the non-official yet on-Astrions-Timeline ship of: All the mods (especially mod Jeff) x Astrion

I do have a couple personal headcanon ships too, but those won’t go exposed until I read both characters’ blogs all the way through ;3c

[telestictroublemaker]

So I was going to make some post about "Mutuals feel free to send an ask or dm me about your oc lore! :D!" but no. Not just mutuals. Everyone. Send me that shit I would love to read it. I would be delighted.