#pre sth movie

[lucidheart3]

A fluffy moment from Whelve between Maddie and Knuckles

She lets go off his hands and stands up, abandoning her coffee that already went cold without her even taking a sip. She places her hands under Knuckles’ armpits and wordlessly asks for consent before picking him up. He is still as a rock in her embrace, and she loosely wraps her arms around him, minding to not suffocate him.

“I’m not a puggle.” He says, but doesn’t make a move to get out of her hold.

“But you’re still a child.” She replies, and he owlishly looks up to her, and she can feel him settle more comfortably in her arms. She rocks back and forth, and Knuckles lays his head on the crook of her neck, and she places a hand on his head.His quills are unexpectedly soft, and she can’t help but keep on patting his head. A little smile tugs on her lips. His eyes are closed, and Maddie is sure he’ll doze off in a minute. His warmth against her body melts her heart, and her eyes fill with tears once again.

God, she is becoming attached, and she has no idea how to handle it.

Lost in these thoughts, she is late to acknowledge the purring that reaches her ears. Raising a brow, she questions if it’s her imagination, but Knuckles purrs louder, as if eager to prove her otherwise. She coos, and lays her head on top of his affectionately.

Maybe thinking she is ‘becoming’ attached was a bit of an understatement when she already is

—————

Heya, this is the old version of Whelve, I wanted to drop the new version here too.

[cat-sithe]

happy new year everyone !!

despite it no longer being the year of shadow (rip), my fixation on these two has not ended. i've seen people draw 'baby' shadow and this was my take on that.

[catiecat1320]

New Fic!!

To ten million fireflies (I'm weird cus I hate goodbyes)

[3162 words]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63434476

(Embeds are broken TvT)

Synosis:

There's a weird bridge over the pit of grief that Shadow has been stuck on since he failed to die in the Eclipse Cannon's explosion. As much as he wishes to cross it, he finds it grows wider, deeper, the more he runs. One day, Sonic finds him. And for all the stupidity that the hedgehog has displayed, he seems to know exactly the remedy that Shadow needs.

(AKA, Sonic takes Shadow to his cave and helps him process Maria's death by painting a mural of her)

Title from Fireflies by Owl City!

Read Below🔽

For as little as he knew about hedgehogs on Earth, Shadow was fairly certain that they don’t belong in trees. By that same logic, he shouldn’t be in a tree either, especially when he could barely climb it.

The rough bark tore at his gloves as he pulled himself up higher, his only goal to get off the ground. Put distance between the thing causing him so much distress, or at least the thing he thinks is causing it. He’s desperate enough to hope it’ll work.

He doesn’t stop until he’s sitting on the highest bough, breath stuttering with exertion as he hugs the trunk for stability. The waxing moon, its broken half a jagged sneer, looks down on him and he screws his eyes shut.

This high above the world, he hopes his mind stops trying to get him to believe in the unreal. It was tiring to deal with.

He was stupid to believe that. The world bends to fabricate a gentle touch, wind blowing a branch to brush his head kindly as if it could comfort him. The tree wraps its arms around him and coaxes him to lay his head against her body. It’s almost real when she sings, soft and protective, a lullaby that soothes his soul and hurts his heart.

Tears slip down his muzzle before he registers that he’s crying. Attempts to choke down his tears only prompt them to fall faster, and soon enough he’s sobbing for no reason at all.

He lets go of the trunk to swipes at his face, the night air he’s rapidly drawing into his lungs stinging as much as the swaying leaves snapping at his face does. He shudders— bad move. In an instant, his balance is thrown off and he pitches backward, too late to readjust his position.

With a panicked yelp, he grabs at anything nearby, only succeeding to break a few twigs too weak to hold him. His fall is rather painful, the tree limbs that’d helped him climb up now his enemy as he’s smacked around like a kickball to meet the ground he was so desperate to escape.

The ground, in turn, greets him by knocking the remaining air out of his lungs. For a moment, Shadow could do nothing but lie there, barely breathing, tears still trailing through his fur, pain radiating through his body. 

He’ll heal; he’s always been good at that. It’s the way the broken moon taunts him through the gaps in the towering trees, the way the silhouetted branches claw at the nightscape in his vision, the way the stars still shine just like they had 50 years ago, that causes him to shove his palms against his eyes and let out a guttural wail.

He isn’t sure how much time passes before someone comes upon his pathetic form. He knows they’re real by the footsteps pausing on the grass, the hesitant exhale as they search for the right words. At that point, he couldn’t care less about keeping his usual serious persona. He just wanted peace. 

“Go away.” His voice is far weaker than he hoped, rough from excessive crying. He thinks it’s still pretty threatening, all things considered, but his words seem to mean nothing. The mystery person walks right up beside him and sits down.

It’s Sonic, isn’t it?

Of all people. He isn’t sure whether to be annoyed or be glad. His suspicion is only confirmed by the sound of nervous tapping, indicative of the hedgehog who can’t sit still.

He presses on his eyes so hard, flashes of color replace static black. “Go away, Sonic,” he forces through gritted teeth. “I know it’s you.”

There’s an impressed huff. “You know I can’t do that. I heard you, y’know. You’re hurt. I wanna help.”

“I don’t need help.”

A soft warmth wraps around his wrist and tugs at it, a gentle suggestion to stop trying to force his eyes out through his ears. Shadow begrudgingly lifts one hand and peers at Sonic through a cracked eyelid.

Everything’s blurry, but it’s hard not to make out the distinct silhouette of the hedgehog leaning over him, and even harder to ignore the green eyes glowing with hints of neon blue. He thinks Sonic smiles at him, but that is hard to tell in the dark.

“So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he mutters. He moves to cover his open eye again, but a surprisingly strong grip stops him. 

“Tell me the truth,” Sonic whispers, that childish lilt of his the only thing stopping his tone from veering into forceful. It’s enough of a threat to be unnerving, however, and Shadow can’t stop himself from clenching his free hand where it rested on his head.

He takes a deep breath. “I’m just… missing her. That’s all. Now leave me alone.”

“C’mon, Shads,” the other pouts, back to his annoying self. He shakes the wrist he has in his grasp, causing Shadow’s hand to flop around. “I’m serious. I wanna help.”

“You can’t help everyone.”

“But I can help you.” Sonic shifts where he sits at the same time he folds his fingers into Shadow’s. The rather intimate action confuses the latter, and that was the only reason he obliged when Sonic urged him to sit up.

He can’t deny that seeing the blue hedgehog brighten made him feel better. “Fine,” he breathes, hoping that whatever they were going to do wouldn’t take too long. His agreement is awarded with a toothy smile.

“Awesome! C’mon, I gotta show you something.” Sonic pulls him to his feet, walks 180-degrees around him, then meets his gaze. “It's just this way. I think. You’d think I’d know where the place I lived in for ten years is, but it’s actually really well hidden. I did a good job hiding, if you’d believe.”

Their hands are still interlaced as Sonic walks him through the forest, rambling quietly as he guides them over stray tree roots on an arguably convoluted path. At some point his voice melts into background noise to Shadow, its pleasant cadence soothing his turbulent mind like a blanket on a cold day. It reminds him of how tired he was, having consistently woken himself up over the past few nights and thrown off his circadian rhythm.

He almost doesn’t notice when they stop. If it weren’t for Sonic’s hold slipping out of his, he wouldn’t have known. With his hand suddenly empty, Shadow snaps to attention and looks up to a reassuring smile. “You ready?”

Crimson eyes flick around their surroundings before settling back on emerald. “You just led us to a different part of the forest.” A pause, considering past words. “You…”

“Lived here? Yeah.” There’s an edge of melancholy to Sonic’s voice that Shadow has only heard when they sat on the moon, back when it was still whole. “Before Tom and Maddie got to me, I lived in this cave.” He beckoned the other to follow before he ducked into a well hidden entrance.

The dirt beneath them was packed tight from years of a hyperactive hedgehog bouncing around on it. Its surface was just smooth enough that some of the moonlight peeking in from another hole in the natural ceiling reflected off it, creating a dim ambient light on everything else.

It was enough for Shadow’s eyes to adjust to the dark and still be able to see clearly. Enough to notice that the place was quite barren except for the two hedgehogs in it and the plants slowly reclaiming the space. It didn’t seem lived in, much less lived in by Sonic. He’d expected… something more akin to Maria’s blanket fort. Cozy, filled with toys and other fun distractions, overflowing with personality.

Sonic must have noticed his less than impressed reaction and nudged him, taking him back to the present. “I know what you’re thinking. Sonic? In this tidy space? Impossible.” The bad impression of Shadow’s voice lightened the room in a way both were grateful for. “Okay, it used to be a lot more cluttered, I’ll admit. Tom and Maddie took everything out when I moved into their— our, now— house.”

Sonic took his hand again, gently guiding him over to a wall overtaken by jutting tree roots and draping greenery. “It makes more space for this I suppose.” He brushed aside the plant cover to reveal a colored drawing in a childish style. In the dark, it was hard to make out some of the details, but the stars of the artwork were clear— an owl and a hedgehog, sitting side by side on a crude loop-de-loop. The hedgehog was familiar though the owl was not; however, Shadow could infer who they were from what he knew.

“You and… Longclaw?” The name caused Sonic’s smile to pull tight with an emotion Shadow didn’t recognize, but it settled just as quickly, just as easily, leaving only traces in emerald eyes and a shift in his voice.

“Yeah. I made this back when I first lost her.” Sonic rested a thumb on the owl’s heart, as if he could still feel it beat. For a moment, there was silence, the reflecting kind, good for thinking. Shadow watched Sonic closely.

“Anyway!” The blue hedgehog pulled back, breaking the quiet. Excitement once again bled into his voice, swirling with whatever was there before to create a blend that was… well, there weren’t quite the words to describe it. “This is what I wanted to show you!”

Shadow blinked. “I… don’t understand.”

“You’re missing her, right?” Sonic gives his hand a gentle squeeze. “Making this helped me when I lost Longclaw. I think it might help you too.” 

“But…” Shadow falters, the already weak protest dying on his tongue.

He’s just trying to help.

At his hesitation, Sonic tugs his arm again. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Think about it, alright? I gotta get the things we need anyway.” He gives Shadow’s hand an assuring pat before the latter could protest, then disappears in a blur of neon blue.

Shadow’s breath hitches, quickening by the moment. As much as he argued to be left alone before this, he really needed the company. Being left in a cave in the dark, by himself, was not the situation he wanted to be in.

He didn’t realize he was backing up until he hit the wall, chips of old paint flaking off where his tensed quills nicked the crude mural. A moment of panic seized him as he pulled away as fast as possible, as if he could lessen the damage already dealt.

“I— I‘m sorry,” Shadow mumbles. Irrational as it may be, he felt bad for the two figures painted on the stone, as if he’d hurt them, as if they could feel pain. He screws his eyes shut as he presses against the adjacent wall and sinks to the floor.

That only made things worse, the cold stone sliding in his quills like water, like the fluid in the stasis chamber, and the static black swirling in his vision only reminded him of that time. A punishment, for something he hadn’t done, filled with memories of a time that no one would remember after he was freed. A girl, a man, and grief and anger and—

“Shadow,” a voice calls. There was a hand on his knee, and it was warm, kind. His eyes snapped open and he hissed at it.

Sonic flinched, recoiling. “It’s just me. Are you…? That’s a stupid question, Sonic. Guess I shouldn’t have left, huh? Sorry.”

“No,” Shadow blurts. “Don’t… I’m— I’m sorry. Not you. I just… I can’t. I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Or it will be. You probably don’t believe that; just know I forgive you hm?” Something’s pressed into his palm. He looks down to see a can of… spray paint? He meets emerald eyes quizzically.

Sonic smiles and nods up at the wall he’s leaning against. “Trust me on this one?”

Really, all Shadow could think of is how weird it is to reassure someone and prompt something completely unrelated in the same breath. Sonic works in mysterious ways, he supposed. Maybe…

He let himself be guided to stand, fingers curling tight around the aerosol can. The blank wall before him is daunting and he realizes that he has no idea how to work the spray paint’s mechanics, much less how to actually create something worthy of Maria’s memory.

A hand wraps around his own, and Shadow looks up at Sonic in surprise. All that greets him is an encouraging smile. “You gotta take the lid off first, silly.”

A blush floods into tan cheeks as Shadow pulls the cap off the can, in part due to embarrassment, the other part due to the fact that his and Sonic’s bodies are flush as the latter guides the former through the motions of spray painting.

“You press this little thing and then the paint comes out! But be careful cus it comes out of this little hole here and if it’s aimed at you, you’re going to get covered in paint. Trust me, it’s not fun...” 

As Sonic’s rambles derail into something unrelated, they slip into Shadow’s subconscious, the words no longer comprehensible. He could focus if he wanted to, but it’s so nice to just let it blur. Shadow finds himself basking in its melody.

He almost doesn’t realize when Sonic steps away to let him work, a phantom touch still lingering by his side. It’s not unwelcome, far from it. He finds comfort in the way it follows his every movement, from wide swoops to small dots.

Sonic occasionally hands him another color. He thinks he requests it, but he doesn’t remember ever saying anything out loud. That’s comforting too, the knowledge that the other hedgehog is standing by, ready to help.

As he painted in a human figure, he could almost hear the phantom on his shoulder giggle. His heart squeezes as his hand does on the nozzle. Maria…

Long, straight hair, with a headband decorating it. Blue gray eyes, one marked with streaks of gold. A patterned shirt, because she loved to dress brightly among all the white lab coats they saw every day.

He could see her clearly even after 50 years. There’s a twinge of sadness in him as he realizes he’s likely to be the only one left that remembers her in such a way, with so much love.

Sonic hands him the black paint. He shakes the can and pops the cap, raises his arm… and stops. 

He can’t bring himself to draw his own figure in. Not beside Maria. Not after what he’d almost done to the world she cherished, the world she showed him, the world she called home.

He isn’t sure why Sonic clasps his shaking hand, but he knows when he meets emerald eyes that there was nothing but kindness in that gaze. Shadow swallows thickly. 

He knows that look. The same one Maria never failed to give him. The same one he thought he’d lost forever in that explosion 50 years ago. The same one he stared into on the moon.

“I’m sorry,” he chokes, unsure who he’s addressing it to.

“And I forgive you,” Sonic, Maria, the Earth and the stars, say back.

Gently, slowly, Shadow presses the nozzle and paints a hedgehog to sit beside the girl who gave him everything. Sonic’s right there when he turns around, ready with the red can for the highlights in his quills.

He does not care as much for his own appearance as he did Maria’s. At least, when he stepped back to take in the full picture, moving to stand beside Sonic, it did not seem out of place.

And oh, everything. His handiwork was not the prettiest, though he would say that for the first time he’s tried something like this, it turned out alright. Perhaps one day, he’d be able to do Maria justice with a better version, but something told him that she wouldn’t mind this one.

“It’s so pretty,” Sonic comments earnestly. “Much better than mine is.”

“Don’t say that,” Shadow whispers. He glances at the adjacent wall, at the old memorial made by a hurting child. That child stands beside him now, years older and all the wiser, acting as a lighthouse on the dark waves to a ship enduring the same storm he had. Shadow could not be more glad that he’s here.

Sonic tilts his head in curiosity, opening his mouth before thinking better of it. He meets Shadow’s intense stare with an awkward half-smile when he realizes he’s been caught. 

“What is it?”

He laughs, breathy and hesitant. “It kinda reminds me of… of us. On the moon y’know? The way we sat and watched the sun come up… Okay, not really when you think about it. It’s just… um. Let me stop talking. Heh.”

Shadow studies his painting with new eyes. It’s supposed to be of the time Maria took him outside and they sat in a patch of flowers, looking up at the stars. Looking deeper at it… it is reminiscent of his and Sonic’s talk on the moon. 

“I suppose it does.”

Sonic blinks in surprise, mouth practically disappearing with the way it pinches. It stays like that for just a second before he breaks into a smile. “Yeah. Yeah! I know what I’m talking about. Um. Do you… feel better?”

The way he looks at Shadow is so… so hopeful. Something about the slight shine in his eyes, reflecting the patch of moonlight, something about the soft smile with a gap for teeth to peek through, something about the way Sonic acts just pulls at Shadow in all the right and wrong ways. His composure crumbles.

His knees hit the floor and Sonic surges to catch him, stopping short when a sob claws its way out of Shadow’s throat. His hands find themselves on his face, catching tears as they fall.

He wants to respond to Sonic. He wants to say yes. It had helped. He did feel better. His voice refuses to cooperate with him.

Soft arms wrap around him, and he finds Sonic kneeling in front of him, giving an awkwardly loose hug. He’s nervous, Shadow realizes.

Without another thought, he pushes forward, falling against the other hedgehog. He shoves his face in the crook of his neck, his now empty hands feeling for Sonic’s back. Sonic, in return, hugs him something fierce.

Shadow can’t tell how long they stay like that, him crying desperately into the other. It’s a while before he has the mind to speak, attempting to force out words in between shuddering breaths. “I’m… I’m sorry. I’m…”

“No. Don’t,” Sonic cuts in, rubbing his back gently. “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay.”

“...thankful,” Shadow amends, squeezing his eyes shut. He nuzzles the blue fur that muffles his words and suppresses another sob.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

[espighty]

Sonic Movie 3 is Peak Cinema

[honkowo]

shog practice👍 (guess who finally saw the 3rd sonic movieeeee)

[blizzardtheartisticfox]

Who Is This Guy?

I need to know. I think he should be in my fanfic but he needs a name.

[Image ID: A frame from the Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The Official Movie Pre-Quill comic where Agent Stone is sitting down, leaning back in a chair at the Mean Bean. One of his coworkers, a black man with AirPods who is now working for Stone, is standing behind him. He is circled in red]

Hope I did that right.

[lyricthecat-12]

Archie Sonadow is the most unfairly underrated version of the ship

A while back, I did a poll to decide which was the most underrated version of Sonadow across different media, and since the public has had their say, I'm now going to offer my own take and explain why from Archieverse Pre-SGW version is so good and deserves much more recognition.

The beginning of their relationship is practically the same that in the video games: Shadow is accidentally awakened by Eggman and decides to carry out his creator's revenge against the world for killing Maria. Sonic is mistaken for the black hedgehog and is chased, which leads them both to have a series of confrontations until they reach the ARK Space Colony. There is a curious change here; since in the comic universe, Amy was involved in another separate story while the conflict was taking place, she was absent during these events but, according to Shadow's own words some time later, Sonic made him see the light, interpreting that he made him change her mind and since Rouge fulfilled exactly her same participation by broadcasting Gerald's video, it could be interpreted that in this universe it was Sonic who made Shadow remember Maria and finally pushed him towards the heroic side. Something like what happened years later in the third movie. (STH 98#, STH 124# & SU 2#)

After this, Shadow sacrificed himself and also lost his memory when he hit Mobius. From here the events differ from the games, in this version Shadow falls and is found by Sonic and the Freedom Fighters, showing himself hostile at first due to his confusion, although soon after he ended up allying with them to face a greater threat, the Alien race known as The Xorda who also planned to destroy the world in an act of revenge, which ends up being stopped with Sonic's sacrifice and disappearance that leaves everyone shocked, including the black hedgehog, because it was thought that the blue hedgehog had died saving the world until his eventual return issues later (STH 124 # & 125 #)

It's curious how, despite not remembering it clearly, Shadow during this stage showed a certain appreciation for Sonic, admitting that he is a being different from any other he has ever met. Of course, that didn't prevent them from continuing to have confrontations in their following encounters but over time, Shadow began to gain confidence in Sonic and was willing to collaborate when the situation required it. (STH 146-149# and STH 157-159#)

Meanwhile Sonic, despite their previous battles, never believed Shadow to be evil, even in the brief time where he was working with Eggman for the second time, and was sure that he would eventually do the right thing. And when that happened, Sonic supported him and helped him without hesitation to discover the truth behind his origins. (STH 160# &STH 170-171#)

After this point, Shadow became an increasingly notable ally, occasionally appearing and helping the heroes when needed, over time developing a respect and even appreciation for those who helped him become who he is today, obviously including Sonic between them.

Throughout this continuity, the relationship between the two hedgehogs had a long but natural and well-carried development, going from rivals and occasional allies to gradually forming a bond of companionship where, even if their ideals remain disparate, they have generated a mutual respect for each other and a great synergy in battle. Which is spectacularly represented in the last issue where the two interacted within this continuity, in the Sonic Universe 2#.

And is for all of this that I think Archie Sonadow deserves more love, because I dare say that it is one of the best and most complete versions of their relationship.

[faust-the-enjoyer]

Just came across your blog lmao.

Me: Sees that you write for Keegan

Awww HELL YEAH!!! FELLOW KEEGAN ENJOYER

Me: Sees that you LOVE Hurt/Comfort

OMG OMG SAME BESTIE SAME I FCKING LOVE YOU ALREADY

May I, if it‘s not too much ofc (as a fellow Uni Student, I understand your pain 🫡), request some Keegan? X Fem Reader? Fluff? Maybe the scenario could be Keegan getting home from sth/somewhere and finds us (established relationship, could be boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife, whichever you like more) on the couch, wearing the comfiest clothes (maybe even his clothes lmao) with a blanket on top and excitedly waiting because it‘s MOVIE DATE NIGHT. And the cuddling and watching movie turns into play fighting and the reader "wins" against him (ofc he‘s just letting us) or maybe he is being a bit like an asshole and uses not full force but pins reader down and it‘s just kisses and giggles and all 💌🌸☁️🫧💕

Movie Date Night!

warnings: fem!reader, pre-established relationship, wife!reader, fluff, alcohol mention, non-sexual tickling, use of pet names, sfw but minors dni, mentions of being drunk, kissing.

Word count: 1.4k words.

A/n: thank you soooo much for the sweet request🥺🤍! Hope you like this! (sorry it took a while!)

Keegan closed the car door, grabbing the grocery bags with his left hand, although it was movie night -something that you two had been doing since you started dating- he had some errands to run, he had to buy some snacks and beer. It was nice that even after you two got married, you'd still do the same fun lovey-dovey stuff you did when you were dating. He locks his car, his shadow growing taller than him as it was almost nighttime now. Walking to the front door, he unlocks it, walking in and immediately being hit by the smell of your perfume, a sweet powdery smell he'd come to associate you with over the years of you two being together.

Locking the door and walking into the foyer, he hears your quiet chuckles from the living room, smiling to himself. Walking into the living room, he wanted to show you what he bought, instead he leaned on the door frame, smirking, seeing you on the couch, covered by your favourite orange blanket, wearing his navy sweatshirt and your own cute black pyjama shorts, reading the book you've finished about two times now. You see him from your peripherals, putting a divider in your book and putting it on the coffee table, grinning and looking up at him, "You're finally home, took you long enough,", "And I can see that you stole my clothes, again.", you both laughed. Getting up from the couch and coming closer to your husband, you wrap your arms around his waist and kiss him, "So, show me what you got!", you told him excitedly. "I got beer, and those sweets you've been looking everywhere for." he shows you what's in the bag proudly, knowing you'll be happy about what he found, you just don’t know that he went to three different stores to find those sweets. You look into the bag, a surprised expression is painted on your face, then look up at him again as he looks back at you, waiting for your reaction, smiling. You take the bag and gently drop it on the floor, hugging him tightly as thrilled squeals and “Thank you”s fall from your mouth, he looks at you, contentment and pride clear on his face.

You try pulling him to the couch, but he stands still, pulling you back into his arms, "You can wait a bit, can't you sweetheart? I just gotta go to the bathroom and change." you put on a faux frown, grabbing the grocery bag again and getting back to the couch, "Fine, go." you say, wanting to sound pathetically upset but instead you giggle through your words, watching him smile and disappear upstairs into your bedroom. As he changes, you get some more snacks for the movie, putting them on the coffee table. He comes back to the living room wearing his cozy brown loungewear, turning off the lights and closing the curtains with him but keeping the floor lamp on. "Finally, oh my God." you say, sighing and patting the empty space next to you on the couch, signalling him to come sit.

He sits down roughly, gently grabbing your face with one hand and kissing your cheek. "So, what are we watching today, Hun? Did you decide yet?" you two always had turns on who gets to choose what movie to watch, and this time it was your turn. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes!” you tell him enthusiastically, “Ah, another Marlyn Monroe movie.”, his adoration for you coating his tongue, it wasn’t your first time choosing an old movie, and it surely won’t be the last, “Yes! I’ve wanted to watch it for so long now, and we’re finally watching it!” small squeaks of joy leave you as you grab the remote and turn the tv on, going to the tv stand, there, a DVD player is plugged into the wall and tv. Your family had a plethora of DVDs from over the years, and you’re the one that got to keep them when they were throwing their old things out. You work on putting the DVD into the player as Keegan opens some chips’ bags and small chocolate boxes on the coffee table, looking over as he opens a bag of chocolates, seeing you crouching, he admires your beauty from afar as he always does, not caring if you catch him and get embarrassed.

You go back to sit on the couch, remote still in your hand, as you sit down, you gently threw your legs on Keegan’s, crossing them, laying your head on his shoulder as he starts squeezing your thighs gently, he covers the both of you with the blanket, and gives your forehead a gentle kiss. You turn the movie on, setting the remote aside and grabbing the bowl of salted popcorn on the coffee table. You both begin watching the movie, snacking on popcorn, chocolates, juices, and beer. Every now and then a comment would leave one of you about the movie’s plot, one of the characters, and their outfits, both of your voices can be heard all the way from the foyer. After a while, Keegan puts the now empty popcorn bowl back on the coffee table, his hands slowly glide up from your thighs to your stomach, but you think nothing of it, his eyes are glued to the tv and it’s not strange for him to rest his hands on your body. His warm fingers slowly slide under your shirt, sliding over to your ribs, putting his palms on your body to warm you up, then suddenly, his fingers move fast, tickling your ribs, he knows your weakness. “Hey!”, you gently try to get his hands off of you, cackles filling the air, “Stop it baby! -” “No.” he said simply, cutting you off, his hands trail down, this time his fingers attack your sides.

You try pushing him off, but he's as still as a statue, you're left unable to do anything but fall victim to his fingers' attack on your poor, poor sides. That is until you get the bright idea of holding his wrists above his head, he taught you some self-defence lessons, and perhaps this wasn’t the situation he wanted you to use them in, but that doesn't matter anymore. You grab his wrists in between your laughing fits, your grip tight enough to stop him, not to hurt him, and you bring his wrists above his head as he smirks at you, proud of his girl for paying good attention during training and putting her skills to use, he could easily stop you if he wanted to, but he doesn't. You move to straddle him, but he pushes himself to the side, falling on his back in an awkward angle, letting you be on top and hold his hands above his head on the warm, soft couch, he's smiling up at you, enjoying this as much as you are. "Had your fun, princess?" he asks, his tone dripping with love for you, he sees that glint in your eyes, that look of pride. "Yea." you giggle, lowering your body while still holding his hands up, your face now close to his as you kiss him, a long, sweet kiss. You slowly let go of his wrists as your lips depart his, quickly grabbing one of the soft pillows on the couch behind you and throwing it at his chest, much to his surprise. He grunts, grinning at you as you look down at him, "I win, husky boy." you tell him, playful victoriousness coating your words. That was what you called him one night after getting slightly drunk, "Husky boy", due to him having light blue dog-like eyes.

""Husky boy", huh..." and with that, he grabs you by the waist and flips you and himself, careful to not accidently hurt you, moving you underneath him with the pillow falling on your laughing face, his hands slowly reaching up to get the pillow off of your face, and to find your own hands, raising them above your pretty head, his fingers intertwining with yours as he looks in your eyes. "I'm sorry, who wins? Can you say again?" he chuckles, his cockiness seeping out of his words. You look up at him, opening your mouth to answer but getting too caught up in your own laughter, "Come 'er!" you tell him, signalling him to get his face closer to yours, and as soon as he does, you capture his lips again in small pecks, these kisses reached his checks and neck, he was quite generous with his love as well, kissing every part of your face. The movie was long forgotten about, its noise low compared to your two's joyous laughter and giggles. The night ended with the tv off, and you two sleeping on the couch, in each other's arms.

-(dividers by vase-of-lilies)!

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 255 (spoilers)

Fun chapter with many interesting parts.

People have wondered if Larue would also appear mostly because he had been working with Yuki at some point. That they're called Team Geto is really funny.

We get a flashback of the timeskip with Yuta and Larue recruiting Miguel to their cause. He isn't convinced at first until Larue changes his mind. Nanako and Mimiko we know were killed by Sukuna but their conversation makes it seem like the other two who had that encounter with Kusakabe and Panda also died.

Miguel says that Gojo should've come himself to get him on board. This makes it the first time that Gojo's absence from the timeskip flashbacks is acknowledged in a meta fashion. This is significant imo because this throws the doors wide open to Gojo having done sth else than train with his students for the last month.

That could be some kind of preparation or getting more allies to their side. It could even be specialized training for Nobara or something else entirely but it will come back at some point.

Sukuna: 😩

Recap to remind us that Sukuna is injured right now and that he can't use RCT. This makes it seem like the Geto Duo was somewhere else than the monitor room where the other are/were.

I also wanted to point out that Larue is the most stereotypically coded gay character in JJK. He's the kind of character that is overly masculine physically but has some over-the-top feminine characteristics like his eyes, lips and the pink hearts over his tits.

Can't wait to see Miguel breakdancing his way out of cleave animated.

Sukuna has more interest in Miguel's CT than Larue's, showing us that he still to this moment loves analyzing and optimizing Jujutsu

We get a flashback that has Gojo in it BUT that flashback is pre-Shibuya and happens after the end of the movie (a scene that wasn't in the original manga).

And Gojo was racist? Interestingly, he applied real world physical built of the average Japanese person to that of an unspecified African country saying that a physical buff for Miguel's people works better because they're physically stronger (apparently but who really knows). Except of course that thinking falls apart (in multiple ways) when we consider that we're in a battle shonen and all sorcerers are either decently or highly muscular (except the women)

We see that Miguel is, as Gege has once said, strong and he gets a few good blows against Sukuna. Choso also reappears.

We get an explanation on how Sukuna's World Cutting Slash works. He needs to use his domain seal to activate it and I'm curious what exactly that means in regards to what domain seals even are.

Against Gojo, Sukuna had lost his left hand in the Hollow Purple attack, so he shouldn't have been able to perform the WCS but he made a vow instead that stipulated that for all future uses of that cut he needs to use his palm to specify the trajectory of it.

He could've activated his transformation then instead of making the vow but he probably saw it as more important that Gojo thought that he had been defeated.

Maki came back like most people in my poll voted for. Now I'm... anxious on how Gege will write her from then on. From her chapter we got the sense that she will have a bigger role in confronting one specific aspect of Sukuna but now we're in a group battle again.

Larue got a BF though so the group will shrink really fast which should get Maki back into the spotlight.

She cuts off Sukuna's left hand making it seemingly impossible for him to use his super cut except we the audience know of course that that won't hinder him too much.

Yuji, you're so full hope that it was inevitable that it would be crushed immediately. Sukuna uses a second BF which will restore his CE output meaning he'll heal his limbs just like Gojo did at that point in their fight.

He still has his fire arrow and the corresponding technique of it in his Arsenal as well, so like Uraume said, he still hasn't gotten all out on them

I feel like the fight is going to get into its third phase in the upcoming chapters. Prepare for another 3-5 chapter mini-arc (probably the Uraume/Hakari fight) to interrupt it after something shocking will happen.

[brucenorris007]

“Game Sonic doesn’t have it in him to kill Eggman.” -Someone on IG comparing Movie Sonic to Game Sonic per something written in StH 2′s script. Have... have you played or even seen the Sonic games? Especially those prior to Forces and Frontiers?

Okay, maybe that’s somewhat unwarranted. Still.

He doesn’t prioritize killing Eggman the way Shadow occasionally or Omega (always) do, but he’s not exactly opposed to seeing, ah, spilled yolk on any sort of principle, either. Eggman just doesn’t occupy anymore space in Sonic’s mind than he warrants at any given moment; the doctor might be obsessed with crushing this teenager who keeps humiliating him, but the reverse?

Sonic at one point says, when asked in Sonic X where Eggman is on a day he’s not actively destroying things or hurting people:

“I don’t care.”

Newer iterations of the blue blur confuse it a bit–starting around Lost World, I believe–but let’s go down the Games timeline; explore the evolution of Sonic’s general attitude toward killing and by extension, cracking the egg.

Classic Sonic is a younger, less powerful and perhaps more unhinged hedgehog. Like I said in another post, Sonic’s first priority is doing what’s Cool; stomping Eggman’s machines and rescuing his animal friends have fit his personal definition of cool from day one.

Every time Sonic and Eggman clash, Sonic stops attacking once Eggman does; that is, once his contraption of the week gets thrashed. Eggman’s smart enough to flee by that point, and while Sonic would keep fighting if the doctor attacked him again, striking an enemy in the back while they’re running away doesn’t fit his definition of Cool.

Sonic doesn’t go out of his way to kill an enemy who isn’t actively trying to kill him, but neither does he go out of his way to save Eggman from falls that could easily end his life. (Refer to: The conclusion of most fights between Robotnik and Super Sonic pre-Dreamcast era)

A trend that carries through at least Sonic Unleashed; if Sonic had a truly immovable stance against killing Eggman, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch his contraptions fall to pieces around him until the doctor spirals in just a pod or console seat at terminal velocity per Sonic 06. I wouldn’t be surprised if Eggman keeps Heal Units on hand for personal use when cartoon physics aren’t enough to prevent grievous injury.

I predict this is going to get longer than I expected; have a cut.

And Eggman knows this. After so many years as arch-enemies, how could he not recognize the pattern? Factor it into his schemes and calculations, his fail safes, however much he loathes the idea of losing again?

There are two Mobians in the franchise who consistently hold back and put a check on themselves out of consideration for others. Two Mobians who, should either snap, are capable several times over of wreaking untold havoc across the planet and ending the doctor’s career in evil permanently.

Knuckles, and Sonic.

This echidna is strong enough to trigger a fault line that can sever an entire zone off of Angel Island with a single blow; who, coupled with his familiarity with chaos energy and channeling the merest fraction of the M.E., can sucker punch someone out of their Super state. Destined Child’s self-control of his strength is a more significant act of kindness than just about anything else he could do.

And Sonic’s maximum speed, in his normal state, cannot be accurately measured even by Eggman’s machines. Oh, he can work out medians and means for the hedgehog’s typical velocity, enough that his robots can put up a decent fight and track/predict the blue blur’s movements.

But Sonic pulls stunts that should not be possible even in the fantastic world of Mobius on the daily; he’s fast enough that he can and has joked about light speed being casual for him, and at one point in his career he outran a black hole for upwards of half a minute. Again, without the aid of his Super state.

Sonic’s reasons for holding back coincide with Knuckles’ somewhat, but they don’t match one to one. A) He holds back for others’ sake and safety: pulling a friend along when he pours on a speed boost, pacing himself when he’s carrying someone (often, though not limited to, princesses...) and, one can infer, limiting himself to just fast enough to break the sound barrier most of the time so he doesn’t constantly destroy/reshape the terrain he’s running on. Sonic’s a rebel, and he enjoys breaking stuff, but only when he’s making a point through the stuff he’s breaking. Aimless destruction isn’t quite his wheelhouse.

And B) he holds back for the sake of having more fun. There are a lot of reasons Sonic’s persisted as a character for three decades now, and one of them, setting him apart from a lot of other ‘cool’ stoic characters I could name, is that Having Fun falls under his definition of Cool.

This is the only way Sonic’s approach to things in the Riders games, his rivalry with Jet in particular, makes any kind of sense; he chooses to race using Extreme Gear because the sport, the banter, the push toward the finish line alongside his best friends are fun, he enjoys all those things. If beating Jet or proving that he’s faster was truly the highest priority for him, he’d ditch the board and just break a half dozen laws of physics on foot like he always does.

Like I mentioned, Eggman’s aware of that; of the fact that Destined Child and Some Guy are, 99% of the time, exercising self-restraint. And factors it into his schemes. He doesn’t quite fear Knuckles snapping as much, since there are years of evidence proving that taking advantage of the echidna’s naivete isn’t enough to make him lose it, and because he understands that Knuckles sees himself as a Guardian on and off of Angel Island. Born to protect; only harming in service to that role, and certainly not to kill.

Compared to Knuckles, Sonic’s conditions for losing it, for going berserk are much more apparent; namely excessive, grievous harm to his friends. In particular, his best friend Tails.

There’s a reason why Eggman ejected Sonic from the ARK in a time bomb space pod in SA2 before facing off with the fox, and it wasn’t simply because he was outnumbered. He was holding Amy hostage with Tails in the room well before Sonic arrived. He could have demanded Tails exit the Cyclone and killed the fox. He didn’t need two hostages.

But he knew better than to think he could predict how Sonic would react to seeing his sidekick (in Eggman’s mind) motionless on the floor of the ARK. Worse case scenario, four bodies end up careening in free fall towards the Earth’s atmosphere.

Eggman knows Sonic has it in him to kill; are other Mobians more likely to try killing him? Yes, but the possibility still figures into Eggman’s plans and is one of the reasons the blue hedgehog occupies most of the doctor’s attention, second to his obsession with returning all the humiliation Sonic’s visited on him over the years.

All that being said, there is a moment in Sonic’s career that marks the beginning of a shift in his attitude toward killing.

Emerl.

Gemerl’s predecessor and the focal point/main character of Sonic Battle, for the uninformed.

Sonic found this battered robot, abandoned by Eggman in a fit of impatience and frustration; this machine designed to be the ultimate combat weapon, capable of observing and evolving based on those it interacts with like a whole-ass person would. In the penultimate chapter of the game, Emerl acquires the seventh chaos emerald and achieves a perilous state where the right words might make or break the world, and Shadow picks the right ones that allow Emerl to function autonomously without posing a danger to the planet.

Obviously, in the ultimate chapter, Eggman has to come and fuck that up.

With Emerl out of control and beyond the reach of words or reason and only minutes between him and the planet’s destruction, Sonic has no choice but to destroy–to kill–this robot he practically raised like a child of his own to save the world.

Sonic doesn’t hesitate in doing so, though it’s clear he doesn’t want to. And of course, it affects him.

It’s that moment that begins to change his attitude from “I don’t kill in cold blood/don’t kill anyone with their back to me or running away” to “I don’t kill if I can help it.”

Make no mistake, though: Sonic wouldn’t shed a single tear for Eggman’s funeral. At most, he’d consider life marginally more boring without an arch nemesis and then get over it.

Sonic is capable of cracking the egg; he prefers avoiding it, but under the right circumstances, avoiding it falls way down his list of priorities.

To this day in the games, Eggman doesn’t go after the hedgehog’s friends in earnest until he believes the blue blur has been dealt with first.

That is very, very intentional on his part.

@generic-sonic-fan

[lucidheart3]

Pen Pals just suprassed 100 Kudos and 1000 Hits! And I received the nicest comments EVER! AAAAAA I’m so happy rn please don’t mind me rambling lol! Special shoutout to @tiago1717 for inspiring me to update the work, it was initially a one shot with open ending! And thanks to @litlledaisycat @pico1o for awesome comments as always!

[scottapez]

this line in particular is so fucking telling I've been thinking abt it since i first saw it. ignore the kitty shes for space. tell me if this sounds stupid but like. the 10 year olds.??? like when its sonic the hedgehog i get it that's Definitely a For Kids franchise where the gameplay and story is pre-made For Kids. and minecraft definitely has a huge child audience!!! but its fucking 13 years old now? its a sandbox game?? the original audience who were 10 when it was in the height of its initial popularity are adults now. and lots of them are still playing. why would you try to alienate an audience like that & their money by making it a '10 yr olds' movie ??? why does a kids movie look like this to you in the first place ? minecraft doesn't have a story that appeals to kids like sth cuz there is no traditional story in minecraft. the whole Point is you make the fun with the tools at your disposal. and that's so ffffucking universal to the human experience!!!!! ive played minecraft with my extended family before. my grandmas played minecraft. i cant say the same for like. any sonic game. Why the fuck would you make a movie for a game that has huge potential to appeal to fucking Everybody into a made for tv nickelodeon movie.

[just-a-carrot]

Random question, but pre-Wonderland (because we all know things happen there), were any members of the cast part of the broken bone club?

As in, did any of them break a bone in their lifetime? Idk why, but I just have this image of Genzou signing Orlam’s cast with the dumbest of insults in like elementary school or sth. Like, he thought it was so smart at the time but all adults in the vicinity were rolling their eyes.

why is this making me think of eddie from the it movie lakdjfasdf

hmm...

i feel like genzou did for sure as a child, mostly because he was extremely reckless and always doing stupid stuff and taking risks he shouldn't. orlam maybe??? he was kinda reluctant to do much as a child so i doubt he would have been very active and risky. if he did it was just because he had a hard time keeping up with the others and was trying to run after them or something. bucks definitely did -- i see her more tho in like high school and college with all her sports and intense activities. gidget... maybe not??? iggy probably did at least once just from being clumsy lkdjfadsf

[lassie-farce]

To everyone who wants to write Lassie I highly recommend watching Carter & June (2017), aka the Spencer Rabbit Movie (gangster Lassie?) feat. others 💕

Flamboyant Lassie doing multiple brutal murder? Yes please! 🔥🔥🔥

I would love to read sth with a brutal undercover/dark/pre-police Lassie but given my lvl of writing in English I’d rather leave that to the professionals 🙈

[cozymochi]

🌻 >:)

IM FOUND ONE OF THESE MEMES IN MY DRAFts! Im gonna rank my experiences in the major fandoms i’ve engaged with.

🩵 YUGIOH! - Second longest running fascination. Upside!! Made life long friends. DOWNSIDE!! Was my first go at online engagement and in those 10 years so much happened that I still can’t help but feel a little sour. …Though ygo back in the day wasn’t good at tag comments, so I didn’t even know those were a thing for years until I branched out. 5/10. But grows to a 7/10 because i’ve settled into a niche area with so few people that it’s now a silly little club. 💕

🧡 Dragon Ball/Z - GENUINE CHAOS. Started off slow but intensified hard cuz get who got involved while Super was airing??? (I didn’t watch it lol), so the discourse and fighting was at an all time high. I have no idea how I even survived this in retrospect. My slight association with people netted me troll asks and my liking of Yamcha also set me up for those. …and frequent art reposting, and quite a few bizarre interactions. Pretty sure my art and edits have circulated more in latin america than I even know. This was also pre-tumblr purge so the amount of nsfw that got thrown my way is… something. That said!! Made also really good friends 💕 and DB/Z probably desensitized me to longer form discussions. 5/10 for insanity, but 8/10 for good reception and VERY PEAK and generous humans.

I think dbz hardened me.

💚 Invader Zim- started off fun (mostly irl with my friendo from days of YGO), but quickly devolved into territory that tested my patience. WHY ON EARTH THIS SERIES’ CONSUMERS had such a huge morality high ground base is beyond me. It’s this fandoms fault I learned about certain modern day online discourse terms and what instilled an irrational posting fear for a year lol. Fun at first and there’s super creative and receptive folk (then those people got kicked out) and left the most insufferable beings imaginable. There’s no in between. Shoutout to all 3 friends made who are still peak. 3/10, if I ever finish any remaining projects or decide to bite the bullet and show completed work, i’m not engaging again. The base just skews somewhere I can’t handle. Which is crazy given the ABOVE contenders have, on paper, done so much more.

dbz hardened me but iz weakened me. Which is probably why i need the formers bootcamp back. Don’t think I’m as fearful now, but i’ll still be salty.

💜 Twisted Wonderland - this is a work in progress experience. Will require further evaluation if all of the above experiences haven’t set my standards. Will stay in my corner. So far it’s 6/10 in vibes (they’re much calmer than the last one), tho I question how much of the interest is from what i do vs. what I did for others. Haven’t shared a ton of opinions yet and god knows lol we don’t want that /s. Still recovering from the former making me wanna just not do much. Baby steps I suppose.

💙 - Sonic The Hedgehog: This is a cheat, I have never interacted with the fandom directly (purely by happenstance, so thankfully no traces exist), but I have been into this since I was a child with no issues. So by default this is the best one. 10/10, didn’t engage, but I do lurk. Though all the stuff I see on tweeter isn’t exactly anything out of the norm for fandoms in general to do, so it weirds me out that people rag on this one for just kinda talking amongst themselves about innocuous things.

“omg this fandom is arguing over QUILL length ughhh can they never be pleased [30 yt videos about this drop]” ngl, this just feels like par for the course junk fandoms do. It really feels no different from DBZ where people go ham about the art style changes and which one is better. Or stupid shit in IZ where they fight about comics vs movie vs show. Like??? The only major difference here is that StH has more people in it (by the millions).

So literally nothing these folk do or say strikes me as anything more serious than what other fandoms already do??? Its just more outsiders see it then churn out content and perpetuate something worse from what’s honestly….pretty tame stuff. Maybe it’s just twitter’s setup given that’s all folk talk about.

[autumnrory]

#“incoming rant”#people tend to attribute steve and bucky's separation to wholly emotional motives#and have bucky pre-emptively staying away from steve on the grounds of a baseless guess as to what steve /might/ do#(not fair or canon; denigrating Steve for sth he... /didn't do?#...he /could've/ done any other number of things. But didn't. 🙄 It's nonsense)#either Bucky does remember Steve enough to know him or doesn't remember enough to make wild guesses about his personality...#both ways he can't be assuming Steve would ignore his needs and influence him to act like a prior version of himself...#Steve RESCUING Bucky; recovering his autonomy (via identity) ≠ Steve expecting Bucky to pretend he hasn't changed since WWII or w/e 🤦‍♀️#but the fact is: bucky staying away is still completely necessary#he is a fugitive from every single government multiple orgs want him murdered or captured or worse...#he can't just waltz safely back into steve's life; it took a trillionaire prince with a whole force-fielded country to get them any safety!#and the wakandans were the first ppl to speak to bucky like he's an actual human being since steve 😔#bucky trying to recover a sense of himself and staying away...#those who know us form part of our identity whether we like it or not steve is literally the only person on earth bucky's got left#so he has to be in contact since steve is his only reliable non-hostile source of information...#...on what 'bucky barnes' is outside of ppl's kneejerk prejudice/hostility to TWS and the unreliable-narrator of his own mind#if bucky had a problem w/ looking to external sources for answers he wouldn't canonically be visiting a museum to read about himself 🤷‍♀️#(wouldn't have saved images from that museum)#wouldn't be laughing and smiling when the subject of shared memories and ppl come up with steve etc.#(in fact it's even canon that bucky did this /before/ he was TWS)#so the idea of steve projecting an image onto him that bucky feels reluctantly obligated to act out is. just. not! canon!#mcu meta#meta#stucky#steve meta#bucky meta#stucky meta#steve rogers#bucky barnes#the lunacy of inventing upsetting OOC things steve to do when the movie endgame already exists... 🤦‍♀️ (amarriageoftrueminds)

i saw someone recently say that they preferred sambucky over stevebucky (either platonic or romantic tbh) because they felt bucky was happier not living under the shadow of his former self? suggesting that he intentionally spent most of him time post winter soldier away from steve because he didn't want to be compared to a former version of himself that he couldn't return to? I'm a big lover of stevebucky so the idea that steve wouldn't be able to stop comparing (even if subconsciously) post-ws bucky to pre-ws bucky made me question the ship slightly? or that bucky was actually happier without steve in the readjustment process bc he could become his own person without preconceived ideas of what he should be like hanging over his head. I've read a few fics about this and i kinda wanted to know what u thought - would steve's knowledge of the old bucky affect their relationship so negatively that bucky would be happier alone/with people unfamiliar with who he was before (sorry for the rambling question)

Thank you lovely for the very interesting ask! I love these kind of hypotheticals!

First and foremost, don’t ever let anyone convince you that you’re only allowed to ship one pairing. A lot of people DO only ship one ship, and kudos to them, but you are not a bad fan if you want to ship Bucky with multiple people. Heck, I got into Stucky via Sambucky, and uh…anyway, here I am.

The idea that “Bucky stayed away from Steve because he didn’t want to be compared to old Bucky” is one of my favourite angsty “loss of innocence” tropes to explore – because yes, that’s going to be one of Bucky’s major insecurities after the Winter Soldier. He isn’t the same person as before and no matter how hard he tries, he’s never going to go back to who he was before.

The absolutely fascinating part, then, is how a fanfic writer decides to address this. So yeah, I can see this as the jumping board for a SamBucky story (or any other non Stucky ship).

But this is also a concept that not only fits in well within the Stucky fanon/narrative, it’s also crucial to explore in order to bring the two of them back together. How does Steve accept that Bucky has changed, and how does Bucky come to trust that Steve accepts this changed version of him?

The answer is, for me, this is Steve we’re talking about. Steve with all his tenacity and empathy and loyalty. This is Steve who’s known Bucky since childhood, who probably knows Bucky better than the current Bucky remembers himself. This is also a Steve has fought one of the bloodiest wars in history. He is young, but he’s not naive. The people of his time didn’t have the right words for it - but he has seen a lot of mental health issues on the field. He’s come out on the other end of the war still believing in the goodness of humans (his “I’m willing to bet I’m not” speech), so I have no doubt he will look at Bucky and see that – yeah, you’ve changed, you’ve had terrible things happen to you for well over half a century, but you are also still the same kind soul that I grew up with, and that kindness is what’s most important; I can still see him in you, even if you are different, and I believe you deserve all the love I can give you.

And you know what, there IS canon evidence that Steve believes in Bucky, believes in the goodness that couldn’t be burned away with 70 years of brainwashing. Sam saying to Steve - (Bucky) isn’t the kind you save and he won’t know you - and Steve replying without an ounce of doubt in his voice, “He will.” Or Steve going after Bucky to save him from the SIT because “he’d have done the same for me”.

I think another crux is that recent gif set - the “I’m following the little guy from Brooklyn” speech. That was a vow - it was Bucky saying “I loved you (platonically/romantically/wte) when you were a poor disabled scruffy kid in the dumps, and I will love you just the same even if you’re a buff blue-eyed Adonis.” Their story, as always, encircles each other’s - it is now Steve’s turn to say “I loved you when you were a nerdy protective flirt and I will love you just the same even if you’re disabled and scruffy and dealing with horrendous PTSD”. I think that vow also highlights just how important Steve was, even at that point, to Bucky, which means…their loyalty will always draw them back to each other. Once Bucky sees Steve has faith in him, he will have faith in himself to rebuild his identity in a way that’s true to him.

It really depends on the writer, but most versions I’ve seen in which Steve and Bucky separate (over this issue) write Steve as either obtuse, selfish or emotionally immature…which is not how I read him to be. I think he has the emotional maturity to accept that Bucky will have similarities but will also have stark differences to who he once was…but then, time leaves its mark on everyone it touches, not just Bucky (I kinda touched on that concept on my “Learning to Want” fic *self plug*). It’s a rough road and on some days there’s going to be more setbacks than progress, and yeah on some days Steve is going to get frustrated and upset and maybe even a little defeatist, but I think both he and Bucky have that tenacious survivor streak in them that will pull them through, especially if they’re together.