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[grapejuice32]

How they met

Rafe x angel!reader

more angel!reader here main masterlist here

word count: 1.5k a/n: tsym for 300 followers! requests are open <3

The sun was pelting down, not that it bothered you at all. You so rarely left the house, and catching the sun from somewhere other than your garden was always a refreshing experience. The summer had finally arrived again, although it always seemed to be summery in Outer Banks, but the real summer was always exciting. You loved how the birds would be louder when the sun was brighter, it was the only time of year you’d leave your windows open for days at a time.

You’d been on your way to the shops, having run out of a lot of your groceries but had ended up getting distracted and were not sat in a park, soaking up the sun as best you could. You were completely unaware of what was going on around you, or so you appeared. You were laying on the grass, staring at the wispy clouds above you, but you were fully aware of everything, you knew where everyone in the park was and took notice of almost everyone coming and going, you were too paranoid to leave yourself in a trance. Of course, you were susceptible to zoning out, getting lost in your own world, sometimes for hours at a time. But you tried your best to remain aware of things when you were out of the comfort of your own home, where you knew it was safe to let your mind run loose. 

Rafe had only been walking past on his way to meet Topper and some of the others. He’d had no intent of stopping, that was until he saw you. He was instantly intrigued by you, his eyes fixed on the way you were laying in the grass, your hair splayed messily around you and your body clad in layers of frilly white fabric and lace, you looked like an angel. He’d heard the whispers and the rumours about you, of course he had, they were hard to escape, especially when everyone at the country club loved to gossip.

There were all sorts of rumours about you, from ones that said you were just disturbed, which may have been slightly true, to ones that said you were in a cult. They said that was the reason you didn’t live with you parents, and they said that your parents were scared of you, that they feared for their safety around you. But he found all of that incredibly difficult to believe, especially now that he was stood here finally seeing you properly for the first time in years. The last time he’d seen you was probably a few years ago and at the time he’d barely paid attention. But as he stood there watching you lay in the grass, the sun beaming down on you as a soft breeze caused your long lace skirt to ride slightly up your legs, he couldn’t help but the compelling need to talk to you. 

You heard him before you saw him, his footsteps heavy on the delicate grass crunching under his shoes. He stopped a couple of metres away from you but was still silent, which prompted you to speak, “Are you going to keep staring?” You didn’t look over at him, your eyes still fixed on the quickly changing clouds above you, their usual white colour now tinged yellow from the sun. 

He stayed quiet for a moment, his lips parting, taken aback that you’d noticed him. Your voice was like music to his ears, it was enchanting, and it drew him in. “Uh, sorry.” He chuckled awkwardly, refraining from face palming. Never in his life had he felt so awkward when approaching a girl. “I didn’t mean t’like freak y’out or anythin’.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little at his words as you sat up, stretching your arms about your head. “You think a little staring is all it takes to freak me out?” You asked teasingly, before you finally looked in his direction. You tried your best to contain your reaction when you looked at him for the first time, but anyone could see the way your eyes widened significantly, a light blush instantly spreading along your cheeks. It was all you could do to not let your jaw drop. 

His lips quirked up at your reaction, a strange sense of pride filling his chest. He shrugged in response and stepped closer to you, “Not seen y’around much.”

You didn’t say anything, not immediately anyway. Instead, you stood up, brushing broken strands of grass off of you. “Is that what you came over here to talk about?” 

He briefly looked down at the ground, chewing on his lip as he shook his head. You took a small step towards him, causing him to look back up at you. Though he still had to look down to see you properly, his tall figure towering over you, as he did most people. “I uh, just saw y’when I was walkin’ past an’ I was curious.”

“Why? Cause you think I’m a freak?” Were you being defensive? Yes, but you had your reasons, and he knew that, not taking it to heart at all. He could understand it, especially with the way everyone spoke about you. Besides, he acted pretty similarly to most people, and he did it without reason, just because he knew he could.

“No, cause I think you’re beautiful.” You pursed your lips, trying to hide your growing smile and looked off to the side of you, acting as if there was something stealing your attention. You could feel his eyes on you, taking you in as if you were a precious piece of art, and to him you were. “I’m Rafe, by the way.” 

The sun was in your eyes when you faced him again, causing you to squint at its brightness. He immediately noticed and moved so that he would be stood in front of it, shielding it from your eyes. “Rafe,” you repeated softly. In that moment he swore it was like you’d taken his heart as your own, the sound of his name falling from your lips so softly had something igniting inside of him that he couldn’t explain. You introduced yourself, and when he heard your name, it was like everything made sense. He’d heard it before of course, but this was different because it was you telling him in that angelic voice of yours. 

He was incredibly enamoured by you and so he knew that he wanted to spend more time with you, that he didn’t want to waste time with the same people he saw every day when he could be in your presence. His phone was powered off and put in his back pocket without a care after he told Topper he wasn’t coming; he didn’t want the device to pull him away from you. The two of you went to get ice cream and walked along the beach. When sand began to get on your skirt, he took the bottom of it in his hand, holding it up so it wouldn’t get dirty while you ate your ice cream. The grocery shop you’d intended to go on was completely forgotten and for once, you didn’t care for the sudden change in your plans, because this was so much better. 

Neither of you were oblivious to the looks that got sent your way as you talked, but you were both pretty good at ignoring them. You received looks of shock, everyone left baffled at the sight of the tow of you together, surely to become the gossip of the week. The two of you got so caught up in your own little bubble that by the time the sun began to set and the air began to cool you were both shocked, not knowing how time had passed so quickly. He walked you home and said goodnight, but that was it. He didn’t even give you his number and your first thought was that you terribly misread the situation, that maybe he hadn’t wanted to hurt your feelings or that it was a dare.

You went to bed as soon as you got back, feeling stupid and struggled to sleep, consumed by worry that twisted in your stomach. But the next morning, you opened your front door to see a bouquet of your favourite flowers, something you’d let slip the day before when you saw some, having pointed at them and told Rafe how beautiful you thought they were. The bouquet was accompanied by a note from Rafe, asking you out to dinner that night, telling you he’d pick you up for 6. As you read the note it felt like everything fell into place, a giddy smile on your face as you got ready for your first date with him. For your first date ever.

asks are open for requests!

[tiredlakes]

the beauty of life is strange

[riverkingmarley]

I didn’t want to highjack that other post but there was a post recently talking about how crawler would have gotten into more fights if he wasn’t in the S9 and I think that’s kind of emblematic as Jacks role as an abuser. He finds vulnerable people and offers them freedom to chase their true desires and escape the oppressive system they live under but he really traps them in a new even more abusive system with him at the top. He is the patriarch of his own little abusive household.

This is emphasized in story with The Siberian offering Rachel freedom from the lies and manipulation that come with society but is quickly revealed to be a man that likely murdered his daughter and puppets her visage around to hide from society and protect himself. A literal illusion. The Siberian isn’t free himself and just wants someone lower on the hierarchy to kick around.

It’s striking me now how similar Cherish and heartbreakers relationship is to Jack and King’s relationship. Jack is kind of just Cherish if she had a better power and the air of legitimacy that comes with being perceived as a patriarch. I wish we had gotten to see that AU where it was just Jack and Cherish left alive that I’ve heard about.

[whimsicalcotton]

this is their dynamic to me. thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[lunarw0rks]

new fav trope is that ghoap comes in a package deal

you can't date just one of them. surprise! you're fucking them both!

[writingtraumaforever]

A Courtship Christmas: Chapter 2

Notes: I just reeeeally enjoy writing these two in this universe. And I can't say that enough.

Summary: The gang engages in some Christmas festivities, and then Shadow and Sonic try to convince the Wachowskis to allow them to take a trip together..

Courtship Masterpost!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

After sitting outside and allowing Shadow the time to gather himself some more and come down from his emotional distress, Sonic is eventually able to lead his boyfriend– Shadow’s words, not his– inside to the others. The reception to his arrival is positive as always, everyone having grown quite fond of Shadow. Even Knuckles, who still sees it as his duty to protect Sonic from Shadow, even if just emotionally, has learned to accept the hybrid as an addition to their clan. Even if not an official Wachowski. In fact, Knuckles and Shadow often tinker with their bikes together, and they’ll even go for rides now and then. Sonic will join here and there, racing alongside them on foot. As much as he likes having an excuse to hold onto Shadow from behind when he rides his bike with him, nothing can ever beat the feeling of the wind under his feet.

All this to say, Shadow, despite his relatively standoffish demeanor, is quite a light in their group of misfits these days. Most consider him the calm and observant one who brings reason to the group– which they desperately need since Sonic just acts far too quickly to actually think anything through, Tails gets too caught up in his inventions and is still just a kid, Knuckles doesn’t think in general, Amy often lets her heart override her brain which isn’t always the best balance, and Rouge–.. Well, Rouge is kind of a wild card, honestly. Shadow brings balance and stability. He’s confident, but not too confident. He carries an air of responsibility and loyalty with him that makes everyone breathe a little easier.

This is a stark contrast to when they first met him and all he did was terrify everyone.

Cream, in particular, is very excited to see Shadow. She jumps up and rushes right over to him, weaving her way through legs until she reaches him and immediately engulfs his waist with a big hug. Shadow chuckles at this, patting her head a bit awkwardly since physical affection is still something he’s working on with people outside of Sonic. 

“Mr. Shadow!” she cheers, beaming up at him with wide, sparkling eyes, “You’re here!”

“I am,” he nods with a small and sheepish smile, not use to children finding him so approachable. Which is a shame since Sonic has noticed that Shadow is great with kids and seems to like them more than most adults.

He kind of assumes this comes from the fact he was raised alongside Maria, often being her caretaker and comfort..

“I apologize for being late. I see you and your mother have integrated nicely with everyone else and the Christmas festivities,” he adds as Cream lets go to take a step back and look at him properly.

“Everyone has just been so lovely,” Cream swoons with her preciously high voice, her eyes so earnest and grateful, “I really like Christmas. And I think I might like earth some more now.” “Good,” Shadow hums, nodding at her warmly, “I’m very glad to hear it.”

Cream grins at this, “Would you like to sit by me while you make your sweater?? I have a lot of good ideas you could use.” “That would be delightful,” Shadow accepts the invitation by taking her small hand and allowing himself to be led to the table where most are finishing up their sweaters by now.

Sonic smiles and follows along, his heart swooning at how adorable the whole thing is.

Once seated, Sonic sits on the opposite side of Shadow as Cream, Rouge scooting a bit closer from her own seat and muttering to him with a quirked brow, “Everything okay?” “Yeah,” Sonic nods with a reassuring smile, “We’re all good.” “Good,” she smiles in return, “Knew he just needed a talk with you, and he’d be peachy.” Sonic chuckles at this, looking back over to see Cream already handing Shadow some black pipe cleaners she has fashioned to look like tires and handlebars. Apparently they’ll be making a festive replica of hit motorcycle for the front of his sweater, which Sonic finds very fitting.

He gets to work on his own that he never got to finish, having Amy help him to embroider some brown yarn on top of his chilidog to make it look like the chili. He and Shadow get into a very brief glitter fight after Sonic accidentally knocks some onto Shadow’s lap by hitting the container with his elbow. Maddie swiftly puts a stop to this, though, since glitter is pretty impossible to clean up. “Sorry, Mom.” “Sorry, Mrs. Wachowski.” They’re both covered in green flakes of glitter, though, shaking off what they could in the backyard before coming back inside with Maddie giving a defeated sigh at the trail they leave behind them.

They finally are able to get started on the tree eventually, Shadow being thrown off that they pull it out of a box rather than out of the woods.

“Didn’t you and Maria have an artificial tree back on the ARK??” Sonic asks with a tilt of his head.

“Yes, but Maria always said they had real trees for Christmas here on earth that they’d chop down and drag back to decorate,” his brows furrow, seeming confused.

“Oh,” Sonic’s ears droop slightly, hoping this doesn’t disappoint the hybrid too much, “Well, some people still do that. But most just buy reusable ones these days. Less trees chopped down, and honestly?? Real ones have been discovered to kinda be a health and safety hazard most days.” “Really??” Shadow blinks in surprise at Sonic.

“I dunno,” Sonic shrugs, “I think I read a Buzzfeed article on it once. Either way! It’s still super fun putting together and decorating the fake tree! Promise.” Shadow hums a moment, looking back to Tom and Randall who are working together to put the fourth and final section of the tree on top to complete the nine foot-er. He seems to consider all this new information a moment before he offers a small smile and looks back to Sonic, “It’s just a tree.” “Right,” Sonic smiles in return, happy Shadow is deciding not to let this minor inconvenience ruin his perspective of the holiday, “What goes on the tree is what matters most anyway. Like all my pinecones I’ve found!” Sonic dashes over to grab the basket full of pinecones sitting to the side and brings them back over to Shadow to show him, “Back with Longclaw? We didn’t have Christmas. But we did do something similar at the beginning of every year by decorating our homes with candles and pinecones and all kinds of other stuff to celebrate life. The owls called it ‘Beginnings’. Maddie and Tom let me kinda merge some of those traditions with Christmas to make me feel more at home.” Shadow listens to Sonic with fond eyes. It’s not often Sonic brings up Longclaw, but he treasures when the hedgehog opens up and talks about it. He knows it’s his equivalent to Maria in a lot of ways.. Losing a loved one so young. He’s proud of Sonic every time he finds the courage and strength to talk about it, big ways or small. 

His crimson eyes look down at the basket to examine the pinecones Sonic has gathered. Some look as though they’ve been dipped in paint, some have red and green glitter glued to the ends, and some are just plain pinecones.

“..They’re beautiful,” Shadow says with nothing but pure honesty, and Sonic’s eyes light up with something akin to pride as well as warmth. “Can I help you put them on the tree?”

“I’d love that,” Sonic replies softly, his smile soft and sweet as he watches Shadow pick one of the plain pinecones and look at the tree as if to find the perfect spot for it.

After about five solid minutes of pondering, Sonic realizes that decorating with Shadow is gonna be a task. The guy is a bit of a perfectionist. But once he places the pinecone on a spot in the center and properly fluffs out the branches around it, the others begin placing their own ornaments, too. And this obviously throws off whatever plans Shadow may have had on pine cone placement. So he very quickly learns that this isn’t an organization game, it’s more of a festive scramble. More about the nostalgia and joy each special ornament brings. 

Sonic takes notice in Shadow’s hesitance and how he begins to get a bit overwhelmed by the others’ careless placement of ornaments, so he steps over to him and takes his hand.

“Don’t overthink it, dude,” he places another pinecone in Shadow’s hand, this one messy with glitter and fake snow, “Just put it where you think it fits best. It’ll all come together in the end.” Shadow looks at the pinecone in his hand. Then he looks at Sonic. The tree. Everyone around him smiling and laughing and enjoying one another’s company.

“Yeah,” he smiles a bit, looking back to Sonic, “It will.”

Sonic smiles back, feeling like Shadow is having one of those profound personal revelations Sonic often misses out on but is grateful for regardless. They get back to placing the pinecones together, Sonic playfully poking Shadow with the pinecones’ spines now and then and Shadow retaliating by sticking them in Sonic’s quills messily. 

Knuckles had wanted to place grapes in the tree, of course, but Maddie said they’d rot and stink eventually. So they compromised with fake ones bought at the dollar tree, Knuckles putting them here and there all over the tree proudly along with some colorful feathers he tied together. He said they reminded him of his tribe’s armor they use to wear to battle.

Tails didn’t quite understand the concept of ornaments initially and started tying string to wrenches and hammers and all sorts of tools. Tom had to break it to him that they were a bit too heavy to have in the tree, but made it up to him by taking him to a local Christmas Market and letting him pick out all the ornaments he saw and liked. He came back with all kinds: ones shaped like tools, ones shaped like candy, and he even found a fox and hedgehog one! No echidna one, though. To compensate for this, he crafted his own and painted it to look like Knuckles with Maddie’s help. Knuckles cried when he saw it next to the hedgehog and fox one on the tree last year. 

‘I am not crying! I just got some fake snow in my gorgeously purple eyes!’

All these ornaments and more went up. Shadow even went and got the ones out of his bike’s bag that he had made at the GUN event with the children. Sonic helped him place those as well, finding perfect spots for them in the front of the tree. One was a bit too high up for him, though, and when Shadow noticed him looking up in thought on how to reach it, he took it upon himself to grab Sonic by the backs of his thighs and crouch down.

Sonic was immediately blushing with wide eyes at him, “What’re you–”Shadow moved his head between Sonic’s thighs and stood up using his legs, careful not to let his spines poke his boyfriend as he hoists him up onto his shoulders with only a small grunt. Like it was nothing. Like Sonic was nothing.

That definitely made Sonic feel things.

“This high enough?” Shadow questions innocently, tilting his head back to look up at the hero now sitting on his shoulders. Sonic, who is now a blushing idiot, just nods stupidly down at him and babbles out something like “Uhhh-yeah uh huh this is good mhm”.

Shadow just smirks a bit at this and watches as Sonic reaches to place the ornament closer to the top.

Rouge watches them from the corner of the room, leaning against the wall with a small smile on her face. They’re really good together..

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Knuckles clearing his throat next to her, blinking as she turns her head to find him standing there with a few feathers in his hand. He’s not looking at her, instead looking away with a very light shade of pink dusting his cheeks. 

She quirks a brow at him, her lips pursing in amusement, “May I help you?”

“It is tradition among the echidnas to deem a woman with the remaining feathers of their armor once done decorating,” he explains with his typical confident voice– except there’s a hidden nervousness in the way he keeps his eyes averted from hers, “I would typically deem my mother with such an honor, but she suggested I find another this year to bestow the feathers on.”

“Oh, did she now?” Rouge smirks a bit, her eyes searching out the room for Maddie to which she finds grinning mischievously into her cup of hot cocoa across the room watching.

It’s no secret that Maddie loves Rouge. Despite her stunts she pulls to make Knuckles uncomfortable at times, she thinks Rouge is good for him. Keeps him in line and is strong enough to stand her ground with him. Knuckles is.. Special. Different. A lot. And Maddie thoroughly believes that he’s met his match with the bat.

She keeps him humble and respectful, that’s for sure.

Rouge’s eyes return to Knuckles then, his still averted away.

“And you chose me?” she chimes, her head tilting with a little smirk, “That’s real sweet of you, Knucklehead.” “You are the next strongest woman of the clan,” he explains and Rouge doesn’t miss how he considers her a part of his ‘clan’. “It is simply the way it should be.”

“What about Amy?? She’s pretty strong with that hammer of hers,” Rouge points out, nodding her head to the pink hedgehog who is off in the corner holding cream up to help her put a chao shaped ornament she made on the tree.

“Indeed,” Knuckles nods in agreement, looking to the pink hedgehog as well, “She is very formidable. And scary,” he shivers at the thought, having been victim to her hammer one too many times before. “..But perhaps sometimes strength isn’t in one’s muscle, but in one’s heart.”

Rouge blinks at this, turning to Knuckles with wide eyes to find him looking at her now. Now she was blushing. Her lips purse into a smile, finding herself touched by his words and unexpected profoundness. 

“Where’d you hear that?”

“It’s a long story,” he says simply, not sharing any more. He didn’t exactly have the time to send her on a whole quest where she’d receive his story told in musical-number format like Wade Whipple had.

“Well..,” she sighs after a brief pause, “Feather me, echidna.”

Knuckles smiles slightly at this, nodding his head to her head and speaking, “May I?” She nods, staying perfectly still for him as he steps forward to lift the remaining feathers and string to the short fur behind her ear and tie them there. This takes a minute since he’s doing this with giant mittens on. Eventually he finishes and they dangle beside her neck, lightly grazing her wings when she moves her head. They’re a deep aquamarine color, much like many of the ones in his tribe used to be..

“They match your eyes,” he mutters without giving it a thought, to which Rouge looks at him in surprise at the unexpected observation. He blinks wide back at her upon realizing his words, his blushing returning even stronger than before as her lips curl into a wicked little grin.

“Didn’t think you’d notice my eye color,” she chimes teasingly, leaning towards him all flirty. 

“Well, I-I am a very observant echidna,” Knuckles justifies with a huff, furrowing his brows at her, “There isn’t much that gets by me.” “Mhm. Sure, Red,” she smirks with a wink, watching as he stumbles back a bit from her close proximity and nearly falls over trying to quickly leave her vicinity.

“Okay well that’s done, goodbye–”

She giggles a bit to herself as he disappears into the kitchen.

Eventually, the tree is done and everyone stands around admiring it in all its glory. Cream and Tails have that innocent childlike wonder in their eyes, Amy sighs happily at its beauty, Knuckles admires it a moment and then lets his gaze fall on Rouge who is smiling to herself as she fiddles with the feathers in her hair, eyes on the tree. Rachel and Randall and JoJo stand together as a family, JoJo holding Amy’s hand to which Amy tears up at. Vanilla stands with Cream, happy to have her daughter friends in this new world. Maddie and Tom stand holding one another, her head leaned on his shoulder as they overlook their family.. Their perfectly imperfect family. 

And Shadow and Sonic are sitting by the window looking at it too. And when Sonic looks at Shadow, he can see all the joy and peace in his eyes. Let him have it. He deserves every moment of it. 

They have a long next few weeks ahead of them..

When Shadow turns to look at Sonic, he sees the tears in his crimson orbs. Sonic is quick to shuffle closer and cuddle up to him without a word, Shadow resting his head on Sonic’s with a sigh. It’s bittersweet. He knows.

His first Christmas tree without Maria.

But Sonic will be there for him through it. And that makes it all better..

__________

“Okay,” Sonic stands in his living room with the tv behind him, hooked up to a laptop to which Shadow is standing beside prepared to help in their presentation. The time has come to tell Maddie and Tom of their plans to visit the Robotniks together, and they have to nail this if they want to convince them to let Sonic go with him alone. So what did Sonic do??

He made a PowerPoint, of course.

Complete with super cool star transitions and spinning texts and necessary gifs.

“So to start this presentation, we have an announcement,” Sonic says very seriously to which Tom’s eyes widen a bit and his hand moves to Maddie’s in concern. “Oh God–.. You two aren’t.. with child are you??”

This results in a resounding “WHAT?” from both Maddie and Sonic and a very appalled and judgy look from Shadow.

“They’re two boys, Tom!” Maddie huffs with wide and disbelieving eyes at her idiotic husband. “They’re aliens!” Tom defends with his hands raising up in surrender, “We haven’t exactly had the talk with Sonic, how am I supposed to know how their reproductive systems work–” “Ew ew ew– Okay! You’ve lost talking privileges, father,” Sonic gags, blushing at the very idea of him and Shadow having sex– let alone having a child!

“Yeah, for real,” Maddie huffs in disgust at him.

“Very distasteful, Donut Lord,” Shadow shakes his head disapprovingly at him from beside the laptop.

Tom just groans and rolls his eyes, “Okay! Okay. My bad,” he then gestures for Sonic to hurry this up, “Just get on with it.”

Sonic clears his throat, “As I was saying before I was so grossly interrupted.”

They all spare a moment to share one last glare at Tom to which Tom just sighs and shrinks in his spot on the couch.

“We have an announcement,” he nods his head to Shadow who clicks a button on the laptop to have the next slide of the PowerPoint appear.

It’s some random public domain picture of a large family hugging each other with a very poorly drawn Shadow the Hedgehog smiling in the middle of them and a big heart over it.

“Shadow has been invited to the Robotnik Annual Holiday Party!” Sonic grins and spreads his arms out excitedly, Shadow pulling out a small confetti popper and popping it in Sonic’s direction. It falls flat on the floor a few feet away from him, but the effort was there.

“Wait-” Maddie frowns now, her brows knitting up as she looks at Shadow, “What??” “That’s right! Turns out Maria has a sister, and she’s invited Shadow to a Holiday Party to meet him and the whole family!”

Maddie seems extremely concerned, and Tom looks a bit skeptical now, too.

“When did this happen–” “No questions until after the presentation please,” Sonic interrupts to which Maddie sighs and sits back in her seat for him to continue.

Shadow clicks to the next slide. “Shadow is very excited about this whole thing, and really wants to make a good first impression!”

There’s another poorly drawn picture of Shadow wearing a suit and bowtie along, he’s giving a thumbs up and dashing smile.

“But as I’m sure you can understand, he’s also very nervous and scared.”

Shadow clicks again and the art of him smiling turns into a frown and a thumbs down, tears going down his cartoon face.

Shadow, this entire time, looks completely unbothered by this whole thing and is simply going along with his boyfriend’s crazy antics– as always.

“Poor Shadow. Whatever could we do to make him feel better?? Well.. I’ll tell you what..”

Shadow clicks again and the screen star transitions into an explosion with sound effects and all, the large text reading ‘Operation Shadow Impresses The Robotniks And Sonic Is His Boyfriend’ spins onto the screen. 

“Operation Shadow Impresses The Robotniks And Sonic Is His Boyfriend is a-go!” Sonic beams, a gif of an audience applauding at the bottom of the screen, “Or OSITRASIHB for short.”

Shadow nods approvingly from his spot by the laptop.

Maddie and Tom just stare at the screen with increasing confusion.

“...Okay, I get the Shadow Impresses The Robotniks part,” Tom points out, “But why the Sonic Is His Boyfriend??” “Oh- because I just really like saying it,” Sonic nods a-matter-of-factly.

Tom nods in return, “Right. Of course.” “Mhm. Anyway! The operation goes like this: we take Shadow suit shopping and get him the perfectly tailored suit for the occasion!” The next slide pops up, a cartoon Shadow standing in front of a mirror in a suit checking himself out.

“Then we get Rouge’s help on getting our hands on the Robotnik’s records so we can buy the perfect present for all the Robotniks!”

A cartoon Shadow is now throwing presents into the air merrily, the presents raining down on the screen.

“And then we get Sonic a suit too because he needs to impress the Robotniks as well since this is my big boyfriend debut, after all–”

“Wait,” Maddie chimes in, leaning forward again now, “You can’t be going–” “I said please save questions until the end of the presentation Mrs. Wachowski, thank you,” Sonic interrupts with a wave of his finger at her. She groans and sits back again, obliging her sassy and over-the-top son for now.

“Once all this is done, we use a warp ring to get to our destination since GUN doesn’t like Shadow using Chaos Control unless on duty– portals opening and bringing more Mobians and all that jazz,” Sonic explains, brushing it off as no big deal to which Shadow just nods supportively at the side.

“We stay for a few days since the party is being held at a mansion, and Shadow is being offered his own room–” “Sonic–” “Mrs. Wachowski, please with the interruptions!” Sonic puts his hands on his hips and taps his toe impatiently at her to which she just rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

He continues, the next slide popping up to show a cartoon Sonic and Shadow now standing amongst the hugging strangers and smiling from ear to ear, “Between my charisma and charm and Shadow’s rugged good looks, we inevitably impress the Robotniks.” “Of course,” Tom nods approvingly, Shadow nodding at him in agreement.

“And they become a big happy family and accept Shadow as one of their own!”

The next slide is another explosion that transitions to a picture of Sonic and Shadow kissing under the mistletoe.

“And then we kiss.” “What?” Shadow blinks.

“What??” Sonic blinks back, dashing over to skip that image and have large text appear over it reading ‘THE END’.

Shadow just smirks and shakes his head at him as Sonic sheepishly smiles and dashes back to his presentation spot in front of the screen.

“I said ‘the end’,” he fibs, “Tadaaaaaa!”

Another confetti popper litters the floor thanks to Shadow who also blows on a party horn for added effect.

Maddie and Tom stare at their son a long moment, processing everything he just threw at them. They then exchange looks at each other. Then at Shadow who is now on the floor very meticulously plucking each piece of confetti from their carpet to clean the mess. 

Then they look to Sonic again who is still standing there with his arms outstretched and a big grin on his face.

“...Well?”

“Well..,” Maddie starts, already knowing Sonic is about to be dramatically disappointed, “We don’t really think it’s such a good–” “Yeah, sure, kiddo!” Tom interrupts, beaming at his son with a supportive clap of his hands, “Whatever you need!” “Tom!” Maddie hisses, grabbing his hand to stop his clapping, “Don’t you think we should talk about this??” “He had a solid presentation,” Tom defends with a shrug, Sonic nodding hopefully as he looks at his mother with pleading eyes, “And I think Sonic going along with Shadow to meet Maria’s family is a good idea.” “I don’t think that’s exactly the point,” Maddie argues with a disapproving frown. “Then what’s the point??” Sonic asks genuinely, brows knitting as a frown develops on his muzzle, “Seriously– what’s the problem??” Maddie huffs a little at Sonic’s slight attitude, “The problem is… first off, I don’t know how I feel about you and Shadow going off on a trip all by yourselves. You’re still so young!”

“I’m gonna be eighteen in a few months!” Sonic defends.

“You’re still seventeen now– and that’s just a number. Eighteen isn’t some magic number that just suddenly makes you an adult that’s capable of making adult decisions.” “But it is the age that makes me an adult legally,” Sonic counters with a finger held up matter-of-factly, “And I’m totally capable of making adult decisions! I save the world like– all the time. And Shadow and I hang out alone constantly. What’s the difference in taking a trip??” “It’s different, Sonic,” Maddie says a bit more sternly, “I don’t like the idea of you two sharing a room. You’re both still biologically–” she has to add that in so Sonic doesn’t point out that Shadow is like. Sixty, “--teenagers. And that comes with the hormones and the emotions and canoodling–” “If I may say something Mrs. Wachowski,” Shadow finally speaks, his voice quiet and respectful.

“Yes, Shadow?” Maddie sighs, looking at her son’s boyfriend who is still picking up confetti pieces from her carpet with a tilt of her head.

“Sonic and I wouldn’t have to stay in the same room. From what I’ve gathered of the location of the event, there’s plenty of rooms for him to have his own and I mine. There would be no..,” he clears his throat, “canoodling.”

Maddie sighs a bit at this, feeling a bit better about it all with that bit of information..

But it would still be the first time Sonic has taken a trip by himself overnight like this.. Without Tom, without her..

That’s her baby..

“That.. does make me feel a bit better,” she admits, Shadow nodding and returning back to picking up the confetti mess.

“But that doesn’t change my other problem,” she adds.

“What problem??” Sonic frowns.

“I understand that this is Maria’s family,” she says carefully, not looking to offend Shadow, “...But it’s also Eggman’s. Gerald’s.” Shadow pauses in his motion, freezing up a moment before he eventually continues picking up the confetti..

Tom’s hand reaches for Maddie’s as if to stop her from saying something she’ll regret.

“Yeah, but they’re estranged from them,” Sonic defends, “They have nothing to do with them. They haven’t since Gerald took his granddaughter up to space.”

“I understand that,” she says calmly, trying to choose her words carefully, “But it’s just a little odd that they’ve waited all this time to reach out–” “They didn’t know! They thought Shadow was the reason Maria was gone! They didn’t know the whole story!” “I still don’t know how comfortable I am sending you somewhere with those people,” Maddie argues, her own voice becoming a bit louder now since Sonic’s is. “Why not?? They’re not like them! We can’t just judge them because they have a few loons in their family!” “Sonic, I just don’t see what good can come from a Robotnik!” Shadow disappears. There’s a flash of light, and he’s gone. 

Maddie’s eyes widen at the empty spot he was just in, a pile of confetti left sitting on the end table by the couch.

She instantly feels terrible.

Sonic’s own eyes are wide, staring where Shadow had been before he turns his head to look at his mother with a glaring gaze, “Why’d you say that!?”

“Sonic, I didn’t mean–” “You did! You did mean it!” Sonic interrupts, now yelling and stomping his foot.

Maddie points a finger at him, “Hey! Don’t yell at me like that, young man!” “Shadow came from a Robotnik!” Sonic yells regardless, defending his boyfriend with a scrunch of his nose and a curl of his teeth, “And–And regardless of what Gerald has done, I won’t ever consider that a bad thing! I won’t ever think Shadow being created was bad!” “Sonic, I don’t think that either–!” “He already has problems thinking that himself! And then you go and say that!? What the heck, mom!?” “I didn’t mean it like that–” “But you still said it,” Sonic growls low, fists clenched at his sides, “He’s never gonna forget you saying that..” Maddie frowns, knitting her brows up and pursing her lips. She doesn’t know what to say..

Sonic stomps towards the door.

“Where are you going??? We’re not done with this conversation–” “I’m going to find Shadow! And you’re gonna say you’re sorry!” “Sonic!--”

The door slams.

Sonic is gone.

Maddie sighs heavy and drops her head into her palms, rubbing them up and down her face in frustration with her son– but mostly herself..

Tom sits silently with wide eyes and biting his lips together, blinking at how quickly that all just escalated..

Maddie drops her hands into her lap and looks at him with a deadpan expression, “...Well you were a lot of help.” Tom smiles small and apologetically, moving to put his arms around his wife and rub up and down her back as she leans into him, “Sorry.. I just thought you were handling it.” “We’re supposed to be a team,” she mutters with a sniffle, finding herself beginning to cry from being overwhelmed and feeling like shit currently, “Why’d you just tell him he could go without consulting me first??” “I didn’t see a problem with it,” Tom admits quietly, Maddie huffing at this and lifting her head to look at him. “You? You know how many times you personally have almost been killed by a Robotnik??? Several.” “I’ve almost been killed by an Eggman,” Tom points out with a small smirk, “Not the same.” “It is.” “It isn’t,” Tom argues and shakes her a little to which Maddie just groans, knowing he’s right.

Tom sighs a bit and hugs her back against him a bit tighter, “...I know he’s your son–” “He’s my baby,” Maddie whines and Tom kisses the top of her head with a small smile.

“I know.. But he’s not a baby anymore.. He’s been through enough to know how to handle things for himself. And he also knows Shadow needs him right now..”

Maddie just sighs, “What if I need him still??” “Oh, you’re such a boy mom,” Tom teases with a chuckle to which Maddie huffs.

“I am not!” “You totally are.” “Maybe I am, is that so bad??” “No,” Tom shakes his head, “No, it’s not.. Just means you love them more than most mothers ever could.. They’re lucky they have you.” Maddie sighs, sniffling as she wipes at another tear, “Then why do I feel so awful??” “Because you’re looking at this the wrong way..,” Tom points out as he softly rubs through her hair, “You keep.. Looking at this as losing Sonic. Him growing up and leaving us and you can’t protect him anymore.. But you should be looking at this as gaining a son.. We get Shadow..”

Maddie lifts her head to look at Tom then, her lip quivering at that thought, “We get Shadow..?” “We get Shadow..,” Tom affirms with a nod, “And Shadow won’t let anything happen to Sonic. And he certainly won’t let anyone take him from you. He loves you. You know that..” Maddie nods at that, her forehead pressing to Tom’s, “I need to talk to him..” “Yes, you do,” Tom agrees.

“And apologize.” “Mhm.” “I said a really shitty thing.” “You did, but in your defense, Sonic was pushing your limit.” “He was.” “He’s good at that.” “He is.” “He gets that from you.”

Maddie whacks Tom with a pillow at that, Tom chuckling and trying to block her hits with his arms as she scolds him.

“She didn’t mean that..”

“I know..”

“She was just upset and didn’t mean it to come out that way.” “I know that.” “She’d never purposely hurt you.” “I know, Sonic, it’s just–” Shadow sighs and tries to gather his thoughts, not become overwhelmed and unable to communicate how he’s feeling. Communication is key in a relationship. Mrs. Wachowski taught him that. 

Sonic sits patiently beside him, his legs swinging off the edge of the rooftop they sit on. The roof of the bowling alley. The spot they had their first kiss.

Shadow sits next to him with his legs crossed, eyes staring down at the ground below.

“It’s just that-.. If she can come to that conclusion so quickly.. What’s to stop Maria’s family from doing the same??”

Sonic’s brows furrow a bit, not quite understanding, “What do ya’mean??” “I just mean–,” he sighs in frustration with himself, often getting annoyed easily with how hard talking could be for him sometimes. How hard feelings could be. Sonic’s hand rests on his. That helps some.

“..If your mother.. Who knows me, knows the whole story.. Can think something like that–” “She doesn’t really think that–” “She thought it enough to speak it.” Sonic frowns at this, not arguing his point..

“...If she can think something like that, then what’s gonna stop the Robotniks from thinking the same?? From believing that nothing good could possibly come from Gerald??” “Nothing is gonna stop them from thinking that,” Sonic says softly, his hand squeezing Shadow’s, “..But you can change their minds.” “How?? I’m not– I’m not good at first impressions, I’m not good at-.. At socializing or communicating or any of it.. I’m only good at fighting. At being a weapon.” “That’s not true,” Sonic says sternly, reaching up to make Shadow look at him by turning his cheek towards him, “Look at what you did for Cream. Huh?? For her and her mom. You brought them together and made them feel safe and welcome enough in a whole new world to attend some strangers’ Christmas party. You managed to become friends with arguably the world’s most ornery bat. You won my whole family over– my brother who hates anyone who dares to intrude on his ‘clan’ adores you. I adore you..” Shadow’s brows knit as he looks at Sonic, his eyes looking puffy with tears that threaten to fall but Sonic knows they won’t. Shadow doesn’t like to cry..

“But I didn’t kill your sister..,” Shadow whispers quietly, Sonic sighing immediately and shaking his head as he presses his forehead firmly to Shadow’s.

“Stop saying that,” Sonic whines, his ears folded back as his noses rubs against his boyfriend’s, “You didn’t kill Maria.” “They won’t see it that way.” “You don’t know that, Shadow. You gotta at least give them a chance. They’re willing to give you one, or they wouldn’t have reached out, right??.. You gotta meet them halfway, Shads..”

Shadow sighs at this, closing his eyes and tilting his head to instead nuzzle his face against Sonic’s neck. Bury and hide himself there seeking comfort. Sonic sighs at this and moves a hand up to rub through Shadow’s quills, petting him there to try and work some of the tension out of him.

“..Come back home with me. We’ll talk this over with Mom, and get started preparing for this trip.” “What if your mom says no??” “Love her, but screw that noise. I’ll go anyway.” Shadow snorts at this, knowing damn well if he dared to help Sonic sneak away on a trip with him without her consent, it would be his funeral they’d be planning next.

“I don’t want your mother not liking me.” “She loves you,” Sonic rolls his eyes, “You’re like a son to her. Moms just happen to get pissy at their sons sometimes. Trust me. I know.” Shadow snickers at this, lifting his head now to look at Sonic properly again.

“...Thank you.” “What for?” “Always finding me..” Sonic has. From the very beginning. From jumping out of that GUN helicopter, to Prison Island, to chasing Shadow down in his own backyard that night to now.. Sonic has never once given up on Shadow.

He’s always found him.

“And for always knowing what to say..,” Shadow says quietly, lifting a hand to Sonic’s cheek. Sonic smiles all soft and leans into his palm. “What can I say?? It’s a gift.”

Shadow rolls his eyes and chuckles at that, shaking his head at him and taking a moment just to stare into the hedgehog’s eyes..

He’s such a mystery, Sonic the Hedgehog. A pure wonder of this world and many others..

A hero. A friend. A brother. A son. A god.. And somehow, Shadow has found himself lucky enough to have been a part of all of that.. To have caught the fastest thing alive.

“...So what was that in the presentation about kissing??” Shadow smirks, quirking a brow at Sonic.

Sonic immediately blushes and laughs all awkward, dipping his head down all shy, “Oh that?? Just a little something I threw in– ya’know? Happy endings and all–” He’s cut off when Shadow grabs his chin and lifts his head back up, a tiny gasp escaping Sonic as they stare at each other. Sonic’s eyes wide and Shadow’s half-lidded and looking at Sonic’s lips. Sonic swallows, his tail wagging again at their very close mouths..

“...Well, I’d hate to spoil your happy ending,” Shadow mutters, Sonic blinking as the hybrid lets his chin go to pat his cheek with a low chuckle. Standing from the ledge, Shadow offers a hand to Sonic to help him stand as well. Sonic just stares up at him with an absolutely bamboozled expression before a pout forms on his lips, taking his hand and standing up with his help. Dusting himself off, Sonic mutters, “The Ultimate Tease, I tell ya.”

Shadow’s head tilts back with a laugh and Sonic’s stomach does flips.

[myymi]

if tails doesn't fully unlock his chaos powers in the third movie ill commit to writing my "tails series" idea

[lavenderrdaughter]

2024 Fic Round Up

thank you to @bonheur-cafe @whatsintheboxmh @everlastingday @thisbuildinghasfeelings @alrightbuckaroo and @carlos-in-glasses!

first and foremost, i want to say thank you to everyone who gave me any support or encouragement during this year as I approach my one year anniversary of posting my first published fic. 💕

secondly, thank you to @bonheur-cafe @herefortarlos and @your-catfish-friend for being so lovely and beta reading for me this year :)

the daylight holds you close, but tonight you are mine (tarlos, E, 1K)

PWP, 1x10 coda (sorta)

as long as i'm with you (tarlos, E, 4.5k)

TK's birthday trip, football and shenanigans

in paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams (tarlos, T, 1.6k)

fluff, valentine's day, fiance era

love and libraries (nancy x marjan, GA, 1.2k)

domestic fluff, established nancy x marjan, library date

i miss you in the mornings when i see the sun (TK centric, M, 822 words)

grief, self-harm, destructive thoughts, angst

kiss it better baby (nancy x marjan, E, 2.1k)

3x07 coda, post-softball game, wlw smut

soulmates aren't just lovers (nancy and carlos, T, 6.1k)

college AU, queer awakening, friendship (part one of series)

like a bird set free (buck centric featuring tarlos, M, 1.1k)

coming out, tk and carlos being supportive gay friends

all of my wildest dreams just end up with you and me (tarlos, E, 2k)

domestic fluff, smut, napping (with accompanying art by the lovely @whatsintheboxmh)

bound by love, united forever (tarlos, GA, 200 words)

double drabble, anniversary, matching tattoos

stay close to those who feel like sunlight (nancy and carlos, T, 1.3k)

4x11 coda, hurt/comfort, friendship, angst, my take on the 24k bank account explanation (part two of soulmates aren't just lovers series)

be still, my foolish heart (nancy and carlos, GA, 625 words)

nancy and carlos's monthly friendship date, anxiety, comfort (part three of soulmates aren't just lovers series)

my other half was you (nancy x marjan, GA, 3.5k)

fluff, nancy/mateo breakup, first dates

all we wanted was a place to feel like home (buddie, M, 1k)

8x06 coda, love confessions, buck POV

i like when we talk, but i love it when we touch (nancy x marjan, E, 2k)

infidelity, 5x01 coda, porn with feelings

no pressure tags to @captain-gillian @pelorsdyke @reyesstrand @literateowl @pimento-playing-hopscotch @sugdenlovesdingle @paperstorm @eclectic-sassycoweyes @your-catfish-friend @welcometololaland @carlos-tk @laelipoo @nisbanisba @carlossreaders

[artificialroux]

𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 (𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭 𝐱 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬)

“wish you were here.”

★ — a short 650ish word oneshot based on a bts life is strange au where portia is rachel amber and quinn is chloe price.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

quinn always thought portia rae was the coolest girl in wiskayok.

it wasn’t just that she was pretty—though she was, the kind of pretty that made you forget what you were saying mid-sentence. it wasn’t just that she smoked cigarettes in the school parking lot, leaning against the hood of someone else’s car like she belonged there. and it wasn’t even that she was on the soccer team that won states, though quinn had watched her streak across the field like she was untouchable, sweat-slick and triumphant.

it was everything about her. portia felt like an escape route.

and quinn needed an escape route.

they met in the back of a crowded highschool party, the kind of place that had kids throwing up at the bonfire and smelled like stale fruit punch and regret.

portia had been perched on a tree stump, cigarette between her lips, and when quinn fumbled with her lighter, cursing under her breath, portia had laughed.

“here,” she said, leaning in close, the cherry of her cigarette glowing. “use mine.”

quinn barely breathed as she let portia light it for her, the scent of smoke and sugar gum filling the space between them.

they started hanging out after that. sneaking into empty parks at night, lying on the hoods of abandoned cars, staring at the sky and talking about leaving wiskayok behind.

“my mom wants me to be perfect,” portia had said once, her voice flat. “but she’s always too drunk to notice when I’m not.”

quinn swallowed hard. “my mom’s always too drunk to notice me at all.”

portia turned her head then, studying her, the flickering streetlight casting shadows across her face. “let’s get out of here, then. just leave. who needs this town?”

quinn felt something bloom in her chest, something reckless and hopeful all at once.

“yeah,” she whispered. “let’s go.”

they made plans—real plans. quinn had a shitty car she was mostly sure could make it out of jesey, and portia had a friend in new york who owed her a favor. they’d scrape together whatever money they could, steal what they couldn’t afford, and by next month, they’d be gone.

but then—

then portia disappeared.

the whole town whispered about it. girl goes missing. family devastated. friends concerned. quinn wanted to laugh at that last part.

friends? what friends? the only person who gave a damn about portia was quinn.

she put up missing posters when no one else did, checked every bus stop, called portia’s home phone until the number was disconnected. she waited.

but portia never showed up. never called. never even left a note.

so that was it, then.

she left. she left me.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

portia was not okay.

she was not safe.

and she was not gone by choice.

she had been forced to leave—something happened, something that made staying impossible. it all happened so fast, she barely had time to grab her backpack, barely had time to scribble a note to quinn, telling her where to meet her, telling her she'd explain everything.

she mailed it before she left. she swore she did.

but quinn never came.

days turned into weeks, and now wiskayok felt a thousand miles away instead of just a few towns over.

she sat in the dim light of a borrowed apartment, staring at the old disposable camera quinn had given her.

“i know you like pictures better than words,” quinn had said, shoving it into her hands with that awkward, hopeful smile. “so, y’know. when we leave, we’ll take some.”

portia blinked hard, shoving the camera into her bag before she could cry.

where was quinn? why hadn’t she come?

did she think portia had abandoned her?

her hands clenched into fists, shaking with frustration. no, no, no. that wasn’t supposed to happen.

she needed to find her. she needed to go back.

portia never meant to leave quinn behind.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

NOTE — this was written very sloppily and quickly...ignore any grammar issues pls i haven't written a proper oneshot in quite literally forever. but i hope you guys like this, might open writing reqs...

portia rae jones belongs to @dippindotties! ♡

yellowjackets oc inspos as always; @puppybutcher @antlrrqueen @logansdogmotif @natscatorcciosgf (don't be sad if i didn't include you!!! i just can't tag everyone in a post sadly, but ily all!!!)

[grapejuice32]

Can we see an example of Angel!readers wardrobe

Ofc! This is the sort of thing I have in mind, like kinda whimsical and all things lacy I suppose!

angel!reader masterlist here

[bookishjules]

The Shape of the Tide - Below the Waves

* A Percy POV *

Summary: A ball held in honor of Percy and Rachel's engagement isn't new, but said ball happening a week after Percy saw Annabeth for the first time since she left him five years ago? It's a lot to process..

This far from the castle, the gardens were dark, darker still for the clouds that covered the majority of the sky, even if the stars were doing their damnedest to shine through. Out here, alone and hidden from prying eyes—it was as good a place as any to have an emotional breakdown.

read on ao3 * playlist * read tsott

[lunarw0rks]

you know how when you click on an operator in MW3, it plays a different voiceline/greeting thing?? well...... i was doing some scientific research and clicking on soap several times in a row (for science)

and there's a voiceline that says "bonnie!" and it's so fucking cute but i can't find any videos of it to share with you guys 😠

[million-golden-drachmas]

𝖯𝖾𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗅 𝖡𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗈 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟦 by @percy-and-rachel-events (late entry)🔸 "She looked like a million golden drachmas"

Remember when Percy surprisingly memorized Rachel’s phone number? Let's just say that he was also surprised when he caught himself replaying the view when Rachel looked like a million golden drachmas in his head. 

We arranged a meeting in Times Square. We found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold. I mean, her face, her hair, her clothes—everything. She looked like she’d been touched by King Midas.

- Percy Jackson and The Olympians, The Battle of the Labyrinth

Percy sometimes came to the front of Marriot Marquis to see Rachel, painted gold, standing still like a statue as a form of art, and collecting donations at the same time. He remembered the first time he saw her in such a state, he thought it was weird to see her in gold, she looked like a statue of a famous person or an actress. 

Then in the next summer, Rachel and Percy drove around the stretch of beach on the South Shore. On a such hot August day, Rachel wore a white blouse over her swimsuit and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. Percy had never seen her like that and he just spontaneously thought that she looked like a million golden drachmas…

Maybe he told himself it was weird to see Rachel in gold for the first time, but perhaps unconsciously he was impressed. It must’ve been so remarkable that he instantly thought of her looking like a million golden drachmas when he saw her being pretty.

[lavenderrdaughter]

thanks for the tag - @carlos-in-glasses @heartstringsduet @carlos-tk @captain-gillian @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut you're all queued :) i wrote this at like 5am so if it sucks, you didn't see this I'll probably re-write this at a time with more sleep. but until then, nancymarjan nation population: 3, here you go!

“Where are you going?” Marjan sniffled, wiping away tears and smeared mascara, but Nancy was gone, already down the hall. Her mind racing, eyes scanning around Nancy’s apartment. She’d been here a few times with the whole 126 gang, but never alone. She never even noticed Nancy had a cat, a sweet fluffy tabby that was rubbing on her ankles, which brought her attention to the fact that the back of her ankles were bleeding. She ran almost two miles in her heels to get to Nancy as fast as she could, but she didn’t feel it. She didn’t notice the burning sensation that an open wound feels like. All she could feel inside was this feeling of hopelessness and disgust when he kissed her, and then the feeling of contentment and warmth when Nancy grabbed her hand.

no pressure tagging: @your-catfish-friend @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad @pelorsdyke @bonheur-cafe

@literateowl @laelipoo @whatsintheboxmh @strandnreyes @americansrequiems

@sugdenlovesdingle @reasonandfaithinharmony @fandomswonderland @freneticfloetry

@oldfangirl81 @chicgeekgirl89 @doublel27

@actualalligator @paperstorm @terramous @alidravana

@kiwichaeng @lightningboltreader @tellmegoodbye @reyesstrand @liminalmemories21

@eclectic-sassycoweyes @jesuisici33 @rmd-writes @welcometololaland @fallout-mars

@alrightbuckaroo @thebumblecee @firstprince-history-huh @sloganeeer @honeybee-taskforce and open tag!

psa. if you've made it this far, this is my last message about how this is previously sznofthesticks but i had to make a new account because ... assholes. anywaysss

and my tag list is all messed up now, if i tagged you and you dont want tagged let me know, and if i didnt tag you and you WANT tagged, let me know please :)

[genericpuff]

Rachel "Retcon" Smythe Strikes Again!

Okay, so I've been seeing pictures of Volume 4 of Lore Olympus floating around, and people are ALREADY FINDING RETCONS.

Most notably so far, some added panels in the Hades and Apollo confrontation that happens outside Artemis' house (when Persephone steals Apollo's lyre) in Episode 81.

This is the original scene, for anyone who needs a refresher:

Aaaand here are the panels that were added.

(all pictures of Volume 4 are courtesy @iwannagutyou on IG!!! thank you for giving me permission to use these! <3)

First of all, the art. It's so noticeably bad. You can tell Rachel has completely lost her ability to draw these characters in the S1 style, I'm fairly certain she took the panel of Hades from the old version and just copy pasted it to try and get around it (look at the posing) but it's incredibly obvious looking at that third panel that LO is not and can never be what it was back in 2017-2019. Those first two panels seem like they were copy pasted from the previous ones, which is just sad if those are the lengths she has to go to to come even close to replicating the older style.

Now, this just might be due to camera translation, it could very well look better IRL, but the colors just look so incredibly desaturated and the lines blurred out, to the point that people are doing double takes over whether or not panels have been directly changed - they haven't been, they've just been so sucked dry of their colors that they look off enough to cast suspicion.

If anything it's a harsh reminder that LO has kinda always had art problems, especially with its lazy humor and stupid meme faces.

Of course, to be fair, color loss can happen in print, but seeing how slapped together these books tend to be, I wouldn't be surprised if they just didn't put in the effort to convert the page art to CMYK or at least tinker with the saturation in editing some more to ensure it would come out more vibrant in print.

Now. Excuse me while I go on a bit of a crackpot rant here. Newbie puff pals beware, because this is gonna get dicey and you're about to learn where my tinfoil-hat rep comes from but I just have to talk about it.

Back to the added Apollo panels, where Persephone asks Hades not to hurt him and he looks nervous before she says "I just want him to leave".

Maybe it's just me, but it's a little weird that THESE are the panels they decided they needed to add. It's weird that she's asking Hades not to hurt Apollo when she's about to break into his car and steal his lyre just a few moments later. It's weird that the implication seems to be that she's referring to Hades' act of violence towards Tori... but Persephone doesn't know that's happened yet. So this feels like an unnecessary retcon that's doing more harm than good.

But I feel like the timing of this is kinda messed up as well, as this book released just days after the release of the last FP episode in which Apollo has his 'side' of the assault story told through his perspective, which is often considered a HUGE no-no in writing assault stories because it often comes with the implication that it's asking for empathy from the audience. We already know Apollo is delusional, we already know he thinks him and Persephone are meant to be despite her constant rejection of him, we didn't need a flashback from his own warped perspective explaining that very thing, the only purpose to do such a thing this late in the game would be to try and get the audience to 'connect' with him (it's giving S3 Bryce from 13 Reasons Why vibes). Now we have this scene of Persephone asking Hades not to hurt him (despite the structure of the episode being literally fine before, this change wasn't needed) getting snuck into the physical book release just a couple days after the newest FP tried to present Apollo in an empathetic light (and let me tell you, that's a whole essay and a half that I'll be getting into eventually).

Shit, if I wanted to get REAL Pepe Sylvia with it, I might say that hypothetically, the whole point of the random Leuce abuse episode - despite Persephone having no way of knowing what she attempted as Hades hadn't told her and she wasn't there to see it and we weren't shown her overhearing them in any way - and the following episode that was mostly padding of Hades and Persephone having sex - no consequences or follow-up whatsoever to the Leuce scene - was just to pad out the episode release schedule and buy time until the book came out so that Rachel could release that Apollo POV episode right before the book came out and revealed those new added scenes of Persephone asking Hades not to hurt Apollo, in what could be a sly artificial attempt at minimizing the SA plot so Rachel can finally just brush aside the one major plot point she regretted writing the most. After all, it wouldn't be the first time Rachel's controlled the pace of her comic to release certain moments at certain times that line up with IRL events.

But, y'know. I'm gonna quit on that thought while I'm ahead because it's probably making my credibility meter drop into the red. My ADHD has been real bad lately and it's really starting to show LMAO All ima say is that IDK who Rachel thinks she's fooling here, this kind of shit is stupid easy to fact check when the digital version of the comic is available online to read.

To end on a much funnier and lighter note, remember how Rachel tried to retcon the Demeter/Hera/Hestia relationship by changing the line "I miss my sisters" to "I miss my friends"? Well, there was one panel that had been missed in the webtoons version that still refers to them as sisters. You can still find this unedited line in Episode 78.

And uh. They forgot to fix it again for the book.

It's permanent now. That's permanent marker. It would have cost them nothing to find this in the webtoon version and fix it before it got sent to the book editors. Now it's gonna cost them thousands because the book editors didn't bother (or know) to check.

There's also this... weird shit going on with the speech bubbles. Like, they're REALLY FUCKING OVERDOING IT with the speech bubble outlines. I don't know who made this choice but it was a bad one. Gross. Don't do that. It looks so cheap.

But let's be real, at this point I feel like the book editors are just outright sabotaging Rachel because who the fuck calls themselves a professional when they do this shit-

Oh, and there's no bonus episode, just sketches. Which is fine. But it makes me chuckle to think that Rachel just didn't have time in her already razor-thin buffer to draw up a new episode to pass off as "cut content".

[elusiveweekend]

seeing you active always makes me happy. hope your holiday season is amazing! what do you think emma and scott’s first christmas with ruby/megan would be like? do you think the cuckoos, rachel, or illyana (honorary first daughter) would also be there?

awww. thank you! graduate school is kicking my ass tbh so i've been spending more time offline nowadays 🥹

BUT yes. yes yes yes.

okay so i feel like... their first xmas with megan would be so so cute (meg is the first born in my every scemma! parents au so). i think emma would definitely dress her up in a cute outfit and never ever stop taking pictures. scott would tie her hair into pigtails (because emma is, in fact, only good at doing her own hair) and keep carrying her next to the window so she gets to enjoy her first snow. he would also give her the star for the christmas tree and help her place it to the top. and YES the cuckoos, illyana and rachel would be there. although im pretty sure illyana would lowkey regret it 😭

rachel would occasionally steal her for snack trips to the kitchen (emma does not allow megan to have too much sugar, but whoops! guess rachel forgot! :))

and because this is the house of frost-summers, in a few years there'd be more siblings in the house! i don't know why -- ok i ACTUALLY do: it's probably megan's adaptation as this real mature kid on xmen the end -- but megan gives me too mature for her own sake eldest daughter vibes. i feel like once ruby and her twin (RUBY HAS A TWIN. very important. very mindful. very demure) would be little menaces and would keep messing with meg, the cuckoos and rachel (illyana is too scary) while they're minding their own businesses.

highkey ruby being a little fuck and always annoying the rest of her siblings is one of my favorite family hcs im ngl.

also as a side note, some physical hc's: megan summers is a brunette and except for her eyes (she has emma's eyes) a carbon copy of scott. ruby is blonde BUT she gets it from one of her uncles because emma is a bottle blonde. overall, she has more of emma's features on her. besides her powers, you can only see scott's eyebrows, eyes and shoulders on her.

last but not least i named ruby's twin christian after emma's brother (because fuck alex? i cant remember why they named their son alex in that au emma would never do that?) and he can do chlorokinesis<3 (honestly summers kids need powers other than telepathy & telekinesis it's getting boring atp)

ty for asking for an adhd girlie's hcs!! <3 have a good one x