#the shadow of violence fic

[viivdle]

I stand before Cardan, and he looks mortifying in his beauty. He carelessly slumps down on the sofa in his chambers, blissfully unaware of my anxiety. Or, worse, blissfully aware.

“I ought to be mad at you,” he says, and I almost flinch at the sound.

“As I said, I didn’t kill my husband, Your Majesty,” my voice shakes, and I hold onto the hope he will think I am holding back tears.

“Yes, that would be correct. Your husband is sitting in front of you, well and alive. Is he not?”

viivdle productive era??

my ~1900w jurdan fanfic heaven and hell were words to me is out now!!

i tried something different with this one, hopefully it was a good something different

this fic is for @annamatix who i have the pleasure to call my friend. i hope this is just the right amount of "romancy"

happy ramadan<33

[vilevenom]

Shadow gets captured by someone, is tested on and tortured. Sonic and gang try and rescue him. After they find him, Sonic panics because his boyfriend is near death.

Idk how to end this lol

Hello, Anon!

I'm going to assume you were the same anon from my previous prompt/ask? I sure hope so, 'cause as much as I love writing hurt Shadow, I only have one idea for this particular prompt, lol I hope you like it!~ P.S - I may have gone a little ham on the torture scenes? Uhm...not too descriptive, but enough, I think, so please be mindful of that.

Shadow groaned as he slowly came back to consciousness, his eyelids feeling heavy as he blinked groggily against the dim lighting in the room he was in. The heavy, sluggish feeling permeating his limbs was not one he was familiar with, as usually, if he was knocked out, his healing factor would kick into overdrive and fix most of what was ailing him. This time, however, something seemed to be off.

"Ah, you're awake."

With a disgruntled grunt, Shadow turned his gaze in the direction the voice had come from. An involuntary noise of surprise left him when he found Doctor Starline, of all people, stood before him.

"You were crushed to death," the disoriented hedgehog grumbled, squinting at the doctor, as if his eyes were deceiving him.

"So everyone thinks," Starline said with a shrug, wandering from the doorway he'd been stood in to stand in front of Shadow. It was then that the dark hedgehog got a proper good look at the doctor. A rather nasty looking scar ran from near his temple, down towards his jaw, while he visibly walked with a limp, and one shoulder didn't seem to sit quite right in its socket. The doctor smirked lightly at noticing Shadows scrutinizing stare, gesturing towards his injuries. "It's rather nasty, what being trapped under rubble will do to a person, isn't it?"

"Death would've suited you better," Shadow agreed, a sharp, dark grin of his own splitting his lips. For his trouble the doctor snarled, reaching forward to grab at the collar Shadow hadn't realized was secured around his neck. He choked as the doctor yanked him forward in the chair he'd only just realized he was strapped to, still a bit drowsy and unsure as to how the doctor was able to manhandle him so easily.

"Enjoy your little barbs while you can," Starline snapped, tugging the collar hard enough so Shadow visibly gagged, "I don't think you'll be so chatty once I've gotten started with you."

"And what is it you plan to do with me?" Shadow gasped once Starlin let him go and took a swift step back.

"Well," Starline hummed, suddenly sounding giddy, which set Shadow's quills on edge, "Finish the good Doctor Robotnik's work, of course."

"Ivo?" Shadow murmured, confused.

"What? No, no," Starline snorted, flipping on a few additional lights so the room was properly illuminated, "That fool doesn't have proper vision for this sort of work. He's too fixated on that damnable blue hedgehog and his robots." Starline chuckled as Shadow took in the medical equipment and monitors littered around the room. "No. Gerald Robotnik, of course."

"The professor was trying to find a cure for his granddaughter," Shadow snarled, yanking roughly against the bonds holding him down, anger spiking at the fact that they did not give way. He barred his fangs at Starline as the doctor chuckled at his struggle.

"True. But, his research has so many other applications. First, Ivo's additional notes about your Black Arms DNA sheds some fascinating light on your abilities. Add to that what Gerald was already experimenting with on the ARK, and you have so much hidden potential within you." Starline strode back over to Shadow, flicking the dark hedgehog in the nose with a smirk and simply chuckling at the low growl he received for it. "I plan to dig deep into that research and see what makes you tick."

~

"Hey, have you seen Shadow?"

Tails glanced up from his work bench with a light frown. "No. Why?"

Sonic sighed, tapping his foot in irritation. "He was supposed to come by, like, half an hour ago. We were planning on going for a run, and then maybe grabbing lunch after."

"He's late for a date?" Tails teased, earning a light blush from his older brother.

"Shut up," Sonic grumbled, rubbing at his warm cheek.

Tails simply chuckled, going back to his work. "Relax. He probably got caught up doing something with Rouge, or called away by GUN for a mission."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Sonic sighed, pulling his phone from his quills, "He just usually texts me when he can't show up to something…"

~

The scream that rang through whatever base Starline had Shadow hidden away in was loud, and riddled with pain. It wasn't a sound that Shadow let lose willingly, either. The hybrid had discovered, once he'd managed to properly wake up and become a bit more lucid, Starline had added some sort of devices to his inhibitors that nearly cut him off entirely from his natural chaos energy. He could only assume that the collar around his neck added to their potency, or was some sort of separate contraption that weakened him on its own. Either way, with his new accessories, Shadow found he was at the doctors mercy, unable to even muster enough strength to break the leather straps binding him to his seat. As such, the doctor was taking full advantage, having attached little electrodes to various spots on Shadows body to "test his electrical resistance", according to the doctor.

Shadow was fully convinced that the doctor was just having fun torturing him while he was unable to defend himself.

"Interesting," the doctor hummed, scribbling down notes while leaving the little device that controlled the electrodes running at a low voltage, watching as Shadow's muscles twitched and convulsed involuntarily, while the dark hedgehog did his best not to bite his own tongue off.

~

"Hey, Rouge!"

"Hello, Blue," Rouge replied with a smile, looking up from the magazine she was reading, "What can I do for you?" She was sat at a fancy little cafe, conveniently across the road from a jewelry store that Sonic had no doubt the bat was scoping out to rob. However, that really wasn't his concern at the moment.

"Just wondering if Shadow was called off to work on some secret GUN mission? We were supposed to go out a day or two ago, and I haven't heard from him. Normally he'd at least text me to let me know he wasn't going to be around for a few days," Sonic asked, leaning casually against the table, trying not to betray just how worried he really was.

"Hmm," Rouge hummed as she set aside her magazine. "Can't say I've heard from him, either, honestly. But, you know Shadow. Half the time when he does get called away I don't even know about it until he gets back. I'd say, give it at least a week before you start calling in the guard to find your lost boyfriend," she teased, offering Sonic a saucy little wink and chuckling at the flush that spread over Sonic's muzzle.

~

After three days (at least, Shadow thought it had been three days. There wasn't exactly a good way for him to tell time in the room he was trapped in), Starline had apparently gotten tired of Shadow's screaming and had stuffed a gag into his mouth. His mouth had long since gone dry, and his jaw ached from how it was being held open by the bit between his teeth. Starline seemed to find even that interesting, as he turned Shadow's head this way and that, scribbling down little notes and muttering to himself as he did.

Shadow became grateful for the gag as Starline finally brought out a set of scalpels and began to cut into and peel back the flesh of his arm. It gave him something to dig his teeth into as he tried to keep his mind off the way Starline dug his fingers into exposed muscle and garbled the rough screams that ripped apart his already shredded throat.

~

"Aw. Why so blue, Sonic?"

"Very funny, Knux."

The echidna chuckled as he strode over to Sonic, flopping onto the grass next to his mopey looking friend. "Couldn't not take the opportunity," Knuckled offered with a shrug, "Seriously, though. What's up? You don't normally visit on your own."

"Can't a guy want to visit his reclusive friend on his floating island without an ulterior motive?" Sonic scoffed, feigning a look of offense.

Knuckles simply raised an eyebrow at him, and Sonic immediately deflated.

"…Shadow hasn't messaged me in a few days."

"Well, damn, guess we gotta call out the troops," Knuckles snorted, grinning at the sharp glare Sonic shot him. "C'mon, you know I'm teasing. Did you talk to Rouge?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"She said to wait at least a week before I get worried."

"Well, then?"

Sonic groaned, shoving himself to his feet. "I know! Why do you think I'm here? C'mon, spar with me. I gotta get my mind off of it. I don't like you being more level headed than me."

Knuckles chuckled, rising to his own feet with a smirk. "Okay. Just remember, you asked for this ass kicking."

~

Occasionally Starline would let Shadow rest. Sleep would claim him almost immediately, once whatever painful stimulus Starline was using on him was taken away. It was weird for Shadow who very rarely, if ever, truly felt the need to sleep. He certainly enjoyed curling up in his bed at the end of a long day, but it wasn't truly a necessity the way it was for others. But here, in the dank room he'd been trapped in for who knew how long, his body craved it to the point of nearly making him pass out even in the middle of whatever torture Starline had cooked up for him that day.

Generally, when Shadow passed out, his mind went blank, floating in a sea of dark oblivion. However, once in a while he would dream. He knew he had been dreaming, because when he woke he could vaguely recall the blurry images his mind conjured to try and comfort him. Most of which consisted of the color blue in various shades.

At one point, before he could fully pass out, Starline had ripped the gag from his mouth and dumped a glass of water down his throat, which had made him sputter and gag. The doctor had tsked at him and said some asinine comment about Shadow being a mess, which the hedgehog had let drift in one ear and out the other as he coughed red tinted water onto the doctors white jacket. He grinned at the repulsed look Starline had shot him, before the gag was unceremoniously shoved back into his mouth.

Blissfully, the doctor let him pass out for what had to have been at least a few hours after that.

~

"I brought you some cupcakes, Sonic!"

Sonic offered Amy a smile, taking the little box of baked goods from his friend. "Thanks, Ams. I assume you heard through the grapevine that I've been a bit on edge."

"Tails might've mentioned to me that you've been worried about Shadow," Amy conceded, sitting at the kitchen table. "Did you want to talk about it?"

Sonic sighed, flopping into a chair across from Amy and digging into the box to pull out a bright pink cupcake. "It's dumb."

"It's not, if you're worried."

"Do I even need to be worried?" Sonic peeled away the paper wrapper on the base of the cupcake, "Shadow's a big hedgehog. He can take care of himself. I know he can handle pretty much anything, and he's gone off the radar for weeks at a time before."

"…But?" Amy prompted, watching Sonic unceremoniously shove the entire cupcake into his mouth with a slight grimace.

"But," Sonic echoed around his mouthful of cupcake, pausing to take a moment to chew and swallow before he continued, "Something about this time just feels…different. Like something is off."

"Well, speaking from experience in listening to your gut feelings, maybe something is up. I know everyone else has told you not to worry, but would it really hurt to have Tails run a quick scan to see where Shadow is? His phone has a tracker in it, doesn't it? If he's in an area you know GUN is working, then there really is nothing to worry about," Amy offered, holding a napkin out to Sonic.

"Thanks, Ams," Sonic said with a smile, taking the napkin to wipe icing off his muzzle, "You always know just what I need to hear."

~

Shadow didn't know when Starline had moved him from the chair to an examination table, but the very idea that he had been so out of it to not notice such a drastic move was worrying to him. His mind was becoming more muddled the longer he was trapped here, and he could barely feel his extremities anymore from how numb they'd become over time. Slowly, the thought that he might die in this dingy room crept into his mind.

When Starline appeared next to the examination table in a full doctors smock and facemask with a scalpel in hand, the thought slammed into the forefront of his mind like a freight train. He struggled weakly against his bonds as the doctor lowered the scalpel towards his abdomen, his mind screaming at him that he couldn't succumb to such a fate. He couldn't let this crazed asshole pull him apart and kill him in such an undignified way. Maria would be so disappointed in him. Sonic would never know what happened. He'd think Shadow had abandoned him.

"Enough of that," Starline snarled, lifting the scalpel, only to stab it viciously into Shadows bicep for his effort, the dark hedgehog letting a garbled wail of pain out around his gag. Starline left the little makeshift dagger in his arm and grabbed another, before proceeding to cut into Shadow's belly.

The pain pulled Shadow into oblivion, his tired and damaged body unable to keep his mind awake as Starline began to poke around in his guts.

~

"I…I can't find him," Tails admitted after his tracking program ran for the fifth time. Sonic growled lowly behind him, while Amy let out a distressed little noise.

"Scour every known Eggman base for any trace of him. I'm going to call Commander Tower," Sonic snapped, suddenly wishing he'd listened to his gut sooner. Or, at the very least, spoken to Amy first.

"He could be on a blackout mission," Tails offered, turning to watch as Sonic walked out of his work room.

"That's why I'm going to call the Commander," Sonic ground out, pausing in the doorway, "Please, Tails. Look at the bases. Something isn't right. I can feel it."

~

"Wake up."

Shadow groaned as he owlishly blinked open his eyes, squinting against the light that was shoved in his face. He made an inquisitive noise as Starline moved the light away, his mask tugged down to show a rather unhinged grin. Shadow frowned as much as he could around the gag in his mouth as Starline brandished something at him, the doctors hand dripping red.

It took far too long for Shadow's sluggish brain to realize Starline was holding one of the hybrids organs in his hand, still connected to the hedgehog, but only just barely. He couldn't really tell which it was with the way his vision was turning dark around the edges and his eyes were having trouble focusing. Shadow made a wounded noise as Starline squeezed it gently.

"Isn't this fascinating?" Starline asked, sounding borderline manic, "You're still alive and conscious with your organs being removed. True enough that they're still functionally attached, but the implications!" He let out a crazed little laugh, setting the organ to the side. "I can see why Doctor Robotnik thought you were the key to immortality. Your body's ability to heal and maintain functionality is incredible."

Shadow let out a weak growl at the way Starline spoke and got into his face, not in the least bit regretful as the doctor moved back to twist the scalpel he'd stabbed into his arm previously. At least Starline wasn't in his face anymore.

~

"We found him!"

"How long will it take to get a task force put together?"

"How did Starline survive?!"

"Move it!"

Sonic's quills bristled at the commotion around him, his friends and GUN agents alike running around behind him. But his focus was solely on one thing - the tiny dot on the screen telling him exactly where Shadow was.

A harsh burst of wind and a blur of blue whipped through the room as Sonic took off, ignoring the shouts called after him to wait until the others had a plan of attack.

He had a plan. Attack.

~

The next time Shadow woke, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Starline had the decency to put his organs back inside him, even if he could still tell that his torso was split open and on display to the world. He figured that the damp feeling on the table that had soaked into his fur was likely blood. He wondered idly how much longer he could survive without food or water, with the wounds he'd been sustaining, when he had barely a trickle of chaos energy flowing into his body.

Perhaps he truly would die in this room. At least he'd get to see Maria and Gerald again. That would be nice. Though, he was sorry he'd never get to explain to Sonic that he hadn't meant to abandon him. He'd actually been looking forward to their stupid little date of a race and chili dogs. That conversation seemed like so long ago, now. Sonic had been bouncing on his toes as he'd proposed his idea to Shadow, a bashful little blush on his muzzle, despite the fact that it was no different than any other time they had spent time together. Shadow had found it stupidly endearing.

He choked quietly around his gag as he felt tears build up in his eyes. For everything that Starline had done to him, he'd not cried. But, the thought of disappointing Sonic, of not getting to speak to him again, had finally brought him to tears. He tried to hold them back, not wanting to give the doctor the satisfaction of seeing him cry, but the tears dripped down his temples unbidden as he stared forlornly up at the ceiling.

The tears, however, came to an abrupt stop as an explosion sounded somewhere in the distance, but close enough that the room shook. Shadow gasped as a heart monitor near the table he was strapped to crashed to the floor, wide eyes trained on the door. There were only two things that an explosion like that could be; Starline fucking up another experiment somewhere in the hell hole Shadow was trapped in, or a rescue team. Shadow desperately hoped it was a rescue team.

The door to the room burst open not a moment later, Starline looking haggard and frenzied as he stumbled into the room. Shadow watched him in trepidation as the doctor raced around the room as quickly as his limp would let him, gathering notebooks and loose papers. Shadow could hear him muttering to himself as he stuffed everything he gathered into a bag, his gaze finally landing on Shadow as he turned to leave the room. Shadow squirmed against the bonds holding him down as Starline stalked towards him, his body still too weak and damaged to break free. His heart began to beat wildly as Starline snatched up another scalpel, his sluggish mind idly wondering if Starline could see just how quickly his heart was pumping with his chest splayed open as it was.

Shadow could tell Starline was saying something, though whether it was supposed to be directly at him or to himself he had no idea, the words fading into a buzz in his ears. His focus had zeroed in on the scalpel as Starline raised it above his head, obviously planning to stab Shadow to death with the tiny implement. The urge to shut his eyes was strong, but Shadow wanted to stare death in the eye as it came for him. He let out a low snarl as the scalpel came down towards him, only to blink in surprise as Starline disappeared from his view and a blue blur raced passed him.

Sonic.

Shadow squirmed weakly against his bonds, his ears swiveling towards the sound of something smashing in the room and the soft sound of shattered glass raining down on the floor. He could hear Sonic growling, which, even in the most dire of situations Shadow had never heard before. Starline screamed something, with only the sound of more equipment in the room being destroyed answering him. He tried to turn his head, only to wince at the pain that caused, and looked back towards the ceiling. Apparently, at some point, Starline had sliced into Shadow's neck around his collar, most likely when he'd been passed out.

His ears perked as Starline screamed again, though it was abruptly cut off, followed by the doctor flying across the room, back into Shadows line of sight, and smashing into a shelf of random equipment. He slumped to the ground, obviously knocked out from the impact. Shadow let out a vindictive little growl at the sight, pleased as punch that Sonic blatantly didn't go easy on Starline, if the smattering of red, weeping wounds on the doctor was anything to go by. He jerked as Sonic strode into view, wriggling against his bonds as an uncharacteristic whine left him, finally catching the blue hedgehogs attention.

"Shadow!" Sonic gasped, racing to the table to immediately begin working on untying Shadows bonds. "What did he do to you?! Chaos," he muttered, staunchly ignoring the fact that he could see inside his partner.

Once one of Shadows hands was free he weakly lifted it to his mouth to rip the gag away from his mouth, working his sore jaw with a low groan. "He wanted to see what made me 'tick'," Shadow finally croaked, his throat revolting against the simple sentence. It felt like Starline had stuffed it full of razorblades. Maybe he had.

"That's not funny, Shadow," Sonic growled, finishing off with freeing Shadow's feet. He dared not move the hybrid until the GUN unit finally arrived. He was fairly certain that if Shadow even sat up right now his guts would go spilling across the floor. He moved back up the table, trying his best to focus on his partners face, and not the horrific evidence of what had happened to him over the last five days. He let a shaky hand slowly card through Shadow's quills - one of the only parts of his body not soaked in blood. He heaved a heavy breath, fighting back tears as they gathered in his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Shadow asked, tugging idly at the collar still wrapped around his neck. He wanted to rip it off, but without knowing exactly how it was effecting his body, he dared not, given how close he believed he probably was to death at the moment.

"For not coming sooner," Sonic gasped, ducking his head as the tears forced their way down his cheeks. "When you didn't show up for our date, or even text, I thought something might be wrong. But everyone told me to wait. That it wasn't unusual for you to drop off the radar without notice. I should've listened to my gut. I should've looked for you sooner."

"Hush," Shadow murmured, hating how his hand trembled as he lifted it to brush against Sonic's face, frowning as it smeared blood across a peach cheek. "S'not your fault," he sighed, swallowing against the dryness in his throat, only to cough quietly after doing so and wincing at the pain that shot through his abdomen from the action. He wheezed and Sonic panicked, clutching at Shadow's hand with wide, teary eyes.

"The rest of the team should be here soon, then we'll get you to a hospital," Sonic reassured, "You'll be okay."

"I know," Shadow hummed, he ear swiveling towards the doorway at the tell tale sound of boots running down a hallway. GUN had arrived.

~

The path to healing was a slow one that drove Shadow insane.

He'd been taken away to a GUN facility to be patched up, and for his recovery regime. Sonic had nearly been barred from visiting, only for Rouge to point out that she or Omega would just sneak him in if GUN didn't allow him clearance. Thus, Commander Tower gave Sonic a special clearance card that would allow him to the medical wing, much to the blue hedgehogs delight. Shadow had no doubt that Sonic was going to use the card to get into much more than the medical wing while he was in recovery.

Stitches were not an experience that Shadow was especially fond of, however the GUN doctor who had patched him up had been worried that putting him under anesthesia while working on him might just finish him off, so he'd been awake during the entire ordeal of having his abdomen stitched closed. Truly, he felt like a cadaver, with the borderline y-incision stitches the doctor had done on him. Sonic had made an mindless comment about how at least Starline had cut him open underneath his chest fluff, so that was mostly undamaged. The distasteful joke had made Shadow laugh, and his laugh had eased a little bit of the stress that had made itself home on Sonic's face, much to his relief.

The inhibitor ring adjustments were the worst parts of what Starline had done to him, in Shadow's opinion. He had used Gerald and Ivo's research notes to create the little add-ons, and they had screwed with his chaos energy enough that they had to be removed one at a time over a lengthy period of time, otherwise his body may go haywire and shut down at the sheer amount of energy that normally occupied it. Luckily, however, the collar was able to be removed right away. It's only purpose appeared to be to physically weaken Shadow, since a lack of chaos energy would only slow him down.

Meanwhile, Starline had been locked up in the deepest, darkest cell that GUN unofficially had. For once, when Shadow made an off-color joke about burying Starline alive, Sonic stayed silent, instead of his usual quip about how everyone should have the opportunity to be free. He'd simply squeezed Shadow's hand gently and stared off into space. Perhaps, just this once, Sonic had changed his mind about the possibility of redemption.

And that was what was slowly, truly driving Shadow insane. Sonic had become quiet since the whole ordeal. He stuck close by Shadow's side during his physiotherapy, offering quiet little comments of encouragement, and he would tell Shadow about his day and read to him while he was trapped in the hospital bed. However, gone were his boisterous declarations of adventure and sarcastic little remarks about the people he came across during his day to day activities. It was like the light in Sonic's soul had been snuffed out while Shadow had been detained.

One day, Shadow had simply had enough.

"I'm not dead, you know."

"…what?" Sonic stopped in his explanation of the latest project Tails was working on while the two of them sat in the GUN cafeteria after one of Shadow's physio appointments.

"I'm not dead. I didn't die. You're talking to me like you would speak to a grave."

Sonic blinked in surprise, sitting back and up at the table, quickly shaking his head. "No I'm not."

"You are. You're speaking to me the way I speak to Maria about my day. You're soft and somber, and it's driving me nuts." Shadow was never really one to mince words, especially not when speaking to Sonic.

"I…I'm sorry?" Sonic looked genuinely confused, his hands falling into his lap, "I didn't realize…"

"I know what you saw was a lot. And I am sorry that you had to see it at all. But it wasn't your fault, and I survived. I need you to be boisterous, and loud, and annoying. I need you to be you, Sonic. I need you to run amok through some top secret area of the base and bring me back a pen from Commander Tower's office, just because you know it will annoy him. I need you to bring a stack of comics into my room and leave them scattered everywhere because you're too excited to finish reading an issue before you move on to the next, while trying to explain the ridiculous plot to me. Please…I feel like Starline killed you when he was trying to kill me."

"Shadow," Sonic breathed, reaching across the table to gently take the hybrids hands into his. "I'm sorry. I just…When I saw you on that table, I really thought I was going to lose you. I guess I still feel like you could slip through my fingers if I hold on too tight."

"Once the last inhibitor is fixed, you can hold on as tight as you want," Shadow soothed, brushing his thumbs across the back of Sonic's hands, "Moderate pressure can currently be handled at this time."

Sonic snorted at Shadow's deadpan joke, a short peel of laughter escaping him as the hybrid offered him a short, lopsided smile.

"There you are."

Sonic sighed and brought one of Shadow's hands up to his lips to press a soft kiss to the back of it. "Well then…I hope you're prepared for me to go full koala once you're all better."

"I don't think I'd have it any other way."

[beansprean]

“People Say Friends Don’t Destroy One Another” by LaCroixWitch (@fanfic-fugue)

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1. Nandor laying on his back on a pile of broken wood and rubble, a bent sword sticking blade-up through his abdomen, slick with blood. He is dressed in a black tee shirt and jeans under one of his usual cloaks, and his hair is down and laying tangled against the floor. He and his clothes are tattered, bloody, dirty, and scraped up after a long battle. Guillermo, dressed in a white button down, chinos, boots, and his slayer gloves, is holding himself up on all fours above Nandor, legs straddling his waist. He is equally mussed and dirty, shirt ripped at the shoulder and dribbling blood down his arm and an open wound on his head bleeding freely all down his face, dripping onto Nandor. One arm is locked straight down to press Nandor’s arm to the floor. Nandor’s free hand is reaching up to dazedly touch Guillermo’s cheek. Despite the violence of his position, Guillermo is crying, tears shedding as freely as the blood as he locks eyes with Nandor. In the foreground, his glasses lay with the lenses cracked into shards, distorting part of the picture behind it.

2. A close up of the same scene, Nandor using the last of his strength to grip the back of Guillermo’s shoulder and neck and pull himself up closer. Eyes closed and face screwed up in desperate passion, he touches his lips to Guillermo’s. Guillermo, tear pooling in his lashes as he closes his eyes, allows himself to be pulled and pushes weakly into the barely-there kiss. In the foreground is a postcard, splattered with blood and creased in two directions from being folded and unfolded countless times. The smudged ink reads: “Guillermo, I do not think you are getting my cards. Perhaps mail takes a very long time to get to wherever you are. I find myself in New Mexico, but there are no piñata farmers here. I am told there is an old Mexico. That must be where your family is from.” The following text is smaller, as if hesitant to be expressed: “I hope you will write me back, I am rather lonely on my journey. I think you would like these places. You could see them during the daytime and tell me all about it. I miss you.” The last line has been crossed out multiple times, but still legible. /end ID

[dailysonadowfanfics]

Reading every single Sonadow Fanfic (Ao3): 159/4.705

Title: My Way

Author: Cubricot

Website: Ao3

Published: 11.03.2018

Word Count: 119.113 words

Language: English

Suited for minors? Teen and up

Warnings: Violence

Smut? No

Finished? Yes

Characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, Miles Tails Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge the Bat, Silver the Hedgehog, Gadget the Wolf

Ships: Sonic/Shadow

Author Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Torture, Humor, Mental Health Issues, Angst, maybe some background Espio/Silver, "We'll be fine", Slow Burn, No Classic Sonic? Game: Sonic Forces, POV Multiple, Unleashed-style tour of the planet fighting Eggman

Author Summary: Two months after Sonic fell to Infinite, the resistance rescues him from the Death Egg and brings him to their hideout aboard the space colony ARK. But Amy’s overworked, Knuckles thinks he shouldn’t be commander, Tails is losing sleep worrying, Shadow’s lost his immortality - and when Eggman discovers where the resistance is hiding only a desperate battle in space to blow up the Death Egg before the ARK’s shields fall can save them-

Oh yeah, and Sonic has to keep fighting Infinite, of course. No big deal, right? Right. Just facing his fears, just like how he’s not thinking about anything that happened on the Death Egg, and not thinking about his feelings for Shadow.

My summary: This takes place during forces. There is a war, Sonic is still dealing with the torture he went under, Shadow becomes mortal, and he and Sonic are growing closer during all this.

You can read it here

[rd-eternity]

Whumptober Day 23: “It’s gonna get me by the end of the night.” | Shadows | Stalking | “Who’s there?” ||| ALTs: Decoy | After failure

Words: 3.2k

Summary: A new pack comes to Beacon Hills when they hear Scott's out of town, and seem to think there's no way for them to win against a full pack of werewolves without an alpha. Especially when they convince a certain chimera to join their side, or so they think. Unfortunately for them, Theo always has a plan.

“You should’ve remembered the feeling of drowning before double crossing me.”  His knee drives into the chimera’s back, weight pushing into the claw marks.  He mewls.  “Pathetic,” Winters laughs.  “All you had to do was identify werewolves for us and leave.  Was that so hard?”   He drives his knee deeper, hand coming to the back of his neck to force his forehead into the ground.  Theo wriggles underneath the weight, every inch of his skin torn and burning from the alpha’s claw marks.  His own claws drag across the ground, shaking as they tear uselessly at the wood.  Pain wraps his entire body, his focus on holding onto his heartbeat and chemosignals, shoving what Winters wants at him, flooding the alpha’s senses. It works, given the low chuckle from the wolf on top of him.  “I thought you’re supposed to be some terrifying chimera of death, but even you can’t fight an alpha.” “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have walked through the front door,” he groans against the wood, clenching his fists, claws digging into his palm.  “I expected you to be better than this.” Claws drive further into him, the knee on his back forcing the breath from his chest as his wounds drag across the floor.  “I’m going to kill you, and no one will miss you.  You’re a false werewolf without a pack.”   “And you’re a sad excuse for an alpha,” he bites back.  “Because you saw none of this coming.  Because I do have a pack, and you don’t.  Not anymore.”

[dkniade]

Oh Doppelgänger… What Kind of Body Is This?!

Tags: Violence, Body Horror, Stabbing, Event: Shadows Amidst Snowstorms (Genshin Impact), Blood and Violence, Snow, snowstorm

Imagine… if in Shadows Amidst Snowstorms, the Fellflower transformed from “Albedo” to its proper form, BUT IN A BODY HORROR WAY instead of just groaning and getting enveloped by ice as it burrows… And from Fellflower’s POV instead of the Traveler’s POV.

GOD I’M FEELING SO BAD FOR A PLANT/HUMAN.

I couldn’t think of a poetic title so I went with this instead

[waywardtrek]

when i tell you that that level of observing your surroundings + weaving said surroundings into maladaptive daydreaming/intrusions/delusions + controlling and willing the narrative of your body into doing things based on fundamental abject fear is me to the fucking core, and that i have (actual, diagnosed) OCD and have always suspected glennis dennis presents many classic symptoms of OCD too, what then?

[nny11writes]

Nunny! I'm sending you asks for your game.

I'm tempted to send you the entire post and just see the Nunny Rant. You might not even do She-ra. I'm thinking of She-ra sending these but go off about star wars or something else if you think it applies better to the question :D

the character everyone gets wrong (ahahhahahaaaaaaaaa)

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about (im sure there is a long list)

9 and 10 - Worst part of fanon and worst part of canon (imo there is some overlap)

13. worst blorboficiation

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

lakhglkajfas, I think my rant would mostly just be keyboard smashes and crying emojis so this is the better way to go lol!

the character everyone gets wrong God, like, fucking- ALL of them. :) Buuuuuut the one that's bugging me the most recently is Mermista.

I am SO sick of post canon Mermista in c/a fics specifically. Mermista would not hold a grudge that hard that long and that violently!!! Stop having her hate Catra and actively be out to do harm to her. Mermista's response to losing her kingdom was like a bad breakup where she just cried in a tub eating ice cream. Her response to seeing HORDAK at the end of the series was just a, "So are we good with him now?" implying that she's chill to be chill.

Mermista and Catra 100% would sit at a table calling one another a bitch (begrudgingly fond and pretend to not be) back and forth. Mermista would not be out to skin Catra alive! Mermista wants to talk to Catra about her murder novels because Perfuma reads too slowly and doesn't like spoilers but she NEEDS to talk to someone about the butler who has a brain cell because Sea Hawk seemed to miss the whole first half of the book AND FURTHER MORE-

9. and 10. - Worst part of fanon and worst part of canon

Worst part of fanon is the fucking shippers. This went from one of the more open and accepting fandoms for all ships that I'd ever been in to one of the worst.

Like, straight up, one of the fics that lives rent free in my head is an explicit fic where Catra and Hordak enthusiastically consent to having sex. Like Hordak is trying to be kinda standoffish but can't stop looking at boob window tits, he was Entrapta trained I'm afraid. The number of times I think of his awkward proposing they do it more frequently followed shortly by Catra dressing and winking saying, "Seriously, great cock!" is a lot lol. It's such a porn movie style fic and there is something fantastic to be said about it.

But you even hint that Catra could be headcanonned as anything besides a lesbian and your body will be found in a few months time in several different bags. Suggesting Catra and Hordak having any romantic or sexual relationship probably gets you reported to the fucking government or something. So there's a reason it's never made a rec list from me but fuck it I'm mentioning it now.

They aren't real. If I want to occasionally have a giggle about them and make my little dolls bump uglies everyone else should politely not look while my fellow weirdly sane people who get that this is all make believe but sure we're the freaks here come poke and enjoy!

Fucking shipping wars and discourse man. I'm sick of it.

Worst part of canon for me is the censorship and uncertainty that caused various issues with the plot and prevented the show from being even stronger. You can see it in real time while watching, but man it was wild in December 2018 to see how professional media talked about the show and Catra and Adora being adoptive sisters, to AJ (I think?) getting dumped on for repeating that idea and having to apologize, to the open gayness at the end. I love SPOP, but the rocky terrain the crew-ra had to navigate really did impact the quality and created weird gaps that asshole fans hunkered down into. Like, we cannot pry some of those fuckers out.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I need you to understand that my immediate response when I started writing this answer out was a very strained and painful sigh through my nose as my brain returned a static white noise sound.

I am really tired of forcing this jock!Adora and slacker!Catra thing. Like, it started in modern AUs but it's gone and infected people's idea of canon as well. It falls into a bit of the "dumb adora" trope, which people just don't seem to actually understand what that means or is about. It also falls into Shadow Weaver's narrative of who Catra is which is wild. Like. Really wild.

You are telling me Catra, a cat person who grew up in a military, is actively against exercise? Yes, she would 100% sleep in a sunbeam for a nap, and then she wakes up and craves some low key chaos and violence.

You are telling me Adora, forced into a golden child and leadership position, is bad at reading and math and science because all she cares about is training? Adora 100% enjoys physical fitness and using her body, but she's got a sharp mind on her and there's no way in hell she doesn't like to work it too.

I am just exhausted with it in modern AUs, and now it has gone to infect canon interpretations. It flattens their characters out, ignores/denies parts of their abuse, and nukes their abilities from orbit. I hate it so so much.

Also if I have to see one more fic or art piece where Catra is willingly and happily wearing dresses, skirts, and heels I swear to fucking god I will KILL. :)

13. worst blorboficiation

Again, this is all of them. Everyone suffers from being blorbo'd to an insane degree, but it just shifts depending on which character is the favorite of that part of the fandom. You have talked several times about the insanity of Catra fans vs. Hordak fans, the blorboification is insane there. Same with Catra fans vs. Glimmer fans.

Like. God damn. I'm so glad the Adora vs. Catra fan fights died out real quick because this fandom is exhausting enough.

With Catra being my favorite it's extra exhausting because there is CONSTANTLY people attacking her and then total asshats trying to defend her who I do not want to be associated with. I love her. She's a fucking idiot and a bastard and a baby. Somehow, every take on her is both the worst and factually correct and then the fandom fights.

Tipsy, I. Am. Tired.

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

OKAY

Let's fucking talk about how GLIMMER IS NOT AN EVIL BITCH. Can we talk about that? STOP TRYING TO LEAVE THIS POST AND SIT YOUR ASS DOWN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS AGAIN because someone needs to hear it louder in the back.

Glimmer is the character who is probably be done the dirtiest by the fandom but for wildly different reasons throughout the whole show. Hands down.

After S1 fandom took Glimmer and made her into an entitled dumbass whiner who threw money and her titles at her problems. They made her act like a child without any complexity. And it 100% took me from not really liking her character much to detesting her which is outrageous every time I remember that I kinda hated her at that point.

This did not improve post S2. :)

Post S3 probably was the most sympathetic and understanding the fandom was to Glimmer but it came at the cost of trying to bulldoze Catra for the Portal and people making callout posts like these characters were real people. I feel like the rise of some of the G/A shippers that I really can't stand was around this time. It was catra vs. glimmer fans going bat shit and drawing lines for ships.

If they couldn't assassinate Glimmer's character, by god the fandom would assassinate both Catra and Adora's in wildly different ways instead!

Do I need to talk about post S4? The idea of dark Glimmer and Glimmer going off the rails should have been a fun thing to play with in the sandbox and instead just writing it down made me cringe. Now Glimmer has to be an evil bitch because she had a trauma response and made bad decisions, now she is irredeemable because I made up a situation where she did something she didn't in canon for reasons so OOC someone probably slapped Donut Steel on it somewhere.

There was a little lift post series, but man people are holding onto Glimmer being a spoiled brat to play off of for Catra or a cruel bitch for Catra and, again, as a Catra fan, I want to bite bite kill kill bite kill kill kill!!!

Glimmer is allowed to grow up from being a spoiled kid who had good intentions and was naive. She is allowed to be over eager, bratty, petty, silly, funny, caring, and smart too. She's allowed to make bad choices and struggle with how to recover from it.

STOP MAKING ME THE LEAVE BRITTNEY ALONE MEME FOR GLIMMER

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs-

[twistpixel]

In my mind there does exist a fanfic and it’s a one shot and it has no point beyond like, Bruce is a bad parent to Jason. I think there’s a desire to like force that out and make it clear cut and that leads to things like Bruce being overtly abusive in some fanfics. But I have 0 tolerance for fathers so he’s already overtly abusive enough in canon for me and this between the panels fanfic in my mind is just opening that up and showing it to the reader by making it so obvious it can’t be ignored (but not by Bruce because he can ignore anything).

[acourtofladydeath]

AZRIS WEEK IS FINALLY HERE!

I will be attempting to post a fic a day for @azrisweek! I’m incredibly excited about my piece for Day 1: prologues and prequels titled “The Soft Heart and The Shadow”. This fic includes graphic depictions of torture, please be advised. Eventual HEA.

Eris makes a deal with Beron to accept all the punishments for his brothers and mother in order to protect them. Azriel just so happens to be spying and witnesses this. Anytime Beron wishes to enact punishment, it becomes Eris’ to bear. What Beron doesn’t know is that Azriel is there in the shadows every time supporting Eris.

[spiltcandycoatedpunkblood]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Adventures of Tintin (2011) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Archibald Haddock & Tintin, Milou | Snowy & Tintin Characters: Tintin (Tintin), Archibald Haddock, Milou | Snowy, Original Male Character(s) Additional Tags: Stabbing, Car Accidents, Blood and Injury, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Panic, Anger, Cold, Cold Weather, Unconsciousness, Darkness, Revenge, Attempted Murder, Rescue, Delirium, Pain, Agony, Fear, Worry, Paralysis, Blood Loss, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2023, no.22, They never saw us coming ‘til they hit the floor., Glass Shard, Vehicular Accident, no.23, It’s gonna get me by the end of the night., Shadows - Freeform, Stalking, Father-Son Relationship Series: Part 12 of Tintin Whumptober 2023 Summary: "He felt it in the pit of his stomach and in the prickle on the back of his neck. A noise behind him got louder, another crunching sound of the road underneath tires, and faster, and he barely had time to leap out of the way as he spun around to see it, eyes wide with panic like a deer in the headlights.

He didn’t feel anything until the front bumper of the car slammed into his stomach, and he realised that the car had swerved to the point of going offroad. He narrowly avoided the fate of getting pinned to a tree, falling to the ground violently and his head hit the road beneath him. He’d only been able to let out a grunt of pain as the world spun back and forth in front of him, vaguely able to see the car lose control after hitting him at high speed, and crash into the aforementioned tree itself."

[mystery-star]

Whumptober 2023  - Day 23 | “Who’s there?”

Pairing: Ben Wade x reader (gender neutral)

Warnings: burglary, violence and injuries

Words: 1129

A/N: Day 23 for Whumptober, today’s prompts: Shadows | “Who’s there?”

-

You weren’t sure if it had been the sound that woke you or if it happened after you were awake. But you instantly knew that you didn’t like it and first considered to just stay in bed and try to hide. Once you saw shadows outside that seemed to be sneaking around your house, however, you simply had to get up, hating the fact that exactly that night Ben and his gang had to leave for a robbery. Or maybe whoever was out there knew they were gone and this was why they were here. You grabbed the gun on the nightstand and put on a dressing gown, rubbing your eyes a little as you cocked the weapon and slowly tiptoed out of the bedroom, trying not to make a sound. There was a creak you knew all too well; it was when someone stepped onto one of the floorboards of the kitchen. And that also made it obvious that someone was in the house. A part of you hoped it was just Ben who had returned and didn’t want to wake you up.

“Who’s there?” you called, hating that you were shaking a little. The fact that you got no reply made it even worse because that meant it wasn’t Ben. It made you freeze because you didn’t know what to do. Perhaps you could deal with the person but what if there were more than just one? Maybe it was better if you just left and got help from the sheriff even though Ben would not really like it. Then again, he could just stay away a couple hours longer until the coast was clear. You didn’t even really need to consider it much, you had made up your mind already and instead tried to get to the door. Just when you reached it and tried to open it, you heard steps right behind you and when you turned around all you saw was how your attacker swung a long item at you – what it was you didn’t see – and it collided with your head. With a groan you stumbled back against the door, trying to find the handle again despite the piercing pain in your head but then he hit you again and you fell down, your hand coming to the spot that hurt most on your head. You could already feel the blood and let out a moan of pain. Panic rose in you because you had dropped your gun too and that took basically everything you had for your defense and were completely at his mercy. But at least he seemed to notice that and instead of hitting you again, he roughly grabbed your arm, yanking you with him to the kitchen where he used the waist tie of your dressing gown to tie your hands to the metal bar next to the stove before continuing his work. Trying to calm yourself and the pain with some deep breaths you leant your head against the stove and hoped he would simply leave after he was done and not harm you further. Once he had emptied the kitchen of its valuables, not much of course, he approached you.

“Where are the valuables?”

“Bedroom” you muttered. “in the dresser. There should also be money” in a way you didn’t care if he just took it all; you wouldn’t miss the money and you could just replace what he took. At least he left and you glanced after him before you tried to free yourself and get out of here that he could not come back to kill you. Using your teeth to undo the knot hurt a lot due to the wounds on your head but slowly, you managed to undo them and your hands were free. Since the guy had taken your weapon, you grabbed a knife from the counter that you could defend yourself if the guy noticed you were leaving and tried to stop you. But just when you reached the door, you saw the handle moving and your heart skipped a beat. Without thinking you jumped behind it and slowly the door opened before you heard someone sneak inside. Oh great, the robber had brought backup. You held your breath in fear he would discover you but it was of no use because before you could even consider to lunge at him he turned to check behind the door and at this you just leaped forward with the knife raised high. To your surprise you even seemed to catch him somewhere near the shoulder but at the same time you were hurled away and you stumbled over your feet, knocking your head against the still open door so you let out another sound of pain.

“(Y/N), fuck” only when you felt a soft hand on your arm did you realize that the alleged intruder was actually Ben.

“Oh shit” you too groaned and dug your hand into his jacket, feeling glad that he was back “Guy’s in the bedroom” you just muttered. He gave a nod and handed you the knife you had attacked (and probably also hurt) him with.

“Stay here, I’ll take care of it” you only nodded and grabbed the knife tightly. Your husband quickly walked in the direction of the bedroom and it wasn’t before long that you heard a shot and then the sounds of a fight and after about half a minute a second shot. After that it was quiet and you too held your breath, not sure what had happened or who was dead. When you saw Ben coming towards you, a little more bruised than before but still very much alive, you let out a sigh and wanted to shoot up to hug him but felt too weak “It’s over, he’s dead”

“I figured as much” you muttered with a slight smile as he knelt down and carefully picked you up to move you to the kitchen. “Sorry for hurting you”

“Don’t. I’m glad you did and proved capable to do something. I might have just killed you if I didn’t know who you were, lingering behind that door.” A shiver ran down your back and you nodded.

“So you knew someone was inside?”

“Found a guy looking like he was standing guard. Silently got rid of him and then tried to sneak in”

“Well, you did sneak in” he chuckled and sat you down on a chair, starting to examine your head

“Didn’t calculate with being attacked right there”

“You turned around to me”

“Just for precaution to see if someone was there”

“So you did calculate with it”

“Well maybe I did. But better to be safe than sorry”

I do think we’re both sorry now”

“And yet we’re both safe now”

-

Taglist: @woman-with-no-name

[thegreenleavesofspring]

Max Way's route home takes him through a bad part of town.

[goatsandgangsters]

CHAPTER 7

Additional Tags: Amnesia, Memory Loss, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Enemies to Lovers, enemies to found family, grudgingly assimilating the villain into the found family, Moral Dilemmas, Moral Ambiguity, Philosophical Discussions, Narrative foils, Complicated Relationships, complicated feelings, Mistrust, Understanding, gets meta about the power of storytelling to shape perception of events, both within the fic itself and as commentary on the original books, pre-canon the Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, Ensemble Cast, POV Alina Starkov, POV The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, no bashing of any character, Book 3: Ruin and Rising, show characters with book lore, Canon - Grishaverse (Book & TV Combination)

In a gaggle of limbs akimbo, Nikolai scurried over the fallen tree, and offered his hands to haul Alina over in turn.

She held onto his arms for dear life as her feet scrabbled and scraped against rough bark, frantic kicking and tugging to pull her over. “Not—how I pictured—seeing you again—” she panted, oak pressing into her ribs.

Nikolai grinned as she thumped gracelessly onto the other side. “You pictured seeing me?”

“Oh Saints.”

The Darkling was caught by the neck in the snare of the mercenary’s grip. He struggled and thrashed in the crook of the arm choked across his throat.

[dailysonadowfanfics]

Reading every single Sonadow Fanfic (Ao3): 264/4.773

Title: They Have Feelings, Y'know

Author: orphan_account

Website: Ao3

Published: 17.10.2018

Word Count: 19.616 words

Language: English

Suited for minors? No

Warnings: Violence, minor dub con (touching)

Smut? No (just one inappropriate touching scene)

Finished? Yes

Characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Miles Tails Prower, Doctor Eggman, Sticks the Badger

Ships: Sonic/Shadow

Author Tags: Slow Burn, incessant and copious use of the fuck word, Enemies to Lovers

Author Summary: “He would make a great addition to Team Sonic.”

Sonic convinces Shadow to give friendship a chance. Things go wrong faster than anyone could have predicted.

My summary: Set in the Boom!Verse. Sonic tries to befriend Shadow, but it isn't that easy.

You can read it here

[justonemorewallflower]

Whumptober fic!!

Here’s the first Whumptober fic I wrote for prompt #23:

“It’s gonna get me by the end of the night.” Shadows | Stalking | “Who’s There?”

I’m posting a few days late but oh well better late than never!