#I'm so sorry if this fic is confusing

[lovesickeros]

can.. can I ask for an affectionate reader with characters who aren’t normally like… used to the love? like, not just through words but physical affection like hand-holding, kisses, hugs, all that shebang. probably with a few people like yelan, ei, basically any character that is either cut-off from society or seems socially distant or isolated. 😞

☆ affectionate reader with yelan, ei, & furina

[ 4.2 Archon Quest spoilers ]

× yelan

Varies between how you display your affection, to be honest. Just like being affectionate with people? She's cool with it as long as you don't pop by while she's working (mostly because she'll end up dragging you into it for a bit of fun). I don't think she's all that touchy feely herself, but she'll absolutely get you gifts instead– like pretty knick nacks? She'll make sure to snag any she thinks you might like. Like a good meal? Sure, she'll take you out to one of the restaurants in the city, doesn't matter how expensive. Her treat. If you do prefer physical gifts rather then being taken out, you'll eventually get used to the random unmarked letters and packages showing up where your staying pretty often. It's obvious to know who it came from even if she never signs anything.

Flirty reader, though? Whole nother can of worms and now it's a challenge. The more confident you are the more interested she is. The other acolytes would absolutely seethe at the idea but she has no hesitation at just straight up flirting back– she's as charismatic as they come and she's got a poker face that's basically impenetrable. She'll probably also make a bet to see who cracks first (she always wins, unsurprisingly). Probably won't get dragged into any of her schemes this way but if you ask politely maybe she'll consider it, anyway.

The smell of freshly brewed tea and the clatter of dice across wood was a common sight at the Yanshang Teahouse– less common was the woman secluded in the far corner, her lips pulled into a grin that flashed fangs and a look that would scare off the most confident of men.

She'd normally try to scope out any new blood that'd made the mistake of stepping into her teahouse and was equally stupid enough to accept a gamble against her just for the thrill of it, but she was far too absorbed in the warm body at her side, one of her die clasped tightly in their hand as she guided them through the motions– they had a knack for it, she had to admit. The thought made her preen, the clatter of the die as it rolled across the table giving her that subtle, familiar rush.

Even if she knew exactly where it'd land.

"Six. Hm, maybe you're just lucky," She muses, plucking the die from the table and holding it up to her eye like a prized jewel, "Or maybe you're not as innocent as you'd have us believe." There's a sharp glint in her eyes at the prospect, but everyone else has the sense to keep their heads down and their words to themselves as she tosses the die herself.

"So why don't we find out and make a bet, just between you and me?"

× ei

Varies between Ei and the Shogun, because you'll probably be seeing either as much as the other. Sometimes you gotta really squint to tell who it is sometimes, but you get used to it. Both are fairly similar, though, in that their first instinct (especially in public) is to tense up like you're about to attack them or something. Difference is Ei eventually relaxes after a solid minute of trying to process your sudden affection and, if no one else is around, she might even reciprocate. Just don't tease her for being a little stiff and awkward about it, she's trying. That's what happens when your only company is a robot and uh. Nothing. For like 500 years. She's trying. Raiden, on the other hand, is just about as awkward as you can imagine. She's polite (blunt) about it because Ei is fond of you and also you are. The Creator. But she's not really built to deal with personal relationships and so she doesn't know how to deal with affection.

..Depending on what you do you may or may not blue screen Ei hard enough that she retreats back to PoE

Ei usually isn't fond of sitting still, unless it's to meditate. At least then she goes in with a purpose, something to achieve– but now, she's just focused on trying not to make a fool of herself. Her muscles are starting to ache from how hard she's tensing, though, in an effort to sit as straight and still as possible as their hands glide through her hair, weaving it into a single braid.

She can just barely hear the subtle lilt of their voice as they hum– and though it is soothing, it is also..very distracting. She can't focus long enough to try and meditate, too lost in the gentle rise and fall of their voice and the care they take to braid her hair. If she'd had a heart, she'd sure it'd be beating so wildly against her ribcage they could hear it.

But then it stops– their hands fall back to their sides and their humming falters. She freezes, too, racking her brain for any slights she must have committed. Instead, she is met with a calm, tender touch on the back of her neck, making her inhale sharply.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Ei? You're so tense.." She has to grit her teeth to stop herself from bowing so low her head presses against the ground, her hands folded in her lap, clenching instinctively. "..No, Divine One." She answers simply, trying to contain the adoration swelling in her chest.

Yet as much as she tries to relax, to ease their worries, she finds that she cannot.

"Hm." That small murmur, a simple sound that nearly made her jump, was the only warning she got before they scooted closer, wrapping their arms around her stomach and resting their chin on her shoulder with a grin she would liken to Miko's, if she dared to make such a comparison. "Really?"

She swears she must've been feverish at the affection, lightheaded and dazed until she thought she might simply perish at the brush of their hands against her own.

Much to her embarrassment, however, she doesn't realize she's instinctively pulled back into Plane of Euthymia until she sees the familiar dull purples engulf her vision once again.

Though only a small solace, it seemed a little..brighter, this time.

× furina

Varies between pre 4.2 and post 4.2 archon quests to be honest.

Pre 4.2 she comes off as very vain– of course the most Divine would see fit to spoil her with affection! She deserves it, and is obviously their favorite! Just don't look too hard because she's terrible at hiding how flustered she actually is. Absolutely goes home right after and screams into her pillow for at least thirty minutes minimum.

Post 4.2 she's a lot more openly bashful and flustered. She's really not used to affection and even the smallest show of it has her folding immediately. Now that she doesn't need to worry about being found out she's a lot more receptive to affection. Cup her cheeks and compliment her and her knees are buckling. Like. Especially weak for compliments and praise (she deserves it. please spoil her).

She swears she must be hallucinating– she had been having trouble sleeping recently. But..no. The visage of the Creator was as real as the sweat beading on her brow as she stared at them for a long, awkward moment. Should..she let them in? But then they'd see the pathetic state she was in, and the last thing she wanted to do was make a fool of herself in front of them-!

Her choice was quickly made for her, anyway, as she let out an undignified squeak of surprise when they suddenly tugged her forward into their chest, enclosing her in a hug.

Her first reaction was to freeze– her second was becoming absolutely flustered, her cheeks flushing a soft pink and her mouth closing and opening as she tried to find her words.

"I– ah..um." She stumbled over her words instead, floundering like a fish out of water. Yet she felt a distinct sense of emptiness wash over her when they finally pulled back, looking a touch sheepish. "Sorry, sorry– you just looked like you needed a hug."

The silence spoke for itself, her shoulders tensing slightly. But the way the concern and affection bled through their voice made her waver, her hands trembling as she let out a shaky breath that almost sounded like a sigh.

"It's..It's fine! Fine, I'm fine." She repeated, trying desperately to ignored the way her voice cracked and how hot her face felt– though it was more an attempt to affirm herself that she was not thinking about how warm they felt, how much she..actually enjoyed the hug. She wasn't thinking about it all! Absolutely not!

..Maybe a little.

"Just warn me next time, please?"

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

what do you mean that guys page isn’t about mpreg, that caption is so mpreg

I think from context, OP was trying to imply that was a photo of an Alpha who is going to get a bunch of (confusion and shock) cis women pregnant because he's such a Reddit Red-pilled macho Jordan Peterson Alpha Male who doesn't need consent because he goes to the gym and is descended from Western European Christians but now is all American hamburger truck sports man.

Meanwhile, we intellectuals know that that's an omega on the verge of heat presenting themself self to an Alpha whose pheremones they smelled.

It's just basic science. I saw it on Bill Nye.

(please note the original caption clearly indicates this omega uses they/them pronouns).

[edit: I always get Eastern and Western Europe mixed up whoops]

[mollymarymarie]

Added a helpful clause to the summary of TRNT because how many times am I going to get a comment that says "The only thing I didn't like about this fic..."

[unicornpopcorn14]

🍄

Writer truth or dare

🍄→ share a hc for one of your favourite ships or pairings

One of my fave Skk headcanon is that teen!Dazai would occasionally have dissociative episodes, sometimes in inconvenient places like a PM meeting or a mission, and when Chuuya's there to see it happen and recognize the signs he always springs up to help, no matter who is there to witness the care he'd uncharacteristically portray.

If it's in a meeting he'd hold Dazai's hand, and answer any question directed at Dazai himself. If he isn't near enough he'd make himself near, regardless of who is sitting beside him. He'd excuse both of them to Mori when he feels the meeting doesn't necessarily need them there, and if Mori doesn't agree he'd pester the man in subtle ways until he eventually resigns.

In missions, Dazai would mostly get injured for being out of control in his own body amidst battle, and Chuuya always retreats whenever that happens. He handles Mori's chastisements, all the consequences, because he's the one who decided to withhold the completion of the mission, but he never regrets doing so.

His focus is always dead-set on Dazai until he's back to being the annoying piece of shit he is, no matter the time, no matter the place.

Dazai thanks him by handling Chuuya's infrequent brothers regarding Arahabaki in the same way. Whenever Chuuya appears distressed at how Arahabaki's voice is suddenly too loud within him, when the ache of corruption is just too much, he'd wordlessly maintain skin-to-skin contact until the other is better and back on his feet.

[thatonegayship]

I loved the cowboy comic so much that I wrote a oneshot for it. https://archiveofourown.org/works/50934235 🥺 your art is BEYOND amazing, ty for the food

INCREDIBLE!!!!!

[the-alliance-maker]

More art from my younger sister, yay!

Mask (Baby Hero of Time) looks like that because he's worn the Fierce Deity Mask too many times for extremely long periods, and now it's started to stain/scar his skin.

I'm also putting her little doodle she made me bellow too.

Mask (Baby Hero of Time) has a/his shadow following him around. This is apparently my sister's view of their relationship.

(She was nervous about letting me post the gif and required that I clarified that it's a low effort, quick animation she only made to get a laugh out of me, lol. She was correct about making me laugh. I was in tears for, like, an hour.)

More explanations (And lack there of?) about it under the cut.

These pieces of art are both from an AU of mine that we roleplay a lot.

I'd explain more, but it's built off an alternate timeline/universe of @wutheringmights story "Call them brothers". And I'm not sure what her rules are about fanart or fanfics, mostly because I never asked or looked into it and I never intended to.

I make AUs for the fanfics I read, write fanfics for those fanfics with thousands upon thousands of words in them and then never post them or do anything other than hand them to my sister to read. She does the same with her art.

...Fandoms are messy enough without me accidentally stepping on someone's toes. (I think my sister doesn't post her art because she's too unconfident though.)

That aside, Call them brothers is literally my favorite fic I've ever read. I know we like to throw that phrase around in the fandom a lot, but I have every intention of getting that sucker printed and bound once it's finished. I've been reading Fanfiction for nearly a decade and this is the first one I've wanted to do that for.

If you're a person who enjoys darker stories and want a story line with some actual consequences for the characters, I'd totally recommend it. The last time I was this gut punched over characters and their development was Red Rising by Peirce Brown (My favorite published book series ever), and Wuthering's descriptions of a war ravaged country and all it's horrors is fucking immaculate.

I found Call them brothers through my desire to see a longer fic that had Spirit Tracks Link, and it did. not. disappoint.

Wuthering's takes on what Spirit's abilities, character traits, and game culture/lore are currently my favorite I've seen from anyone in the fandom, and I would doubly recommend the fic just for that.

That said, it's not a story for the faint of heart. It's Dark. With a capital 'd' for a reason. Wuthering doesn't add all those tag warnings for no reason. Also, if you can't stand to see one of the Link bois written as anything other than what the mainstream interpretation for them is, this isn't for you. War isn't out of character, but he's certainly a bold take. A fantastic one, but bold none the less.

Plus there's mild mentions of Links being interested in other character's that aren't their Zeldas or their typical love interests. There is NO shipping of the Jojo's characters amongst each other, but if you're the kind of person who can't stand alluding to characters having crushes that aren't Link x Zelda, it isn't for you.

I know there's some people in the fandom who don't like that kind of thing, so I thought I'd mention it. Also, you've been warned so no being mean to Wutheringmights about it!

If you're okay with the things I've listed, please, please, please give it a read. @wutheringmights deserves all the love for writing something so good.

(Anyway, I could ramble for hours about all the reasons Wutheringmights is my favorite Author in the LOZ fandom, but this was supposed to just be a post about my lil sis's art that got waaaaay away from me.)

[theflyingfeeling]

I don’t know if I’m just imagining things but I feel like Olli and Aleksi are actually so close 🥺 for example I feel like they post so many pics together and I know they post with others too and it’s not a big deal but e.g. Olli has posted 5 pics with someone else this year and 3 of them are with Aleksi.. so it must mean something right?? 🥺 and I feel like they spend a lot of time together yk even ”outside the band” when they’re having a day off and they still do music (the remix) etc. together 😭

Yeah I mean I for one am so deep in the Olli/Allu delulu land that it's VERY easy for me to agree and confirm all of this 😭 they're boyfriends secret lovers special friends and it shows 🥺

Here are all the pictures of the two of them I could find on Olli's IG, for reference 💞

+ the group picture Olli posted when Aleksi first joined the band, with the caption 'so now there's six of us' 🥺

[pooka167]

PLA Dad Ingo and Uncle Emmet Au Part 3

So here we are at part 3 of my still yet to be named au. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. Right now to continue where we left off.

Akari is on her way to meet Volo, alone except for her pokemon team and Lady Sneasler, who had refused to leave Akari as she made her way to the Temple of Sinnoh. She didn't tell anyone where she is going or what she is doing, under the impression Volo was just going to give her another of his many history lessons and tell her how to get the last plate.

Upon reaching the temple, Volo is there to greet her but something seems off. His smile is all teeth and there's a dangerous glint in his eye. It sets alarm bells off in Akari's in head but is too blindsided by such a drastic change in character. to do much of anything as he starts to monologue about his plans to meet Arceus how it'd been him who'd opened the space time rift with Giratina, how Ingo's misplacement was caused by him, how he watched and waited for the people of this region to tear themselves apart. Just so he could get the chance to meet the so called God of pokemon.. What breaks the damn and opens the floodgates however is Volo spitting cruelly "Warden Ingo only ever saw you as a means to an end, no one ever truly cared about you."

This hits home for Akari and without Ingo here to reassure her and her current distance from the villagers and the clans only further driving the untrue point home in her mind Volo is able to do one of the things he set out to do. Throw Akari off her game.

Akari's reaction is immediate as she's overwhelmed by emotions, her deepest insecurity since the events of red sky has be voiced by Volo, someone who she thought was her friend who was one of the handful of people she could trust now Ingo is gone. Volo only ever used Akari to further his own goals and if Volo who'd been so kind and open had used her who's to say he was wrong about Ingo. Ever since she got to Hisui everything she's done has been for the benefit of someone else. There's always been an ulterior motive of some kind, so maybe what he said was true. Ingo probably hadn't given her a second thought now that he was back where he belonged.

She sinks to her knees tears streaming down her face as she sobs brokenly. Sneasler who had been growling at Volo moves to stand protectively in front of the girl her claws raised threateningly snarling a warning. Volo merely laughs and continues taunting Akari.

"Does it hurt little hero, knowing that all the people who you cared for couldn't give a single damn for you, that the man you viewed as a father has never felt an ounce of affection for you. That he put up with you just so he could go home. I'd imagine he was quite grateful to leave you behind."

Akari covers here ears as she breathes raggedly between sobs trying desperately to block out Volo's words. Even if what Volo said was true about Ingo using her at least he had been kind about it, had never thrust the expectation on her just let her chose her own course about it, because he knew it was her nature to help and ultimately that's what she would do.

Soon her despair gives way to anger, anger at being thrust away from a home she cannot recall, at being forced to work tirelessly to even be given basic necessities that she deserved just for being a human being, necessities that shouldn't have had to earn. Anger from being betrayed time and time again from the people she thought she could trust. Enough was enough.

Akari moves to shakily stand on her feet and steps out from behind Sneasler motioning for the noble to stay back, Samurott's pokeball ready in her hand and a defiant expression set on her face. She was so tired of dealing with one crisis after another, Volo wasn't going to taint the few good moments of her time here anymore than he already had. Volo smirks and releases his Spiritomb giving a mocking bow. Samurott materializes moments later ready for a battle, reacting to Akari's own charged emotions. The battle begins.

It goes on for what feels like hours. Akari's emotions guide her through this battle and its obvious Volo was expecting this outcome. He has a full team. What he was not expecting was for Akari to gain her balance again so quickly. The more they battled the more Akari came to her senses. Ingo did care for her in some way she saw the anguish look in his eyes when she sent him home, how he reached out for her as Dialga and Palkia's power whisked him away. She will not allow Volo to cause her doubt. Ingo had cared for her.

Samurott chips away at Spiritomb, then blasts through Volo's Arcanine before she withdraws him. Her beloved Zoroark takes down the Lucario with one well aimed flamethrower and her Garchomp goes toe to toe with Volo's own, falling to Togekiss' moonblast after a well timed switch but not before valiantly getting off a powerful poison jab. Gardevoir swoops in and finishes it off and Volo's final pokemon a Roserade falls to a few powerful psychics. Her team is a bit battered, with only her own Arcanine and her Luxray still at full health and down one but she is victorious. Or so Akari thinks. Volo calls fourth Giratina and it is a monster.

Gardevoir doesn't even have time to dodge before the legendary dragon fells her with a shadowball. Luxray comes out and paralyses it but that seems to nothing and he goes down to Earth power. Akari has gone down from one pokemon down to half her team in mere moments. She is terrified. Giratina exudes a powerful aura and it seems to bring all her negative emotions to the surface. Arcanine comes out and faints in a similar way to Luxray only able to pull off a single rockslide before doing so. Zoroark comes out with a vengeance, snarling ferociously as it barrages Giratina with as many shadow balls as it can but he too goes down when Giratina hits him with a ghost move Akari has never seen before. Now its just her and her beloved starter left.

Samurott while battered does not hesitate to stand between Akari and the beast of the distortion world. By some miracle her first companion tanks a dragon claw that at his current health should have fainted him and with a mighty cry manages on last night slash to finish Giratina off before he too goes down. Akari runs to him and cradles his face petting his snout then returns him to his pokeball. "Thank you Samurott, Thank you everyone." she whispers.

Giratina lies on the ground unmoving and then suddenly it isn't. A blast of air throws Akari back and she lets out a cry of pain as she collides with a pillar. She can see Sneasler driving her claws into the stone to hold her own body in place and when the dust settles. Giratina is up and moving again having taken on another form and it's advancing towards her. Sneasler immediately intercepts, claws glowing purple an indication of dire claw being used. Giratina sends her sprawling but the noble pokemon lets out a guttural snarl and scrabbles to her feet, determined to stand in between Akari and the dragon.

"Sneasler please, get out of here!" Akari begs. The noble ignores her pleading and pays the price, with a flick of its new appendages Giratina once more is bats Sneasler across what remains of the temple put of sight, her body hits the ground with a thud. Sneasler lets out small whimper and doesn't get up again.

Akari finds herself unable to move as Giratina advances once more, her entire body aches and blood slowly trickles down the side of her face from a shallow cut. Similar cuts litter her arms and there's a sharp pain in her right ankle. This is it, she was going to die. She was never going to get the chance to see if her dad made it back to his brother, she would die here in the past and he'd find out about it through whatever historical record if any mentioned it if he ever went looking. Akari closes her eyes and waits trying to block out Volo's cries telling Giratina to finish her off. The Pokémon's massive shadow falls over her and Akari tries to fold in on herself in a feeble attempt to protect herself. She hears the sound of a move being charged and takes in a deep breath. The move never connects. Instead there's a sound like thunder and a blinding light consumes the temple. Before two voices ring out.

"Chandelure use shadowball!"

"Eelektross thunderbolt!"

Giratina roars in pain and rears back the combination of two moves unexpected and Volo shouts in outrage. Akari opens her eyes to see two figures in billowing coats of black and white accompanied by pokemon she's never seen before standing in front of her. She'd recognize one of those voices anywhere. "D-dad?"

Ingo at the sound of Akari's voice swivels and crouches down his frown deepening eyes ablaze as he takes in her prone form. He gently props Akari up against the pillar and cradles her face with his hands, thumbs brushing away tears she didn't even know she was shedding.

"I'm here Akari, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere without you." Ingo reassures. Akari lets out a choked sob, and leans into his touch. Emmet who had been keeping an eye on Giratina and Volo glances back and takes in Akari's state. His smile turns vicious, eyes razor sharp as he returns his focus to their opponents. Both Chandelure and Eelektross ready at his side. This was a fight Emmet would happily take on by himself.

"I am Subway Boss Emmet, I am Ingo's twin brother. You hurt my niece I am going to make you regret that verrrry much. Prepare for defeat my destination is the station of victory whiles yours is the station of defeat."

Giratina doesn't stand a chance after that. Emmet uses all his frustration and anger and hurt at having his twin ripped away from him and the niece he's never formally met getting attacked into the battle. It's a laughably short battle. Giratina goes down and then flees as Volo curses it. Emmet uses this chance to approach Volo and crack him square across the face with his fist. Before he can do anymore damage Volo makes a run for it jumping off the cliff and flying away on his Togekiss.

Emmet bemoans the chance to truly make him pay but quickly hurries over to Ingo and Akari. He takes note of the pokeballs scattered around and gathers them up on his way as well as a weird purple plate and holds them out to the exhausted, still crying girl who despite her injuries has latched on to Ingo. Ingo to his credit doesn't look like he'll be letting her go anytime soon either.

"I am Emmet I believe these are yours, not to worry when we reach a safe station, I can fix your partners right up."

Akari nods hiccupping slightly and reaches for them letting go of Ingo briefly to clip them onto her belt. Emmet can tell that his niece is overwhelmed. There will be time for proper introductions later. Maintenance must be scheduled for his niece first. Emmet spots her bag and places the mysterious plate in it. Questions can be asked later for now as always the safety and well-being of their passengers come first. Emmet watches over his brother and niece until Akari has managed to calm her sobs and pulls slowly away from Ingo. Her eyes widen after a few moments seemingly remembering something and all of a sudden the girl is trying to haul herself to her feet panicked.

Ingo doesn't let her get very far, rising to stand himself and then sweeping into a princess carry careful not to aggravate her injuries. "Akari its okay" he soothes. "Volo and Giratina are gone."

This is not what is wrong evidently as Akari begins to babble about Sneasler and how the noble was thrown out of the temple by sheer force when trying to protect her. Ingo rushes out the temple with Emmet close behind and they find Sneasler laying on her side eyes closed. Emmet immediately reaches for a max revive and carefully feeds it to the fainted pokemon. Sneasler's eyes snap open taking in her surroundings. She lets out a cry of delight at seeing her beloved warden again and sniffs at Emmet, nodding slightly before letting out a low keening sound at the state of Akari in his arms. Akari raises an arm weakly to pat the noble. "Thank you for trying to protect me." Ingo says his own thanks to his noble for protecting his child and Sneasler huffs and places a clawed hand on his head and pats it.

The group make their way down the mountain and heading for the summit camp. Unaware of the morphed azure flute and the insistent message flashing across Akari's arc-phone buried deep in her satchel.

"Seek out all pokemon, then face me"

[generic-sonic-fan]

Edge of Tomorrow

Summary: Sometimes, Silver needs multiple tries to get things right. This means navigating his past and future selves as he rewrites his own memory of events.

And things can get messy very quickly.

6294 words

"Silver, where do you show up, anyway? I mean, is there some sort of swirly portal you step through? You never let us see it." Sonic teased.

"Better that you don't, it's pretty trippy." Silver rubbed his head spines. "Now, Tails, if you could explain the plan. . ."

---

Silver had finally chased down the pair of chaos emeralds, beating the cursed flames to them and taking them to his hideout. He studied the history book again, holding the date in his mind as he invoked chaos control. 

The portal opened, and he carried himself through. He stepped out onto a grassy field. This field, he remembered, should only be a few miles from Sonic's house. He couldn't orient himself to its direction until his head stopped spinning. Then he lifted himself with his power, and-

Another crystalline, swirling portal opened behind him.

Out stepped himself.

"Stop. Go home." Himself said.

Silver lowered to the ground. "Why?"

"It's not going to work your time around. Need to give it another shot." Himself shook his head.

"Password?" Silver asked.

"Elise."

"Okay, it's me. Or it's you. Us?"

"Seems I can't ever make up my mind on that. Sorry." Himself shrugged.

"So what do I have to do?"

"Go back and check the history book. Come back here and stop me if it says-"

"I know the drill. How many times have we done this?" Silver asked.

"I think this might be take two."

"It'd be real convenient if I was able to tell myself what to do better."

"It's okay, you don't know how you failed yet, and I just wiped my memory of it by stopping you here. But don’t worry, I'll figure something out."

"I always figure it out, don't I?" Silver brightened. 

Himself smiled back and pointed to the portal. "In you go. Hope you come back to flowers and sunshine. It'd mean I finally did something right, right?"

"Probably won't happen, but can't hurt to hope, right? Good luck!" Silver waved. He walked towards the portal. 

"Thanks, me!"

Silver hopped into the portal and arrived back to his hideout. He rushed toward the window and opened the curtain, only to find the same orange glow of flame.

He sighed, before ducking beneath the crumbling windowsill. A sea of tally marks cluttered the wall. He should really think about grouping them per event. . . except for the fact that trying to connect the dots might lead to a paradox. 

Regardless, he added another tally to the wall, before walking back over to the history book. The book was by the same author as it had been before, meaning that nothing too world-changing had happened. He opened it and flipped to the appropriate page. 

May 8th, 2017- Sonic and company disable the Egg reactor, preventing widespread casualties and long-lasting radiological effects.

Silver raised his fists in the air and whooped. He grabbed the chaos emeralds from where he'd set it on the table and honed in on his chaos control.

Now just to remember what he'd said to himself a few minutes ago. He remembered his opening line being something like "Stop, go home. . ."

---

Tails clasped his hands together. "And that's the plan. I'm going to be real with you, there's a chance it might not work, but-" 

"It will. I know it will." Silver patted his shoulder. "I have complete faith in you."

"You're so optimistic! How do you do it?"

Silver could only shrug.

Sure enough, the plan succeeded without a hitch.

---

Two months and one more hunt for a pair of chaos emeralds later, Silver stepped through the swirling portal into the past once more. 

This was a big one. A really, really big one. Eggman was going to- or technically, already had -wiped the area of Central City off the map. The future was not set, the future was never set, and this certain event had popped up in the good ol’ reliable history textbook a few nights ago. Whatever Sonic and co had done to start this chain of events was a mystery, and snooping around in the past to try and indirectly prevent it would be a fruitless endeavor. 

Sonic would never forgive himself if a whole city got destroyed. Silver was obligated to help. 

The grass, the wonderful green grass greeted him. He walked forward, inhaling the clean air. Flowers drifted in the breeze and-

“No. Stop. Go back.”

He whirled around to find himself.

“Password?”

“Elise.”

“Okay, it’s me. Shoot, don’t get it this time, do I?”

“Correct.”

“Okay, I know the drill, good luck!”

Silver stepped back through his origin portal, depositing him back into his hideout. Routine drew him to the window curtains; same old, same old outside, so he added a tally to the wall beneath the window and turned back to the history book. 

August 16th, 2018. Central City is destroyed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

Probably identical to what it read before, from what he could recall. He grabbed the chaos emeralds again and opened a portal. 

“No. Stop. Go back.” He shouted as he stepped onto the grass once more. 

His other self whipped around. Deja vu sent dizziness through him, and he grit his teeth to stave it off.

“Password?” His former self asked.

“Elise.”

“Okay, it’s me. Shoot, don’t get it this time, do I?”

“Correct.”

“Okay, I know the drill, good luck!”

His former self hopped back through the portal, and Silver waved. He took a moment to shake the lingering confusion, before stepping further into the clear air and sunlight. . . until another portal swirled open to the right.

“Not another step!” Himself leapt out. 

“Password?”

“Elise!”

“Okay, okay, heading back.”

“Good.”

Silver retreated to the portal he opened (that he remembered opening, not the one his future self had opened. . . gotta keep that straight.) He jogged over, checked the window, and scratched another tally. He paused before opening the cover of the history book, dancing in place and praying that this would be the time.

August 16th, 2018. Central City is destroyed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Sonic the Hedgehog perishes, and is succeeded by-

Silver slammed the book shut. He scrambled for his emeralds, nearly knocking one off the table as he whispered the phrase to invoke the portal. He flew through and-

A hand slaps over his mouth. He grabs the attacker with his power, but the other pushes back with psychokinesis of his own.

“The password’s Elise! It’s me, stop!”

"Stop it, both of you!"

Silver jerks out of the other Silver’s grasp. Another Silver, the past Silver, stares at the both of them.

“Three of us at once!?” Current Silver yells. “You know how dangerous that is! What is wrong with you?”

“You! Go home!” Future Silver points to past Silver. 

Silver can only numbly nod. Silver steps back through the portal. Silver remains standing on the grass. He smells smoke. He smells flowers. Silver is. . . Silver is. . .

“Snap out of it. You’re going home too. Trust me. We need another go.” Future Silver grabs his shoulder and shakes him back to focus.

“Don’t do that again.” Silver (himself, his actual self, right now, in this moment) points at his future self. 

“Go home, take fifteen minutes, come back.” Future Silver says. 

“Okay.”

Silver steps back through the portal. He stepped, he should say. This was him. He was present.

He walked over to the window and gave a half-hearted look through the curtains, before ducking to the wall beneath. The tally marks under here look equally fresh to each other. He really should start grouping him. He scratched another one down, before turning back to the history book. 

Future him said to give it fifteen minutes, but. . .

August 18th, 2018. Central City and Station Square are destroyed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Sonic the Hedgehog and the majority of his friends are caught in the-

He slammed the book against the far wall without lifting a finger. He grabbed his quills and clenched them as hard as possible. He screamed. He grabbed the chaos emeralds. He closed his eyes. 

Sunlight meets him. So does nausea. He scans for his prior self. He feels the cloth of a glove over his mouth, but as he checks with his eyes he finds no one. What. . . what had he said to himself earlier?

Past self walks by before he can give it more thought. 

“Hey, stop!”

Past self turns and grits his teeth. “Oh, come on!”

“Password’s Elise.” Silver offers.

“We really gotta stop with the password thing.”

Something’s wrong. There’s no deja vu. But there’s no time to worry about that- the future’s at stake here.

“Go home!” Silver yells. “Please, for the love of all things holy, go home.”

“Are you sure?”

“GO HOME!” Silver screams.

Past self flinches and returns through his portal. Suddenly Silver feels himself traveling back to the future as well. 

He walks- he walked, he walked, over to the window. Same orange glow. He bent down, adding another tally mark. He tasted. . . something, on his lips, and he remembered the flavor as Tails’ hot cocoa. Something must have gone right if Tails was celebrating with hot cocoa. The only trouble was that he didn’t remember what.

The history textbook was not on the table, but the floor, pages splayed open. Silver picked up the book and ran a finger along its spine, checking the binding only to find that it was torn. He frowned. The poor book had suffered through so much abuse at this rate! And he’d hate to have to scavenge another one.

He flipped the book open. He reminisced on some of the other entries- January 26th, 2016. September 1st, 2016, May 8th, 2017, December 10th, 2017. Sonic and company save the day. What the book would not tell of was the garden out behind Cream’s house, or the hours spent in Amy’s cafe after a successful day-saving, drinking smoothies and catching up as if he’d never left. 

He flipped to the date that had given him so much trouble.

August 17th, 2018. Central City is destroyed by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Sonic the Hedgehog is killed and a funeral held-

“No no no no! That’s now how this is supposed to go!” He screamed. 

He set the book down on the table and grabbed the chaos emeralds. He grabbed the chaos emeralds. He grabbed the chaos emeralds, he grabbed the chaos emeralds he grabbed the chaos emeralds he grabbed the he grabbed the he grabbed the

He grabbed the

He grabs the

Silver comes to in a pile of bodies, bumping, jostling, screaming, panting. He explodes a shockwave outwards, only to feel the blast thump in his own chest.

Six Silvers are sent flying. 

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” He shouts. 

Two Silvers vanish immediately, and Silver can taste their confusion as they fade away. The other four are caught, transfixed, on the disappearance. 

“Okay,” the first one starts. “That’s good. He wouldn’t go home. I was trying to make him.”

“And you need to go home as well!” Another grabs the first one’s shoulder. 

“We all need to go home.” Silver himself says. “And we need to stay home for an hour. Then I’ll come back and we’ll start this over. We can spare an hour to sort this out.”

The rest of the Silvers nod, and Silver finds himself nodding as well. They all start to meander towards their portal. Two Silvers approach the same portal, and Silver grabs him and sends him through the correct one at the last moment. 

Geez, that’s why this is so dangerous! What has gotten into himself? What could have possibly happened to make himself this desperate to get things right? He really needs to write the rules down in his hideout, have them pasted next to the window, or something. 

Silver sits (sat) down in the grass and breathed. His chest was getting tight, and he tried to relax, slow his breathing, take a moment. He told himself to take an hour, so who was to say he couldn’t take his hour here? He’d wait here, catch his breath, then head off to investigate. The fact that he can’t remember why he’d come here wasn’t something to be concerned about. Eggman’s plans were always flashy. Once he found Sonic, he could ask, and they’d get on their way. It wouldn’t be the first time that Sonic has had to help him find the reason he’d come back- time travel was messy, and sometimes he doesn’t remember everything, and that’s okay.

“Hey, Silver!”

“Password!” He threw himself to his feet.

“Huh?”

Silver blinked. Sonic stood in front of him, and was offering a hand. 

Tears came to Silver’s eyes. Sonic was here. Sonic is here, okay, blinking, breathing, though why any of these details were important escaped him.

“You’re okay.” 

“Uh, yeah, are you?”

Silver rubs- Silver rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, sorry. Something bad’s about to happen, as usual, and I figured I’d lend a hand.”

“Cool! Race you back to the-”

“STOP!”

A firm hand lands on his shoulder and Sonic’s mouth falls open. 

“Stop. Go home.” Future Silver’s voice shakes from behind.

“Are there supposed to be two of you?”

“Now look what you’ve done!” Silver brushes his hand off his shoulder and turns to him.

“I wouldn’t have done this if I had the choice! You have to go home!”

“Why?”

“I don’t remember. You know we can’t remember!”

“Silver, is this a paradox?” Sonic asks.

“No!” They both snap. They then look at each other.

“Though it might be if we keep doing that.” Other Silver says. 

“Okay, okay, going home.” Silver agrees. 

Other Silver gestures to his portal- Silver’s original portal had long since fizzled out, but this one would lead back to the same time and place, hopefully. . .

He stepped back into the smoke-riddled hideout. He trudged over to the window, but this time didn’t even bother to poke through the curtains. He knelt down and scratched another tally. Underneath the window was getting full. He might have to creep the tally count up the sides of the window at this rate.

How many times had he thought that same thought? It was impossible to know if this was one of many, or if this was the first.

He walked back over to the history book. It sat on the table, opened to a particular page. 

August 16th, 2018. He almost didn’t want to read the rest. His eyes caught the word Sonic, followed by the word killed.

Silver yelled. The rage echoed against the ceiling and spilled out of the window.

Think, think, idiot! How was he going to fix this? Sonic had showed up, so now he had to dodge Sonic’s questions about what the hell was going on. He couldn’t travel back to the time before Sonic had showed up, because he needed to stop the self that Sonic had seen. 

But, of course, the moment he stepped into the past to stop his past self, he immediately forgot why he’d come back in the first place! Fuck, this was making this head hurt. The swear word Rouge had taught him seemed appropriate to use right now. 

Okay. Okay. Just another try. Repeat the conversation he’d had with himself in front of Sonic, send himself back to this moment, then wait to see if another future him stopped present him. 

He grabbed the emeralds.

In a moment he’s back on the grass. His past self is in front of him. Beyond that stands Sonic, and Silver is able to watch in real time how his jaw slacks and brows furrow. 

“STOP!” Silver recalls his line and grabs his counterpart’s shoulder. “Stop. Go home.”

“Are there supposed to be two of you?” Sonic asks.

“Now look what you’ve done!” Past Silver brushes his hand off his shoulder and turns. 

“I wouldn’t have done this if I had the choice! You have to go home!” Silver pleads. 

“Why?”

“I don’t remember. You know we can’t remember!”

“Silver, is this a paradox?” Sonic asks.

“No!” They both snap. They then look at each other.

“Though it might be if we keep doing that.” Silver affirms. He flicks his eyes back to the swirling portal.

“Okay, okay, going home.” Silver agrees. 

He journeys back through the portal. Silver waits for the deja vu to fade before turning back to Sonic.

“Hey.” He says. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries.” Sonic replies. “So. . ?”

Sonic waits for something, and it takes Silver an embarrassingly long time to figure out that it’s context. Sonic has his own fair share of copies, after all.

“Don’t worry about that.” Silver says. “Sometimes I need multiple tries to get things right, you know?”

“Trippy, but also kind of cool. I wish I had multiple shots to get it right!”

“That’s not quite how it works.” He rubs the back of his quills.

He cringes when he hears another portal open behind him. 

“SONIC!” Himself cries. 

“What’s wrong?” Sonic replies. 

Silver turns in time for himself to shove past. Immediately his eyes tear up and grief blooms in him; other Silver is openly crying. Sonic is here, but he can’t remember why this is so important. Remember, remember!

“You have to go home,” other Silver says to him, before looking at Sonic, “and something keeps happening with you.”

“There has to be a reason I keep coming back here. Something really bad to risk this many do-overs!” Silver says. 

“What happens?” Sonic asks.

“We can’t tell you because we can’t remember!” Both Silvers chime. 

“Right, okay,” Sonic puts a hand on his chin. “What if you wrote yourself a note about it?”

“Wouldn’t work.” Future Silver says. “The note would retroactively dissipate just as our memory does whenever we come back. We’re- I’m rewriting history, which means that I’m rewriting the textbook, but I came back here because the textbook said something bad about how past me went about it. Does this make any sense?”

Present Silver isn’t even quite sure he’s following, but he nods anyway. Sonic, however, doesn’t nod at all. 

“You. Go home.” Future Silver points back to the portal.

Silver walks through- and he’s back in the grass, standing before Sonic, still wearing the same confused expression. Silver looks left and right. There’s no other himselfs around and the portal behind him is the only one open.

“What was I just saying?” He asks.

“Something about rewriting history so you can’t make yourself a note?” Sonic replies.

The memory of those sentences is weak, but still there. Silver nods. 

“So, are we good now?” Sonic asks.

“Let’s see. If it isn’t, then I’ll come back and stop me.”

Silver walks forward a few steps. No other portals open. He breathes the smell of the grass and flowers in through his nose and exhales out his mouth. Nothing.

“Okay. Looks like we might have a shot at this.” He smiles. “Now-”

Only for him to be slammed to the ground, cyan erupting over his fur. 

“WHY CAN’T I GET THIS RIGHT?” Silver screams, but his lips don’t move. 

“Woah, hey, stop! Let him go!”

“Sonic. . .”

The cyan dissipates, and Silver sits back upright. Future him lowers himself to the ground. Confusion flickers in his eyes.

“Geez, Silver, you might want to ask Amy about a little thing called ‘self-love’ the next time you see her.” Sonic quips quietly. He steps between the two, arms spread.

“I’m sorry. The password’s Elise. You know the drill. Please go home. Please.” Future him pleads. 

“Elise?” Sonic asks.

“Don’t worry about it.” Present Silver says. “But, me, we can’t keep doing this. We’ve been lucky so far that we haven’t erased myself completely.”

“I know,” himself concurs. “And soon it won’t be August 16th anymore.”

Sonic lowers his arm. “Maybe I could come back to the future with you? That way, I could remember what you keep forgetting.”

“NO!” They both scream. 

“No no no no.” Present Silver says, and he catches future him muttering in rhythm as well. “I can barely manage myself as it is. And I already come back here-” he points to the future self, “-so bringing you back might cause that to be erased, which might erase me as well. Maybe. Sort of.”

“I can see why you don’t want to chance it.” Sonic said.

“In any case, that means you need to go home.” Future Silver says. “Give me a shot. And, you know, come back and stop me if it doesn’t work.”

“No. There has to be some way I can communicate what I’m forgetting before I forget it, right? Some way to transfer information before the timeline changes.”

“You guys got some sort of ‘deja vu’ to work with?” Sonic asks.

“Yes! The deja vu!” Present him snaps. “Our mind forgets but our body remembers!”

“I wouldn’t go that far. You really need to go home.” Future Silver points back to his portal. “If you’re right, and I don’t get it, then we’ll probably be able to continue this conversation where we left off.”

“Right. Goodbye!” Present Silver waves to Sonic. 

Smoke. Curtains. Tally. History book. August 16th, 2018. The same words on the page, or at least it feels that way, and Silver leans deep into the deja vu. Sonic dies. Sonic dies! What was so hard to remember about this? He chants those two words like a mantra as he grabs the emeralds and opens the portal ahead of where his past self left to meet with his future self again.

He steps out, and the other Silver beside Sonic vanishes with a wash of terror that sets Silver’s quills on end. 

Fuck. He was supposed to be the future self this time around.

Sonic waves a hand through the open air. “Was that supposed to happen?”

Nausea snakes its way through his stomach and his knees give out. The world spins around him. Who is he? Silver, that’s right. Where is he? The past, that much is for sure from all the green. And crouching beside him is Sonic, hero of Mobius, friend from the past, and he’s saying words that aren’t quite registerable. 

“What just happened?” Silver asks.

“The other version of you disappeared. Was that supposed to happen?”

“How many times have I been back here?”

Sonic counts on his fingers. “Four, I think?”

“And what were the most recent other version of myself and me doing?”

“Uh. . . that’s funny, I don’t remember.”

“Because I erased him. I felt his fear as he vanished. I remember that! I remember feeling his pain!” Silver realizes. 

“The mind forgets, but the body remembers.” Sonic said, puzzling himself with every word he added. “Woah. I feel like one of us has said that before or something.”

“Deja vu!”

“So do you remember what was so important to come back and tell me about, then?”

“No. I need to go back and try again.”

“Why don’t you take a little break while you’re there? Don’t overlap with this time when you come back. That way you don’t have to argue with yourself.”

“Okay, I will.”

Sonic extends a hand and pulls Silver to his feet. He eyes the swirling portal behind him. He takes a deep breath of the fresh air before walking back to the future. 

Instead of making for the window, Silver goes for (went for? He really didn’t know at this point) the chair in the corner of the hideout. He shut his eyes. 

He didn’t know how long it was before he opened them again. Anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour. He reached down beside the chair to grab a can of food. Peaches, as it’s revealed. He peeled the lid off with a flick of his eyes and fed himself a few slices. The taste was bright. Grounding, almost.

The mind forgets, but the body remembers. 

He set the can back down. The history book was on the table. Now that he was here, he didn’t even need to look at it to recall the words. August 16th, 2018, the day that Sonic dies. 

Once, he’d promised himself to never tell his friends about their deaths. But this was different, wasn’t it? Even if he couldn’t recall it in memory, Silver knew this was somehow the fault of his interference. 

The mind forgets, but the body remembers. His memory couldn’t stay constant, but his body always would unless he went back to prevent the damage. He'd never been able to heal using time travel. He eyed the torn can lid. He’d stopped opening them by hand years ago, not since he’d cut himself on the edge of a lid once. 

He grabbed the can lid and held out his arm. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pressed down. 

He was crying by the time he finished carving, whimpering to the empty concrete walls. The letters were barely legible through the blood staining his fur. He retrieved a rag from across the room, dropping it a few times as the pain interrupted his power, before pressing the cloth against the wounds. Once the bleeding stopped, he cleaned the stray staining with his spit. 

He stood and grabbed the chaos emeralds. He re-read the entry in the history book, even though it wouldn’t matter in the end. He closed his eyes, whispered the words, and stepped through the portal. 

“Hey again, Silver. Take that break I told you to?”

“There’s something you need to know.”

“Did you figure out how to remember it?”

Silver closed his eyes and searched his memory. The minutes before were a blur, now, and the history book was the biggest blur of them all, text flickering like flames whipping through a dark sky. Then he recalled the pain in his arm.

S, O, N, I, C, D, I, E, S. . .

And he laughed. He laughed, and he laughed, and he laughed until he cried. 

“Um, haha?” Sonic replied.

“The reason I keep coming back here is because you keep dying, idiot.” Silver choked out between laugh-sobs. 

“Oh no! How?”

Silver turned his arm around and gestured to the scratches. “Sorry, limited space here.”

“Dude. That’s. . .” Sonic shivered. “That’s messed up.”

“How many times have I been back here?”

“Lots.”

“Exactly. It would seem that you keep dying no matter what I do.”

“There has to be a way. Now that I know, I can be more careful this time.”

“Let’s get to Tails’ workshop, then. You can catch me up as to what Eggman is actually up to when we're there.”

“Sounds good. You feeling well enough to fly?”

Before Silver could answer, another portal opened to their right. Future Silver emerged, holding his cut arm outstretched and pointing to it. Present Silver nodded and stepped back into his own portal. He barely spent a moment in the concrete walls before opening the portal back again. He made sure to walk through with the exact motion as his counterpart had. Deja vu hit hard, but it hit right, and his past self repeated his nod and swift exit just as he remembered it.

“What was that?” Sonic asked.

“Use your brain. Apparently you died again.”

“Like, in an alternate timeline? An alternate universe?”

“I don’t know how it works, but I wouldn’t have interrupted myself like this if it wasn’t something serious.”

“I don’t get it. How do you know when to come back and interrupt yourself, anyway, if you keep erasing your reason for coming back?”

“Because I remember my future self coming back and stopping me, so I know to come back and be that future self. Now I’m here.”

“. . . that’s a lot of trust in yourself.”

All Silver could do was shrug. As if on cue, another portal opened.

“Oh, come on!” Sonic said.

“I’m sorry, but I need to interrupt early on, otherwise we lose time.” Future Silver said.

“Yeah, what he said.” Present Silver replied. 

“So I keep dying. But how am I supposed to avoid it if it hasn’t happened yet? It’s not, like, unavoidable, is it?”

Silver froze. Future Silver looked to the ground, before his eyebrows widened. 

He held up his finger. “Sonic, you can’t die if you aren’t there!”

“Huh?”

“You can’t die if you aren’t there. Whatever Eggman’s planning, don’t respond to it! Just let me take care of it.”

“Silver, I’m flattered, but if I keep dying when we both go and tackle the thing, then I won’t let you face it alone.”

“You have to let me try. It’s our only option, unless you want a third me to join this party.” Present Silver said. 

“Promise me you’ll stay home?” Future Silver asked. 

Sonic frowned. “Fine. I promise.”

Present Silver (Silver himself, he recalled) hopped back through the portal and opened another one back in an instant. 

“Oh, come on!” Sonic said in familiar tone.

Other Silver, past Silver, waited expectantly. Silver imitated the line as he remembered. “I’m sorry, but I need to interrupt early on, otherwise we lose time.”

“Yeah, what he said.” Past Silver backed him up. 

“So I keep dying. But how am I supposed to avoid it if it hasn’t happened yet? It’s not, like, unavoidable, is it?”

“Sonic, you can’t die if you’re not there.” Silver affirmed immediately. 

“Huh?”

“Stay home. I mean it! I’ll take care of whatever Eggman’s got planned. If you aren’t there, you can’t die, and we can nip this problem in the bud.”

“But what about you? If I keep dying when you’re with me, then could you really handle it alone?”

“We won’t know if we don’t try.” Past Silver said.

“You need to go.” Silver pointed to his past self.

“Right.”

“And you need to promise to stay home.” He pointed to Sonic as his past self disappeared through the portal. 

“Fine. I promise.” Sonic said. 

Another portal opened. Another Silver stepped out.

“Wha- I said I promised!” Sonic said. “Did it not work or something?”

“You have to mean it.” Present Silver hissed. “That’s probably why he’s here.”

Future Silver crossed his arms and frowned. 

“Okay. You caught me. I didn’t really mean it that time.” Sonic shook his head. He then extended his hand. “This time, though, I mean it. I swear.”

Present Silver took his hand and they shook on it. Silver then re-entered his portal and whipped up another one in a blink. This time, it was almost a little fun to frown disappointedly at Sonic, and he remembered to cross his arms. 

“Okay. You caught me. I didn’t really mean it that time.” Sonic shook his head. He then extended his hand. “This time, though, I mean it. I swear.”

Past Silver shook his hand, before hopping back through his portal. Present Silver waited until the other portal disappeared.

“We’ll see if you mean it.” He said.

“I do. You know I don’t break my promises when I really make one.”

“Let’s wait and see if you’re right.”

Minutes passed. The wind blew around the grassy field. Sonic fidgeted with his gloves. The only portal that swirled was Present Silver’s own behind him. 

“. . . could it be?” Silver whispered.

“Don’t jinx it.”

“I think this is it.”

“Your future self has a knack for comedic timing, so seriously, don’t jinx it.”

Another minute passed. No interruptions. Silver flung himself up in the air and swooped with joy.

“YES! We did it! This is the time I get it right!”

“Alright, woohoo!” Sonic joined the cheer. 

Sonic took off in a direction across the field. Silver followed. Through grass and trees and loop-de-loops Sonic sped, until they reached Tails’ workshop. 

Sonic paused, however, before reaching the door. “Hey, Silver?”

“Yeah?”

“What if the reason you’re not coming to stop yourself this time is because you’re the one who dies?”

“Don’t break your promise now. Stay. Home.”

“Look, just, be careful out there. Don’t be afraid to call for backup if you need it.”

“Okay.”

They went inside. 

—

Don’t be afraid to call for backup if you need it, said an idiot who kept dying over and over again. Silver crushed the communicator Tails had given him the moment he arrived in Central City.

Eggman’s robots had erupted from the sewers and swarmed the streets. Silver gathered as many as he could focus on and crushed them into a big ball. He then smashed said ball into the face of Eggman’s mechsuit, though this did little more than cause it to stumble. 

“Oh, hoho! Silver the hedgehog, I’m flattered. I must have really done something right if you’re here to stop me!” Eggman’s voice blared. 

The mechsuit fired a volley of missiles in all directions. Silver caught the ones roaring towards buildings and guided them into the sky before throwing up a shield in around himself to block the ones that had closed in on him during that time. The impact flung him downwards. He refocused just enough to keep himself from slamming into the ground. He pulled himself back upright and-

One of the hands of the mechsuit gripped around his body. He scrabbled around the edges of the fingers with his psychokinesis, but couldn’t find a hold. 

“Goodbye, future annoyance.” Eggman said.

The metal around him tightened. Silver flung his power in any direction he could, but his focus slipped when he stopped being able to breathe. Spots covered his vision. Everything began to go dark.

“Chaos spear!”

A huge vibration shook the world, and the terrible crushing force released him. Silver hit the ground face-first. For a moment, all he could do was breathe, breathe. 

“Silver, move!”

Silver rolled out of the way as a huge foot crushed the road where he’d been. He picked himself off the ground and spotted Shadow spin-dashing into the mechsuit’s other leg. 

“Shadow! You shouldn’t be here! I can handle this!” 

Shadow threw him a brief glare before dodging Eggman’s reach. Silver grabbed a few cars off the street and impaled them into the spot where Shadow had spin-dashed. There was a sharp metal clang, and a chunk of plating fell to the ground. 

Something sharp and hot hit Silver’s quills. He whirled around to face a horde of normal robots shooting at him. He dived around the rest of their lasers, before pulverizing them together into a fine paste of parts that he used to pierce the mechsuit's chest. One of the remaining robots fired a net, though its computer brain must’ve suffered a hit beforehand, as the net sailed far over Silver’s head. He laughed, before crushing the robot flat with a flick of his finger. 

Then Shadow yelped. 

Silver turned around and-

Sonic is stuck in the net. The mechsuit’s hand slams down. When it lifts again, there’s barely anything left to identify. Silver’s throat tightens. He can’t focus enough to keep himself in the air. He hits the ground, hard, and it’s all he can do to run-

“Chaos control!”

There was a bright flash before the metal palm struck the asphalt. Shadow reappeared above the cockpit and slammed his foot down hard enough to shatter the glass. Eggman shrieked. He furiously scratched at his control panel, causing another dome of glass to pop up over him, and his cockpit detached from the rest of the mech. Shadow was flung off as the jets throttled up. The empty mechsuit started to fall. Silver caught him and pulled him out of the crush zone.

“You’re okay!” Silver flung his arms around him.

Shadow twitched in his embrace. “Let go.”

He stole one more moment, feeling Shadow’s shoulders rise and fall as he breathed, before releasing him. “Sorry. How’d you-”

“Sonic called. Said you were about to do something suicidal.”

“He sent you here? He shouldn’t have. He shouldn’t have. I needed to do this alone, otherwise-”

“I’m aware. Note that I’m not Sonic. Note that I’m also still alive, as are you.” Shadow gave a small smile. 

“. . . thanks.” 

His smile faded. “Don’t do this again. You’re fortunate that I arrived when I did. Next time, ask for help.”

“Says you.” 

Shadow crossed his arms. “Hmph.”

—

Silver returned to the future with the taste of Tails’ hot cocoa lingering on his lips. He walked to the window. He peeked through the curtains and the orange glow of the flames shined on his face. He gave half a smile, before ducking beneath the windowsill. However, there wasn’t much room down here anymore. Instead, he scratched the latest tally on the wall beside the window. 

He turned back to the table, only to find the chaos emeralds had vanished. A quick search of the rest of his hideout didn’t turn them up either. It seemed the gemstones thought his mission was complete, or that maybe he should take a break, or whatever. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d have to start scouting all over again. 

He eyed the textbook. It sat neatly closed. He opened the cover and flipped through the pages until he reached the year he remembered. He then searched for the date. . . only to find nothing. July 30th had an event, some sort of legislation was passed, and September 4th had something about a festival, but there was nothing in between. August 16th and the attack on Central City had been erased from historical memory. Sonic and friends save the day for the umpteenth time, it could’ve read. 

Silver looked back to the newest tally mark on the wall. He then plucked the can lid from the floor beside his chair, and began scratching letters. 

August 16th, 2018. 

He paused and looked down at his arm. He then added two more words. 

Sonic lives.

[the-ironic-monster]

eh screw it have the full image of the one post i did a few weeks ago. file name: hard pillow

[good--merits-accumulated]

when the intrigue starts intriguing (fic snippet under the cut because what do you know. sharing my writing still gives me the Horrors)

(so i have a lot of thoughts about Cameron as a betrayer even though he is one in this fic, because he's seriously just looking for a reason, ANY reason, to not betray anyone at all. he's desperately trying to find the tiniest of ways to excuse himself into doing the right thing, and Neil WILL NOT GIVE IT TO HIM. not even out of malice, he just wears his heart sewn to his sleeve like it's fucking applique. this plays into a bunch of dynamics re: fic that essentially end up as "jesus CHRIST, this guy isn't suited for politics", but i think it's summed up well here - Cameron asking Neil for a reason to make him stay, to stop him from reporting back to Neil's father, and being met with mockery, because in Neil's view, what's the point of befriending a traitor? they remain a traitor anyway. and then from Cameron's view this is the final straw on the back of the camel.)

[alwaysbethewest]

I don’t read a lot fic so I’m simultaneously living in an ignorant lalaland but also wanting more and afraid to venture into wild territory for fear of repeatedly encountering the Joel you mentioned. If even someone like me has noticed it, then it’s truly pervasive. I like to think I do a decent job of separating the character from their dominant trope/au/fanon but it gets hard <insert Oscar Isaac coffee gif>

I'm kind of in the same boat! I'm not reading that much these days (and when my brain is ready to I have a looong to-read list for other characters!) but I like to scroll through the fandom tag and skim the summaries. I'm sure there IS some great, thoughtful, in-character fic out there but I rarely see anything that draws me in. I've actually literally just added a tag filter for his name so I can stop looking in the first place because I find it so dispiriting and confusing 😕

[queerenteen]

Super self indulgent but to me there are four classes of favourite characters:

Kin: Relatable, can and will superimpose your goals, fears, ideals and experiences on them because they're just so damn similar to you

Simp: Self explanatory. God they're so hot they could step on you and you would thank them (related note: kin and simp ships just hit different)

Smol: They're your babies. You love them and they're precious. Can do no wrong in your eyes even if they're occasionally so stupid.

Beloved: These are like your best friends. You adore them to bits but why are they such idiots?

[specialgrades]

Bro bro I. I need to be gang banged by Leon, Chris, Wesker, Carlos, Ethan, Luis, Nicholai, and Wesker like I need them to run an absolutely brutal train on me I do not want to he able to walk for days after mark my fuckin words

BDJEJSISUD — a bunch of emotionally distant men taking out every frustration on your poor little body... yeah i like that

luis, carlos, and occasionally leon are smothering with their praise. chris, wesker, and nicholai are making angels weep with their filthy words 🥴

luis and carlos both switch between spanish and english and kinda lose each other occasionally but it's hot either way watching them lose themselves to the point their brains stop translating

ethan strikes me as quiet (though i don't divulge much he's just girldad to me) but will praise sweetly

[nicolegendary]

.

[brittlebutch]

still can't help but empathize deeply with Hob's anger and affront over the duel during the 'Southern Lawn' episode, mostly because I also cannot understand the social steps taken to land him in that position during any part of those confrontations