#parataxis

[hobgirlonao3]

happy birthday to me. go read my new totally normal sonadow fic with nothing weird or freaky going on. no, don't look at the ships, look at me. it's normal

[polyanthea]

In a poem, one line may hide another line, As at a crossing, one train may hide another train. That is, if you are waiting to cross The tracks, wait to do it for one moment at Least after the first train is gone. And so when you read Wait until you have read the next line— Then it is safe to go on reading.

[...]

One wish may hide another. And one person's reputation may hide The reputation of another. One dog may conceal another On a lawn, so if you escape the first one you're not necessarily safe; One lilac may hide another and then a lot of lilacs and on the Appia Antica      one tomb May hide a number of other tombs. In love, one reproach may hide      another, One small complaint may hide a great one. One injustice may hide another—one colonial may hide another, One blaring red uniform another, and another, a whole column.

[...]

                                               One identical twin May hide the other. And there may be even more in there! The      obstetrician Gazes at the Valley of the Var. We used to live there, my wife and I, but One life hid another life. And now she is gone and I am here.

[...]

When you come to something, stop to let it pass So you can see what else is there. At home, no matter where, Internal tracks pose dangers, too: one memory Certainly hides another, that being what memory is all about, The eternal reverse succession of contemplated entities. 

-Kenneth Koch, “One Train May Hide Another”

[asfaltics]

lines

sleeve lengths, continued. 30 August 2019

—

John did not really know his own heart.

Iris Murdoch, The Nice and the Good (1968; Penguin edn, 1978) : 230  

[ladybugmeat]

Today

Today I bought a jacket, took the old one off and threw it in the bin. Put all my phone and junk back in the new pockets. Felt the same, just a different shade of green. Lit a cigarette, put it out on a new office block. Looked around to see if I was alright. Sat in Costa, bought a drink - half cream, half chocolate. Left the chocolate. 

Stood around in changing rooms for a bit, sweated out the new jacket. Tried on a massive padded bra and my neck disappeared. Tasty bit of magic. Went home on the bus, put some new earrings in. Star shapes. Stared at my to-do list. Colour coded and closed my laptop.

[hobgirlonao3]

ok the urge to post my new fic is officially becoming unbearable. i'm determined to hold out though so instead u get to see what i've lovingly dubbed "the failed shadow pov". actual fic will be sonic's pov and up october 16th 👍

Three months to the date after the Shatterverse incident, Shadow wakes up in a cold sweat. It's not the first time it's happened; recently, his dreams have been filled with visions of Sonic vanishing, of Shadow being just a fraction of a second to slow to stop him from being erased from reality. Every time it happens he spends hours convincing himself Sonic is still alive, often so long that by the time he's calmed down the sun is already coming up and trying to get more sleep is pointless—but tonight is different.

Tonight, Shadow can seek out more tangible proof that Sonic is alive.

He doesn't waste any time before teleporting to the general area he knows Sonic will be in—doesn't even bother smoothing down his undoubtedly ruffled quills or pulling on his shoes and gloves. He has no more need for modesty anymore if he's just going to see Sonic.

The blue hedgehog isn't hard to find. He's curled up under a tree; his quills blend in with the dark of the night, but the bright red blanket covering him stands out.

Shadow approaches quietly, but not quiet enough; Sonic starts to stir when he's a few paces away. He rubs his eyes and pushes himself up on one elbow, squints blearily in Shadow's direction. "Shadow?"

Shadow doesn't respond immediately. On the one hand, seeing Sonic with his own eyes and hearing his voice is enough to assure him the blue blur hasn't vanished; on the other, it makes him feel embarrassed to have been worried at all. Of course Sonic is still here—Shadow is the one who saved him, after all.

He's being silly. He should have just gone back to sleep, shouldn't gave come here even though—

"Bad dream?" Sonic asks, smiling gently.

Shadow's ears tilts back. "I'm not some kind of child," he snaps. "I don't need to be coddled."

Sonic yawns. In his half-asleep state, he's somehow even less impressed by Shadow's attitude than usual. "So what happened?"

Shadow balls his hands into fists and trains his eyes on a point over Sonic's shoulder. "You died," he admits. "I wasn't fast enough. You just… vanished."

"I didn't, though," Sonic says. "I'm right here."

"I know that," Shadow growls. "I just…" He looks at Sonic again, finds him staring back with half-lidded eyes that nonetheless sparkle with amusement.

"Needed some reassurance?" Sonic finishes for him. He lifts one corner of the blanket invitingly. "Come on, then."

Shadow hesitates for a moment, then drops to the ground beside Sonic and curls up next to him. It's a little awkward, at first; his knees knock into Sonic's thighs, squishes his ear against his upper arm—but eventually they find a comfortable position with Sonic on his back and Shadow's head resting on this chest. He can hear his heart beating. It's nice. Grounding.

Sonic trails his fingers absentmindedly through the fur of Shadow's upper arm. After a few minutes his movements start to slow, as does his breathing and heartbeat. Shadow thinks he's fallen asleep, tilts his head to look up at him and check—and finds Sonic looking back at him, smiling gently.

"Hi," he says, voice soft and a little raspy with the edge of sleep.

Shadow's heart constricts painfully. He wants to kiss him—and remembers a little belatedly that, as of one week ago, he can.

He tilts his head up and presses their lips together. They've kissed a few times now, but Shadow still feels uncertain of himself every time. He doesn't think Sonic necessarily has any more experience in this area than he does, but Sonic makes up for his lack of experience with enthusiasm in a way Shadow simply can't.

Now, too—the kiss Shadow initiated was chaste, but Sonic moves with it, turns it into more than a simple press of their lips together. He winds a hand into Shadow's quills and pulls him closer, tilts his head and opens his mouth—

Shadow pulls away. "You should sleep."

"First you wake me up, then you tell me to sleep." Sonic huffs, amused. "Make up your mind, dude."

Shadow looks down at his hand on Sonic's chest. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"But you did," Sonic says, not a hint of accusation in his tone, "so we might as well make the most of the situation."

"You mean—"

"Making out, yeah." Sonic grins, bright and boyish.

Shadow levels him with an unimpressed stare. "You're insufferable."

Sonic's grin starts to falter. "But you like me anyway?"

Unfortunately, Shadow does. He doesn't give himself the chance to say something embarrassing, leaning in for another kiss.

Sonic smiles against his mouth and pulls him closer.

[hobgirlonao3]

sneak peek for the fic i'm dropping tomorrow

[hobgirlonao3]

people who like when i bully shadow are going to have a field day with parataxis

[bebipbopt]

SUPERCONductive brains