#the other side being the posted fic

[king-candybug-backup]

So my friend was telling me about how back when the movie first came out, they used to ship Ralph and King Candy REALLY hard, and that was just such a funny concept to me (/pos!) that I had to let the meme goblins take over my brain once again lmfao (this meme specifically)

[justaz]

arthur (prince of camelot) still has to study under a tutor bc yknow uther wants him to be very intelligent before becoming king or something bc its super important idk idc anyways merlin is doing chores in his chambers while arthur is squinting at a book and merlin eventually caves and asks him what he’s reading and arthur gruffly explains that its a collection of stories from greece that make absolutely no sense so merlin asks him to read them outloud to him. arthur of course teases him and calls him an idiot and asks how he could possibly help but does as he’s asked and reads the stories to merlin as he does his chores. merlin (being crushed under the weight of destiny and tormented by the prophecies that kilgharrah spews) understands the stories almost immediately and gets all excited and starts rambling about them with arthur. arthur is glad to have someone who understands so he can give something that reflects a hint of understanding to his tutor who accepts it and moves onto the next unit of education.

the thing is, arthur finds more stories in camelot’s library and brings them up to his room to read them aloud to merlin under the guise of completing his studies but really he just wants to watch as merlin’s eyes gleam when he understands whats happening and listen to him ramble on and on about them bc he’s gay. the stories stick with merlin though and he realizes that they’re cautionary tales, that the heroes who were told too much of their future doomed themself to fulfill them - that them fighting the prophecies led to their completion. merlin takes it to heart and gives a big “fuck you” to kilgharrah before forging his own fate and helping morgana with her magic and handing out an olive branch to mordred and now everyone can live happily and peacefully in an albion teeming with magic.

[camellcat]

first xander brought her back with human breath and determination... then willow with supernatural power and love.... smth smth two halves to keep their third in balance from drifting too far into either side and losing herself.....

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Fais fanfic rambles: Introduction to my 'Selkies by Starlight' ISaT AU

Note: Not to be confused with @looped-140-and-counting / Soren_793's wonderful Selkie AU oneshot series 'The Northern Islanders are Selkies' which was hugely inspiring for this if potentially VERY different in vibe (we got very into talking about cloaks! XD)

Basic premise/summary:

In an alternate version of the precanon adventure, the party lead by Mirabelle to stop the King freezing Vaugarde in time, recruit Siffrin as per usual.

Thing is, Siffrin is a Selkie.

A very skittish selkie without a cloak of their own, who openly wears the cloak of another, and due to Reasons is under the impression that the party know all both of those things and the Implications about them, and for whatever reason have decided to welcome him into their group anyway.

Which er, he's completely wrong about as the party know absolutely nothing.

Mira and Isa like most Vaugardian humans think 'shifters' are just fairytales, Odile knows shapeshifters are real but is only really familiar with how foxes like her father work, and Bonnie is actually able to sense some pretty major things but is a preteen dealing with a lot and hasn't even joined the party yet, so this pretty major misunderstanding is sustained for quite a while...

Cue the AUs' main focus being on the resulting party dynamic shifts as more and more canon divergence due to Sif's 'selkie stuff' (both cute and serious) comes into play, the party slowly realising something is up, and all of it hitting an eruption point right around the time of the 4th Orb/the loss of Siffrin's eye...

Some key world building notes: (Note: very summarised from my docs. I have like 20k+ words on this stuff XD)

The Island - Probably the most drastically different thing from canon here, the Island was not forgotten or erased here. Rather it is hidden away and permanently shrouded in Wish Craft generated fog from 'those without cloaks'. Side note: Sif is still unable to return home and continues to have some very plot critical memory problems but those are due to unrelated issues, which means yay I get to have Sif talk 'home culture' with the others in this =D Also idk why the King is freezing Vaugarde still. I've got a few ideas I'm not sure about and he's not in focus enough for it to even matter really, but random suggestions -especially those with possible selkie motivations- would be very much appreciated.

Selkie powers in my setting - Went into something of a deep dive regarding selkie folklore for this and did you know they have an absolute ton of seer/oracle based stuff going on?

From selkie being summoned by their human lovers shedding seven tears into the ocean, to a selkie man telling a former lover that he and their child will die at the hands by her genuinely good and loving future husband, to a selkie woman forseeing her fisherman husband about to die out in a storm just in time for her to swim over there and rescue him, etc.

So... Yeah. This AU has a lot of plot relevant sensory/seer stuff going on as well as the standard seal shapeshifter stuff (Islander selkie traditionally believe it to be the Universe talking with them, in the same way Wish Craft is talking to the Universe), and going off all the stuff I read decided it'd be most fitting if the general rule for how it all works is: - Selkie always passively have a bit of it going on (aka Sif's canon 'you sense someone nearby' stuff) which like most things can be enhanced with Craft use a bit. - Near perfect understanding of all 'connected' bodies of water (aka they know EXACTLY where the tasty fish are/will be and can probably get a general sense of location for most people on a boat) - Potentially get strong 'visions of the future' and/or instincts on what they need to do to avert an outcome when it comes to loved ones being in danger/distress.

They also maybe get to pull very fast, high power Wish Craft 'curses'/miracles' at idk, the cost of something major like their cloak or lives (mostly based off of the The Legend of Kópakonan where the whole island of Kalsoy was cursed with death by a selkie in retaliation for her husband and children being murdered) but not super attached to this idea past it being in 'seal shifter' stories in-setting.

Other non humans in setting and regional differences in shifters - Pretty much only selkie and selkie issues are in focus here, but just as a general thing, all non humans in setting are shapeshifters and originated from human ancestors who went crazy with the the Body Craft and/or used Wish Craft in some way.

Ka Bue in particular has a ton of them since yokai, with their origins being various sects/clans back in the warring eras going so nuts with trying to weaponize Body Craft (super soldiers, enhanced life spans, infiltration, exploiting attraction to furries, etc), that after some particularly high profile incidents (for an idea plz see: Kiyohime, Tamamo no Mae, Kachi-kachi Yama) and 'Body Craft misuse leading to shut down of the brain/vital organs' being the most common cause of death for 10+ years once peace time was established, eventually Ka Bue's authorities set their foot down and banned Body Craft altogether.

Currently the shifter population in Ka Bue is around 30% of the population, shifters are required to have ID regarding their forms (or potential forms if they're merely 'half'), and it's considered distasteful for a shifter to be in non human form outside of private settings/necessity and even ruder to ask a shifter about their non human forms if they haven't brought the topic up yet first (kinda like seeing/asking about someone's underwear or something XD).

In contrast the Vaugarde, Mwudu and Porteria region is extremely shifter sparce, with most of its original shifter population being the result of various Universe worshipping peoples (mostly small groups, like greek mystery cults) deciding to use a big Wish Craft ritual as some sort of religious rite and becoming shifters as a side effect of their primary Wish (usually stuff like 'we wish for us and our descendants to be one with You and the sea/air' or 'may we Change with the phases of the holy moon' etc) which granted them some pretty neat skills but also tended to come with some 'potentially nasty' drawbacks attached (see: selkie and swan maidens with their cloaks, werewolves Changing in both body and mind etc) Which er, lead to some issues born of lack of knowledge about this stuff, later some very nasty anti shifter sentiment in the region, and then around... IDK 200 to 300 years ago or so ended up exploding into violence and other very nasty things, with most shifters able to do so fleeing the region, and those that couldn't either enduring horrible conditions until they could escape/died or went deep into hiding, with the Island's Country being founded by the two later groups who used Wish Craft to hide their new home, erase awareness of their existence from their enemies (a short term, fully intentionally 'forgetting' blast centered specifically around shifters), and developed a LOT of culture and traditions regarding when, who and what can be told to 'outsiders' about themselves, Wish Craft, etc in order to keep their people safe.

There are shifters living in present in Vaugarde of course (anti shifter sentiment died back a LOT after most people stopped thinking they were real, and most modern day Change Believers are more likely to view these 'totally fictional/allegorical' beings as children/messengers of the Change God rather than 'evil demons who stole power by tearing apart the Change God's cloak for themselves and thus have to be hunted down and made to repent' propaganda take that was everywhere back then) but numbers actually living outside the Island as opposed to merely visiting remain low, since either the shifters know their history and stick firmly to their 'stay secret' traditions or quickly pick up on how oddly unknown shifters are around these parts and decide to err on the side of caution... Also 'trust worthy' humans who do learn about them (usually northern coastal folk, gee wonder why) tend to help cover them up so... Yeah =D

---

And... Yeah!

This is hella long as is, so will stop here and ramble about the actual 'how this all affects our beloved Sif and Co plot and culture wise' stuff that is the actual meat of the AU in another post later, but hope this made for an interesting/idea provoking read, know that I have no issue with anyone using any of this for their own works (just please, don't use the 'Selkies under starlight' same story name unless it's actually a fanfic/fanart of my 'hopefully soon has a chapter/one shot up' fic/Ao3 series of the same name so people don't get confused), and I would love to chatter with you about any thoughts/questions you might have so...

Wishing you a good day =D

(sighes in relief finally getting this post finished after literal months. Pheeeeww~)

[courfee]

due to unforeseen circumstances (sick) (no writing) the update for the next ritardando chapter will have to wait a little longer so instead i am finally offering you this James POV snippet instead. enjoy :)

Regulus’ lips are soft and warm and perfect against James’. An involuntary noise escapes him as he leans closer into the kiss. It’s uncomfortable, straining his neck as he balances himself where he’s sat too far away from Regulus, so he reaches out to hold himself up against Regulus, one hand next to his thigh, one on his shoulder.

A shudder goes through Regulus under James’ fingers and James would think it’s a sign for him to end this kiss, but then Regulus shifts, slides further up on the sofa and closer to James.

Theoretically James knows there exists no rational reason to continue the kiss. To make this more than a quick little peck on the lips. If someone asked him under truth serum if he’s kissed Regulus, he could with full confidence now say that yes, they’ve kissed. Unfortunately however, with Regulus’ lips on his the rational part of his brain is very much not accessible to him right now. So what he does instead, stupidly, selfishly, is gently nip at Regulus’ lower lip, a tentative request to deepen the kiss.

Regulus lets out a small breathy noise and parts his lips, meeting James with the same urgency. He is still not touching James, his hands still firmly planted in his lap, and James is getting a little desperate at the lack of touch. He wants – needs to feel Regulus everywhere, the contact of their lips making him get a little greedy for what he can’t have.

Slowly James runs the hand on Regulus shoulder up to his neck and again there is that shudder going through Regulus, accompanied by a small whine when James’ hand comes to rest on the nape of Regulus’ neck, his fingers gently twisting around the fine hairs growing there. The sounds give him new confidence, makes him a little heady and he slides his hand higher, properly burying it in Regulus’ hair. Regulus leans into the touch while simultaneously trying to push even closer against James, biting his lip, tugging slightly, dragging his tongue over the spot to soothe it. It takes everything in James not to let out a moan.

He knows he needs to end the kiss. Knows if he keeps kissing Regulus like this he will reveal things that Regulus does not want to know. Knows all of this is a terrible idea but he is anchored to Regulus, the little points of contact they share tying them together too firmly for James to break.

With every slide of his tongue or gentle tugs at Regulus’ hair there is a little breathy noise falling from Regulus’ mouth onto James’ tongue and it is the sweetest thing James has ever tasted, intoxicating and alluring, and he never wants to taste anything else again.

It’s the fact that Regulus is still not touching him that disorients James enough to make him think clearly again. That tethers him the slightest necessary part to reality. To a reality where this kiss is nothing more than a means to an end. Nothing to Regulus. Not the way it is to James. It is that which finally makes him pull back, every fibre of his being screaming at him that this is wrong, that kissing Regulus is the only thing he was ever made for.

Pulling his hand from Regulus’ hair, putting a distance between himself and those soft lips fitting so perfectly against his feels like an impossible task. He has to keep thinking of those hands balled into fists. The glare Regulus regarded him with. The get it over with already.

It takes him a moment to open his eyes again when he’s sat back. A moment to prepare himself again for that cold glare on Regulus’ face, or the indifferent expression.

When he does open his eyes he realises he should have taken one more possibility into consideration. The possibility of Regulus looking dazed and flushed, tousled hair, red bitten, swollen lips and glazed over eyes. The possibility of Regulus looking exactly as James feels. He should have prepared for it, because it takes him so completely off guard that he nearly leans forward again, pulling Regulus back into a kiss he only wanted to get over with.

James clears his throat and looks away. Anywhere but at Regulus. Anything to keep his head mildly clear. “Well,” he says and his voice comes out only a little croaky. “I think that should be good enough for our friends.”

[remnantofstars]

Did you guys know Capri sun was populair in 1990's. Did you guys know. That that's. You know. Relevant. For when you're writing a fic in a setting around that time. That people could just be casually drinking capri sun. This is brought by the fact that I've drank like 10 of them today (the orange one).

No, of course I'm not planning for Tom to one day be drinking capri sun in my fic. Perish the THOUGHT. I'm NOT predictable!!! (I so am. I'm canonizing this in my fic. No one can stop me. Dakota is gonna be like wow my favorite pouch drink and introduce Tom to the really difficult straw stabbing pouch drink. And Tom would be annoyingly good at getting the straw in the pouch at the first try.). Man. I love the power I wield.

[quibbs126]

Something that’s been bothering me, in Cyberverse Season 1 we hear about the Decepticon cause being made because Megatron wanted to fight against and change the corruption on Cybertron

But like, we never actually saw any of that in the flashbacks. Best you can say is Starscream having a high opinion of himself due to being a jet (or at least that’s what I think was going on? It was something about Starscream and being a jet), but you can also assume Starscream’s just being an ass, not that this is a systemic issue on Cybertron. Outside of that, everyone seems to have been doing fine, they got along and everyone was vibing and having fun, going to Cube games and chilling at Maccadam’s, going out to do some racing on a vacation to Velocitron

I do suppose we were limited to only seeing things that Bee witnessed himself, but he was there for other important events before war was declared, we could have seen some more evidence that things were bad on Cybertron before the war and why Megatron and Optimus were so intent on changing things

As it is, it feels more like telling and not showing, and I don’t really understand why the Decepticon cause was needed in the first place. Well I mean I do, but that’s because I know the story in other continuities, not because Cyberverse told me

And if I can pivot slightly, I feel like this is an issue in other shows as well. Earthspark barely went into the backstory of the war at all, only making vague allusions like the “lower-class” remark and Orion Pax getting the Matrix (which honestly I don’t remember why he got at all and if it was related to the war). And yes, Earthspark was about moving forward after the war, but also the show wanted to portray Decepticons in a more neutral light, allowing them their second chances to do better after the war. Not to mention Megatron switching sides due to realizing how far he’d strayed from his original cause. I don’t feel like telling the Terrans the original causes of the war would be out of question, it makes all the sense. Also if we’re trying to portray the Decepticons as not being pure evil, explaining the horrible conditions that drove them to starting it would do wonders. Megatron is here, he can tell the Terrans with all the correct info if the Autobots can’t

Prime also has this problem, but I’m willing to give it a lot more leeway because it was part of the Aligned continuity, which was made up of more than just this one show, and Transformers Exodus I’m told went into this backstory a lot more. So okay, it’s explained somewhere. Though personally, I wish we went into this backstory a bit more in the actual show, because all I know from it was that Megatron was a gladiator fighting for change, Orion Pax met him and agreed, then they proposed their ideas for change to the Senate and it caused them to split. I don’t actually know why they were fighting for change. Again, I know Exodus did and it was around at the same time as the show, but we don’t all have access to Exodus. And honestly it might be the reason the other shows don’t go into it much either, despite it being the only one with an excuse

Like I think this annoys me because it feels like the shows expect you to know the general backstory so we don’t have to go into it. But you’re supposed to tell us this, especially when this isn’t like Batman or Superman’s origins where everyone knows the backstory of the war

I know what the backstory is, but not because these shows told me. It’s because Emperor Kumquat told me in a YouTube video where he was explaining the Aligned backstory from Exodus, while making the point that people who only watched Prime wouldn’t know all of this. How was I supposed to know this information if I hadn’t?

And to go back to Cyberverse, I can make excuses for Prime and Earthspark; both were set long after the war started and Prime especially didn’t have much reason to go into it outside of what it did. But not only did Cyberverse have the means to show us corrupt pre-war Cybertron vis Bumblebee’s flashbacks in Season 1, it had at least a little leaning to making the Decepticons more sympathetic. They are still for the most part antagonistic, but it did make the point that Optimus originally agreed with Megatron, we had bots on both sides getting along during peace talks and Windblade being angry at Slipstream’s killer, had most of the main threats not be Megatron’s forces that had the two sides forced to team up, and by the latter half of Season 3, had Megatron be more heroic, with him saving the day from the Quintessons and wielding his own Matrix of Leadership, and working to stop the other him that he knows is coming to reclaim his Matrix. They aren’t at Earthspark Season 1’s level, but they weren’t making the Decepticons pure evil either. So I feel like we should really see what it is they were fighting for originally

[mamawasatesttube]

saw someone being wrong about kon on the internet again (i know. shocking) and you are all so lucky i'm sick and feverish and lazy because i DID just seriously entertain the thought of writing up a small essay complete with issue and panel citations about why it's simply incorrect to say that kon never really seemed to reciprocate any sort of crush on tim before geoff/tt03. this is just not true. you dont have to actually ship them but to downplay their importance to each other even in the earliest days is simply incorrect. i'm too tired and achy to bother digging through comics to pull up all the issues that have the bits i want to point at but like... they were both very mutually important to each other from early on. it was in no way shape or form one-sided, whether you want to read that as platonic or romantic. man.

[sylustra]

Sylus saying "...don't run" to MC when they're finally being openly honest about their desire for one another and their trust and shared spaces.

[righteousenjoymentofthunder]

procrastinating studying by reading fanfic... and reading the third chapter and being absolutely SLAPPED in the face with mischaracterisation. and then im like: this concept had SO MUCH potential? *goes to write the fic im thinking of*

[mayoiayasep]

society if avex listened to my kantaaoi besties agenda

[spock-adoodledoo]

so this is what happens when i dont look at the yanqing tag in a while??? when did everyone start liking him lmao

ugh i have so much beef with jing yuan and yanqing's father son interpretation like, yes but also no; bc ive only ever seen fluff of them and no discussion of whether yanqing's a weapon or where he even came from, whether jing yuan should do something other than train yanqing so he can kill jing yuan when jy goes crazy from the abundance, like being honest with him about it etc

/j but like waaaaaa i hate when people put them into boxes it's soooooo annoying...... also yanqing + jing yuan father sonners always seem to put more focus on jing yuan and not yanqing; ie it makes jing yuan's character more interesting bc he's a father, not the other way around where yanqing is more interesting because he studies under/was adopted by the luofu general. it just bothers me as someone who enjoys reading abt the latter more .... glad that yunli (her design makes me shiver but thats another problem) is making yanqing less of a side character to jing yuan and more like his own person but idk the current plot of the wardance or whatever. if he loses again i swear to god i will smash the wall

tbh i wish there were more yqjy (or vice versa) shippers here because they could also be romantic imo. but sometimes ships give me too much tunnel vision and it's not strictly how i see their relationship... YARGH anyways i wish people understood nuance jfc

[bonestrouslingbones]

that one scene in atbb where russ is being a tall asshole to karma on purpose but instead of squatting down to his level he pulls this shit

[whitedahlia13]

Besides those hours sharing the passenger’s seat, there were other moments. Like the two of them walking the streets of Mexico, his hand frequently brushing against hers or hovering at her back. Like when he stepped between her and a boy who almost knocked into her because he wasn’t looking where he was going. Like when he bought her the beaded bracelet with the tiny star charm she had been eyeing, handing the cash to the street vendor before she could protest and shoving the eight pesos change he received into his pocket with a crooked grin. She remembered those moments too, each of them like little rainbows in the midst of so much gloom.

Read more: ao3 & ffnet

[thompsborn]

wait actually since the new spidey game has kind of caused a new rise in love for parksborn i’m gonna lowkey self promote one of my favorite fics that i’ve ever written that i love to reread regularly:

it’s kind of a combination of different canons? it’s basically like. the potential tasm parksborn had plus mcu irondad but it’s peppermay and rhodeytony as queer parental figures plus peter finding a kitten on patrol and that kitten becoming their (first) child

here’s a snippet in case anyone is interested:

-

A year and a half later, Penny ruins Harry’s plans when she finds the ring in the closet and trots on out to the living room with it in her mouth, not a care in the world. Peter is putting on a movie and Harry is tapping away at his phone screen when she settles on the carpet, dropping the ring to paw at it playfully, and only when she meows at it do they both look over.

Harry sucks in a sharp breath when he sees what she has. Peter’s just confused, head tilting to the side, brows bunching together and voice lilted as he asks, “Is that a ring?”

“Uh—” Harry’s voice cracks. He clears his throat. It doesn’t help much. “Looks like it.”

It’s an idiotic situation and they’re both stupid, Harry too busy panicking and Peter’s mind connecting the dots rapidly, and by the time they realize what’s going to happen, when she leans down to bite at it, there’s not enough time for them to jump up and stop her. In seconds, the ring is in her mouth, and then it’s gone.

She swallowed the fucking thing.

In the aftermath, there’s silence, before Peter weakly asks, “Was that an engagement ring?”

“Oh my god,” Harry whispers. “Oh my fucking god.”

[threestargirls]

we need more iphegenia stans