#who'd have guessed...

[mimikusu]

Just a little fanart for this beautiful gift of an answer, @empresskaze has written. I love them so much! I'll be thinking of them for the rest of my weekend!

[liquidstar]

If my mom sees a significant amount of blood she gets lightheaded, and has fainted on some occasions. Once it happened when we were kids, I wasn't there to witness it but I heard the story from my dad. Basically my brothers, around 7 or 8 at the time, were playing outside while my mom was making their lunch, and she accidentally cut her finger. It wasn't anything serious, but it drew a fair bit of blood and she passed out. My dad saw this and rushed over, but he didn't really know what to do so he just sort of started slapping her to wake her up (not recommended, but he had no idea and panicked)

At that exact moment my brothers both came in from playing, and all they saw was our mom unconscious on the floor and our dad slapping her. So, like, without even saying a word to each other they both just INSTANTLY start whaling on him, like, full blown attack mode to defend our mom. Which obviously didn't help the situation, but she did wake up and everything was fine.

Now our dad says that he's actually really glad they attacked him over what they thought was going on, because it means he raised good boys. And I still think that's true, they're very good boys.

[starflungwaddledee]

⭐🎀🏆🎉 a wa wa winner! 🎉🏆🎀⭐

i'm running late on getting this out, but i'm still reeling over the results of the @kirbyoctournament! i can't quite believe that starstruck- my pint sized waddle dee- made it all the way to the tippy-top against such intense competition. the roster was full of such an incredible selection of wonderful, loveable, and creative characters!

it's heart-warming to know that people out there really love my little wanya and her story, and i'll carry that with me always! 🥰💖

i am so grateful to everybody who voted for and supported starstruck (and i!) throughout the tournament, and i'd also like to give my thanks to everybody- moderators, participants, spectators- who made this community event as cool and fun as it was!! i met many new people and learned about so many wonderful new characters!

this piece in particular is dedicated to and features all of starstruck's competitors in the tourney, starting with jakkle doo from round one, right up to valfrey in the final round. it was a fantastic honour to compete against all of your OCs, and i look forward to hopefully seeing them around plenty more in the future!!

thank you again!!

characters are listed from bottom to top; round 1 vs jakkle doo by @ninjakirkki, round 2 vs galacchio by @tatonslice, round 3 vs atlas by @unleashedsonic, round 4 vs mama d by @chibifox2002, round 5 vs parhelion knight by @aseuki, round 6 vs techie by @ivynajspyder, and the round 7 final vs valfrey by @gethoce

[garygoldenbignaturals]

the telvanni dork i've been talking abt wanting to make. hi this is relmona (relmon) for short and he's quite insufferable. he is so sucks. thing is he's pretty good at being a telvanni for being relatively young (he's 48) so the councilors just told the nerevarine to take him with her for the time being. he's killed two people to advance he's getting a little too ambitious for everyone's sake. he can also get real annoying, and him being out and about gives everyone a bit of momentary peace.

more about his outfit under the cut

dork wears 3 layers in vvardenfell. i like to think the elevation that comes w being a volcanic island would make vvardenfell cool and i also imagine sadrith mora to be pretty windy as well. he's from necrom and although necrom is placed atop hills and mountains, it probably isn't as breezy as sadrith mora. relmon isn't used to the windiness. also doesn't have a good cold tolerance either.

tried to put several fungi motifs on his outfit, like the curly lettuce hem to be reminiscent of oyster mushrooms, the pants and arm warmers to look like a mushroom's gills, and the sash-thing to have the telvanni symbol-inspired pattern. also the pauldrons are detachable bc i dont want to have to stress about it every time i draw em lol. might even remove it entirely, i just wasn't sure if his outfit looked dunmeri-enough.

his outfit also isn't very utilitarian, those suspender-like ribbons could be tied together to act as a utility belt, but other than that it's a very lounge-y look. comfortable for adventuring, but that's it. which doesn't become a problem for him, still, bc lystor being the person she is happily carries his stuff for him and it barely affects her encumbrance.

[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~)

[thebramblewood]

In which Helena finally admits the truth and an unexpected guest arrives.

Previous / Next

Helena: Bless you, free next-day shipping.

[Snippets from Tangled Vines as Helena spends all day reading]

Lilith's chambermaid is quoted: "The lady spoke of an icy cold deep in her bones. I suggested the sunlight might warm her, but when I moved to throw open the blinds, she cowered beneath her quilt and screamed at me to leave them alone."

San Myshuno was the pinnacle of glitz, glamor, and elegant debauchery. All who attended a party wanted to be seen. Curiously, though, two of the names most often uncovered in tabloid archives, Cal and Lily, seemed to fully avoid the increasingly ubiquitous flash of the camera.

After establishing rights to the family fortune, the new vatores retreated into the shadows of Forgotten Hollow, a sleepy, staid village founded in the early 1800s by a recluse named Vladislaus Straud - an odd choice, to say the least.

It is nearly impossible to research Forgotten Hollow today. Its occupants have grown increasingly insular and suspicious of outsiders, who are advised not to wander at night. Many visitors, including this reporter, have experienced a strange haze of forgetfulness cast over any memories of their visit.

Helena: Oh, god... This is really happening.

[distant knocking]

[muffled voice] Helena?

[sound of key turning in lock]

[growing louder] Helena, are you here?

[thepoisonroom]

that post that's like "learning social skills helps with social anxiety" applies to dating also btw

[beatcroc]

i will post 100000000 updates on this every day. look at my site boy

97% of the formatting is either broke or not in place yet but the layouts are there, everything that exists is navigable, and i've made decent headway getting all the header images down+starting the galleries.

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

so sad that a neve romance is entirely ooc for ylva at this point 😔

[amiablyinept]

How each rescue bot would try to comfort you during a storm.

Blades: Oh wow it's really pouring out there huh? You know this reminds me of the big acid storms back on Cybertron, the streaks of lightning were so large that the whole sky would light up.

Boulder: Hey, it's gonna be ok. Remember that after a big storm, always comes a rainbow, and then I'll take you out to the park where we can see the dewdrops on the flower petals.

Chase: The rain here is quite different than the acid storms back on Cybertron. It doesn't sting and it has a fresh scent, it's also feels refreshingly vibrant and this lightning is also very ephemeral.

Heatwave: This is what is making you afraid and cowering by me? It's only a little bit of rain, there's nothing to be scared of, the lightning isn't even that loud either.

[akuma-tenshi]

seven crimes and punishment edit. sequel to the capriccio farce edit. created for the exact same reason as that edit (listened to an english synthv cover that had me literally fucking shaking). the problem is that due to the song's structure i would have to do the entire thing. someone either talk me out of this or enable my insanity

[msburgundy]

don't it always come back to the same thang

[reuptakeinhibitor]

i love stobin working retail jobs and sharing a resume so much but consider this. steve follows robin to bloomington, indianapolis, west lafayette, wherever she decides to go and they get a little apartment. maybe they decide to go out of state but i think they stay in the midwest. then st takes a page from buffy and steve works construction while robin goes to school.

[endawn]

i made a 'joke' durge

[lieutenantselnia]

Yesterday I've been doing some proper physical exercise for the first time since last year and I'm just imagining how proud my f/os would be of me🥹

[mukuberry]

Sunao being named the way he is by his abusive parents because they wanted him to be obedient above all else... only for him to get attacked in his sleep by them, when he was doing literally nothing 'wrong'... it really highlights how illogical abusers are, even if he was perfect for them he'd still be hurt