#( <- works for both verses actually )

[heartorbit]

figure skating set right now please. thanks

[stairset]

I do feel like the way Kyoshi was written in the Avatar reboot was lowkey influenced by the fandom's perception of her. Cause like in the original show she's really just portrayed as a pragmatist who's willing to kill if necessary. Like Aang is conflicted about killing the Fire Lord and she's like "well if I were in your position I'd do it but that's just me. Good luck." And then people started making memes where she's like a murderous psychopath who thinks extreme violence is always the solution. And it was funny at first cause it was just exaggerating for comedy but now everyone thinks she was actually like that in the show when she really wasn't. And then in the remake her introductory scene is her angrily yelling at this 12 year old that he needs to stop being a little pussy and be a ruthless warrior or whatever and the only explanation I can think of is that someone in the writer's room maybe looked at a few too many of those memes.

[iwasbored777]

The worst thing Miguel and Jessica did to Gwen wasn't even threatening to send her home if she ever visits Miles, it's forcing her to choose their side during the chase scene and make Miles never want to see her again and once the chase scene ended they kicked her out. That's the kind of evil that the Spot was trying so hard to become.

Edit: just in case you forgot - they knew that prison and dead dad were waiting for her when they send her back home

[queer-omens-in-the-archives]

sweet atonement

Relationship: Mello/Near Rating: Mature Chapters: 2/2 Words: 1,735

'Near.' 'Mello.' 'Which of us is going to get Kira first...?' 'The race is on...' 'Our destination is the same. I'll be waiting for you when you get there...' That's what Near is hoping for with all his strength, more fiercely than he's ever hoped for anything.

Warnings: Suicide Attempt (No Archive Warnings Apply) Tags: Multiplicity/Plurality, Near's Mello Introject, (could not put this any more succinctly), (learned recently that in one of the more recent DN adaptations Near & Mello are a system from the start, this isn't that. Here Near introjects Mello after Mello's death as a coping mechanism for the grief, is it a psychological phenomenon or is it possession by a ghost? You decide! It's left ambiguous on purpose.), Dissociation, Lucid Dreaming, Angsty Beginning with a Much Softer Ending, Post-Canon, (ignoring the one-shots though not necessarily contradicting them)

[read on AO3]

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer Multiamory Month, Day Fourteen: Confessions (Valicer Forgotten Vows AU)

In contrast to yesterday, I rather struggled with the story for today's Multiamory Month prompt (as created by @polyamships). Not because of the prompt itself, "Confessions" -- I pretty quickly decided I wanted it to be another "Valicer Forgotten Vows AU" story, with amnesiac!Victor agonizing over what might happen if he ever told Alice and Smiler he loved them both. But for some reason, actually writing the story proved to be a pain in the ass. I had to wrestle with this thing multiple times before I finally got it into a state I was happy with. *sigh* Ah well, the writing doesn't always come easy! And I'm pleased enough with the end product, so here. Please enjoy.

--

Victor had really thought that telling Alice and Smiler he loved them both would ruin everything.

Not just because they were already dealing with so much – helping out around Houndsditch, fending off the press, trying desperately to help him smash through that bloody wall in his brain. Or because he wasn’t entirely sure he could say he loved them without properly remembering them (never mind his feelings for them felt like the realest and purest things about him at the moment). No, the biggest reason he didn’t want to tell them – was because he was terrified of what their reaction would be. Terrified that they’d be angry that he couldn’t pick between them. Terrified that they’d say he hadn’t learned anything from that “corpse bride” incident (and of course he hadn’t, he couldn’t recall what had happened!). Terrified that they’d tell him that his love was spread so thin it was utterly worthless.

Terrified that they’d tear themselves out of his life and leave him behind as a broken, hollow shell with just the barest scraps of identity to his name.

Intellectually, Victor knew this was ridiculous – Alice and Smiler were both much too kind to abandon him over an ill-advised confession. He knew that they’d probably just reject his feelings while still trying to help him remember. But...he couldn’t quite shake the fear that if he said anything, it would be the last he ever saw of Alice’s gorgeous green eyes, or Smiler’s brilliant grin. So he’d kept his mouth shut, and kept working on that damned wall, and hoped desperately the balance would tip one way or the other –

And then he’d dreamed of being trapped in a nightmarish version of Houndsditch, hunted by Bumby, every door leading to a dead end. And when he’d woken up screaming, Alice and Smiler had both burst in, asking what was wrong and scrambling to comfort him. And the moment he’d looked at their concerned faces, the dam had burst. Before he could stop himself, he’d started crying, babbling through his tears about how much he loved them both and begging them not to make him choose. And then there had been a terrifying moment of silence –

Right before Alice tentatively admitting that she’d talked about this with the Wonderlanders recently, and come to the conclusion that she didn’t mind sharing Victor as long as she didn’t lose him. And Smiler adding that they really liked Alice too, and they’d be happy to find a way to make the three of them work. Leaving him gaping in shock for a moment before throwing his arms around both of them and pulling them in tight, crying now in relief. And they’d hugged him back, and after that…

Well. Now his only regret was not telling them sooner.

[itscuntingseason]

i stand by my headcanon that hirotaka enjoys listening in on narumi and koyanagi's fujo conversations, so he can one day, out of nowhere, drop a bomb that will only make them fight each other more

[zaritarazi]

okay listen i was talking to ki about constantine in legends and we ended up on "zari and behrad and astra but in constantine" and let me tell you. this idea is delicious

astra kind of already has a set plot we can come back to her if we'd like bc i, tumblr user zaritarazi, would, surprisingly, love to talk about the idea of zari & behrad tarazi and how they would fit and act in this universe instead of the legends one

now you're going to have to walk with me a bit because i am, for all intents and purposes, kind of hot glueing parts of dc magic canon together- in fairness, this is also what dc comics does and i am objectively more valid- so we have black adam who never actually shows up in this imagined second? third? season of nbc's constantine, he's allowed to be bi in this one, but basically zari and behrad are minor characters that flit in and out to be like hey. just a reminder there's way bigger things out there and some of them, at some point, will be either your fault or your problem. also did you kill doctor fate you stupid fuck

so like in my head zari is a mix of comics canon, archeology adjacent, very heavily zari tarazi, outside presentation of a very bubbly socialite (THIS IS A TRICK) actual personality of like, extraordinarily clever, too sharp-witted, cares about humanity, but also feels very detached from it by this point. and she's aware of that and she's not thrilled about it. she and john have a deeply antagonistic relationship, and she's right, they flirt constantly and only through negging.

essentially both consider the other a con-person and a professional liar and King or Queen Not to Be Trusted, any time john's flirting gets too friendly zari threatens to tell teth-adam and any time she does that john asks her why he's never actually around (this is a complicated plot point i haven't decided on. i'm writing an imaginary third? season of a show that didn't get a second. bear with me)

actually everyone shut up i'm a genius bc felix faust is a big antagonizer of black adam and john constantine, had a super gross plot when he brought adrianna back to life that we will not be using, but he is a common enemy even though john kills him once or twice a season. bringing the tarazis in as signifiers of the far-off black adam circling in the distance bc john can't kill faust well enough is like... kind of brilliant of me, actually,

also zari is very very good at getting rare items, either because she's rich or very charming or both. i don't think she's a celebrity in this one, i think the tarazis are just rich, not sure how or why, roll with it, but she's a very good finder of things, and also she can still talk to dragons. this is mentioned once and never explained

okay this post went on way longer for zari than i expected- i'm sure you knew this would be the case but you know me better than i know myself- behrad but in nbc's constantine, he's allowed to be bi in this one, post to follow at some point soon

[cheswirls]

magi rambling

idk it jus hit me out of nowhere how much i love magi fic and how sinja is portrayed in such. imo THEEEE best magi fic of all time is works cowritten by galiko and daphnerunning, those two were genuinely on galaxy brain mega dimension level thinking full time, but like less abt magi meta as a whole and more on how the characters are so true to themselves and their flaws

it's been so long that in not gonna be able to remember who all did it but i def remember all of galiko's sinja fic that also portrayed sinbad/judal to some extent, that it was made very clear in the text how differently and on different footing both relationships stood. judal especially in their hands was written so well in a way that changed how i viewed the character in canon to some extent and in every other piece of fictional media. like how can you write someone so pathetic and deceptive and a bastard and it's all perfectly in character

I've never been into sin/ju and i don't think i ever read anything w them in fic seriously or w/o skimming but i did sit thru enough to know how the galiko/daphne pair brought them forth and made it very wanton-ly obvious that sin is always just manipulating judal and leading him on to get what he wants at the end of it all, but in contrast, it's clear that he so deeply loves ja'far in ways mere words cannot express

to see the relationship dynamics compared and contrasted in fic was always such a treat because sin treats almost everyone like they're a stepping stone used to further his own objectives, but then he treats his advisor like a genuine person. shows real care and concern, becomes inconsolable when ja'far is hurt, refuses to quell his rage for any reason when someone has wronged ja'far. his advisor truly is his precious person that he can strip down out of his title as king and just be sinbad around.

and this is even further glorified when ja'f knows but insists he doesn't!!! playa it off bc sin is king and this is uncouth!!! only to have such moments of weakness when anything goes terribly wrong and he's suddenly on the brink of death, terrified of leaving sin behind all alone, letting himself have just as long as it takes to recover the bare minimum amount to bask in sin's unending devotion. they truly do treat each other differently in canon and otherwise and it's so gratifying to see and realize each time as someone who loves sinja so dearly

[lifestilled]

hi, below are very brief summaries for different moments of basil's life which i will treat as my canon, seeing as they end where the book ends basil's life. in another post, i will note down the aus that get a bit more cannon divergent.

london at dawn — basil is an only child to a man who has found his name in the victorian british society as a pakistani man in the millitary. his father was ambitious but level-headed, his mother was pragmatic but gentle. together they raised a wide-eyed son with the interest for the world around him, for art, history and literature. basil spent his years growing up conforming to his parents' every word, taught well that he best keep his head down, and keep it educated.

oxford, or the portrait of the artist as a young man — an acquaintance of his from one social outing or another, young henry wotton, has gotten into his head. for the first time ever he found himself disobeying his father's wishes. instead of sandhurst, he chose oxford as his alma mater, where he would study the literae humaniores. his parents would support him financially through his degree, in spite of his father's initial anger, with the hopes of him securing a name for himself, even in a non-millitary field of work.

london at noon — basil becomes an artist. his father does not take it well. though he allows him to stay at the family home in the city, he provides no further support. his mother tries to help in the little ways she can, but in the end basil is forced to stand on his own two feet. calling on favours from oxford, calling on acquaintances he's gathered from henry wotton and the likes of him, doing commissions, and ceaselessly perfecting his craft. he's lucky enough to capture the attention of a handful of patrons who are happy to have him, though sometimes he is not sure whether it is so his art may be a part of their collection, or he himself, as exotic as the rest of it. he keeps his mouth shut, he's lucky, after all.

london's golden hour — so he has made it. a little over thirty and he has it all. his people, his art, his home. everything scraped together out of what his parents taught him and what he had the courage to ask for. he's good, he's humble, he's grateful. sure, he may be somewhat quiet and reclusive — but which artist hasn't been? society will find him whether he wants to be found or not. oh the great burden of society. that's when dorian gray steps into his life and tears it all apart. a breath of fresh air. a gentle, innocent presence.

london at dusk — following his meeting with lord henry, dorian's very presence turns bitter. for a long time, basil refuses to see it, caught up in the shallow perfection of it all, in the melody of the voices rather than their meaning, in the deep blue of the eyes rather than the ice-cold distance with which they view him. he's inspired, still. working as if running out of time because his very heart can feel the storm that's coming.

london in the dead of night — following his confession, dorian has his very own confession to make. that is the night that basil dies in the book.

[dieverged]

it's so interesting, to me. i can't figure out if nima is sadder in her DA verse comparatively to her ffxiv verse. granted, they are quite different in that within DA she's following from her own timeline & in ffxiv she was already a participant IN the world. but man.

main verse nima just keeps losing i tell you!

[deficd]

SPOTIFY WRAPPED, send me a number 1-100 and I’ll write you a starter based on the song. || @gloomfaithed whispered 38 for Feyd! || still accepting. 38: Milk Lizard by The Dillinger Escape Plan

This doesn't have to end in bloodshed, he’s heard before from tongues that wag and knees that bruise, It doesn’t need to end with one of us rendered a blaster-bolt-ridden or saber-slashed pile of sentient meat. But it does have to end.

It

always

does, because Feyd-Rautha doesn't proselytize for cycles, doesn't find holiness in prolonging. Let a weed propagate, and the garden's overrun, a mantle of parasitic roots, thorns with hooks. That's how he manages these places, these errands, no matter the ire that ought to be drawn from Those Above. He'll hear about it later with singing skin or a plasma blade. A collection of scars for his collection of scars.

Tilts his head at Talon, languid as a replete loth-cat, before slowly drawing the metal blade over the weeping man's throat. How archaic, he's been told, durasteel and a sharp edge: isn't is so much sweeter?

Saliva drip-drops from tongue to teeth before he licks his lips, black smile charming as the day he was born, certainly, like tar in a swamp. Maybe she finds he's taking too much time, as more footsteps approach, as more blasters surely cock to the ready.

Well, Missy, it's a lock for load! -- he doesn't say it, not aloud, letting his focus fill into something more, ah, professional. Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha, of House Harkonnen, always so apt to spill blood beyond the wanting earth of his motherworld. No reason to ask if she's ready. He knows she is, this alluring-yet-vicious creature that fights at his side. For it, he offers a wink before lunging at the next wave of attackers, just before he's molted again in that rabid akk-dog, drooling and blood-stupid.

[shrlke]

kelsey shrlke fun fact i love rewriting things. i love overhauling things i love and making them my own. i have a fnaf rewrite called eggshells verse split into two sections (pre-sb and sb) and one for creepypasta called unedited footage.

they mostly exist because i have loved fnaf for quite literally as long as i can remember but the lore has never exactly been Sound + i wanted to dig more into the characters as people and it spiralled. and i have also loved creepypasta forever and i grew up on those fics where they all lived together in a mansion and shit. they are both very dear to me but there is no Completely Solid lore so i made my own eat my whole ass.

eggshells verse is slightly more fleshed out, especially in the pre-sb section (sunny side up). unedited footage is also fairly fleshed out its just that it mostly focuses on backstories + present day and the bits about how they all found eachother is messy

i have had both of these for years i just dont talk about them because i tend to only work on them once in a blue moon + i find it a lil embarrassing. but they are very dear to me and being embarrassed about what i am passionate about is something i am trying to get over. come send me asks about them pspspsps.

[necropsis]

[queer-omens-in-the-archives]

to care enough to carry on

Relationship: Mello/Near Rating: T Chapters: 1/1 Words: 300 (triple drabble) Series: sweet atonement (prequel & companion piece to pretender)

While Mello is unquestionably real, in the throes of Near's denial he is not. Most of their life passes him by, in a blur, in the dreamlike state of having been granted (a second) full existence without the self-awareness that being alive (again) usually brings.

Tags: Post-Canon, Dissociation, Depersonalization, Multiplicity/Plurality, Near's Mello Introject, (and thorough denial thereof on Near's part), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Dead Mello | Mihael Keehl, (introject!Mello is alive technically but it's complicated)

[read on AO3]

[victorluvsalice]

Valicer Polyship Week 2024, Day Two: “Blorbo Has Two Hands” (Soulmate AU)

It's Day Two of Valicer Polyship Week 2024, "sponsored" by @polyshipweek, and today's prompt is "Blorbo Has Two Hands!" This prompt, as per PolyshipWeek's write-up on the matter, is all about "The rallying cry of polyshippers everywhere: Why have a love triangle when you can have a trio of lovers instead?" and how the polycule makes love, not war. This is naturally an excellent prompt, but I wasn't sure whether I was going to use it or one of the other ones when it came to writing a story for Day Two --

Aaaand then Wednesday, November 6th happened. And after rather a lot of time spent staring at the prompts with no inspiration because I was still feeling kind of numb inside over the fucking election results, I came back to the list right before going to bed, looked at "Blorbo Has Two Hands" again, and thought, "You know what, I can probably do something with that and my Soulmates AU -- specifically, someone doubting the trio are all actually soulmates because multiple soulmates isn't a common thing in that verse." So I drafted out a story about Smiler, working at a bar post-the trio fleeing England to avoid the wrath of Kelman, the wrath of Victor's parents, and possibly the wrath of the police after Alice killed Bumby, getting harassed by a customer who didn't believe them when they said that both they and Alice were Victor's soulmates -- only to get proven wrong when said soulmates showed up to find out why Smiler was suddenly feeling so upset. It was pretty rough, but I figured it worked for the prompt --

And then I went, "Hang on...didn't I just do something like this yesterday?" For indeed, this story was rather similar, at least in general theme, to the "Alice vs Nessa" Valicer In The Dark tale I wrote for Day One. But given my mental state at the time, I couldn't come up with anything better for Day Two. So I left it be and gave myself a choice -- either try to write a different story later, or lean into the theme and do a Victor-POV story of some jerk inserting their nose into the polycule's business and getting theirs for Day Three.

...given the story I'm about to present is the "Smiler gets harassed by a customer about whether or not multiple soulmates is a thing" story, you can probably guess what I chose. XD For now, here is your Day Two story! Sorry it took a bit to get there! XD

--

“So – Mister Van Dort over there is your soulmate?”

“Yup,” Smiler confirmed, smiling over at the table where Victor was currently involved in what looked like a rather intense conversation with Alice, his hands flying all over the place as they spoke. “We met at one of his parents’ parties – ended up in the same corner together, started commiserating over the fact that we both hated stuffy social gatherings, went to formally introduce ourselves by shaking hands, and – well.” Smiler grinned down at their own hands, currently drying a glass. “Suddenly the party was that much better.”

“I see,” their current customer – a fellow named Robert, who apparently ran a woodworking shop in town – murmured, nursing his third whiskey. “And Missus Van Dort is – all right with that?”

Smiler tilted their head. “Er – yes. Why wouldn’t she be?”

Robert raised an eyebrow at Smiler. “Because – she’s his wife?” he said slowly, as if they were an idiot. “And would likely want to be her husband’s soulmate?”

“Oh, there’s no problem there,” Smiler said brightly, putting away the dried glass. “She’s also his soulmate.”

Robert blinked at them. It was a pretty long blink. “What?”

“Alice is also Victor’s soulmate,” Smiler repeated obligingly. “We’ve got a bit of a thing going on.”

“You’re – but – that’s impossible,” Robert insisted, leaning heavily on the bar.

“It’s not,” Smiler said, mentally preparing their usual speech. “It’s rare, yes, but–”

“Balderdash,” Robert cut in, putting a finger in Smiler’s face. “People can only have the one soulmate. Otherwise, what’s the point of them?”

Now it was Smiler’s turn to blink. “What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about how the whole point of a soulmate is that they are the person that the universe has ordained as the most important one in your entire life,” Robert said, warming to his topic. “The relationship beyond which all others pale. The one twinned to the very center of your being! If you were given more than one, then – then it would cheapen that bond. Make it – make it lesser. It wouldn’t be about finding your perfect match – it would be about finding someone you just kind of like more than the rest. A person only has room in their soul for one soulmate. It’s simple fact.”

“It’s not,” Smiler insisted. “There’s been studies done on the bond, and–”

“Oh, studies,” Robert said derisively, grabbing his drink and taking a big swig. “Yes, everyone appreciates a study. As if any scientist really knows how to measure a soul.” He looked Smiler up and down. “And what do you know about studies? You’re a bartender.”

“My father’s an alienist,” Smiler said, wrinkling their nose against the bitter taste in their mouth produced by even obliquely mentioning Kelman. “And I study chemistry in my spare time. I’m not an idiot just because I pour drinks for a living.”

“No – you’re an idiot for letting your soulmate get married to someone else,” Robert retorted, attempting to poke Smiler’s arm – they jerked it out of the way just in time. “Shame on you for that. He’ll never be able to be a proper husband to his wife if you’ve already taken up that space in his soul! Everyone knows that people who have soulmates that are just friends have to remain single. It’s the natural order of things!” He took another drink. “Cruel of you both to lead that poor woman on. She should be off trying to find her actual soulmate, not being – taken advantage of by two horrible monsters like yourselves.”

Smiler opened their mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Closed it again. Where the hell were their words right when they needed them most? Alice had once said they could talk their way out of a murder scene while holding a bloody knife, and now they couldn’t refute one drunk?! One deeply annoying drunk who’d hit pretty much every nerve in their body, sure, but… “I...you…”

“Smiler?”

Smiler and Robert both looked over to see Victor and Alice approaching, wearing identical expressions of concern. “Is everything all right?” Victor continued, picking at the knot of his tie. “You – you feel quite upset about something.”

“Very deeply annoyed indeed,” Alice added, giving Robert a suspicious glare. He smartly shrank away. “Is this fellow bothering you?”

“Yes, but he might not be for much longer,” Smiler said, smirking. “You were saying about how people can only have one soulmate?”

Robert looked between the three of them, visibly processing the fact that Alice too had felt Smiler’s emotions. “I – but – she – you?” he stammered, clearly having trouble collecting his thoughts.

“All three of us,” Smiler said, leaning on the bar. “Two romantic bonds and one platonic one, and all very real. And even if we weren’t all soulmates – so what? I think Victor would still have enough love in him to handle both his wife and me.” They put on an innocent stare. “Unless you’re saying that nobody can care about anyone but their soulmate? Because that sounds like a pretty lonely and miserable life to me.”

Robert stared at them for a moment more. Then he reached into his pocket, plonked some coins on the bar, and fled out the door. The trio watched him stumble away on wobbly legs. “...so I guess he didn’t believe you when you told him we were all soulmates,” Victor finally said.

“He did not, and decided to give me a big old lecture about it,” Smiler said, scooping up the money and counting it. “Okay, good, this is what he owed...anyway, it was all about how ‘multiple soulmates cheapens the bond’ and ‘if your soulmate is your best friend you need to remain single’ and nonsense like that.” They shook their head as they put the money away. “Who comes up with those things?”

“Arses,” Alice said succinctly.

Victor and Smiler both snorted. “Well put,” Victor said, then laid a hand on Smiler’s wrist. “And for what it’s worth, I don’t feel at all that having both you and Alice as soulmates has cheapened anything. If anything I feel – I feel blessed. I had trouble believing sometimes when I was younger that I was worthy of one soulmate, let alone two.” A bright smile split his face. “And now look at me. Tied forever to the two most wonderful people in the world.”

Smiler beamed, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. “I feel exactly the same. Two bonds just means twice the love to spread around.”

“Well said,” Alice said, putting her hand over theirs. “Hopefully someday people will understand that better.”

“Mmm. Until then…” Smiler leaned in and gave Victor a quick peck, before shooting Alice a grin. “I’ll just enjoy what we’ve got.”

[themosthatedbeingg]

“Can’t you guys just control what gets made into an embryo or not.. what’s this about paying child support ? … “ what the fuck even is child support ?