#Rating: PG

[darnalearnstowrite]

the sound of an unconditional surrender

A/N: Well, Shadow and Bone S2 blindsided me with a new "I don't know how the hell this would work but I'm here for it" ship and I had to write something, even if it's just a quick 10-minute ficlet. Why the hell my brain insisted on Kaz POV I have no idea, but I hope it works.

Name, as is my tradition, from a Diablo Swing Orchestra song.

---

When the Volkvolny returns to port, he's there. Of course he's there. A distance away from the pier, perhaps, but he's there.

Oretsev gives him a nod as he strides past carrying ropes and hollering orders at the disembarking crew. He nods back -- already distracted.

She's walking down the pier in confident strides, hair blowing in the breeze, sun glinting on her daggers. Tolya's big arm rests around her shoulders and she's not shrinking away. In fact, hers is curled around his waist, fingers tucked into his belt.

His jaw tightens and his fingers ball into tight fists around his cane. He plants his feet and locks his knees, forces himself not to be a coward for once.

Her gaze lands on him. And brightens, softens.

His follows suit, with a warm, knowing smile. He blinks and takes a breath, momentarily reeling.

-

When she's standing in front of him, she squeezes Tolya's arm. The pirate's gaze sweeps her face before he gives them a gentle nod and steps away.

Not far. And while his gaze ostensibly searches for his sister, he knows he's still tuned into her, listening for her breathing, her heartbeat. He can respect that.

"Did you find your brother?"

She exhales. Relieved, but her smile is bittersweet. "Yes. He has a new family, now. We... promised to write."

"Hmm." His gaze bores into her. "And you?"

She tilts her head in that familiar, exasperated way and sighs, challenge heating her eyes and sharpening her voice.

"I came back, didn't I?"

The to you is silent and he wonders if he imagined it. He blinks slowly and glances five steps away and to the left. "Yes. You did."

This time she does not fail to roll her eyes. She reaches out her left hand and Tolya is there at her side, fingers intertwined with hers, his gaze steady and warm on her. And then on him.

She lifts her right hand in front of her, palm open, eyes burning. Willing him to figure it out. Willing him to swallow the dregs of fear and pride and accept.

"Yes. We did."

---

[camelotremix]

Title: Gladiators/Spartacus (the ‘Let us entertain you!’ remix) Creator: ??? Work Type: Fic Work URL:https://archiveofourown.org/works/56373799 Remixee Name: Dylan_M Link to Work Remixed:https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/2140937 Pairings: Gwaine/Percival Length: 2,351 Rating: Teen and Up Warnings: N/A Notes: [I hope you like it, Dylan! I went through all of your pieces to find inspiration, but this one really stuck with me. It’s so gorgeous (I’m biased though, all of your work is) and I LOVE Ancient Rome. It was a pleasure to remix this. Once names are revealed, I will add more.] Summary: Percival and Gwaine had been forced to fight each other for entertainment. Now, Percival was being ordered to take his opponent’s life.

That wasn’t going to happen.

[siriusblackfest]

‘Padfoot Takes Harry and Runs’ Sirius, Remus, Harry Potter

Title: Padfoot Takes Harry and Runs Author: Goddess47 Pairing(s)/Character(s): Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Rating: PG Word Count: 11,100 Prompt #: 169 -  Peter could flee as animagus? So could Sirius. There is no reason why not. He was also faster and got to save baby Harry out of the ruins before anyone else could. Mowgli style? Harry raised up by a dog somewhere? Summary: Sirius didn't wait around to be arrested after the fight with Pettigrew. Instead, he changed to Padfoot.

(Padfoot Takes Harry and Runs)  

[slowroad]

Ten years

Author: slowroad93

Title: Ten years...

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Arthur/Merlin

Characters: Arthur Pendragon, Merlin Emrys

Summary: It's been ten years since Arthur became the king of Camelot. As he dwells on his memories and regrets, Merlin shows him that it's okay to let the past go and move on.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 996 words

Prompt: Milestone

Written for: Camelot Drabble

Ten years…ten years I have been King of Camelot. It’s been a tumultuous time. There’s been war and bloodshed, much of which I might have prevented, had I known about Morgana’s magic and the fact that she was my half-sister long before I did, had I only talked to her and made an effort instead of blindly following my father on his self-destructive and ultimately pointless war on magic. Morgana’s been dead five years now and with her and Mordred gone, Camelot is at peace and so is Albion. The last five years have been peaceful, my people have prospered, magic has been restored to its rightful place and no one has any reason to hide or to be afraid any more. We have more friends than enemies these days and now that that people have stopped trying to kill me at every turn to avenge something that my father did to them, I can rest easy.

It's not a bad list of accomplishments, I think to myself as I stand at my window and watch the sun come up. There’s a big celebration planned today. The Druids are visiting, Queen Annis is here with her entourage and so is King Olaf, who’s relaxed considerably, now that his daughter is safely married. Queen Mithian will be here as well, with her spouse and so will Princess Elena. I think fondly of Elena and Mithian. I’m glad they’ve both found someone who makes them happy. I thought I would have found someone too, by now, but I continue to be depressingly single.

After Guinevere told me that she was flattered by my attention, but that she wanted to be with Lancelot and not me, I gave up looking. Okay…that’s not entirely true. I realised after she left me that she was right. I had never actually been in love with her. I’d liked her a good deal and thought she’d make a wonderful queen, but I’d been in love with someone else entirely. I still am, if it comes to that. I just haven’t found the courage to tell him yet. I’m not sure I’m worthy of Merlin. He’s been nothing but loving and loyal in all the years that I’ve known him.

As a prince I was selfish and capricious, I stood by him one day and treated him like he was nothing to me the next. And when I became the King, I pushed him away, choosing to listen to that traitor Agravaine instead of Merlin. Why he continued to stay with me, I will never know. Things changed, I changed after he saved my life yet again in the final battle after Modred stabbed me and I fell. I’ve spent the last five years trying to prove to Merlin that I can be good and kind, that I can be a true friend and love him as steadfastly as he loves me. I sigh as that familiar ache settles in my chest. I feel it every time I think about Merlin.

There’s a knock on the door. I assume that it’s my manservant. I’m surprised to see Merlin instead. My heart lifts and I smile. He’s carrying a tray with tea and cake on it.

“Good morning,” he says cheerfully as he puts the tray on the table.

“Morning. What are you doing carrying food around? Why didn’t you get a servant to do that for you?”

“Because I wanted to do it myself. I wanted to share the morning with you without any nosy servants around.”

That makes me smile. “Thank you,” I say, as I take a chair.

Merlin sits down and pours the tea. “I wanted to get you alone for a while before the festivities start and things get busy,” he says.

“That’s thoughtful of you, but then you’ve never been anything less.”

Merlin quirks an eyebrow at that. “What’s on your mind?” He says.

“Just thinking about today…about the last ten years.”

“It’s been interesting, hasn’t it?”

“That’s one word for it.”

“I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“Not entirely. There are a few things I’m not proud of, particularly the way I treated you.”

“I think you can forgive yourself for those things now. I know I have.”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve changed, Arthur, and it’s made me so happy to see. Now if you will just quit feeling bad about who you used to be, we can both be happy.”

“Aren’t you happy now?”

“I am. But I need you to stop torturing yourself over Morgana’s death, stop wondering about everything that you could’ve done differently and I definitely need you to stop feeling guilty about the way you treated me in the years that led to that final battle. All of that is in the past and it shouldn’t, needn’t affect the present. Today is the tenth anniversary of you being King. The people are happier than they’ve ever been. They want to celebrate. I want to celebrate.”

I understand what Merlin is saying. Maybe it is time to let the past go. I sigh.

“You’re a good king,” he says gently. “You deserve the love of your people. You deserve my love and devotion and you’ve always had it.”

That makes my eyes well up. I’m still not sure I deserve Merlin, but maybe I should just listen to him when he tells me that I do.

“I love you,” I say, unable to keep the words inside me any more.

“I know. I love you too.”

Merlin comes over to my side of the table. He leans down and kisses me softly on my lips. I pull him down into my lap and we hold each other as we continue to kiss, finally giving expression to feelings long held in check. I will now remember and celebrate the day I became the King for an entirely different and definitely more life altering reason. It will forever be the day on which Merlin took me for his own.

[brightnshinyrecs]

Fandom: Due South

Author: Arrow

Rating: General audiences

Characters: Diefenbaker, plus Fraser/Kowalski

Summary: ROUND POWDERED TASTY THINGS GOOD.

Reccer’s Note: Perfect Diefenbaker fic. I love his food-centric view of the world and slight houndly sneakiness and the way he conceptualises human things.

[nat-20s]

I think The Doctor could stop The Master completely in their tracks by looking them in the eyes and giving them an entirely sincere "Dude what the fuck?". I think that would genuinely perplex them so much they'd forget to be evil

[frameacloud]

The purpose of this survey is to collect data about the experiences of people who feel sensations of nonhuman body parts, for example, wings or a tail. Some call these supernumerary phantom limbs, phantom shifts, otherlimbs, or astral limbs, though you may have other preferences for the words you use for your own experiences. If you haven't had those experiences, you can participate in this survey too. This survey was made for people who call themselves otherkin, therianthrope, furry, or any other potentially alterhuman or nonhuman identity. If you don't describe yourself with any of those words, you can participate in this survey too.

The survey will take you about 6 to 15 minutes. Everyone age 18 and up is welcome to fill out the survey at the below link, until it closes on July 6, 2024:

Survey Link

Who is running this survey and why: The person running this survey is Orion Scribner (they/them), an otherkin/therianthrope who has been making projects about these communities since 2005. I will use the results in my panel at an Internet-based convention later this year (OtherCon 2024), and in other future research projects.

[mimefish]

this was directly beamed into my brain at light speed upon hearing the salmon sound difference

[lunalivvy]

miles saying ass, gwen saying hell, miguel saying fuck in spanish… LET THEM SWEAR

LET MILES MORALES SAY FUCK

[horrorlesbion]

we really don't talk enough about what a wild decision it was for riverdale to hire famous new queer cinema director gregg araki to direct only the wrestling episode specifically to make it as uncomfortably homoerotic as possible and then never hire another outside guest director again.

[rhonuscorner]

Local gremlin stole Freddy's hat. Rude.

[camelotremix]

Title: This Song and Dance (The 'Balancing Act' Remix) Creator: ??? Work Type: Fic Work URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56522377 Remixee Name: Polomonkey Link to Work Remixed: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11383017 Pairings: Arthur/Merlin Length: 1200 words Rating: Teen+ Warnings: None Notes: Dear Polo, this particular fic of yours just hit a note for me, and I hope that this little sequel manages to catch a bit of the same atmosphere! I hope you like it <3

Many many thanks as always to S. for the beta, to E. for their endless encouragement, and to the mods for running this! I had a blast <3 Summary: The thing is, Merlin has been thinking about it. About Arthur and the grief that he wears like penance, how he fits so easily into the spot beside Merlin. How he always has, and how, for all his talk about leaving, he does not seem to be in a hurry. --- Between circus shows and late nights, Merlin and Arthur figure themselves out, one step at a time.

[prokopetz]

I don't even want DVD special features back – I want VHS space-fillers back. I grew up in the era when distributors would just stick random shit at the end of a VHS tape to use up any space left over once the actual film was recorded, and sure, a lot of the time it was previews for other movies, but sometimes it was The Weird Stuff.

[punster-2319]

“Animated Family Films Made After 1968 That SURPRISINGLY Got G-Ratings” Starter Pack

(Before anyone points it out, yes, I am aware that The Land Before Time and All Dogs Go to Heaven were edited before their releases to avoid getting PG ratings).

[paintpanic]

Resurrection AU: Void

In this AU, Void has been reincarnated as a little white puffball. He has no memory of his life before he was sealed away by the Heroes of Yore.

His main goal is to figure out who he actually was in his previous life. Aiding in this effort is Magolor, who's agreed to help in exchange for some assistance with his theme park work. He happens to be working on an ancient history-themed area, and could use a hand in the research process.

Personality-wise, Void is driven and has a no-nonsense attitude. He's not super thrilled about all this silly wizard theme park nonsense, but will do what it takes to get what he wants. He has a tendency to overwork himself. He doesn't seem to have retained any powers from his time as Void Termina.

(AU explanation here!)

[elitehanitje]