#i don't want modern with pointy ears

[elvhendis]

Are there any good books that are not fantasy romance but more like... romantic fantasy? Like I DO want my romance plot/subplot and I want it to be in focus, but I also want a really well fleshed out and vast fantasy world with high stakes and a lot of action??

[seat-safety-switch]

"No, no, no. You misunderstand. This is elf checkout."

Ever since we opened that portal to the fantasy dimension, we've been dealing with a lot of labour strife. Thanks to me taking down that Nissan Atlas that kept running over all those teenagers and sending them to become great warriors in another world, the portal has been swarmed constantly with immigrants. Those nice folks just want to work in a place with central heating and air conditioning, and where bandits are unlikely to chop off their heads or blow up their homes with lightning spells.

We had to expect that big business would take advantage of the portal. For instance, it wasn't even a week until we caught an oil company executive trying to dispose of barrels of tailing-pond waste over in Not-Narnia. He cried like a little baby, especially when Great Warrior Carl (I don't know his last name) booted his ass through the doorway and he got dissolved by a green slime. Sort of appropriate, honestly, but I digress. Anyway, one of the other things that big business did was take advantage of low-priced, precarious labour.

See, these poor rubes were so overwhelmed by our modern society that they agreed to basically anything. That's how we ended up with elf checkouts, which replaced the old expensive scanning robots with magical beings who were attuned to nature, had pointy ears, and didn't know the phone number for the labour ministry. It's hard to avoid the sense that they are being exploited, something which absolutely puts a downer on my shopping trip.

Write your representative today: authorize a tactical nuclear strike on Grobnar the Destroyer's Skull Fortress, so that these wretches can go back home.

[kiwipineappleparasol]

Sonic WIPs and Scribbles from 2023 (Notes Below)

Gave Chaos the Angel Chao ... "Ears" ? So that All Forms (Neutral/Dark/Hero) have some form of Representation. (The two split ... Hair? Things? In the back already resemble the Devil Chao, since the Light Chao only has one.)

Solaris Exists! ... Crazy. I recall this redesign being bit tricky because it was just so hard to see what the fucking thing looked like Originally, but I did my best. Tried to show the Bird/Eagle Theming, and to simplify the design so People like Me could understand it. I wanted this design to look like a counterpart to Chaos -- because in this AU, Solaris is from, you'll never guess...the Sol Dimension!

Gave Team Dark a sort of... cohesive color scheme with eachother, so they really look like a Unit. Plus, Rouge wearing Red just... Makes sense, considering her name, even if I enjoy the Purple color scheme as well.

Similar color scheme thing here with the Babylon Rogues -- They all share Red/White/Yellow -- I took the darker colors out of these designs to not be so similar to Team Dark haha. The amount of points on each of their...Chest...Fluffs?? matches the amount of feathers they have on their head Respectively . Changed Storm the most -- I wanted to make his "Hair" Silhouette more Unique from Wave's, and really just wanted an excuse to give a character a Cool Jacket . The Shoes ... I phoned those in a bit, I'll probably change them Later...

Sharddddddd. Throughout my Scribbles (including some here) You might've seen me struggle to decide what Quill Style to give him -- his OG style? Or the Metal Sonic style? Eventually, I decided I didn't need to choose -- I could do both. It's not demonstrated that well in these, but it's basically the same style the Bits have in Sonic Universe: The Silver Age -- just thinner and more Pointy .

Ahhh Faceless Jumpscare! This is what they look like when I'm trying to work on Poses and Colors but don't want to Commit to a Face yet, haha . Nicole, I'm always changing her design it seems -- don't be surprised if it happens again! But I based her handheld off various devices Tails uses -- I wanted it to be compact while being more Modern than the Nokia Flip Phone. Changed her hologram form slightly to resemble her handheld -- her ears are the antenna, and the rings are on her feet like how the ring is plugged in at the bottom. Made her vest longer too! So it looks more like her Reboot Outfit . Just a little.

And that's mostly it! I've been on a quest to draw Every Character in my Sonic Au -- I've sketched about... 35 so far? Here's a Screenshot of a bit of the Madness on that canvas haha.

[the-moon-files]

So I have tried to request this prompt from someone else but I don't think their blog is that active anymore. If your willing I'd love to request the following.

Prompt: Reader is bisexual and gender neutral.

Reader is considered fairly attractive and gets flirted with pretty often by basically whoever gender wise. And maybe reader and Zelda even end up flirting a little bit. Reader would have a similar lackadaisical flirty personality as Warriors has.

I wanted to see how each of The Chain would react to this with the context of them having secret feelings for the reader.

2nd official request, woo look at me go 🏃💨

Sun: Gender-neutral Reader (”you”/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish

Stars: Zelda (Assuming they meant BOTW), + the classic Chain of Links <3

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: mild cussing, mild typical loz violence, Mildly Suggestive, & Trigger Warnings: none known.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

so i like to think that modern flirting is radically different than their medieval flirting,

like mayyybbeee Wild can handle it, but even then, they have royalty/knights still, so hes still gettin flustered lol

and i like to think u learned that difference the first time Wars complimented ur new/strange modern fit, and u returned the energy?? except 10x stronger (to them)??

youve played the player, and beat him at his own game, the Captain of the knights is sputtering and shit LMAO

(he said smth like, “their beauty is god-like in this otherworldly clothing“ and YOU said smth like he’d “thank you, youd look better in my bed than in armor 👉 😎 👉 ” lmao)

funniest part is, bc its so natural, i can see u immediately shooting off smth and forgetting it instantly, much to the Links collective shock 😭

u go to towns and notice theres always 1 hero around to steer u away from shopkeepers, townsppl, etc so u wont flirt w/them LMAO

(when u finally notice, u just, “ohh i get it now, so im only allowed to flirt with someone named Link, ohhh, okayy” and they just, “NO we didnt say that-!” “No its just their bold flirtations are not for the weak of heart-!” “Yes.” “CAPTAIN-”)

the only one who they cant steer u away from is Zelda.

afterall, they kinda have to inform the Princess/now Queen of the kingdom, whats going on w/them traveling with Link (Wild) around time and space

the sheikah tablet had been disconnecting + reconnecting to Purah’s both fascination and worry

so as theyre invited to eat dinner and explain in the rebuilding castle, everyone’s absorbed in shadow talk or smth, and u can see Zelda’s struggling to follow along, u just casually bring it back to her, as she’s also trying to write notes and theyve moved on too quickly w/o her

“wowww, all these men and not a single one’s gonna offer the lady any, ‘hi, hello, how is the most beautiful girl in the world today?’ “

and the gapingggg from the links shut them right up, while Zelda goes all pink and coughs, and agrees that they should move on to more chill topics lol

and u can crack anybody tbh, Zelda giggles at ur compliments all the time, even in work mode, u can deffo get Wars to blush to his ears, and even Time to look away first in a flirty + staring contest lol

Legend might actually put his hands up like he’s prepared to fight u anytime u try to flirt at him when its just you two, before he realizes what hes doing and stops LMAO

oh and u absolutely get a lot of mileage out of that one lol

the best reactions have gotta be, in order of most to least extreme: Hyrule, Sky, Wild, Four, Legend, Twilight, Wars, Time

Rulie, Sky, Wild and Four fall into that classic, shocked-heart-eyes, full blush up to their pointy ears, etc category when u get them,

they are also very easy to get lmao

Four is the best at recovery, or ducking away, but if its the Colors, its this type of obvious lol, w/the obvious ones like Red and Blue, Green takes a little more to break, and tbh Vio could go toe-to-toe w/u better than Wars tbh before he crumbles under the pressure lol

Legend, Twi, Wars, and Time faces may not change a lot, bc theyre trying to save it lmao, but the way their cheeks go pink and ears twitch is how u know ur gettting to them (along w/legend’s defensive reaction to getting cornered LMAO)

Twi has caved and covered his face w/his hands before lmao

one day youll get Time to break more than an ear twitch, and looking away, One Day.

(Wind is in fact, having the time of his life, watching you absolutely hilariously wreck these otherwise v serious heroes, hes glad u got them to finally relax a little, but also its hilarious seeing Wars and Legend red faces, and occasionally stealing Wild’s tablet to take funny pics of them all to blackmail later lol)

☆

idk how good that was, as im kinda bust at flirty banter between characters, so i hope this suffices ur need to flirt w/everyone lol

also i feel i should apologize for not rlly including pronouns? it just kinda comes w/writing reader stories to put them in 2nd person to both make intimacy for readers w/their little avatar im controlling for them, and to purposefully remove the need for gendered pronouns :/

so im sorry i couldnt quite figure out how to make it where “they/them” got used much, i promise i love all pronouns, its just a skill issue tbh lmao

btw

send any prayers, blessings, or good vibes u got my way tomorrow bc im getting wisdom teeth surgery and i am intimidated✨

ill post more asks (i have multiple asks!! <33) after im lying in bed lamenting my painful fate,

mostly just worried ill react badly to the drugs, also the idea of being knocked out during surgery is a little scary so what can i say

have a great weekend guys!! thanks for reading if u did :)

Peace out,

🌙

[b0r3dtod3ath]

"Do it"

F1 masterlist

Summary: Oscar convinces you to bite him

Trigger warnings: Blo0d

A/N: Halloween special with vampire!reader <33 also omg his neck is so pretty im gonna d1e

Word count: 643

You and Oscar had been dating for a few months now. You told him you were a vampire pretty early on as hiding it wasn't easy. He was a bit confused but when you explained everything it slowly sunk in. You always assured him that you wouldn't bite him especially without consent or overall do anything to him and that modern vampires rarely bite humans.

With time Oscar got used to it. You were more of a human than a vampire actually. The thirst for blood and sensitivity to sun were the things you struggled with. Your boyfriend secretly found it very cute. He was amused by the light in your eyes when you were thirsty and the way your teeth would get more pointy. He always made sure he had an umbrella with him to shield you from the sun and he regularly stocked up on human blood for you. With time he figured out your preferences and what kinds you liked. There were a lot - some in juice boxes that were more everyday and some more high-end in glass bottles similar to wine.

It was a chilly October evening when the two of you were sitting on the bed under a few soft blankets. Your backs pressed to the headboard as you were reading your book and Oscar was reading some kind of data analysis from his last race. Even though you weren't living together and that you just stayed overnight, you still felt comfortable with silence between you two. You started getting more and more distracted by the dry feeling in your mouth. Beautiful, glowy skin of your boyfriend that sat next to you didn't help either. I'm just gonna finish this chapter and go grab something you kept repeating to yourself but your reading pace only got slower and slower. You caught yourself staring at Oscar a few times hoping he wouldn't notice. He did. "Wanna tell me something?" he said, not looking away from the paper in front of him. "Mhhh I don't know..." Oscar looked at your puppy eyes and slightly parted lips and knew what was going on. He chuckled because he knew you were so thirsty that you couldn't even form a proper sentence. He moved your book aside and took your hands in his. "Honey, If you really want to drink my blood, go for it" With the speed of light you were on top of him - your thighs on each side of his, your hands caressing his jawline as his rested on your hips. "I won't turn into a vampire, right?" "No, don't worry" "Will it hurt?" the question caused you to feel a bit bad for him "No but we don't have to do it if you don't want to. You will just feel a pinch and you will fall asleep for not more than half an hour, I promise." "Okay, go ahead, you have been waiting long enough" he said as he took off his t-shirt giving you more access to his neck and collarbones. You planted many kisses from his ear, down his neck till his shoulder. You could feel his heavy breathing and you swore you could hear the blood flowing in his veins. He tilted his head back and made himself more comfortable as you sunk your teeth into his skin. The sweetness and warmth of the blood caused you to pathetically let out a small moan. When you were done you looked up to your boyfriend seeing he had already passed out. His eyes were closed and bare chest indicated his slow breathing. You tucked him in and went to grab him a big glass of water for when he wakes up. You turned off the lights and laid next to him "Thank you, I love you" he quietly mumbled as you kissed the mark you left.

08.09.23

[luvvyouforever]

Hello!! I saw that your requests were open. Could you possibly do another Modern AU! Rhysand x College Student! reader fic? I loved the first one you posted and definitely gave me some comfort with how stressful college is 😭

I always liked imagining the ACOTAR universe in a modern au. Especially Velaris in a modern setting.

Hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself💜💜

hi! absolutely dear <3 i tried to include more velaris in this!

comfort on the bridge - modern au!rhysand x college student!reader

↳ a night out in velaris ought to clear your worries about upcoming exams. does it actually, though?

↳ modern portrayal of velaris, mentions of self doubt and stress, reader is studying to be a teacher but it could be replaced with any major/focus. this isn't my best work, i'll admit, and it did take me like two weeks to completely finish but here you go!

↳ divider art from @firefly-graphics

usually, there was nothing better than a night out on the town in velaris, surrounded by the inner circle and your loving partner, rhysand. very little made you more excited than getting dressed up with mor, pregaming with cassian, and flooding the dance floor of rita's. tonight, however, it was the last thing you wanted to do.

rhysand could sense your hesitance about going out, feeling the bond between you two grow shaky and antsy but there was no way you could bring yourself to say no to them. you were just more stressed out than you imagined possible and so much more was in your mind than getting drunk and dancing to fae pop music.

mortal college was more than you had anticipated. it was always your goal, far before your ears grew pointy and you became a part of the night court's defenders, to go to college and make something of yourself. rhysand encouraged you wholeheartedly, telling you over and over that it was a good idea, that velaris needed more teachers, that you could accomplish it.

and now, your college career was coming to a close which only meant certifications, exams, and papers that all required more of you than you could give. you could only remind yourself of the shining new generation of fae being born in velaris that needed teaching so many times.

all of those worries and deadlines could not be suppressed by the strong liquor going down your throat, leaving a harsh burn in its wake. nevertheless, you took every shot cassian offered and with everyone one of them, rhysand grew more worried.

"you're putting 'em down tonight, y/n!" cassian cheered as the clink of the shot glass hitting the bar rang through the room. "you want another one?"

"yeah, i'd lo-"

"darling, i really don't think you should have another drink. you'll feel terrible later," rhysand's deep voice sent shivers down your spine as his large chest came up behind you. instinctively, you leaned back into his warmth.

"no! we gotta have fun tonight! i can't let anyone down!" you rebutted. your hand reached for the drink on the bar but your hand was trapped by rhysand's before you could. "hey!"

without a response or argument, rhysand began to tug and you didn't put up much of a fight (you were positive that one wrong move and your lack of coordination would land you on your butt on the floor). cassian looked at the two of you, making brief eye contact with rhysand and he nodded in understanding. something was wrong.

"where are we going?" you asked your partner after you stepped into the fresh air of velaris. despite it being so late, the city was quite alive with people, bikes, lights, music, and sounds. it was a beautiful sight, one that usually caught your breath, but there were more pressing matters. like why did rhysand take you away from your fun? the worries were just now being forgotten!

rhysand didn't answer your pestering but instead led you down some streets, up one incline, and landed at an old steel bridge that was at a high enough point to overlook the streets below. it was a spot you frequented when stressed but you didn't know that anyone knew. of course rhysand knew.

without having to say anything, you both perched on the edge of the bridge, wrapping your legs around the posts. your arms brushed against each other and with a few deep breaths, you felt the alcohol begin to leave your system as quickly as it came in.

"what's going on? you're drinking a lot, you seem stressed. i feel it. i don't even have to look in your mind to tell," rhysand said softly. his violet eyes shined in the night and though his gaze was strong, you couldn't help but fall into it.

you sighed and leaned your forehead against the cool metal of the bridge. the sounds of your city flooded your ears and it washed you with some calm that you were searching for. "i'm just stressed. there's so much on my plate, so much coming up, and i don't feel smart enough or good enough for any of it." just speaking the words out loud felt like a weight being taken off of your body. surgically removed and thrown hundreds of miles away.

"tell me about it," your partner said. he wouldn't get it, necessarily, but sharing the weight would help.

"there's three certification tests i have to take, all of which are unnecessarily hard. and that's just so i can get my license to teach. i still have four exams, all worth well over a hundred points, and i feel grossly underprepared for each and everyone one of them. then there's this theory class that's all about best practices in education and research and i feel like i'm picking up none of it," you expressed. "i don't feel like i am going to be the best i can be for velaris. i want to teach them but i'm struggling to pass my class. how am i supposed to impart all of this amazing knowledge on them when i don't even know it?"

your head fell forward onto the bar again and you relished in the soothing feeling of it. down below, music and laughter erupted from a rooftop bar. you wished you could know what rhysand was thinking.

"you know...i think you're the most intelligent person i ever met-"

"that's not-"

"ah! ah! no arguing," rhysand cut you off. "as i was saying...you are the most intelligent person i ever met. the capabilities you have far exceed anyone in the spring court and hewn city combined. the passion you have for our city and its education is so admirable, y/n. everyone will be so lucky to have you as their teacher. the fact that you committed to going to mortal college just to provide the small number of velaris children with a proper education proves to me that the cauldron picked the most perfect person to be my mate."

looking at onto your city, rhysand's words sunk in. somewhere in a back yard, high fae children laughed cheerfully, clearly excited to be up later than what would usually be allowed. it was hard work but work that you were more than excited to be doing.

with a sigh, you leaned into rhysand's side, grateful for him being your rock. "will you help me study for the praxis?" you asked quietly.

rhysand's head dipped down and planted a soft kiss on your forehead. "me and all of velaris will help you through whatever you need, darling. and we will be there at your graduation, glamoured and cheering."

[novaricewrites]

ACOTAR'S Worldbuilding is a tragedy

I feel there was so much wasted potential in the worldbuilding in ACOTAR and it is saddening because the opportunities were there to make it a decent series. You can have both romance (yes with sex scenes) and fundamental worldbuilding.

And I think a large part of this stems from SJM's failure to expand on Prythian, the other Courts and explore Faerie culture - instead using a modern, human and heteronormative framework to prop up a few of her favorite characters and neglect deeper development for anything else.

I'm aware that this would require her to think critically, and delve into the politics between the Courts, which can get complicated and likely not her strong suit when her series is riddled with plot holes as is. And she is incapable of not giving her favorite characters plot armor and telling the readers of how they should think.

But in that case, she needs to keep her story logical and not have the character be in a position (*cough the High Lady thing) where politics and culture would inevitably be crucial to know unless she wants these glaring contradictions.

Part of my frustrations (which are for a whole other post) are also her careless (and often stereotypical) use of different cultures for shallow worldbuilding and her pattern of harmful mishandling of POC characters for the sake of the narrative.

I picked up the book series because the faerie aspect was intriguing and I adore stories drawing from ancient religions and folklore.

Yet what we got is bland and lacks the fickle, beautiful yet eerie quality that is the essence of faeries. The first book did have some of this atmosphere at least which is why I prefer it the most.

The series has eventually degraded into the author's self-indulgent erotica about hot and shitty people who act mostly like humans, except with pointy ears and wings.

Yes I am petty and bitter.

I don't hate the idea of this series but the execution was brutal and I needed to get this out.

[papermonkeyism]

Been thinking of fantasy lately, as relating to the Arcanth setting, and I figured out what's been bugging me about elves.

I've been doing a bit of a dive into fantasy genre, with rereading some of the old Drizzt books, watching some Tolkien essays and watching Frieren with a friend of mine lately, I discovered I don't actually mind elves having long arse lifespans, contrary of what I've said before.

However I DO mind elves having long arse lifespans when it shows absolutely nowhere in said elves, and that what I ACTUALLY dislike is treating elves as something extra special while stripping them of the inherent Otherness of being elves and just make them look and act like just some normal guy who just happens to have pointy ears.

You get to either have awesome special magic elves who live long and act distinctly very Other, OR you get elves who are basically just some guy who lives next door, but looks weird and other, but like, if you're gonna give them endless lifespans they better act in a way that marks them that way, and in any case I will be very disappointed if your elves look like normal-humans-with-pointy-esrs especially if they act just like everyday people. Why would you even bother making them elves in the first place if they weren't in any way Other??

I am still in the process of figuring out what this means for Arcanth-setting elves specifically. I think I want to do my elves more down to earth, vibe-wise, and don't really want to go the route of making them feel ancient and ageless (I am more okay with them having long-ish lifespans than I did before, though still not to a degree of practically immortal, as that's not the feeling I want for these specific story characters I have in mind), so to get the amount of Otherness I crave to see in elves I'm probably going to be leaning more on the visuals and making them LOOK different. I did consider making basically all elves to be part human to get the effect (ageless ancestors, maybe some still roaming around, but most "modern" elves actually being mixed heritage), though I haven't yet made any specific decisions on what degree exactly.

No idea how I'm gonna get the effect in practice, but I think it's still something to know what I want! (This would be so much easier if hominids weren't my artistic weak point, but hey, you learn by doing! Never gonna get better at drawing unless I do the actual drawing part.)

Thank you for indulging my half asleep rambles here. Going to bed now.

[possessedopossum]

I didn't want to romance Solas at first bc of all the angst but the more I played the more I realized how fucked up the inquisitor Lavellan is even without romancing Solas. Especially in case of a mage...It feels like the game is punishing you for siding with mages and elves or being one yourself. Your companions don't like you, you lose your faith, your entire history is one big lie, you can even lose your entire clan. Both the mage rebellion and the dalish are constantly demonized. You have to listen to racist or pro templar bullshit. No one understands you except for Solas who leaves in the end. I gave his romance another try and oh god. This is like ultimate loneliness and isolation. I had no idea why would someone like Solas fall in love with a modern elf but now I know why. Because Lavellan is like the only one who can see a real person in him. In modern Thedas, he is nothing but another pair of pointy ears. An apostate. An elven hobo. During the days of ancient elves he was nothing but a title. The Dread Wolf. A symbol, not a real person. And literally the same thing can be applied to Lavellan who is being crushed by the weight of their title. Who is being devoured by the narrative until there is nothing left of them. They are so alike, damn. Inquisition companions mostly act like a group of coworkers and Solas doesn't trust even his own agents (hi Felassan). The game ridicules a player for certain opinions and Solas conditionally says he was called a liar, a fool, a madman by both his enemies and his allies alike for trying to share his knowledge. I used to think Solas romance was kinda empty and unsatisfying and holy shit how wrong I was. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Solavellan to me is about finally finding a person who understands you under the shittiest circumstances possible after accepting that you will probably die alone. And then...Being completely destroyed by your own sense of duty. With all the Solas hate in this fandom I kinda forgot he actually...Cares about Lavellan? It wasn't an easy decision to leave. And it was even harder for Solas to not let Lavellan join his cause. He had to get rid of his own humanity for the sake of other elves and he doesn't want his vhenan to do the same. And the most tragic thing about this, that there is not much humanity left of Lavellan anyway. They are tired and lost and alone. Inquisition has changed them, they can't go back and pretend that nothing happened. They are not the same person they used to be. Solas greatest fear is dying alone but in the end of the game my Lavellan felt like they are the one who is slowly dying alone.

Also Solas is bisexual to me I don`t care what bioware say.

[tlonista]

Astarion fic recs, Batch 2

Thanks so much to everyone who had kind words for my Astarion fic rec list! My habit continues unabated so I wanted to throw out another little batch of mostly recent, mostly hurt/comfort-oriented Astarion-centric fanfic that I liked. As before there's references to Astarion's past abuse and assault so mind the AO3 tags.

Anyway happy holidays fellow pale elf fans, pls tip me off if you watched the latest Larian animated short and felt moved to write about shivering blanket-wrapped Astarion sitting on Karlach's lap.

Incomplete Multi-Chapter:

The Friends We Meet in the Dark by Copaline

Astarion is captured by monster hunters while spiraling over how to earn Tav's affections. Second in a series, but can be read standalone; one of two chapters posted. Big fan of its protective f!Tav, and there's some fun banter with the rest of the gang.

I Don't Know You Yet by thbreakofdawn

Nicely executed modern Bloodweave social media (text messages and Twitter) AU. Astarion is a sex worker and Gale is a grad student struggling with his relationship to his girlfriend Mystra, and they strike up a text-only friendship after a random connection. Very effective use of the multimedia format.

If the Cross on the Door Doesn't Scare You by Aylwyyn228

Sweet, angsty "Astarion starves in the Shadow-Cursed Lands because he's too scared to ask for blood" fic with the added turn of Gale guessing exactly what's happening, but being too toxic-blooded to actually help unless Astarion tells the others about his vampirism.

a half-blown rose by winter_writes

Astarion's "Tav didn't kill Cazador" dialogue in the Patch 5 Epilogue is one of the saddest things in the game, and I'm so excited to see writers running with it. In this fic Astarion was recaptured by Cazador post-game and then finally freed thanks to a fire... but he's terribly injured in the aftermath and ashamed to have his ex-lover see him. Only one chapter so far but I'm a big fan.

death by rock & roll by falco_c

This hasn't been updated in a while and Astarion hasn't actually appeared in it yet, but I'm throwing it in as a bonus because I really love its Almost Famous-y music industry AU vibe. Its translation of the tadpole ensemble into rock-and-roll burnouts, featuring in-world interviews, is absolutely delightful.

One-Shots:

Untitled by trulycertain (Tumblr-only)

It's spawn Astarion realizing he can turn into a bat and flying around and getting tired with Tav around, that's it, that's the fic. Completely adorable fluff. But "Is this what it’s meant to be like? Being a spawn? Not a starved slave?" kills me.

Family by sword_and_lance

Astarion goes to see his family after being turned, and Cazador cements his control over Astarion by offering him some scraps of comfort in the painful aftermath. It's short and restrained and chilling and so so sad.

Pointy Ears by SpaceBarbarianWeird

Yes another fluffy fic, what am I coming to. But who doesn't want to read about Astarion rediscovering trust by letting Tav touch his sensitive pointy ears with some brief digressions into elven social norms and gift-giving.

Complete Multi-Chapter:

Desperate Measures by Asidian

One of the fics that inspired "If the Cross" above, and one of my favorite "Astarion in the Shadow-Cursed Lands" pieces. Very good at balancing a sympathetic take on the character with him being, like canon Astarion, deceptive and a little bit abrasive when cornered. Plus bonus fun with Scratch.

this is a gift (it comes with a price) by ryttu3k

A post-game Ascended Astarion fic in which AA is literally soulless and knows it, and his sometimes-lover Duke Wyll Ravengard discovers over a series of nighttime visits that he secretly hates it. One of my favorite Ascension fics in part because, intentionally or not, it feels weirdly true to the experience of depressive anhedonia?

The Light of the Seven by Verelia

@reddenmore mentioned this one in the tags on my last fic rec list and I wholeheartedly agree; it's a real good Szarr Spawn Family character study delving into the backstory and personality of each of Cazador's "children," including Astarion.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

The other asks got me thinking - what would people's impressions be of Alfred/Matt/Jack/Zee if their only information was how Arthur talks about them?

(Also, I feel super obnoxious asking but - did you get the ask I sent about the fic with Matt and Alfred in 1920? I just want to make sure Tumblr didn't eat it like it ate the one I sent about the Eirian's death fic.)

Not obnoxious at all!!! it means a lot you ask after them and I did! Your comments take me like 10-15 business days to process because they short circuit my silly brain with thanks and joy. This got really meandering and I apologize in advance.

In the years before Arthur knows what Alfred is going to be, and its almost only human fatherhood, everyone with ears knows how amazing Alfred is. The reckless abandonment of stoicism to a storm of delight, fascination and joy. He's probably owned that estate, his bribe from the Normans, for centuries and barely touched it until Alfred's born and suddenly the living standards he was fine with aren't good enough. That chunky giant cherub he carries around people don't need to hear anything to see how incredible Arthur finds the lad. And Alfred learns to talk and to read and to live, that doesn't change much. His boy is so bright, so tall, so headstrong, such a good boy, such a credit to his father. Even when he's locked up, being prepped for a burning, this man is thinking, talking, and celebrating about his boy. Later, in the aftermath of when Alfred shot his jaw off at Yorktown, Arthur drunkenly can list all Alfred's flaws, concoct a story about how the lad caught the cock-pox and died and then start babbling about how proud he is. That keeps up for the rest of history. Alfred probably even gets verbal recognition of pride. That respect, that recognition. Father and sun, shade and shadow, respectively. It's bizarre how well they work together now. Some onlookers might not be able to make out what Arthur feels. He says the best things with the most dismissive tone and the worst things in the most affectionate way.

Matt... probably kind of vague but mostly pleasant. The bricks don't usually report on the mortar. The farm hands when he's young raise their eyebrows at the wee frog who feeds the chickens and hides in the rafters and behind the furniture and does his best to be out of the way and forgotten. Humans mostly regarded him as a ward but the memory and scandal of Alfred before him overshadowed his early British existence. Later, especially in the 19th century, humans are very confused by him because Arthur repeatedly denies him inheritance rights, he never got Arthur's name. He might be the oddest of Arthur's children to on-lookers. In more modern times, Arthur is much more likely to mention him. Sweet boy. Thoughtful lad. A right conch, that one is.

Jack is all over the place, much like Alfred. Arthur is as equally as worried as he is frustrated with him a lot when he's little, and some when he's older. When he was a baby, everyone heard what a smiley little thing he was. Jack would tumble down little hills shrieking with laughter, tell the neighbor she smelled funny, and end up in trees like a spooked cat. The neighbours have been paid so much money because Jack was always liberating livestock or riding whatever horse he fancied. When he's older, everyone can see him and Zee racing their horses like absolute madmen all over the property. Odd little thing who will complain through church so much Arthur can't make him go, often on the shoulders of that older pointy one. In the late 18th century, bastardy was hardly a crime and Arthur didn't really have to really outline Jack's existence to humans so they just assumed he was the natural son from a long naval career. A bright, wild little thing, who grows into the broad and jolly lad always making losing bets at the horse races who is the only one of Arthur's children who can regularly drink the be-pickled old fart under the table. In the modern day, Jack is known as the loudest, laughing, happy lad with a very large collection of animals and a lot of biology credentials.

Zee is probably his most mentioned child. His blue stocking baby girl who, unbeknownst to the old fart, has killed him a handful of times because that cranky, sweet, clever, obedient veneer belies a will just as strong as his and a defiant streak that might be wider than Alfred's, just sneakier. Unlike his boys, who had the benefit of cocks, he's much more vocal about Zee and her talents and virtues. It's when she's born that he starts making up stories that make her and Jack his legitimate offspring and he's always talking about her, how bright she is, how clever because on some level he is aware she is at a significant disadvantage due to being a girl and easier to other. British titles break my fucking brain but he might have upgraded his own title at some point just to give her the option of a title or courtesy title which she only ever rarely used before WW2 if it at all. Jack gives her shit constantly for being the right honourable kiwibird. When she's little its all about how sweet, pretty bright, clever and grumpy she is. What a credit to her father! He'll never let her marry! And now is much more about her accomplishments, the things they enjoy, his pride in what she's allowed to be now through a lens of utter affectionate sentimentality.

[fancyfade]

Could I get your thoughts on how the Teen Titans cartoons have influenced recent or fandom characterisations?

I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this, because I haven't been keeping up on a lot of modern titans comics. I know that @ravensvirginity has read a lot of them.

In general what I do know:

Kory's solo title (starfire) was very toon-influenced. She felt like a completely different person, and they really played up the 'doesn't understand idioms' thing from the toon, even though that was never part of her initial characterization in the comics. And she had all her rough edges shaved off to make her boring. In general, if kory is portrayed as like... overly soft or kind of just would cry if someone said something mean to her, that's toon influenced (also like. I don't think she even does that in the toon, but people like flanderize an already OOC version of her). If she just wants you to hug and make friends -- same thing. Like Kory loves her friends and she is a very affectionate character. But she's also the Teen Titans Character Most OK with Murder ™. Her character has a fascinating dichotomy where she's merciless to her enemies and incredibly loving to her friends and that's not an inconsistency that's part of the point.

Raven is generally de-aged a lot more readily than Kory, probably because Kory is tied into being Dick's love interest so they can't de-age her, but the toon really made teen raven a thing for people and then in the comics in tt2003 they also brought her back as a teenager -- I don't know whether that was toon synergy or an independent decision, but the same comics did have a plotline that pretty much just existed to give beast boy pointy teeth and ears like in the toon, so I wouldn't be surprised.

In general, if Raven is not portrayed as struggling against her father's influence and fearing being like him, but rather just fearing that he'll hurt her (or any instance in which she is used as a portal), that's toon influenced. A key point in NTT's raven is that she fears becoming like her father.

Also Raven as like... more sarcastic and deadpan is generally a toon invention. Raven was emotionally reserved, but she's not really sarcastic. She's a very genuine character, emotionally, she just fears expressing it.

Fandom perception wise I'd say when she's portrayed as like edgy or OK with people getting hurt ( and it's not something that horrifies her and/or tied into Trigon's influence and a slow decline into becoming demon raven), that's ... OOC but I also don't think it's really toon influenced, since she wasn't OK with people getting hurt in the toon. But maybe people read her character wrong? She wears black (toonwise) and acts sarcastic so she must be morally ambiguous. Even tho even in the toon the whole point was she thought she was destined to destroy the world and spent her whole life trying to save as many people as she could before then.

Vic I know we have people who view him as like. joined to beast boy/gar is pretty toon-influenced. I mean, they were friends in the comic, but Vic had a lot of strong relationships with other titans. IT wasn't just a changeling (his NTT name) thing. And even in his own solo they addressed the 'booyah boy' thing which is like... I will not even lie I didn't even notice he said booyah a lot in the toon the first time I watched it I have no clue how that became part of his character's reputation.

Slade thinking Dick is super special is pretty toon influenced, as well as any apprentice-related arc. I think Slade as a nightwing villain NGL is toon-influenced. Like. In the comics we saw him fight Slade once after Joey's death. But earlier more tension was set up (and then regrettable friendship) between Gar and Slade and I Don't approve of the decision really because it was mostly the writers treating Gar as if he got more anger due to the fact that he had a crush on terra (They weren't even dating before her death), but... I also don't approve of the 'slade as nightwing villain' thing, especially any that act as if Dick is just somehow more talented or special than the other titans.

And I know that Titans Academy (and also Terror Titans for some reason, though he was just mentioned in Terror Titans) brought in Red X. If I recall correctly (I read the comic a long time ago) they made references that acted as if the Red X thing in the toon had actually happened in comics, which again, is stupid. Not necessarily the 'bringing in something from cartoons to comics' (I mean, I like Renee Montoya and she's a cartoon invention) but the way that comic is presented in the toon and the 'dick is the most special boy' plotline that goes with it.

Anyway I'm not sure I really got into depth here, b/c like I said I haven't read much recent Teen Titans stuff (I think that Titans Academy was actually the most recent, besides the Kory and Raven 1 shots when they did tales of the titans), and I don't browse fandom tags a ton. But hopefully other people can add if they want :P

[luimagines]

Hear me out on this

Imagine modern reader being the only human in the chain and probably Hyrule. Obviously nobody questions it as reader is from an entirely different world thats not Hyrule that the chain is used to. (the chain think the round ears are cute and reader thinks the pointy ears are also cute.)But there’s a reason why there are no humans in Hyrule. They are not supposed to be there for a reason.

While washing clothes in a nearby river reader accidentally cuts themselves on a sharp rock and starts to bleed. the reader doesn’t think much of it and neither does the link that is accompanying them washing clothes (idk it depends which link). But the smell of blood is a very strong smell, but not to link and the reader but to the monsters who were in a 50 meter radius. The smell of human blood is overwhelming strong and it also smells delicious. The monsters who smell the blood would probably die in peace if they even got a lick of the blood. They cant control themselves and start to run towards the smell. Wanting to devour the source of the smell if possible, which it is.

the reader and link notice the hoard of monsters running towards them and they know they where never there before. It’s absolutely terrifying the amount of monsters coming towards them and they have no time to get their weapons. but thankfully they managed to head back to the main camp before anything worse happens. the chain notices the chaos coming towards the group and gather their weapons while also throwing spare weapons towards reader and link. Due to the amount of monsters the fight takes a few hours and once the last monsters is slain the group is so exhausted to the point that some of the links collapse from exhaustion. Though the group realizes that during the fight the majority of the monsters where only the reader and every-time they got hurt to the point of bleeding the more rabid and crazy they became. After some brain storming of what just happen from the recent attack, everyone came to the conclusion that reader’s blood or more specifically human blood is a very strong substance towards the monsters and the monsters wont hesitate to try to eat humans due to their blood or maybe their flesh. But they are not testing that theory at all. But the main reason why there are no humans in Hyrule living among the many civilizations is because of their blood and once again maybe flesh being considered food and very good food for the monsters. So if there where even any other humans in Hyrule they we’re probably eaten alive. That’s the reason why they dont belong.

idk do what you want with this, I thought it would be fun the make a reason on why humans dont belong.

Oh- Oh no. What does this mean for Twilight's village?

But also!

Hyrule, holding his fist out: Forces of darkness out for your blood, solidarity

Reader: I don't like this timeline

Hyrule: Neither do I! Let's go get some food!

[jenukiart]

OC Stuff - BKW - Kisyku & Roombot

This is Kisyku!! (That's "Kiss-eye-coo" ^^,)

He's my main OC for a space story I've been working on, Bodacious Kisyku World (BKW for short). I've had this character for like.. 7-8 years now?? He's gone through so many changes and iterations, but I'm really happy with where he is now. ^^

Kisyku is a Celestial! They're a powerful species with the ability to channel something called "Cosmic Energy," which is sort of this universe's like "energy" you know the whole shonen thing

Cosmic Energy

Cosmic Energy is channeling the vacuum of space into a combustible dense "liquid" like blob. Think of their appearance like the dream blocks from Celeste, except you can sling it. Kisyku's main form of attack involves slinging this explosive space jelly around. CE also is used to sponge damage to his body among other things.

Channeling and using Cosmic Energy is incredibly dangerous though, so not many people can use it (like humans can't at all for example), so it's a pretty forgotten/unknown thing in the present day.

But Celestials are VERY good at it, like dangerously so.. the story mainly revolves around Kisyku's usage of it, and how he tends to push the limits to dangerous degrees..

Okay NOW Kisyku and Roombot!!

Yeah so Kisyku is a Celestial!! They're a pretty complicated species.. supposedly they can just take on any form they'd like, but Kisyku likes to keep it simple and just appear as human.

I think he messed up a few things though, like he's got pointy Hylian-like ears for one. Just a couple of small quirks like that. So he's not 100% human, but that's ok I still love him, he's doing his best.

I think it's very important to mention that he just has this transmasc energy to him though, I don't really know how to describe it. In earlier versions of the story, when he was just a normal human, he actually was trans. I wanted to keep that element of him in the modern story, by having the transness be more metaphorical through the way Celestials work. That will probably make more sense when I eventually get the official story rolling, but for now just know that he's this transmasc-energy little gremlin.

Despite his size (an outstanding 5'3"!!) Kisyku is a pretty loud, active, and rambunctious character. He's a little scrunkly who can get kinda cocky at times, but overall his heart is in the right place. He can be rather sweet at times, as long as you aren't trying to pick a fight with him.. or commenting on his height.

He also is totally that kind of person who will steal snacks from your fridge, i wouldn't be surprised if he does that a lot with the Brigade

Kisk spends most of his time chilling on Earth. He resides on the dock of a small n' quiet beach-side town. He also enjoys bothering his rent-debt collector, Emily. I'll share more about her and Earth another time though. All you need to know is that he's constantly in debt to her.

He really enjoys watching the waves of the shore sway, among other things as he explores more of the town and it's boardwalk and stuff. It's nice after all to have some quiet time in between the crazy action and antics he gets himself into.

Speaking of...

Outside of Earth-rest stuff, Kisyku likes going out into space and raiding the Cosmos. I like to call these hit and runs of his "rampages," as he seems to have this goal to cause as much destruction to the Cosmos as possible.

The animatic above is a little outdated with the Cosmo designs, but it gives you a good idea of the rush Kisyku throws himself into. In the animatic, they appear as this evil Star Wars-like space empire, but in the current story, Cosmos are very much different. Now they're kind of a secret "shadow police" that only Kisyku really knows about...

He seems to have beef with them, and they don't really like him either... maybe one day you'll learn about why...

But yeah finally, his little companion pal: Roombot. They're like an actual cat.. if it were a roomba.. and can fly.

It's kinda bitchy, sometimes snarky towards Kisyku. You won't really be able to hear their vulgar language though, since they speak in R2-D2 beep boops and whirrs.

Kisyku talks to them a lot though, and sometimes Roomboot puts the snark aside to really listen to him, especially for more emotional moments. They're kind of who Kisyku comes to the most about his problems in the early parts of the story.

Yeah, Roombot is rather silly. They can also float, and Kisyku can grab onto them to get some extra height. Kisyku also sometimes uses them as a stepping stool, but I don't think they really like it when he does.

Holding Roombot feels very buoyant, like as if you were holding onto a paddle board in a pool y'know? That kinda vibe. Despite not always enjoying it, they're always there to help Kisyku out in a pickle!!

But uhhh yeah!! That's Kisyku (and Roombot)!! Kisk really means a lot to me, since he's been around for so so long in my life now. I hope that someday I can really get his story out there for you all to enjoy haha.. but until then, I hope you enjoy the drawings I make of him and his world!!

[littleapocalypsekitten]

I was thinking over Greek/Roman monsters and how beings like Medusa, Centaurs, Cyclopses, Argus and Satyrs started out as genuinely inhuman or even grotesque, but overtime the artists started drawing them as sexy people with monstrous features?

To list:

Medusa: Attractive woman but with snake hair. Originally had a hideous and monstrous face.

Centaur: Attractive muscle-man with horse lower halves. Originally depicted as having a grotesque human appearance as they were based off foreigners.

Satyrs: Originally long tongued monstrous humanoids with goat legs and constant erections, later attractive guys with less prominent goat legs and just as prominent erections! Sometimes just men with pointy ears and erections

Cyclops: Early artwork depicted them as grotesque giants with just an eye and mouth on their face. Later artwork, particularly in roman times depicted them as giant, but attractive chiseled men with a normal human face, but with no eye sockets or just closed eyes, and a singular eye in their forehead.

Argus: He was described as being having one hundred eyes over his body, but alot of ancient artwork depicted him as a normal man but with the eyes all over his arms and legs!

Actually that reminds me, we don't see alot of "sexy cyclopes" in modern media, hahaha, I wonder why that is?

No such thing as sexy cyclops, hmmm? Monsters are fun to play with. They allow creativity, whether you want to go ugly or beautiful. It's kind of like the "Biblically Accurate Angel" fad, isn't it? There are only a few places in the Bible where Heavenly Host are depicted as highly weird to human sensibilities, a few visions. In Daniel, if I'm not mistaken, and in Revelation - the Revelation four-faced angels stick out to me in particular because I used them as the basis for a monument / statues important to a kingdom in one of my fantasy novels. Yet, more often in the Bible, angels are just guys. Like... instances where they just look like humans because they're doing the undercover-agent thing. It's neat that the Classical Greek monsters were originally meant to be horrifying. (Personally, I find Medusa's story more horrifying than gorgons, themselves... if I recall correctly, Medusa was cursed by Athena for the crime of being raped in her temple. It was like, everything back then was to blame the woman because the Ancient Greeks were pretty horrible about not seeing women as human). Modern people making her pretty cool? It's like revenge for the original story! Reclaim the problematic myths! Medusa, as a character, is pretty sexy in Kid Icarus: Uprising, even though she's a villain.

I have a picture somewhere I cannot find of a re-wilded centaur I drew in response to a tumblr convo with @virovac I can't seem to locate it right now and tumblr is being a butt on me inserting images. (I'm lucky to have gotten what I got here... system is so touchy). Eh, for every monster, there's a monsterf*cker, I guess. Neat to find out how far back it goes!

[animatorweirdo]

Good morning/evening! It's muffin anon and at this point, I think it's pretty obvious that I love escapism 'modern person in insert fantasy world' trope. So I thought, what if an elf from Middle Earth fell into the modern world and reader found them in their backyard?

Like at one night reader hears a strange noise coming from their backyard and loads up their gun to go check what it is. They go out and to their suprise, the strange noise came not from an intruder, but from a creature of supernatural beauty. The creature subtly glowed in the dark and they had pointy ears. Reader is absolutely mesmerized by the creature in front of them. So much so that they let their guard down. The creature is terrified of reader And in their terror they make haste attacking reader. The reader subdues the creature and after a brief conversation, the two understand that there has been a misunderstanding.

Not wanting the poor elf to be experiemented upon by the authorities, reader takes the elf and shows them to their home. They let the elf have a bath and they give them a change of clothes and a place to stay.

The two discuss what may have gone down to have this elf land in their backyard. Neither of them can find what may have caused this dimensional anormality, so they don't know how this elf could go back home.

Despite it being a risky move, reader decides it is best to hide them from authorities. So they let the elf stay.

Days, turn into weeks weeks turn to months months turn to years and reader and elf slowly fall in love. Reader teaches the elf about the modern world and guardes them from dangers while the elf brings love and meaning to reader's monotone life. They establish a great system to their house amd live peacefully.

You thought I would let them be happy for once didn't you? Well, too bad! *evil laughter*

Until disaster stroke and your elf got found out by the authorities. You tried to take your elf and flee but the two of you got caught shortly after.

You held the hand of your elf as if your life depended on it as the light from police cars threatened to blind you. There were so many guns pointed at you. Your hands shook from fear as you squeezed your elf's hand, trying to reassure them that it would all be okay. The officer repeated his demand for you to turn yourselves in. You were hesitant to speak as anything you say would render you in an even worse situation.

Just when you thought it was all over, the very fabric of the space-time was torn, revealing a dark tentacle. The dark tentacle creature started to wreak havoc. In the chaos, you and your elf got seperated.

Suddenly your world narrowed to the sight of your elf screaming as they were captured and dragged into the depths of the void by the dark creature. Without thinking your body sprang into action taking a gun one of the officers had managed to somehow lose, you held onto a tentacle and got yourself dragged into the void as the tear started fixing itself.

So, I have a few ideas on what can happen after this but I want to hear your thought first. What do you think? Will reader manage to find their elf and get out of the void or will they be stuck there, forever?

Oh dear, who is this elf? I first thought a feanorian, but they would make the humans shit bricks. Someone very unlucky? Son of Manwe? Because I could see Melkor doing something like this, throwing his nephew into the void and letting the monsters have them, or be the one to do it. Melkor, you bloody menace...

And reader just going in doomslayer style. Oh boy, whatever lurks there better be ready because reader is coming in with guns and all to save their elf.