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wonysugar · 16 days

Text

close the door | hanni pham

synopsis : you had no idea what you were doing, and neither did she.

genre : fluffy smut!

pairing : non-idol!hanni x gf!femreader

tags : they’re in love your honor, lots of kissing and making out, cuddling, l-bombs, top!femreader, bottom!hanni, they’re both virgins, fingering, clit play, nipple play, neck kissing, hanni’s dogs are mentioned twice lawl, lots of comfort, lots of consent! they’re literally just lovey dovey girlfriends having sex for the first time aheheh

warnings : none :]

word count : 2.5k

a/n : if you’re rereading this and thinking “hey the synopsis changed and there wasn’t an author’s note before!!” well you’d be right I POSTED THIS IN A RUSH I’M SO SORRYYFKEJF

anyways!! this is just to say that this fic is inspired by the lovely writer that is sorry for tagging you twice ahh @facefullofsadness’s fic right over here :] sooo GO READ THAT FIRST! it’s truly lovely and i really enjoyed reading it, hence why i wrote thisskfke. thank you for readingg<33

oh how you loved your girlfriend.

you would die for your girlfriend, actually, even if you only started dating barely a few months ago. who could blame you? that’s what happens when you’ve been best friends prior to your relationship for so, so, so long. it simply started with a ‘hi! my name’s hanni! what’s yours?’ from her part at the innocent age of seven and just like that, years later, you guys were still inseparable.

so really, your life-long friendship and months-long relationship were both with the same gorgeous and outgoing girl, and the only thing distinguishing those two was the label you used to describe them.

“bro i genuinely don’t understand why he doesn’t just… run away. cause— get this, there’s obviously a murderer in his house right? and what does he decide to do about that? just stay in there. like, okay.. like i’m aware they needed plot but lord, i don’t know at least make it somewhat realistic you know what i mean—“ was what your girlfriend said, on her bed as she sat down in between your legs and leaned her back against you, her head facing forward and resting on your shoulder.

you simply nodded along to her words as you played with her hair, trying your hardest to stay focused on the piece of media before you whilst also paying your utmost attention to her, despite her constant ranting and criticizing of the entire movie. you, having originally liked the film, were now conflicted about your opinion on it. it’s not like she was wrong, her very heavy criticism had to have come from somewhere, after all, but you couldn’t help but slightly appreciate the storyline. so, you weren’t really sure what you felt about it anymore.

one thing you were certain of, however,

was that your girlfriend looked really good while passionately rambling. like, way too good. she had tied her dark hair into a high ponytail, it also looked wavy due to the rain that was pouring on you guys earlier, her messy bangs fell perfectly onto her forehead. and her smile? it always looked perfect. she always looked perfect.

and since you apparently weren’t hiding your admiration well enough, she very quickly noticed it.

she giggled teasingly. her voice sweet like honey, her australian accent more prominent than usual, she spoke up, “hello?” before full-on laughing, “were you even listening to me?”

you could only kiss her, that seemed like the only appropriate response in the heat of the moment. she, of course, kissed back just as lovingly before pulling away moments after, a curious and confused look on her face.

“no seriously, what is up with you?” she kept teasing, smiling stupidly as she kept her gaze lingering on yours for the following seconds, her eyes unconsciously drifting to your lips. “you look stupid.”

“and you look really pretty.” was what you whispered back to her, earning a shy smile and an exaggerated eye roll from her. immediately, you made your lips come into contact with hers again. it felt as if the world would stop spinning if you didn’t, like a slowly growing urge to keep touching her suddenly came over you and you needed to fill it.

“so.. so pretty.” you mumbled, so quietly that it was almost to yourself, before going back in. you allowed yourself to make the kiss deeper and slid her tongue across her soft lips as you demanded entrance. you could hear her let out slight noises, she clearly was not expecting you to do anything of the sorts, at least not right now. she was a tad bit confused, but let you in, who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to kiss their girlfriend? immediately, your hands wrapped around her waist whilst you continued kissing her lovingly, your tongue roaming every part of her mouth.

it didn’t take long before your hands started naturally reaching under her top, caressing on her tummy and progressively going higher with each sound she let out.

you pulled away, slightly worried of going too far, “c-can.. can i continue, hanni?”

you were scared, terrified, even! despite knowing each other for years, you’d only been dating for a few months; those are two completely different things! it’s not like you see your completely platonic best friend’s naked body every tuesday. even then, despite dating, you still haven’t gotten that stage of the relationship. and on top of that,

the two of you were a proper pair of virgins. you had no idea what you were doing, and neither did she. you didn’t want to seem like an inexperienced loser to her, you wanted to take care of her and make her feel good. what if that didn’t happen? what if you made it awkward between the two of you?? it was nerve-racking.

as if barging into your mind and reading your thoughts, wanting to reassure you, she grabbed your hand in a gentle manner before nodding. then, she spoke up, “can you close the door?”

“there’s.. nobody home, though?”

she giggled, “oh i know, it’s just that i don’t want the dogs to potentially walk in on this.”

you groaned dramatically, laughing and insisting that you were too lazy to get up and that her dogs wouldn’t understand the situation if they even walked in. she, in response, just tapped your knee with a cheeky smile, encouraging you to stand up.

“come on y/n, close the door. think about milly and mia; think about their innocence!” she exaggerated.

after playfully hitting her arm and laughing along with her, you got up, proceeded to close and lock the door like she asked you to and eventually walked back to her bed, sitting back on it and positioning yourself the way you originally were, her back to you again.

“happy?” you asked in a fake arrogant tone.

she hummed, radiant, “yes, very happy.” before turning her head just right and kissing you again.

eventually back to the original rhythm of the kiss, you placed your hands back on her stomach again, slowly caressing and teasing higher and higher with time. once you reached her bra, you proceeded to impatiently unhook it, immediately taking it off of her.

her breathing got heavier with each second that passed, partially due to nervousness, probably. you’d be lying if you said that wasn’t the case for you too. the more your hands carefully roamed her body, the more self-conscious you got, you truly had no idea what you were doing.

then, as if something in your mind clicked, you had an idea. what if you just did to her whatever you enjoyed doing to yourself in moments like these? that could work.. right? maybe??

you glided your hand upwards, your finger lightly grazing her nipple. in response to the sudden movement, a lewd sound accidentally escaped from her pretty lips, her breath hitching. that sound was a small moan.

a small one, barely audible, yet it was still enough for you to feel the activation of every single neuron residing in your brain.

then suddenly, it’s like the concept of making love to her wasn’t as nerve-racking as it originally was.

“s-sorry..” she apologized, seeming slightly embarrassed.

you kissed her cheek, reassuring her, “don’t apologize, i wanna hear you.”

despite it being an accident, she seemed to enjoy the sensation of your hand on her chest, so you went back to teasing her tits and gently groping them before you eventually asked, “is it okay if i go further..?”

nodding in a keen manner, she swallowed her saliva, then breathed out her response, “yes. yes keep— keep going. please.”

well shit! even if you wanted to stop, it’s not like you could, not with how good she sounded pleading for you.

not wasting any more time, you proceeded to separate one of your hands from her chest and quickly slid it downwards; to the band of her sweatpants. now, of course, your other hand was still in its original place, working its magic, but you wanted her to feel more. so much more.

you wanted to convey every surge of affection you violently felt for her into pleasure. and, if there was one thing you surely knew how to do, it was kissing her.

so, you started kissing on her neck, which she didn’t expect whatsoever, and still heavily concentrated on the hand you had on her breast. then, you pulled on the sleeve of her tee just enough to expose her shoulder and moved your mouth towards it, nipping and gently licking it.

your hand now fully slipped into her pants, you teased her entrance through the fabric of her underwear as you kept kissing her naked shoulder. you listened to her attentively and took mental notes of her reactions; so far, her breathing got heavier, her thighs slightly clenched around your hand and she was now frequently biting her lip.

plus, her panties were wet.

did all of that mean you were doing good? …perhaps it did!

and did her drenched underwear make you short circuit? perhaps it did as well!

“d-d’you feel okay?” you asked, before going back to slowly kissing her shoulder. she threw you a quick glance, chest heaving up and down.

“s-so okay.” she giggled.

her smile being contagious, you found yourself doing the exact same thing, content with the answer she gave you.

soon enough, you traced your finger up her clothed slit before eventually sliding it into the undergarment she wore, making her shudder. after what felt like an eternity, you could feel her slick coat your digits from one swipe of the finger.

it was tantalizing.

growing impatient, you quickly yet carefully settled your middle and ring finger on her swollen clit, making slow circular motions on it, looking at her in the process. full on whimpering, this time, she stared back at you, no longer embarrassed. she wanted to let you know how good you were making her feel, hence why she was getting louder with each movement you made, and it filled you with enough confidence and adrenaline to gently push her head towards you, leaning in for a kiss.

thankfully, she kissed you back, deeply at that, her eyes closed and her quiet moans muffled.

you pulled away after a few moments, “tell me if it hurts, okay?” you reminded her. she simply nodded, brain all fuzzy from arousal.

she grabbed your other hand and intertwined her fingers with yours. “g-go slowly.” she whispered.

“i will.” you affirmed.

slowly and gently, you slid your fingers into her core, making sure not to go too fast or too rough. thankfully, the wetness was making it easier for you, and probably for her as well. every time that your girlfriend’s breath hitched, that her hand gripped harder on yours or, hell, every time that her eyes closed, you stopped in your tracks and double checked to see if you were hurting her, so it took a little while for your digits to fully penetrate her.

fortunately, she assured you that you weren’t, in fact, hurting her. some moments just felt more comfortable than others, is all.

once they were fully in, you gave her time to get used to the feeling, still double checking on her state every now and then. after a few deep breaths, she nodded.

“i-i’m ready.”

you started to pump your fingers in and out of her, taking in all of her as your speed slowly increased as time went on. naturally, as more time passed, you felt the urge to make her feel good get even stronger.

that’s when you decided to increase the pace, your fingers curling on just the right spot inside her, pumping faster and faster as your thumb played with her clit.

“is this okay baby—” you asked.

“f-fuck— yes y/n that feels good—“ was what she moaned out, cutting you off. a feeling of bliss progressively and clearly overtaking her whole body.

when you tried to look at her despite only being able to see her side profile, you could’ve sworn you saw an angel. her cheeks were slightly tinted with a pinkish color and her eyebrows were upturned, her whole face contorted with pleasure, her skin glistening with sweat. her eyes hooded with lust, hanni looked down at herself and attentively watched as you played with her. your fingers swimming in her slick, navigating in her folds the way a skilled sailor would the vast ocean, it was hypnotizing, and she realized how this was probably the way you got yourself off on a regular day, and she couldn’t help but moan at both the thought and the sensation.

you made her feel good, you made her feel happy, loved. you always did.

amidst the chaos that was her messy bed, the setting somehow looked better than every piece of artwork you’d ever seen combined. the bed creaked ever so slightly, and she looked and sounded so beautiful, especially with the way the sun set directly on her parted lips at that moment.

you were certain that your heart skipped a beat at the sight.

“i love you so much, hanni.” you softly said, kissing the back of her ear whilst you kept fingering her. she couldn’t form proper words, so she simply tightened her grip on your hand more, as a way to say it back.

then, once you picked up a stable pace for a few minutes, her back arched against you, her breathing getting heavier, practically panting. her hand’s grip on yours getting tighter, you felt her hot breath hit your neck once she settled her head into the crook of it.

“y/n— baby i think i’m- i’m— mmh—“

that was the moment she reached climax, letting out a long and loud moan as she rode out her orgasm, bucking her hips against your hand before smashing her lips onto yours. quietly, she let a few i love yous slip out of her mouth between kisses, her hand resting on your head, fingers intertwined with your soft hair.

you particularly made sure to say it back to her every time.

you pulled out your fingers and took your hand out of her pants. still coming down from her high, she smiled at you with tired eyes and kissed your cheek. you smiled back, looking at her lovingly.

“d-did i do okay?”

she giggled, “..are you seriously asking me that? do you not see me right now?”

you raised your eyebrows, playful, “for all i know you were faking it.”

“yeah, actually.. i was faking it, especially with how wet i was from the whole thing. aren’t i such a good actor y/n? it’s almost like i legitimately came really hard—”

“shut up.” you elbowed her, laughing. she gave you a cheeky smile before she got up from the bed, grabbed a pair of new underwear from her drawer and opened the bedroom door, heading straight towards the living room to pet her dogs after changing.

“hey y/n?”

“hm?”

“…wanna bake brownies in a bit?”

“uhm.. yes? what kind of question is that?? let me just go wash my hands first.” you replied, getting up and walking towards the bathroom before adding on, “unless you wanna eat very unsanitary cum-buttered brownies, of course—“

you heard her contagious laugh from across the hallway, making you smile to yourself, “you’re fucking disgusting— go wash your hands, you weirdo!”

oh how you loved your girlfriend.

#smut #kpop gg #hanni pham newjeans #hanni newjeans #newjeans smut #hanni pham #hanni pham x female reader #hanni x reader #hanni x fem reader #hanni pham x fem reader #hanni smut #newjeans hanni #female reader #kpop gg smut #kpop girlgroups

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amorchai · 5 days

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hii !! i was wondering if i could mayyyebebee request an abed nadir x reader fic?:??::??. there’s nothing of him at all and i love him so bad:( just like go crazy lol:) i would love a romantic relationship in it and preferably with a gender neutral reader please<3 thank you so so so much i appreciate u!!!!

abed finds out you like him.

pairing(s): abed nadir x reader

words: 738

warnings/tags: mentions of neurotypical, abed not understanding, i try to write abed as accurately and appropriate as possible i hope my depiction of him is okay!

abed wasn’t one for social cues. you knew this from the start of being in the chaotic study group. whenever someone was sarcastic, he thought they were serious. and if someone was unhappy with him it sometimes took abed a while to notice.

however, you trying to let abed know you like him through simple signs was hellish. even a neurotypical person may not even get the signs, therefore poor abed nadir never stood the chance.

troy, as the role of abed’s best friend – practically platonic boyfriend – did notice the signs. watching as you took more than an interest in his movie rants than even troy could sometimes bear, bringing him hot chocolate in the morning, or asking him fitting questions and smiling lovingly as you watched him go into overdrive and talk it out.

annie and troy would fangirl over it, fawning over their best friend having a love interest. oh how badly they wanted abed to have someone, especially someone like you, who treated him just as well as they did.

troy had been desperate to tell abed, knowing you struggled on that end. but after months, annie had begged troy not to ruin the story and that it’ll happen when it’s meant to.

however, his promise to keep it to himself didn’t last long. since, one day, after you left their shared apartment – all lovey dovey eyed after hours of watching abed’s favourite movie per your request – troy immediately let it spill.

annie was smiling, watching abed as the door clicked shut and troy reluctantly set his third chocolate cake slice down to the side, “y/n likes you!”

immediately, annie’s smile drops, landing a swift smack against troy’s arm from sitting beside him, “troy! what did i tell you?” they bicker slightly, at first not noticing their best friend’s confused expression.

“what do you mean?”

annie sighs, looking over to abed who is trying to process the news in his own way – which seems to be slightly confusing but overwhelming him all at the same time.

“… what troy’s trying to tell you is that y/n likes you, like… in a romantic way abed.”

abed’s eyes are darting, eyebrows frowned as he continues to intake the words his friend’s tell him. “in a ‘let’s get together’ way?” asks abed, and they both nod in reply, expectantly watching his expressional response.

abed didn’t depict this in their television show, although he did portray you as the ‘pretty one’ or as the ‘caring and kind’ one of the group which he is now realising is because he thought those things himself.

so, without responding, abed stands, shocking his friend’s as he runs to the door and quickly down the hall. “abed! abed, where are you going?” troy yells desperately, worried tones while annie mutters, “look what you did.”

he doesn’t stop, reading the front door wedged open with an old brick and towards your frame, now opening your car door to drive home. “y/n!” you hear and pause, turning to see abed trudging over.

“abed- whats going on-?” your interrupted as abed kisses you, short but slightly breath-taking as your mind goes blank, in disbelief. once he pulls away, abed says nothing, making you speak first, “is that one of your movie character moments or…” you trail off, unsure what else it would be.

“you like me.”

you groan embarrassed, “i’m gonna kill troy i swear.”

“i like you.”

you pause, looking up at his daring eyes, scanning your confused expression, “y-you do?” you ask him.

“yeah… i think so.”

usually, that answer would worry you, but it was different with abed, it was a major moment between you both in that moment. abed nadir hardly admitted feelings, especially in a romantic sense, unless he was depicting a character.

“do you think annie and troy will be watching us from the window?” you ask with a giggle and abed smiles, immediately responding, “absolutely.”

you lean up, pressing a long and heartfelt kiss to abed’s cheek and you watch his reaction, taken aback but a small smile still covers his face. his fingers touch the spot, his cheeks heating up like a furnace while you spin round to your open door to your car.

“i’ll see you tomorrow, abed, okay?”

“okay.” abed replies, waving you goodbye as you drive off, knowing he will go back into chaos of annie and troy squealing and celebrating their friend’s newfound romance.

amorchai masterlist . taglist form

#— ꒰꒰ ➵ my works ｡˚ ꒱꒱#community┊ ➶ ˚⊹ abed nadir ⊹#abed nadir #community nbc #troy and abed #nbc community #community tv #abed nadir x reader #abed nadir fanfiction

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am-i-interrupting · 11 months

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Hi!! I have a request for my favorite scientist Viktor ♥️ could I please get a fic in which Viktor has developed feelings for one of his fellow scientists and is avoiding them out of fear of being unprofessional? I would love it if he eventually confessed once reader confronts Viktor about him ignoring them. Thank you <3

Smart But Wrong

Tags: 870 words, fluff, misunderstandings

Viktor was not the most in tune with his own emotions, much less others. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. It was simply the result of being different. Being different left him isolated, even in the Undercity. It left him without people in those years they were vital. He was trying to get better at it but it was hard.

It took him a while to realize why his eyes were drawn to you. It didn’t click right away or even in a time that would be considered normal. No, he realized very late into the game that he was attracted to you.

When he did, you were sitting beside him, rambling on about a theory you had. He had turned his head up from his own work to watch you speak with your movements and expressions. Inside his head something switched and a light bulb began to glow. A sign lit up and it has an arrow pointed at his heart with you situated inside.

He didn’t know what to do. It has been a very long time since he’d had a crush. Sure, he could compliment people’s looks and their outfits but anything beyond that had been some time since he’d felt.

Viktor was confused and when he didn’t understand something, he liked to be alone with his thoughts. That’s exactly what he did. He went to be alone from his thoughts, away from the thing of his confusion while he tried to understand himself. Unfortunately that meant away from you.

He didn’t realize he was being avoidant. He just took note of when you were around and planned his actions accordingly, trying to test what did and did not feel right and natural around you. Then he’d catalog it so he could look back and decide if it was appropriate later. His intent wasn’t to avoid you, it was simply to try to better understand what he was feeling.

It was a surprise to him when you came to his house on the weekend with a stern look on your face as soon as he opened the door.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” you said.

Viktor felt anxiety bubble up inside him. “Have I?” he asked, words genuine on his tongue.

“Yes, and I want to know why,” you said as you brushed past him and inside.

“I— It was not my intention. I apologize,” he told you as he slowly shut the door. “I’ve had a lot on my mind these past couple weeks. I'm just trying to figure them out.”

“And figuring them out involves you avoiding me in favor of Jayce?” you asked with a cocked brow.

“Yes,” he said as he walked into the kitchen and began brewing tea. “You see, you are the object of my confusion. You’re hard to figure out.”

You paused for a moment, “So in an attempt to understand me, you’re avoiding me? How does that make sense?”

He shook his head. “You’re not what’s confusing me. It’s myself. Sorry, I’m not the best at explaining things. I'm sure you know this by now.”

You followed him to the counter and leaned against it. “Well, try anyway.”

He paused his actions before he continued to search his cabinets for tea bags as he had the water on the stove. “Do you prefer black tea or green tea?”

“Viktor,” you said in a warning tone.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped. “You,” he paused to search for the right words, “you make me feel things I haven’t felt in some time and I wanted to catalog how my actions around you differ from others. That is all.”

You felt your heart stop, then skip a beat, and begin again faster than ever. “How do I make you feel different?” you asked in a strained voice.

“That is not important,” he said as he weighed the tea bags in his hands before he put up the green tea.

“It is to me,” you told him, trying to will your hope down in case it was about to be crushed.

He was quiet for a moment that stretched into nearly a minute. His facial expression twitched several times on a minuscule level. Then he inhaled deeply.

“I don’t want to lose the relationship I have with you because of feelings that could very well be fruitless and fleeting,” he said, finally looking at you.

“You won’t,” you told him.

“Can you promise this won’t change things?”

“No, but I can promise I won’t leave.”

His eyes darted across you, looking for any sign of deceit. He didn’t find any.

He swallowed around nothing before he spoke, “I fear my feelings towards you have evolved into something of a more romantic nature.”

“And why is that something to be afraid of?” you asked, willing your blood to go back to other parts of your body and not just your face.

“Because it could push you to leave.”

You shook your head. “How can you be so smart and so wrong at the same time?” you asked.

He didn’t have time to retort with his own question because you pulled him down and pressed your lips against his before he had the chance.

#viktor arcane x reader #viktor x reader #viktor x you

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dandylovesturtles · 1 year

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Hey, as a newbie to writing fic and to sharing things online/engaging in fandom spaces, I was wondering if you could share some insight regarding the best ways to make friends and get your work seen? There’s so much good content in the Rise fandom I can totally understand why things would get buried. So what’s the best way to make connections and to (I hate this word but idk what else to call it) promote your stuff? Thank you in advance! Hope things are well and I cannot wait to read your further updates/works. <3

Hi! Thanks for the well wishes!! And welcome to the world of fic writing!

So I'm going to start here by saying that I'm answering this question from the angle of trying to get your work seen and making friends more than getting popular, because getting popular is honestly a lot of luck and unless you want to be really cynical about it and game the system it's pretty much impossible to force it. BUT wanting people to read your fic is a normal and good thing to want; most of us want the things we create to be enjoyed by others, after all!

First things first, the easiest way to be part of a community is to participate in it! In fandom this means leaving comments on fanfic, reblogging art and fic and leaving tags or comments here on tumblr, etc. There are people in the fandom who have become familiar faces to me just because they're always commenting on my fics or tagging posts and they show up in my notifs all the time. Also, I can't speak for everyone here, but when people leave me nice comments on my fics, pretty often I'll click into their profile to see if they've written anything that I might like to read. I've found great fanfics that way!

I know some people are more social than others (I'm on the low end of the social spectrum), but even if direct messaging people is intimidating, just being an enthusiastic presence in the less direct ways I've suggested can go a long way towards making yourself known in the fandom, and you can gain friends over time that way!

Another way you can get some eyes on your work is through fandom events. I've mentioned on this blog that I'm participating in the Grab A Slice bang event (which is posting this month), which has been a fun way to meet other writers and artists in the TMNT fandom at large. There's other stuff like this happening all the time, like I know last month there was an April art challenge here on tumblr that had prompts for each day. And I wouldn't be surprised if we get some secret santa events happening around Christmas. Obviously not everyone has time for this kind of stuff, but if you do, participating is basically a free way to both get promotion of your work and be introduced to other creators in the fandom.

Finally, this is more technical advice that I have, but I assume since you're asking me you're posting work to AO3 or plan to, so I want to say that tagging your work appropriately is really important for getting it seen! Be sure you're tagging your major characters, any major relationships (as a side note, & tags on AO3 mean platonic relationships while / tags mean romantic ones), and any major tropes or themes that people might be hunting for (you should also put trigger warnings in the tags). Usually when I'm on AO3 I'm not just going through the Rise tag unfiltered, I'm searching up "Donatello (TMNT) & Leonardo (TMNT), hurt/comfort" or "Raphael (TMNT), angst" so if someone is leaving tags like that off their work I won't see it even if it's something I would devour in one sitting. Tags are super important on tumblr too but they are also... more of a mystery to me... definitely tag your main characters and the fandom though.

Also, don't be discouraged! Not everything is going to be a hit right away. I've had my ups and downs for sure; my least kudos'd fic has 3 kudos (not counting the ones I ported over from FFN because those had different post dates - my actual least kudos'd fic has no kudos). Remember that writing fic is ultimately for fun, and really as long as you write something you yourself have fun reading then I think that's a success!

I hope that this made sense and was not just useless rambling lol. Thanks for the ask!

#I always feel a little presumptuous giving advice like this #honestly idk though throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks

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vilyanenyavilya · 12 days

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @xottan. thank youuuu

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

734,739.

Thank Checkmate for over half of that.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

MCU, mainly frostiron

4. Top five fics by kudos

Checkmate (Chess and Chocolate Chip Pancakes in Stark Tower)

Mischief Meets Hawk

Variant Friends

The Firefly Light In Your Eyes

The Sorcerer Next Door

5. Do you respond to comments?

yep, when it gets to a back and forth I love it!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Mischief Meets Hawk, but more bittersweet because I skipped over what would have been the angstiest part. It’s just what happens when a god (Loki) becomes best friends with a human (Clint).

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

They tend to be happy, but I’ll say Checkmate since it took 409,963 words to get Tony and Loki there. So much happened to build up to the ending.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Had two comments that I would count, one was more just mis-understanding and one was the type of thing you delete and block the user.

9. Do you write smut?

I write more love scenes than pure smut and other scenes that cut away. Though that might change in the next fic. Firefly’s probably the most smutty.

10. Craziest crossover?

Nothing published, but in my head there’s a Leverage and Avengers + Loki crossover where the Leverage crew is pulling a job and keep seeing weird stuff happen around them. They just want to steal from the rich person and fix something for one or a couple people while at the same time the Avengers are dealing with something huge.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. Would be fun! Someone ask!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, back in SGA days.

14. All time favorite ship?

Frostiron, to no one who follows me’s surprise. I just love them.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Look Question List, I’m really trying on Lost in Time, okay? I have two lovely people reading it for me right now. It’s been two and a half years since I started the draft, but I am determined to start posting.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. It will just flow out, especially between Tony and Loki.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions, especially of location and setting. I have to go back and fill in. It’s my least favorite part. Can’t I just do plot and dialogue and everyone know what I pictured in my head?

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Google translate is a wonderful thing. In Love Language Barrier I used it for Norwegian and a Swedish speaker said it was readable. It was integral to the fic concept, otherwise I use a little here and there if it’s appropriate. Mainly for sweet names Loki calls Tony.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

SGA

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ahhhhhh at the moment Checkmate or Mischief Meets Hawk. Checkmate because it’s my big fic and Mischief Meets Hawk because it spontaneously happened after I watched Hawkeye and needed to put Clint with Loki on an adventure.

tagging @poetic-fiasco if you want 💚📚📚📚

#my fanfiction #frostiron #mcu fanfiction #mcu fanfic #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #ao3 fanfiction #fic writing #frostiron on the brain #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #tony stark fanfic #tony stark fanfiction #clint barton fanfiction #Clint Barton fanfic

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liz-allyn · 1 year

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how can I get my fics to get attention like yours do? working your ass off and then getting 20 notes sucks. and I’m trying to become a better writer and honestly crave the validation like you get from your followers. hopefully you’ll see this! Obsessed with S&V

Hi my fellow 🖋️!

Thank you so much for your comment, and thank you for thinking so highly of me!

answers for fic writers after the cut

So honestly? I don't know how to get followers. This blog has been running since 2021, and I only started writing fic < 1 year ago. I've become so much more well known (ha) in the TASM fandom because I've hung out here a long time. I don't have a secret to engagement or understand how tumblr 'works' that well (ie the algorithm that social media sites use to decide what to put in front of you). There are still people I freakin' worship on this site who don't interact with my fics at all, haha. AND flip side, some of the best writers I've ever seen are on here and their fics have less than 100 notes. I have learned that persistently I'll look over into other peoples' yards and be like "fuck. how did they get 4K followers?" or like "wow, she just posted this yesterday and it has over 1k notes."

as for working your ass off and getting 20 notes—CAN CONFIRM: that sucks. some fics I wrote for fun. some fics I wrote for the creative challenge. but pretty much on all of them I've left a little piece of me, of my soul and the lessons i've learned in my meandering partial journey. blood on the keyboard. and those fics? the really great ones (or ones just as good as sugar and vice)? they still don't have many notes.

But I will acknowledge that my following dramatically increased when I started posting S&V. I think I had ~900 and that blew up to 1.5k. There are a few factors in this:

Always post fics with fic art (with gifs! if possible) - This is the number one thing that draws me to read fic. I like art that looks cool. I also have been playing around with Canva Pro for 3-4 years (it's my fav) and I'm animation-adjacent as a day job, so pushing myself to think about graphic design has been really good for me. I find it fun to come up with a whole aesthetic for your story, whether it's a mood board or a color scheme (I usually have 'branding' on the brain). If you don't want to play with fic art, at least find an appropriate gif. Use the actor's face. I also think the gif search on Tumblr sucks balls but it's really worth it to have the right gif.

Pay attention to the hashtags of other popular fics in your fandom - when I started paying attention to notes, this was the best advice. I was using all kinds of tags that made sense to me, but weren't effective. In the web version of Tumblr, I can search for a tag and see how many followers it has. It's significant if #peter parker x reader has way more followers than #tasm!peter x reader. Also trends come and go, tumblr has their hotboy of the month and it rotates. there have been months were TASM Peter was non-existent in the last year, and months where we're getting *fed*. Pro tip with tags: I have a separate Google Doc with a list of hashtags that I copy and paste to save time. After a while, you should try reblogging with different hashtags

Use a spelling or grammar checker - I'm not a grammar fac*st but if I open a fic and everything is misspelled, almost no punctuation is used, and I have to work really hard to understand your story, then it's not going to go far. (With respect to writers who post work in English, and it's their second language). I never pay much attention to the occasional misspelling or grammar mistake, but when it looks like you sent your fic via text message or tinder chat, I just can't. I personally use Grammarly, but I also hate it and think it's buggy and overpriced. If anyone else has a better option that works with Google Docs, let me know!

Never write your fics in Tumblr's post editor. That has nothing to do with engagement but that shit is buggy as hell.

Avoid putting too much text up front before the fic. I put author's notes at the end. I try to keep summaries short. I try to focus on what someone absolutely needs to know to understand this fic, and I *mostly* try to avoid apologizing to the reader ahead of time for what they're about to read, for it being too long, for it being weird, bleh bleh bleh

If you're writing a series, make people reblog to be tagged. I've seen lots of people do taglists and then they give up because it's a pain to manage (and it is), plus you have a bunch of people that go "add me to the taglist!" or "next part, when?" and they didn't even reblog what you've already written. I think that's been one of the really big factors behind S&V's success

Make navigation as easy as possible - this is web design 101 (which I flunked repeatedly), but a masterlist is good to have. If you're in a series, a link back to the previous chapter + next chapter is good to have, I've also recently started putting a link back to the masterlist. people that know more things about stuff than me told me that you want to make things as simple as possible for viewers to get from one page to another. (that's why youtube links are shit on tumblr, even videos are meh, but GIFs work so well and attract so much attention). this is a visual site, so big images or headings or links with color help to draw the eye's attention.

Write what you want to write. Because you really need to gain enjoyment from writing, and it should never feel like you're a content factory. Do this 9 out of 10 times. The 10th time, write what people want to read. My first mob fic was These Violet Delights which I thought was so smart, and I was so proud of, and I planned this whole series out for. But also I tag things accurately, and some people (even my moots) are uncomfortable reading about those topics. Then when I started S&V I was extremely self-critical because I didn't want to write something filled with tropes and cliches. And then I sort of got off my soapbox and let S&V be its own thing, full of tropes and cliches, because they're popular for a reason, and they're fun to read, and it's okay to have candy for dinner every once in a while. And I've been able to pivot my plans and create something I'm pretty proud of.

It does help to stay consistent in the fandom you're writing for. Either by writing or reblogging other writers. Just don't make yourself feel like you're a slave to Tumblr and you must stay active at all times f o r e n g a g e m e n t. Everyone should take breaks when they need to.

Don't listen to my advice because no one knows how to hack tumblr. There are some posts that have sooooo many notes and I'm like 'why?' Meanwhile, my heart's been ripped open in LED pixels on screen and sometimes it passes by.

I hope that this was useful! And if not, I'm sorry for the long post. I look forward to reading your fic (whoever you are), and feel free to tag me when you write your next thing!

💜

#on writing #writing advice #fanfiction #fanfic advice #peter parker fanfiction #tasm fanfiction #writing #writers on tumblr

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carochinha · 6 months

Text

19 Questions for Fic Writers!

I got tagged by @storybookprincess, thank you so so so much!!!

1. How many fics do you have on AO3?

Roughly... 16. That's not bad. Quite a respectable number!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

328,674

Damn. That a lotta word. Wild to think a third of those words are from a single fic huh

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Bit of a lot of things. Hunter x Hunter and Daiya no Ace are my big ones, but I've also written for Kingdom Hearts, Haikyuu, Black Clover, Project Sekai and....... Homestuck.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

"A Very Hisoka Wedding" stands head and shoulders above anything else at 1,143 kudos, which is legit insane. This fic isn't close to being my best. It isn't close to being my most innovative. It isn't even the longest! And yet it has more Hits, Kudos and Bookmarks than anything else I've ever written. Wild. Following that, we have "(Country Roads, Take Me)Home for the Holidays" at 365, my actual magnum opus so far, "Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Twice" at 321, a short Black Clover ficlet that somehow keeps getting love, "Weekend at Leorio's" at 295 and "Pink Love" at 256.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I used not to respond to comments, but in the past couple of years I've been trying to respond to every comment I get. I like getting responses to my comments when I post on other fics, so I also want people to get that happiness. Besides, it's only polite!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

...what is angst, signed, a permanently happy ending girlie.

Anyway it's probably "Quadratum Has Pocky", a KH drabble I wrote for Pocky Day which did not leave me with a lot of space for happy endings.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Literally all of them LMAO

But I guess "Red Eyes, Take Warning", my HxHBB fic this year gets special mention by giving Kurapika, the fandom's tragic boy, a happily-ever-after.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Sometimes. Home for the Holidays got a couple of comments once we got to the spicy part about how I should have tagged which character topped. That was wild. I'm talking like, HUGE paragraphs.

But not usually, no.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I did once! It was the vanillaest M/M ever written, but I sure did write it!

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do really like inter-sports-anime crossovers. I once wrote a Haikyuu x Daiya no Ace ficlet that was quite fun!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not since I was 15 doing it myself translating my terrible Digimon fics into English lmao.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Favourite is a complicated word. All-time, however, isn't.

I've been an Akuroku girlie since 2005 and by GOD I will persist.

(the ship I most wish would become canon, however, is also from KH, but it's Soriku, which I've never even written about.....yet)

14. What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My Hunter x Hunter Praxis AU.

Huge AU, spanning five years, each of which focusing on a different set of characters, with highly specific references to a highly specific university culture from my country that like two people reading would understand. It's also technically a Reincarnation AU.

Yeah I'm never getting that written.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Apparently, characterization and making my character actions and plots seem believable in the context of canon. Which is good, because I really do strive for character voice matching the original, so I'm happy with this assessment by my readers LMAO

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIBING ACTION.

If I ever have to write an action scene, I just don't. There is no combat in my fics, not because I dislike it, but because I can't write it lol.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Have done it. Will continue doing it when I find it appropriate. Helps when the POV character also isn't supposed to understand the language, because then you're just on the same page :D

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Digimon Adventure my beloved <3

(the fics themselves are also beloved, because although they're bad, I can see where I came from and how that shaped me into the writer I am today. My bad fics are a part of me and my journey just as much as my 100k word epics are.)

19. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Pausing + looking off into the distance.

You do realize this is an impossible question?

All the fics for me are... connections, within myself and with the people around me. Writing each one was a battle of finding the right words within me, the joy of sharing little snippets with friends, asking for help and bouncing off ideas. Listening to music and building the plot in my head as I walk, thinking about it as I fall asleep. Pouring my longing, my affection, my grief, and my hopes into these words, trying to connect with whoever will read them.

So I guess I'll say it's "All The Things He Said". It's the first fic I wrote for Daiya no Ace, a fandom I knew no one in. And I needed a beta. Trying to find that beta actually led me to finding one of my best friends, so I'm very thankful to this fic.

Anyway, tagging people! I'll tag @wingsonghalo because she had to read my bad Digimon fic and @tomioneer because of all I said in the last question!

#tag games

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randyortonofficial · 1 year

Text

title: market penetration (click here to be taken to the ao3 fic version) pairing: randy orton/cody rhodes word count: 2569 important tags: daddy kink, dirty talk, office sex description: Cody is incredibly bored during a virtual AEW meeting. Thankfully, Randy rudely interrupts (as is tradition) to save his husband and provide a much more fun alternative.

Cody has his forehead resting on his palm, fingers massaging through his hair, eyes closed, listening to various producers go over whether they think the show is getting too progressive. He wonders if they even understand how the world works outside of their little bubbles, and he’s been trying to end the meeting for like, 20 minutes at this point-

“WHAT’S UP, YOU SEXY BITCH? I MISSED YOU.”

Cody’s eyes immediately light up at the sound of his husband. Oh thank fuck.

He can’t even find it in himself to care that everyone on the call just heard Randy say what he did, his own face splitting into a grin at the silence after his words.

“Guys, we’re going to have to continue this conversation next week,” Cody tells them. “My uh, next appointment is here.”

He doesn’t even wait long enough for someone to reply before he’s hanging up. He gives Randy the widest smile he can.

“I haven’t been this happy to see you in awhile,” he says teasingly as his eyes roam over him, glad it’s a tight tee and loose sweats. “And I missed you too.”

“I can’t believe you’ve been keeping yourself from me just so you can talk to people about taxes and synergy or whatever,” Randy teases before locking the door behind him.

That wide smile Cody has shifts into a smirk.

So that’s what they’re doing.

“I forget you’re all corporate sometimes,” Randy says. “Down to the suit.” He squints his eyes at Cody as he tries his best to look him over. “You know, i can’t check out your ass when you’re sitting down.”

You know, even when Randy is being an idiot, or annoying, or rude, or fucking anything, Cody adores him. He’ll frown and make the appropriate expressions and reprimands someone can, but he’s always smiling on the inside.

With an eye roll, he slowly stands up and sighs. “Ya know, one of us has to do all the boring shit to keep this company going,” he laments as he makes a show of stretching his arms out above his head while moving around the desk. “I know you get to go and have fun at yours, but over here, I gotta be the big boss.”

He turns to face his desk, back to Randy, leaning over like he’s checking one of the papers on the desk, pert ass pushing out. They both know it’s an excuse to show off his ass, point made explicit when he looks over his shoulder to raise a brow.

“This better, babe?”

Randy gives a low chuckle and rubs his hands together as he stalks towards him. “Lot better, baby boy,” he drawls.

The name cuts through him like a hot knife in butter, whole goddamn brain melting down to nothing.

“Come on,” Randy says, “you’re not having fun over here?” His eyes stay on Cody’s ass as he puts a hand on his hip, other gently rubbing a circle into his lower back. “Don’t like telling people what to do?”

Cody is unconsciously pushing back against Randy, wanting their bodies closer, and has to bite his lip when he feels Randy’s natural bulge against his ass. He’s trying to maintain any sense of rational thought but he needs less layers between them since, like, yesterday.

“I um,” he swallows before saying, in a low and rough voice, “I think I like to leave all the bossing around to you.”

Already, Randy’s hands are slipping around and up Cody’s front to hold onto his pecs, body lain over his back, and begins to mouth a trail of kisses along his shoulder and to his neck. “Can’t boss people around in your company. I uh, think that’s why we agreed I shouldn’t be there, right?” He gently bites at Cody’s earlobe and licks the pain better. “You’d give up so fast, wouldn’t you?” he whispers. “Let me fuck you in every single room backstage, just like old times.”

They fucked the night before and Cody may or may not have fingered himself while he was in the shower this morning - reliving the night - so at least Randy won’t have to work hard to get inside him today. He doesn’t feel like something drawn out or romantic, not in his office. No, just wants it hard and brutal, right here.

He’s whimpering, fingers digging into his desk, trying hard to coax Randy closer still using nothing but the power of thought. “Fuck, I’d let you,” he admits, though they both already knew that. “I’d let you take me wherever you want, let you fuck me however you want, I fucking love being your whore.”

He hasn’t pulled out the big guns yet, saving it just a little longer.

“Whenever I want, huh?” Randy’s tongue swipes out along his lips, tongue catching Cody’s ear, and his hands move down over the belt of Cody’s hands to start undoing from behind.

Cody’s head is going light and a little dizzy, not unlike how he feels after his third glass of champagne. He feels warm and floaty, willing to submit, willing to allow Randy to do with him what he wants.

“That’s the thing about being my whore, you don’t get a say in when or where.” He unravels the belt and wrings it in his hands before standing up straight and smacking Cody’s ass with it.

Hard.

Then one more time, because he knows Cody can take it, and Cody lets out a broken moan at the hard smack of leather against his ass.

It stings even through the layer of fabric, and he loves it.

“You’ll do whatever I tell you,” he murmurs. “Do you need to be reminded what a whore is?”

Cody is already nodding, along with what Randy is saying, before quickly changing it to a headshake. “N-No, I know how to be a good whore for you,” he says quickly, pressing back against as he leans further down on the desk, begging for more, anything. “I’ll be a good whore for you, daddy.”

The belt is tossed carelessly to the side before Randy undoes Cody’s suit pants the rest of the way. Cody’s brain stutters as Randy pulls down his pants and briefs, spreading his legs on instinct as far as possible, although with his pants still around his ankles, they don’t go all that far.

Not that he’s complaining. It’ll just make him all the tighter for Randy, and make Randy feel all the bigger.

Randy’s grabbing hard at Cody’s suit vest to maneuver him around to the longer edge of the desk before spanking him once more. “Act like a whore then,” he tells him firmly as he pulls down his sweats and boxers.

Cody’s brain stops when Randy’s bare cock presses to his ass.

He absently wonders if Randy remembers he has lube in his desk before realizing it’s not all that necessary. Maybe he wants it to hurt, even.

Randy is slamming his hands down besides Cody’s head and hovers over his back to whisper harshly against his ear, “beg like a whore.” He slaps the side of his face just to hear Cody whimper so beautifully. “Now. Don’t make daddy wait anymore.”

“Please, daddy,” he gets out, voice thin, pathetic, and desperate. “I need you inside me, daddy, need it so bad, wh-when I woke up without you this morning, I had to fill my hole up myself, needed something inside me, but it wasn’t enough, daddy, needed your cock, your come-” He cuts himself off with another whimper. “Please fuck me, daddy. Please.”

Being the face of AEW and running so much of the behind the scenes for AEW is so much fucking work and responsibility, and it’s only made him more desperately in need for times like these, where he can completely let go and forget any accountability to anything other than being a good hole for Randy to use.

He loves to just let go and be himself; the part of himself nobody else gets to see.

Even when he was with other people, even when he’d be a good boy for them, a good whore, it’s never been as honest, as submissive, as real, as it is with Randy.

“Aww, filled your hole all by yourself?” His hands are rubbing the back of Cody’s shoulders, though it’s more of a condescending manner. “No wonder you’re so pathetic now. You’re nothing if daddy isn’t filling up your sweet little hole everyday, huh?” As he keeps his hand going, his other hand reaches around the side to rummage through the drawer for the bottle of lube he knows Cody keeps in his desk. “You’re in luck though, baby boy.” Randy strokes the lube onto his cock to fully slather it on, and with a lubed hand steadying his cock, his clean hand goes up to maneuver both of Cody’s wrists together so he can hold them in one hand to pin them on the desk. “Daddy hasn’t been quite himself when he doesn’t fill you up either.”

With a familiar ease that comes from doing this for a tiny bit over a decade at this point, he pushes all of himself into Cody.

“Fuck yeah,” he groans. ‘Take it, baby, be good for your daddy.”

Cody takes in a deep breath as Randy pushes in, eyes closing, jaw falling open with pleasure, and a low moan slipping from his lips. A shudder of pleasure races through him and leaves his skins raised with goosebumps, leaves his cock so hard it hurts a little.

“D-Daddy, fuck.” He shifts back, trying to take Randy even better. “So good, daddy, feel so good inside of me-”

“Yeah, just like being filled, huh? Doesn’t even matter if I fuck you,” Randy breathes out as he begins to move, not bothering with going slow because they both know that’s not what this is for. A sadistic grin is hanging off his lips now, nails curling hard into Cody’s wrists as he leans down to whisper into his ear, “I could just stay in you and not move an inch, and you’d still be so happy, wouldn’t you?”

Cody nods, but can’t resist the whine that sounds in his throat. “Feels so good being filled, daddy,” he get out, fingers hurting a little from how hard he’s gripping the desk. “Love having you inside me-” He cuts himself off with a soft moan. “Th-Think I could come just from this.”

“You’d come from anything I do to you.” He stands up straight again, nails letting off Cody’s wrists to grab onto his hips instead. “But I want you to come because I’m fucking the hell out of you.”

He’s fucking Cody the way Cody likes - fast, hard, making him feel every inch with every thrust. It’s Cody’s favorite thing and he feels so good like this, spread out as Randy takes everything his body has to offer.

Cody is only aware of the fact that he’s been making noises, words even, and he’s sure he’s been doing it for awhile.

“So good, daddy, feel so good in me - fuck - please, faster, daddy, need more, I need it, please.”

It’s not coherent, it never is when Randy’s fucking him. It’s always desperate, always so honest.

“Faster?” Randy huffs a chuckle and shakes his head. “Fucking greedy slut.” He moves a hand up and around to latch onto Cody’s throat and pull his head back, and Cody’s body bends to his will. “Don’t like the way daddy’s fucking you?” he growls. “Huh?” His fingers press into his throat. “This not enough?”

Cody manages a whine, long and low immediately. “I’m sorry, daddy,” his voice cracks and strains under the pressure of Randy’s strong fingers. “It is, I-I’m just so desperate, haven’t had you in me all day.” He’s whimpering and fucking himself back to meet Randy as best as he can. “Can’t help wanting it, it’s all I want, daddy, just want you to fuck me all the time.”

And there’s such a triumphant grin spread across Randy’s lips as he listens to Cody’s flurried apologies. He really is so precious.

Randy takes his hand off Cody’s throat to let his head drop back down. He runs his hand back through his hair in a pseudo soothing motion, though more to be condescending. His thrusts slow to a halt, and that has Cody gasping, has him wanting to beg again but he bites his lip to keep quiet. He knows he needs to listen, even if he’s struggling to concentrate.

“Baby boy, I had no idea,” he says so smoothly, before letting his voice lower to that threatening tone again. “Listen up, I call the shots. Not you. You don’t tell me what to do, alright? Now be good, don’t make daddy have to tell you again.”

He slams back into Cody, using all the strength he has to keep his thrusts brutal and unrelenting, and his hands are pressing down hard now at Cody’s shoulders to keep him grounded

“I’ll be good, I’ll be a good whore!” Cody cries. “I promise, daddy, I promise, I promise-”

His words fall from his mouth in the same flavor, thankful and hungry. All he can do is lie there and take it, let Randy use him like he always has and he’s never been happier.

Cody can be the most jacked guy in the world. He can be so successful, he can be at the absolute top of his career, but no matter what happens in his life and through all the changes, the core of him stays the same.

That’s the same boy, years ago, who had looked at Randy with stars in his eyes and longed to be fucked by him, forever and ever after.

Dreams really do come true.

Randy fills him with a long groan and it spurs Cody’s own orgasm, causing him to cry out again as he comes into his hand, other hand holding onto the edge of the desk for dear life. It’s only when Randy finally stills inside him that he can grant his poor hands, and his body too, for that matter, some much needed respite.

Cody is whimpering in the afterglow of it all. Randy’s sweaty torso presses down into his fine suit and his whimper grows at the uncomfortable knowledge his mind decides to present him.

“Randy,” Cody whines, “I just dry cleaned this suit.”

“I fucking - I gave you the best fucking sex of your life once again and this is how you repay me?”

Cody blinks a few times before sighing. “Thank you,” he mumbles. “It was super great or whatever.”

“And what am I?”

“My daddy?”

“Yeah, but what else?”

“I’m not stroking your ego, Randy.”

“You should after what we just did, that was hot shit.”

“You're so annoying,” Cody grunts and rolls his eyes. “You’re a sex god. Anything else?”

Randy grins and pulls himself up. “Nope.” He gives Cody’s ass a nice spank before quickly pulling out-

“Randy!!” Cody gasps as he instantly turns around to face Randy. He swats at his shoulder. “You can’t pull out like that, you know I-”

“Yeah, you hate it, but maybe if you didn’t complain about me wrecking your suit, I would’ve been more nice.” Randy clicks his tongue as he pulls his pants up. “Let me know when you’re done so we can head out of here.”

Cody huffs. “Fine.”

“I love you?”

“Uh huh. I love you too.”

Despite their bickering, Cody and Randy can’t help but to smile at each other before Randy leaves, because despite the bickering, Randy being a dick, and Cody being a bitch, they know there’s no one else in the world that would be more perfect for each other than them.

If Cody’s suit gets ruined by Randy once in awhile for some incredibly hot sex, that’s a relatively small price to pay.

#candy #my fics #can't believe what a productive day it's been #hope u all enjoy xoxo

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vesperewrites · 7 months

Note

Hi, I don't know if using your ask inbox as a 'Lucemond Fandom Confessional' is appropriate but, I wanted to give my two cents if that was okay? As someone who has read and written in this fandom since season 1 wrapped up, I think a lot of people forget that the reason as to why Lucemonders were in their 'Golden Era' wasn't actually because the fanfictions were all that diverse or the great masterpieces that they remember. It was because we were all experiencing and reading them collectively/commenting and raving about the same popular ffs. It was the experience of true fandom mania that elevated those times. There were maybe 20 (at most) authors writing since the beginning who built the fandom and only a few of them, some of them I see you've listed on your other post, who have stuck with the fandom. And even then, they've been on the brink of leaving due to all the unwanted, pushy anons or readers who overstep. I think nostalgia really has influenced certain readers to keep the same attitude from those days and be resistant towards new authors by giving the same old 'Well everything is a/b/o and I don't like that.'. It's really not, and if that's the case, write something you want to see. I used to navigate the fandom fine when there was less than 1k works and didn't like that tag as well, so I'm pretty sure filtering out tags and utilizing ao3's system is really what prevents readers from finding anything new or discovering a trope/plot that isn't the usual Lucemonder's thing. Readers and writers alike have gotten so accustomed to flocking the most popular or recommended fan fiction at the moment (which is no problem, I do the same thing) that they forget to actually try and check out underrated work. Not commenting or supporting is what's really killing the energy of this fandom, not the a/b/o trope or the new wave of fic writers (who have been really good by the way, @Mooniepond and @nocturnal_pollinator being just two off the top of my head, which is why I genuinely believe these people aren't actually looking). Also, your takes and writing are divine, I hope this mouthful finds you well <3

Hi anon,

Yeah, it's a bit strange given the tone, but I'm doing my best to approach with reason. I'm the one choosing to engage, so I don't mind, right now.

And yes, I agree with you. I just replied to the other anon about this take of fandom explosion that goes into it (also huge thanks to @jojodacrow again for helping me word things). There appears to be a certain nostalgia attached because of the growth in fandom and community.

Yes, a lot of people are still here! At least, I think so. I don't know who's a fandom oldie and who isn't, so I'll take your word on it.

And I completely agree with you in writing/creating/drawing the things you want to see. That's how I got started here.

There is a valid longing in wishing for "oh more of this trope please!" or "ah, I want more cis M/M!" That's understandable, and I feel that too. But to the folks saying this over and over as a complaint, I ask: is luc_m*nd the only ship you read for in HOTD? Is there another fandom? Or are the fics already there with the intricate filtering system, but you don't want to read it or like it for whatever reason? Something to consider, I suppose.

There is something to be said about underrated work and giving new things a chance (I'll post my thoughts on this later) But yes, I agree that less comments have equaled less engagement. There's an expectation for interaction, which is quite an interesting shift for me, in terms of fandom culture in general. I'll put that in a different post as well.

I agree about commenting culture somewhat. I can't speak for other writers, but I didn't have high expectations at all for my fic. I was blown away actually. I expected maybe 10 people max for a non-smut fic, but I had lovely comments on each chapter and was very happy.

The thing is, I think people should create for themselves first and foremost. If a writer is relying on heavy validation from readers, I don't think that's healthy either. It's okay to want comments, interactions, kudos, but very concerning when you're placing a ton of weight on obligating people to read your work. I feel like there's potential jealousy at play among some writers as well, but that's as an outsider looking in and noticing that behavior from before.

I appreciate the take, anon! :] thanks for sharing and ah, thank you >< you are very kind. Thank you for the recommendations of the writers, anon.

#author asks #l*md discourse

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naminethewriter · 6 months

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I was tagged by @prince-rowan-of-the-forest! Thank you very much! 🥰 You can find their post here!

1: How many works do you have on Ao3?

92 as of yesterday 😎

2: What's your total Ao3 word count?

223,014 words

3: What fandoms do you write for?

Right now just Sanders Sides, though I have unfinished stories for both Kingdom Hearts and South Park and I am thinking of participating in a Professor Layton Big Bang.

4: What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Clyde can't handle that his best friend keeps secrets from him (South Park) - 496 kudos

After months of silence (South Park) - 254 kudos

Lookout (South Park) - 242 kudos

Always (Sanders Sides) - 184 kudos

Logan Tries Something New (Sanders Sides) - 179 kudos

I'm actually surprised that there are two Tss fics here, I was sure that they hadn't caught up to my South Park stories 😅 Apparently they have a lot more hits but aren't that far ahead in terms of kudos 🤔

5: Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I actually feel kind of weird when I don't do it... And I always like getting answers to my own comments 🥰

6: What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oof, that's a hard question... I mean, it depends from which perspective, right? One of my South Park fics, I'll Give Up Everything For You, ended with Hell invading earth but the main characters are the instigators and happy together, while they doomed their town.

Then I have a few Hurt No Comfort stories like Who's the Liar Now? or Rare Lies Hurt The Most, though they're both quite short.

I guess the one with the most ambiguous and hurtful endings are appropriately closely named: Cursed (Dukeceit Werewolf story) and Cursed Woods (Roceit with forceful separation at the end).

7: What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, that's hard because that's most of them 😅 But without thinking about it too much, You're Not Alone an Intruloceit story with lots of hugs and comfort and a christmas party at the end 💙💛💚

8: Do you get hate on fics?

One time I got a comment telling me to kill myself under a South Park fic but apparently they went around commenting on a bunch of fics with that particular ship, so it wasn't really targeted at me. That was the only thing that I've got over the years.

9: Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't, but maybe someday 🤷‍♀️

10: Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't and I don't really like reading them either with very few exceptions.

11: Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If so, I'm not aware of it.

Question 12 has been lost to the ether...

13: Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't, but I'd like to try someday ^^

14: What's your all-time favorite ship?

Considering that I just wrapped up the 4th ship week in a row for these dorks, Intrulogical all the way 💙💚

15: What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

How to manipulate a rebellion, a South Park story that I still very much like but I'm not active in the fandom anymore and have so many other stories I want to work on, so I doubt I'll ever get back to it... 😞

16: What are your writing strengths?

Heartfelt moments and dialogue, I think. Sincerity and simplicity as well, maybe.

17: What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not good with poetic writing styles. I also often struggle with descriptions since I'm not much of a visual thinker.

18: Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think it can be a fun addition, depending on how much you include. Since I myself am not a native English speaker, I am often tempted to bring in some German. But it needs to be inserted in a way that even non-speakers of the language can understand.

19: First fandom you wrote for?

Kingdom Hearts! They were my first online obsession 🤭 If I had discovered fandoms earlier, I might have written for Wizards of Waverly Place.

20: Favorite fic you've written?

How could I ever choose? I actually really like most of my fics still and do reread them sometimes but I guess in terms of begin proud of how much work I put into it, Hurt No One Knew About might be my favorite of them so far.

Thanks again for the tag! This was fun but a lot of work 🤭

No pressure tags: @lost-in-thought-20, @lily-janus, @candied-peach, @mimssides, @starshard17

#tag game #about me #wips

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bluestringpudding · 7 months

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20 questions for fic writers

Thank you @silently--here and @uncannycerulean for the tags!

How many works do you have on AO3?

19 (+ 1 that's waiting to be revealed for a fest)

What's your total AO3 word count?

329,661 😳

What fandoms do you write for?

Just Harry Potter. Maybe I should diversify?

What are your top 5 fics by Kudos?

Live like common people Dramione/Draco pretending to be a muggle (88,794 words)

How did we get here? The sequel to the above, aka Draco wishing he could still just pretend he was a muggle. (153,536 words)

Dragons Only The Draco/Charlie drabble (289 words)

A Song of Ice and Fire and Awkward Ex Boyfriends The other Dramione, this time with dragons. 🐉(20,272 words)

Just a Minerva in time The MinMione time travel one (6,460 words)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Unless you're an absolute arsehole, and even then, I would rather reply (but only if I can come up with an appropriate retort). Why? Because I love the interaction. Getting a comment, no matter how small, will always make my day. So, it feels right to at least say thanks. Also, I met one of my now good friends through us chatting in our fics' comments. So who knows what might come of it.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm, probably One Last Cup.

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've not written the ending yet, but it's going to be How Did We Get Here? If only because I have become waaayyy too attached to all of the characters to give them anything but.

Do you get hate on fics?

It's not quite hate, and I know it could be worse, but How Did we get here? garners some pretty strong reactions. They're a downer.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I've only published very mild smut, but I have written more explicit stuff since, and some of it is in the next chapter I'm publishing, and I'm scared.

Do you write crossovers?

No, I struggle enough with one fandom. Huge respect to the people who manage it

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nah. They're not good enough for that.

Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes! Three actually. Idle in Kangaroo Court W1, for the mixed up writer fest. We ran out of steam, so it's unfinished, but I keep promising myself I'm going to finish it one day. Then two more with some friends, one short one for the rare pairs fest, that will be revealed soonish. Then one long fic that 3 of us a writing, which is err... in progress.

What's your all time favourite ship?

Call me a basic bitch, but I will always be such a sucker for Dramione.

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I have a really unhealthy stubborn streak that won't let me leave things unfinished, so hopefully none. Though Idle in Kangaroo Court is most at risk, because its been so long (and I feel I have to reach out to my co-author to check they don't mind, and my social anxiety is one of the few things that trumps my stubbornness).

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I keep thinking I should try writing something as a script.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions and flowery language. I have to work hard at imagining visuals, so a lot of the time I don't. And I'm too literal to do well with metaphors.

Thoughts in writing dialogue in another language?

I've never really had any before. I guess I don't mind it in small amounts, if the meaning can be inferred from context or reactions. It's annoying if you miss something by not understanding what it means.

First Fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter

Favourite fic you've written?

Oh god, that's like asking me to chose between my children! Live Like Common People will always have a special place in my heart, as it was my first and the characters will forever live rent free in my head.

But also, I'm most proud of Tattletail, because I think it is technically my best piece of writing.

Tagging anyone who wants to play, as I suspect I'm one of the last of my mutuals to get round to this.

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tsarisfanfiction · 1 year

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For the writers ask game: 1, 5? ✨

Hi! Thanks for the ask :D

What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

I have vague recollections of being asked this a few years ago (maybe it was the same ask game coming back again), and my answer then was Black Widow - a Naruto fic based on Rin&Obito - because I thought it best showcased my tendency to play around within the canon narrative, but at the same time twisting things around so it's basically a canon compliant alternate universe - although technically it might not be AU at all.

The one downside with recommending that one now, I think, is that I write for several fandoms, and Black Widow was my last foray into writing for Naruto, and was also written several years after my previous fics for that fandom, so it's almost certainly my best work for that fandom purely because I was a better writer when I wrote that one. (That's not to say I've lost interest in the world of Naruto - I still have a few ideas knocking around including an Obito&Shisui one that I really love - my muses have just categorically refused to engage with writing anything for it for the last few years.)

More up to date with what I currently write, I would instead say that Dawn Rises From The East - a Michael Yew-centric Percy Jackson fic - might be a better introduction. It's a far more recent fic for the fandom my muses have been solidly engaged in for the past year, but it shares some broad strokes with Black Widow, if not in plot in how my mind worked to play within the letter of canon without actually following the heavily-implied spirit of it.

Both are oneshots, because I think that's a more realistic ask than to direct someone towards a longfic from the start, but for people who prefer wordcounts the other side of 100k, Tales From The Heart - a 260k+ Heart Pirates-centric One Piece short story collection - runs through all the genres I write and gives a much broader scope of what you're likely to find from how I handle fluff, whump, angst, found family, friendship, etc. The only genre that's almost entirely lacking from that series is romance - and I very rarely write that anyway, so I'd call that an accurate representation!

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

You didn't specify a fic for this, so I suppose that leaves me to pick a fic as well, which is a bit of a choice when I've got *checks AO3* almost 350 of the things, but I'll go with a currently-backburnered project I am very fond of (and will continue to write one day!) - Long Way From Home - a Scott-centric Thunderbirds fic.

What surprised me the most about the differences between TOS and TAG's technology, and is it going to be relevant later on?

I had a lot of fun researching this fic. For the most part, for the TOS worldbuilding anything that I can't take straight from canon, I've extrapolated based on what technology existed in the 1960s, and tried to jazz it up appropriately as though I was someone from the 1960s trying to imagine the future. It gave me a great springboard to follow when I started reaching holes in the original worldbuilding which turned into glaring chasms when using a narrator from a very different futuristic imagination.

That being said, the thing that surprised me the most - despite the fact that, logically, it makes sense - was not a difference, but rather a similarity. Of course, TAG was very faithful to the broad strokes of at least most of the Thunderbirds' designs, with Three and Five being the ones with the biggest shifts (understandably so, given how much we expanded in spacecraft between 1965 and 2015), so there were always going to be more similarities than differences between the controls of the two Thunderbird Ones, but I hadn't expected that to expand further into aircraft controls in general. Poor Scott was originally doomed to a long haul of re-learning how to fly from scratch, before I discovered that jet plane controls have apparently barely changed in the last fifty years - this immediately changed a few things, which have even started to show themselves in the published chapters so far. Scott will regain his wings a lot faster than originally planned! As for where else that might take him in the story... well, readers will find out one day!

---

This got long, whoops. Thanks for the ask!

Questions for Fic Writers

#x-authorship-x #ask me #naruto #riordanverse #percy jackson and the olympians #one piece #thunderbirds are go #black widow #dawn rises from the east #tales from the heart #long way from home #may be squealing a little that torship sent me an ask

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flecks-of-stardust · 1 year

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Dreamless: Chapter One — A Call to Struggle

Chapter one of my Hollow Knight AU, Dreamless. Spoilers inbound.

Learn more about this AU: a link to the Dreamless masterlist.

Chapter summary: Ghost sails to Hallownest and is grouchy about it the whole time. They run into a few unpleasant realizations on their way in, and confront Elderbug at the entrance to Dirtmouth. They then bed down to prepare for the journey ahead.

Content warning for violent anger.

Read this chapter on AO3.

Before we get into the heat of things, some clarifications and warnings. This will be a long note, but bear with me. It's important.

Dreamless is a very personal story that draws a lot from my own experiences. Many sequences in this fic are based directly on things I am working through, and some indirectly or directly parallel certain real world events. I have no interest in attempting to hide this fact. I just ask that you be respectful when reading this story. There will be war, there will be genocide, there will be colonization, there will be death. None of this is going to be glossed over. If you can't handle that, I understand. But if you choose to read this fic, please keep in mind that half the time, this is what Dreamless is exploring.

In the previous iteration of this fic, I put this warning on Chapter 4, which is where this fact first rears its head, but now I recognize it should be a disclaimer at the very start of the fic. So here it is. Dead dove do not eat, please proceed with caution.

The rest of this note is addressed to, in this order, screenreader users, readers from the previous version of the fic, and anyone who needs content warnings. If you aren't any of these, you may skip the rest of the note. I hope you enjoy the first chapter.

For screenreader users, hello! I am a sighted writer, but I've tried my best to make this fic as screenreader accessible as I can with what I know. It seems that not all screenreaders distinguish between plain, bolded, and italicized text, so I've added extra notation for clarity. Bolded text will be bounded by asterisks (*), and italicized text will be bounded by underscores (_). In future chapters, there will be dialogue where this is relevant, so I hope introducing this notation now helps familiarize you with it. If there's anything else I can change for extra clarity, feel free to let me know! I truly hope you can enjoy this fic just as much as a sighted reader can.

For anyone who is here from the old iteration of this fic, thank you so much for sticking around all this time. These 9 months have been fruitful, and I hope to have a somewhat regular posting schedule now that I've ironed out a lot of kinks in the world. That being said, I will be deleting the old version off of AO3 at some future point in time. It's riddled with inaccuracies, and I'd rather direct people to the new version. If you for some reason still wish to access the old version of this fic, they are still accessible here on Tumblr.

Finally, there will be content warnings in the notes of each chapter after a brief summary of the chapter. On Tumblr, these are above the read more cut. Normally it will just be the summary and the content warnings. I will try to tag as many warnings as I can think of and as I think is appropriate, and within reason, you may request for more warnings, but in general I ask that you read at your own discretion. This is not intended to be a light, cheery fic. Some sequences are intentionally written to cause discomfort. I am a full time college student writing this fic in my spare time, so please protect your own mental health if necessary by clicking out of my fic, whether for a breather or permanently.

Without further ado, let’s get into the fic.

—(Line breaker)—

The wastelands do not have much variety in terms of scenery, offering only mountains of sand everywhere they look. They pace around the deck of their sand glider again, blinking as the howling wind blasts rough sand directly into their eyes, and they grumble. They ran out of things to entertain themself with cycles ago. They should be used to the tedium by now, but the process of traveling never becomes more appealing.

Completing another loop around the deck, sliding their nail in and out of its sheath as they walk, they stop by the mast and fuss at the ropes. It’s tempting to simply turn their glider around. Not that they particularly enjoyed chasing after cochineals, but at least it was something to do instead of pacing around endlessly on their sand glider. They’ve been sailing straight for so long with no chance in scenery they have to question whether they’re actually heading anywhere.

As if in response, a burst of pain shoots through their right eye. They hiss, clutching their face as the pain runs its course, slowly fizzling back into the dull ache they’ve begrudgingly grown used to. It continues gnawing on their eye, an insistent irritation that lingers somewhere in the back of their eyeball.

Keeping their hand over their eye, they bang their head against the mast. They don’t have a choice. The Call—often a dull ache, sometimes a sharp, searing pain—makes sure of that. One cycle they’d gone to sleep fine, and the next they woke screaming in pain as their eye burned. Some cycles, the Call rages so intensely they can’t do anything but curl up on the ground, clutching their head as their eye threatens to evict itself from its socket.

Most cycles, however, go like this. They bang their head against the mast again, dropping their hands and crossing their arms, sulking. They don’t want to be here, but they’d rather their eye remain intact.

If it had just been a simple pain, though, they’d likely have ignored it. But the Call… calls. Some cycles, they can feel it beckoning them, pleading for them to come. Sometimes it cries out for them in their dreams. They can’t be rid of it until they figure out what’s making them come here.

So here they are, sailing into nothingness. They bang their head against the mast a third time. The moment they figure this all out, they are leaving.

With a sigh, they busy themself with digging their map out of their pack. Slouching over it to shield it from the wind as they unfurl the delicate paper, they glare down at it, halfheartedly tracing their path so far with a finger. Though the Call is persistent, it’s not very specific, leaving them only a vague impression of which direction to go in. The last eight kingdoms they’d stopped in had not yielded any relief to the Call, and the only thing ahead now is, of course, Hallownest. Or rather, the Wyrm’s Jaws, but the other kingdoms in this area evidently were never relevant or people would endlessly chatter and whisper about them too.

They cram their map back into their pack and cross their arms again, looking ahead to their approximate destination with a huff. Of course it had to be Hallownest. It couldn’t be some current, living kingdom they could enter, deal with the issue, and leave. _Obviously_ they had to go explore the entombed husk of a kingdom that also conveniently has horror stories about people never leaving its depths. That one. The one kingdom they’d hoped it wouldn’t be.

They fiddle with the boom irritably, tightening the rigging, then set off on another lap around the deck, blinking hard as they face the wind again. They don’t particularly care for those stories, but it’s hard not to pay some heed to them. Years back, Hallownest had been a popular topic in treasure hunter circles. But all that talk about finding the lost riches and wisdom that Hallownest offered in its prime amounted to nothing, as one by one, the treasure hunters dropped off the map, never to be seen again after setting out for the lost kingdom. Now all they hear are the fearful whispers of their friends and family about Hallownest swallowing those who dare enter its depths, warning any aspiring explorers against journeying there.

Unsheathing their nail, they swing it idly as they switch to pacing back and forth along the rear end of the deck. They can handle anything Hallownest throws at them. They’ve dealt with worse. But it couldn’t hurt to be cautious about it; they’d be more eager to dismiss it if they hadn’t watched several envoys of treasure hunters setting off and never returning.

The whole prospect of it all is ridiculous. Why go sticking your head into places it doesn’t belong? The vigor to find Hallownest’s riches only grew stronger after the first few groups of people went missing. Anyone still willing to go then was an idiot and got what they deserved.

They huff, swinging their nail in a wide arc and posing, holding their nail at the ready, at a nonexistent enemy. What a hypocrite they are, to be searching for the same thing the treasure hunters were seeking. But what’s the point of trying to scavenge through dead kingdoms? Kingdoms rise and fall constantly, so if they want something of worth, they should just loot their own kingdom and wait for it to die.

After a few dozen more loops around the deck with them swinging their nail around the whole time, a hint of gray breaks out over the dull tan of the sands. “Sheer stone cresting the cowering cradles of sand,” they were told by the one vendor who had insisted on pestering them on why they were trading for fuel cores. It is at least an apt description; the dark stone rises rapidly, a looming presence even from this distance. They blink, the transparent film of their eyelids clearing sand out of their eyes. Contrasted against the dim sky, the Wyrm’s Jaws almost seem to be swallowing the landscape around them.

Complementing the dreary landscape, the wind abruptly starts dying down; their sails go flaccid in the shifting breeze. They sheathe their nail with a grumble, stalking over to the mast and firmly readjusting their rigging to tighten the sails. The wood creaks as the fabric fills again, the headsail flapping as it struggles to catch the wind. Tugging on the halyard until it fills out, they tie the ropes back down as quickly as they can, yanking on the ends to secure them. They are not walking all the way to the Wyrm’s Jaws. They will row if they have to.

The wind, spluttering and wavering, carries their glider to the entrance of the Wyrm’s Jaws before expiring completely. Their glider gently slides to a halt, listing lightly to one side. They sigh. This will have to do. Briskly dusting themself off, they vault over the side of their glider, landing in a slight crouch in the sand below.

The sand is cool, uncharacteristically so, as it pools around their feet. Puzzled, they kneel to scoop up a handful of sand. It is the same temperature as if it had been sylark here for at least a harvest. Dumping the sand out of their hand, they dig their portable clock out of their pack and peer closely at the small contraption. It is syligh, says the clock, in the brightest part of the cycle.

Stowing the clock, they stand, staring up at the sky. It is almost as dark as sylark is in other kingdoms. Some kingdoms are naturally dimmer than others, but…

They push back the unease tunneling its way through their chest. They need somewhere to moor their glider, and their current location is too exposed to a wild gust of wind. There should be somewhere within the Wyrm’s Jaws where they can tie their glider down. Unfurling the bow ropes and tying them firmly around their waist, they begin trekking into the Wyrm’s Jaws proper.

Without the wind, only an eerie quiet accompanies them and their muted footfalls. They unsheathe their nail as they press onward, blinking every so often to keep their vision clear. They haven’t seen any living creatures around these parts since the last kingdom they stopped in, but it won’t hurt to be prepared. They wouldn’t mind having something to actually swing their nail at though.

The ground slopes gently downwards as they progress, and little pillars of stone begin rising out of the sand. They inspect one briefly, running their hand over it. It’s some sort of fossilized mouth segment—a tooth, if they recall the terminology correctly. The tip is smooth, blunted from the constant weathering, but from the way it bends they can tell it used to be sharp. The stone barely reaches the tips of their tibias, but as they continue wading through the sand, they grow taller and taller until the fossils loom over them.

The deeper they go, the dimmer it gets, the area becoming increasingly shaded. They blink again, straining to see the path ahead of them. There is some sort of structure up ahead, the outline of which is only barely visible in the shade. Hand clenching tighter around the hilt of their nail, they warily creep closer, lifting their feet higher to tread as little sand as they can manage.

Nothing greets them but splintered wood, which they discover when their foot lands on a stray scrap, and they fling their nail away from them at the sudden pain. Cursing and hopping backwards, they clutch at their throbbing foot, nearly falling on their tail as the sand shifts underneath them. They yank the splinters out with a few more expletives, then glare up at the culprit: an old, abandoned glider. It’s larger than their own, designed for a small crew, but is otherwise structured similarly.

The decay of the wood reveals its age, however, as well as the torn sails and the half buried deck. Some of the planks have fallen off too; they put their foot down and grope around in the sand, unearthing the loose piece of wood they stepped on for a closer look. Even in the dim lighting, the rot on the wood is evident, and the parts not buried under the sand show marked weathering not dissimilar to that of the stone tooth. Whoever this sand glider belonged to has not returned for it in a long time.

They toss the plank back at the glider and retrieve their nail, sheathing it and dusting their hands as unease ripples inside of them again. Did this glider belong to one of those envoys they had watched set off? No one in their right mind would abandon their glider; they’ve seen people fight over them.

They have also seen people deconstruct old gliders, prying off floorboards and fuel inserts and absconding to trade them someplace else. They can’t check the internal engine of the glider without more lighting, but from what they can see, this glider has simply been left here to rot, untampered by petty thieves hoping for an easy trade. Judging by the height of the mast and the tattered sails hanging from it, this used to be one of the fancier models too. So if no one has attempted to scavenge it…

Shaking their head, they quickly step away from the broken glider and push onward, kicking up sprays of sand in their haste. It doesn’t matter. They’re only going to be here for a short while, probably less than a harvest. Worse comes to worst, they themself can scavenge from the wreckage for emergency supplies.

Deeper and deeper they go, their sand glider gently creaking as they forge their way through the dark. They keep their nail drawn, both hands clasped around the hilt as they walk. Normally, silence doesn’t bother them, but something about how the lack of sound settles in this area makes their chitin itch. The Call doesn’t help; with each step, it pulses. They shake their head again in a futile attempt to rid themself of the pain.

Something scrapes loudly just as they do so, and they jump, whirling around to point their nail at the source. They only find their glider pressed up against a second, extremely dilapidated glider, groaning as it strains against the rotted wood. The rotted glider is barely holding itself together, parts of the below deck storage rooms bared to the world. They carefully maneuver around the contents of the storage rooms and an array of shattered planks as they make their way over to free their glider, stepping delicately to avoid gaining another splinter. There are crates, ones that likely used to contain food… They avoid looking at the ground as they lean on their glider and begin to push.

With a bit of exertion, their glider slides free, and they tug it away from the broken glider. They retie the bow ropes around them, huffing. They should pay more attention to where they’re going. This far out, they can’t easily fix their glider if something happens.

As they turn to continue, swinging their foot forward, their claws clank against something metal, and they freeze. Staring down at the ground for a few moments as their insides twist, they slowly bend down to unearth the object. With a gentle tug, they pull out an old fuel insert, the creaking of its hinges the only thing to cut through the heavy silence.

They knew people had stopped coming here. For what it’s worth, they all eventually stopped trying. But this, of all things, should be easy pickings.

And yet, here they are, with an old, unwanted, abandoned fuel insert. It’s old and battered enough that it’s now useless.

They stare down at it for a few moments, then fling it at the old glider, hot rage searing through them as the fuel insert crashes through several rotten planks. Why are they here? Why are _they_ here? If other people have come before them then why are _they_ the one who the Call targeted?

They kick one of the stray planks back at the glider and snarl as their foot throbs from the impact, and they crouch down to hold it, shaking in fury. They had to come all this way out into the middle of nowhere just to deal with this stupid Call that they can’t even get to shut up and there are _corpses_, remnants of people long gone and why are they _here_? All the travelers who came here for treasure and none of them could fix this issue? Why do they have to do this? Why are they the one that has to deal with this mess when it could be anyone else?

They slam a fist against their own glider, then flinch as the wood creaks from the impact. They need to get out of here. The sooner they get this done the sooner they can leave and they won’t have to deal with it anymore.

Hauling themself to their feet, they drag their glider with them into the dark, stumbling in their eagerness to move on. They’ll get it done quick. Get in, deal with whatever needs dealing with, get out. It’ll only be a few cycles.

They trip when the ground underfoot abruptly becomes stone, their feet sliding on the remnants of sand. Throwing their hands out to catch themself, they fall against a pile of rubble, a few pebbles clattering to the floor as they steady themself. They crane their neck to search for the top of the pile; it stretches off into the gaping darkness above them. At a rough glance, the stone walls to either side are relatively unblemished. The ceiling or ceiling elements must have collapsed at some point in the past.

They have to leave their glider behind. They clench their hands into their cloak to stop themself from punching the nearest available object, and instead glance around for somewhere decent to park their glider. They’ll be back for it soon regardless, but they didn’t work two seasons for their glider just to dump it in the middle of nowhere.

There is a tarp stretched over one of the corners made by the pile of rubble and the walls; they pull their glider with them to take a closer look. The attachments are smooth and relatively sand free, implying that it was a recent addition to this area. It is also positioned in a way to shield against the wind, with enough room behind it to easily fit their glider. It will do for a temporary parking.

They shove the tarp back and are greeted with the sight of not one, but two sand gliders parked underneath. Both are in good condition, though one is somewhat covered in sand. They kick sand at the nearest one with a hiss. They better not run into any of these idiots while they’re dealing with the Call.

Their glider just barely fits into the remaining space under the tarp, and when they’re done shoving it in, the tip of the bow still barely pokes out from underneath it. They halfheartedly push on it again, then give up, letting the tarp fall back into place. It’ll be fine. They’ll be back soon, and this deep into the Wyrm’s Jaws there isn’t a lot of wind. At worst they’ll be gone for just a harvest.

Glider now situated, they confront the rubble pile again, testing their weight on it. Besides the top layer of smaller rocks, a few of which scatter as they hoist themself up and scrabble for footholds, it seems relatively sturdy. As long as they’re quick about it, they should be able to get to the top just fine.

They scramble up the side of the pile, feet slipping out underneath them several times, but they otherwise make it to the top without too much issue. Still in a crouch, they crawl closer to the other edge of the stone pile and peer down below. It’s dark. They flick a pebble off the edge, listening for when it hits the ground. A good few ticks, more than they’re comfortable with, pass before they hear the muffled clatter. It’s a longer way down than up.

They nudge another pebble off, trying to track how far down it travels. The darkness swallows it up almost instantly. They huff, tapping their foot. They don’t have another way of gauging how far down the ground may be.

At worst though, it’s probably only several times their height. Better to just get it over with. Bunching their muscles, they keep a hand on their nail to stop it from sliding out of its sheath as they leap into the dark.

The ground meets them sooner than they expect, leaving them no time to brace for the sharp stones that dig into their feet. Caught off guard by the sudden pain, they fall forward onto their hands, then jerk back with a hiss as the stones stab into their palms. Something like this always happens wherever they go and nothing can ever be simple and straightforward. Why do they even bother?

Dislodging the stones from their feet with a brisk scratch under each foot, they quickly weave their way through the field of stones to smoother ground. Their feet smart with each step they take, and they flex their hands as they walk, tail flicking in irritation. The Call is still here, pulling them forward still, and it’s stronger now. They must be getting close. They just have to—

Footsteps. Their nail is drawn in an instant, and they point it at the approaching speck of light. It hesitates, but resumes after a few ticks at a slower pace, bringing into view an old beetle. Their antennae quiver as they glance between them and the point of their nail, hands clenched tightly around their lantern. “Hello, traveler,” they rasp out, their voice low and measured. “What brings you here?”

“None of your business,” they sign back with one hand, their hand motions sharp and rough. They grip their nail tighter, gauging the beetle. They don’t look to be the owner of one of the two gliders they found, nor do they seem to be in any state to fight. Where did they come from, then? What sort of trick is this going to be?

The beetle hesitates again, antennae whirling. “I… I apologize, traveler. Is that Trade Sign? I’m not too familiar with it. It’s been many years since I’ve had the opportunity to practice.”

They take a step closer, holding their nail up closer to the beetle, who backs away nervously. They’re not familiar with Trade Sign? What’s their ploy? If they’re this close to the entrance of the Wyrm’s Jaws they must have learned at least basic Trade Sign and they’re just lying about it.

Clutching the lantern closer to their chest, the beetle stammers out, “Most—most other travelers here prefer to speak, and I haven’t had the chance to really—to use Trade Sign since everyone else in the village left. They’ve all headed down below.” Their antennae droop. “There’s only me here now.”

They stare at the beetle, something deep inside them curdling. “You live here?” they sign slowly, spelling it out and emphasizing each letter.

“... yes.” The beetle slumps into themself, their palps quivering gently. “It’s not an unfair assumption, I suppose, to think that the Wyrm’s Jaws are gone. But I hatched here after its fall. There used to be more people living here, but…”

They stare at the beetle some more. Either this beetle is lying out their ass, or somehow, everyone was wrong. The Wyrm’s Jaws are not dead. Hallownest is not dead.

Then what, or _who_, is calling them here?

The beetle sighs. “You seem like you’ve traveled a long way. There is lots of room here, if you wish to rest a while.” They pause, palps flicking. “I’d enjoy the company,” they add quietly.

They hesitate briefly, then sheathe their nail. For all their impatience, this beetle appears to be telling the truth. Their tail wags as unease pools inside of them; trying to stop their tail from moving only makes it congeal into a hard, cold lump that threatens to drag them to the ground.

“I’ll stay for a cycle,” they say, keeping their signs curt. “No more than that.” In spite of the twisting, scratching feeling inside of them, the idea of rushing in is giving them pause.

The beetle’s antennae shoot up in clear delight. “Of course,” they say, their voice contrastively even. “Come this way.” Turning around in a shuffling walk, the beetle ambles into the darkness.

Left hand resting on their nail, they follow, keeping their gaze trained on the beetle’s back. While this beetle may be telling the truth, it’s hard to fully accept their words. Hallownest, still alive? If the kingdom is still running, let alone the whole kingdom cluster, it’s been over sixty-four years since it had imports. That just seems impossible.

Silence trails them as the beetle leads them to a small hut, broken only by the rattling of the keys the beetle fumbles through. They clack softly as the beetle finds the right one and unlocks the door. Brushing past the beetle, they push the door open and glance around as they enter. The hut is spotless, almost unnervingly so.

“Let me know if you need anything,” the beetle says softly from the entrance to the hut. “Food, healing salves, or other supplies.”

They make a halfhearted gesture over their shoulder as they walk towards the bedroom, shoving the door open with their foot and closing it in the same manner. As the door closes, all remaining composure slithers out of them, and they barely make it over to the bed before slumping unceremoniously onto it. Hallownest, _alive_? Why are they here? Them, of all people? How is it still alive?

What mess have they been tasked to fix? Why Hallownest, of all possible messes to get stuck in? Why them?

_Why them?_

They bury their face in the bed, squeezing it between their arms. It doesn’t matter. They’ll deal with it and go. If they have to fight someone, they’ll gut them as quickly as they can. It won’t be long. It won’t be that bad. It’s just another job. Just another thing to deal with and they can leave and never think about it again. It’ll be fine.

The Call thuds through their head as if in protest, and they push their face in even deeper. They don’t want to think about this. Come the next syligh, they’ll deal with this once and for all.

Though they aren’t tired, they stay glued to the bed, refusing to lift their head to face the world. Drowsiness blankets them before long, a welcoming change to the sharp wakefulness demanded by the Call’s stabbing pain. They allow themself to sink into it, slipping gently into sleep.

Vaguely, through the haze of slumber, the Call continues, pulsing.

Next chapter: A Cry from the Dark

#hollow knight #dreamless au #dreamless whispers #godslayers #AND WE'RE BACK BABY #i'm so excited asdfgkjs #ghost #the knight #elderbug #if you're confused feel free to ask! there's a ton of worldbuilding #i'm planning on introducing it as naturally as i can #but i'm always up to clarify if need be

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