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#artists/writers it's up to us to provide the angst!!
bigbrainbiology · 2 years
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"Who cares? I certainly don't." </3
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dcafanzine · 6 months
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We’ve been getting a lot of asks about what the application process will look like and what to do, so here are a few tips that should help you out! (This is not required reading if you’re looking to apply, but it might help!)
When you’re applying for a spot on the DCA fanzine, we will be asking to see examples of your existing work. You might be wondering what would be considered a good fit, and which of your existing pieces to choose to show off in your contributor application.
NOTE: PLEASE do NOT create pieces you are intending to submit to be included in the zine itself as part of your application! Zine pieces are to be created by contributors in the three month period following their being selected to be on the zine. We cannot guarantee you a spot, so please don’t burn yourself out trying! There will be other chances!
(Oh, and please ensure viewing permissions are on when you’re sharing any links in your application, so we can see your work!)
Now on to the fine details …
For all applicants:
This zine is a celebration of our beloved celestial jester(s), the daycare attendant(s) - you will need to submit at least one example piece in your application (preferably more) that features these characters, with depictions of them in a canon-adjacent* form being a huge bonus.
Pieces submitted in your application should ideally be safe for work, as this will be a safe for work zine. This zine isn’t playing to a specific mood or genre, so feel free to go wild with depictions of fluff, angst, horror, etc. so long as these fit broadly under the PG-13 rating. Shipping ideally shouldn’t be the focus of every example provided either as this zine will not be specifically focused around romantic ships but more on the character(s) of the daycare attendant(s) themselves.
A limited number of AU spots will be available but in order to accept AU works as final pieces in this zine we request that you must either be the creator of the AU, or have express permission from the AU’s creator.
*Canon-adjacent here doesn’t mean the depiction has to be biblically accurate, just that the design should not differ so substantially from what would typically be recognised as the DCA to essentially be a separate character. This fandom is intensely creative and we love and applaud the originality of the many different variants of the DCA, but this zine aims to focus primarily on canon-adjacent depictions, with a limited number of slots for AU content as well. Having canon-adjacent depictions of the DCA will massively help round out your application for this zine!
For some positions, you will be asked to give 1-3 idea pitches, with at least one idea pitch being required. Pitches should summarise what you might be thinking of creating for the zine, showcasing your creativity and helping you brainstorm ideas for what to make if selected. Your pitch will be especially useful if you are hoping to write or illustrate any AU content, to give us an idea of what sort of thing you expect to contribute. Your pitch may be on the longer or shorter side depending on what you prefer, just as long as it illustrates the idea(s) you are aiming for. If you are selected, you will not be required to create the idea(s) you mentioned in your pitch, and will be able to change your mind on what you wish to create for the zine at a later point.
For writers:
We are looking for around 5 writers to join this zine. Upon being selected to be contributors, writers will write a short self-contained story (around 1.5-2k words) which will be illustrated by the spot artist they pair up with.
What we’ll be looking for in a writer application is readability (how well the example writing submitted for the application flows and how easy to follow it is), pacing, vividness of characters (characterisation of Sun and Moon in this fandom tends to vary a lot, so we’ll be looking more at consistency and imaginativeness here!), and how engaging the example writing is, as well as the ability to wrap up a short story. For this reason, while excerpts reaching around the 2k mark will be happily accepted, at least one of the examples should be a self-contained story or scene that fits within (or close to!) the word limit listed on the application form!
For page artists:
We are looking for around 23 page artists to contribute to this zine. Once selected as contributors, page artists will create a full page illustration featuring the daycare attendant(s) for the zine. A page illustration should fill the space on the page nicely and play to your strengths. This could be a coloured illustration depicting one or multiple characters with a background, a neat photograph of a sculpture or traditional piece you’ve made, or even a nice neat one-page comic! So long as it fits nicely on the page without compromising its quality, it will likely make a great fit for the zine!
What we will be looking for in a page artist application is composition (how elements in the example pictures submitted for the application like the background, props, characters, etc. work together), atmosphere (how the example pictures build a mood), creativity (unique and quirky representations and ideas!), and the level of polish the example pieces have (so overall how neat and nicely finished they look). At least one example provided will need to have a full background (so something containing complex background elements or designs or scenery, like a room or a scene).
For spot artists:
We are aiming to have around 5 spot artists for this zine. Spot artists will be paired up with writers, illustrating smaller scenes written for the zine. The mood of these pieces might vary greatly, but should match the tone and content of the writing.
What we’ll be looking for in a spot artist application is how well their example pieces convey a particular mood and/or feeling, as well as how well they present a scene in a smaller space. The example pieces submitted might not need to be as detailed or polished as those required by full page artists, but should be just as expressive!
For merch artists:
We will be looking for around 2-3 merch artists for this zine. Merch artists will design merch to go with the zine when it potentially hits certain sales targets. Prior experience making merch is greatly preferred for applicants applying for this role.
What we’ll be looking for in a merch artist application is the ability to make neat, simple designs that translate well as physical and digital merchandise.
Hopefully that clears a few things up - and please don’t be too daunted by all the details or feel you have to play perfectly to all of the ideas given above, every single one of us is different and the most unconventional of application pieces might be just the thing we need! This is just to make the application process a little clearer for anyone who’s nervous about what to submit. If anything is still a little unclear, please feel free to send us an ask on our Tumblr or CuriousCat!
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sanjoongie · 9 months
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𝐇𝕠ռ𝜚𝘺𝘦𝒅 𐐛𝗶ҽ𝒔 𝑎𝒏𝖽 ɑ 𝓢ѡℯ𝟈𝘁 𝙱ꭵ𝚝ⅇ
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📗Thrill of the Hunt collab Masterlist
📗Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin (Gean-Canach Fae) x Reader x Choi San (Part Fae Part Hound of the Hunt)
📗Au: Fae au, Artist au, Writer au
📗Trope: s2l, mated pair, lovers to enemies
📗Genre: smut, angst, dark themes
📗Warnings: ⚠Please be aware of the dark themes featured in this fic⚠ imprisonment, slave/servant treatment, mentions of blood, death, violence (choking), humans kept for breeding, cannibalism, torture, broken heart, pregnancy
📗Kinks: prey/predator, penetrative sex without a barrier, knot dynamics, imprinting "mated" sex, celibate! San, feral sex, biting, baiting San into fucking you, "just the tip" mentality but from the reader!, rip-able clothes, aphrodisiac (willingly taken by reader), slight hate sex mentality, breast worship
📗Summary: after being lured to the Fae Realm by Hyunjin on a false pretense, you decide enough is enough and risk attempting to escape your pretty prison. What you didn't expect was to fall for the Fae that was sent to bring you back.
📗Word Count: 10,331
📗Dedication: @mejuii speedy beta reader @stardragongalaxy provided Txt's Kelpie! Kai cameo, @flurrys-creativity 's winged Faerie! reader & Brownie! Changbin, and finally @anyamaris 's reader makes a cameo as well as Rose! @smallfrye who let me get excited about this and bounce ideas off of her
📗Songs to listen to while reading: Seventeen's Monster, Jackson's Bullet to the heart, Ateez's New World
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“Oh human!” A melodic voice called into your room. 
You sighed loudly and closed the book you had been reading. You may live in a wondrous set of rooms in a tower at the end of a valley, but it was a prison all the same.
“Hyunjin,” You sighed, “You could at least refer to me by my name.”
Hyunjin threw the doors open to the room you currently inhabited. “Ash is so dull. Like you're what comes after a great fire.”
Your mouth felt like it was full of ash. Hyunjin never hid how quickly his passion for you became ash. Now you were simply a human caught in the fae realm, his muse for creativity when he, as an immortal, could find none.
Still, Hyunjin prattled on, not swayed by his purpose. “What have you been working on?”
There was no use trying to keep it away from him. He would cajole it out of you sooner or later. You tilted your book towards him and he peered over. His intelligent and bright eyes moved with alacrity, consuming the words you had put to paper. He smiled in glee, wicked and cunning. “I know the perfect painting for that.”
This was the ever-turning of your life. You couldn't tell the pass of time, not like in the mortal realm. There were different seasons, but Hyunjin lived in a valley that was permanently caught in the throws of high summer. So the only way to judge the passing of time was your works, and the works of Hyunjin that followed after. Either he would create from inspirations of your writing or you would write from inspirations of his paintings. It was a torturous pairing, and one that you would sever, if only you could.
You had first met Hyunjin when you were a burgeoning writer. You were young and fearless but also clueless. Hyunjin had been a gorgeous temptation. His sharp mind was what lured you in, another kindred spirit of the arts. You had fallen fast for the beautiful man, but he had a secret.
“If only I could bring you back with me,” Hyunjin sighed as the sun set. He leaned against the windowsill of your tiny cottage. 
“Back to the city?” You wondered curiously, interest suddenly piqued.
Hyunjin shrugged. “It’s amazing there. So many others like us, who love the arts and want to live their lives surrounded by the arts.”
“We can go!” You jumped up, cheeks flushing at the pleased look in Hyunjin’s eyes. 
“Are you sure? Didn’t you say your elder sister frowned upon our companionship?” He quirked an eyebrow at you.
You sighed heavily. “Oh, poo, she can sit on a stick. I want to live my own life.”
Despite your elder sister's warnings about Hyunjin, your head was full of dreams of creating a life with others that honored the arts--unlike everyone else in your tiny, back water village. You followed Hyunjin, hand in hand, down your well-worn road and into the forest. Hyunjin sent you a mischievous smile when you wondered why you had left the road.
“This is a special shortcut,” he said.
A jolt of excited electricity shot through you at the thought that perhaps shortcut was an euphemism for some slap and tickle, perhaps Hyunjin would indulge you with his head between your legs like you had fantasized--
“Over here,” Hyunjin brought you back to reality, tugging your arm towards a mushroom circle.
“You’re not about to lure me to a faerie circle, are you, Jinnie?” You teased back.
“And what if I was?” Hyunjin drew you into the circle of his arms just barely hovering before the circle.
“I would follow you there,” You murmured back, drunk on his attentions.
It took a while to settle into the fact that Hyunjin was Fae. As soon as the two of you crossed over into the Fae Realm, his glamor had been dismissed. The delicate curve of his ears was the most apparent, along with the blast of his power, it practically radiated off of him, alluring and warm like the sunshine of the realm you had crossed over into. 
The sex perhaps distracted you from the majority of the way Hyunjin mindfucked you into believing this was the life you had traded for. The first time he bent you over your desk to fuck you, was titillating. 
“I’m here to give you inspiration,” he murmured into the shell of your ear.
His flowing shirt fluttered over your lower back as he pressed into you. “My muse,” he cooed and continued to enter you until he hit the end of you. 
“Hyunjin!” You whimpered, nails digging into the oak wood below you.
“This is only the beginning of the pleasures I can give to you,” Hyunjin promised. 
He urged your upper body to lift up, so that he could whisper further honeyed lies into your ear. He waxed poetic of the world the two of you would live in; he would wrap himself around you for years and you would write and he would paint and your lives would be fulfilled. 
This was when he imprinted on you, biting into your shoulder and connecting you with himself forever. You heard from the lesser Fae that imprinting was usually meant to connect two Fae, like a pact of marriage. Your heart surged when you heard this, sure in your decision to follow Hyunjin away from your mortal life.
And for a decade or two, you were so utterly in love with Hyunjin, that you grew ignorant of the way he treated you. Hyunjin kept you locked up in a wonderful tower. He told you it was to keep you safe from the other Fae, even though he was never a threat to you. He told you the tower let you view the city, the valley, all the inspiration a writer would need. And it worked. 
Until he stopped visiting your bed, stopped whispering honeyed lies about how much you meant to him. Oh, he meant every word that you meant a lot to him for he could not lie, but it was not about love, like you had been interpreting it. Hyunjin valued you for your human emotions, for your human imagination. Being immortal meant that you grew bored, you lacked any new sights, but a human--a human was full of new eyes and thus the perfect muse.
When you caught up with his trickery, it was too late. You were bound in your pretty prison, bound to repeat whatever Hyunjin wanted in order for him to live his best immortal life. And that’s when your summary, lovely, warm life started to leak its colorfulness.
You started to rebel and truly learned what it was to be at the mercy of a Fae Master. Hyunjin didn’t take well to you refusing to create anything for him. Your first set of punishment was to be worked as a servant for the Fae. You spent a spell as a food server but the atrocities you were privy to truly opened you up to the world you were trapped in. Torture was a passing amusement for Fae while they ate. You once watched a starving human be served up their own foot and ate it. 
But nothing was worse than the months you were forced to serve the humans that were kept in the breeding pits. “You should watch your tongue, mortal, before I cast you in with that lot,” Hyunjin had threatened you when you broke your quill and threw your book out of your window.
Certain humans were kept in a series of cells in the very tower you were trapped in, unbeknownst to you. The Ciaradh court loved to study humans and they were constantly obsessed with creating new young. Some Fae theorized that getting a human fat with child was easier than bunnies fucking in spring, so there was a dedication to seeing if it was so true. 
There were chances when said breeding humans were ‘walked’, for their benefit of course. Hyunjin would also, upon feeling like boasting of his Human Muse, take you for a walk in the beautiful cultivated gardens surrounding the tower. Of the flowers that grew there, there was one that was a washed-out blue, a rose that seemed to get skimmed over, but you were drawn to it. It was an imperfect color that reminded you of the skies in the human realm, unlike the perfect summer-sky blue that this realm always seemed to maintain.
You remembered this particular poor human, in a ratty white dress that barely covered her modesty, whom you had fed in the breeding pits. This one you found a few times smiling at a bluebird singing to her. You had fondly called her Rose, for you two were the only ones who admired the washed-out blue rose that the Fae sneered at for its imperfection--that only made it more beautiful to the two of you. 
Back to the current time, where Hyunjin was painting something dark and seductive--which matched your mood to a T from your writings that you showed him. You couldn't help but resent the fact that he could still pull creatively from you, despite your connection to him remaining solely in the fact that he had imprinted on you because of his ambitions.
Hyunjin put down his paintbrush and sent a look your way; you knew what that look meant, he was going to torture you. You were starting to wonder if physical torture might be preferred to the methods Hyunjin enjoyed.
“Doesn’t she look like she’s enjoying herself?” Hyunjin wondered at his painting. 
The painting wasn’t completed but you couldn't help but agree. The human lady in question, flowing robes not bothering to conceal her nakedness, had a Fae at her throat and a Fae between her legs. She was giving and taking, caught between violence and passion; exactly where you wanted to be.
“Yes,” You said dryly.
“Oh, come on now!” Hyunjin stood up from his stool, “No need to be jealous!”
“I’m hardly jealous, Hyunjin,” You spat.
Hyunjin’s eyes, dark and cruel, focused on you. “That’s right. It could be worse. I could throw you to the hounds, see if they eat you up or create a new mongrel for the court.”
Your anger seethed through you, fear interwoven within. “You’re so very considerate,” You replied blandly, attempting not to rise to Hyunjin’s barbs, even though you knew he could tell exactly how you felt, through your bond.
Hyunjin rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “You’re no fun anymore, human.”
When Hyunjin left, you threw a fit. You threw books and tore papers, spilled ink and broke quills. And when you were done letting your anger course through you, you were left with a broken heart and a near-broken mind. You couldn't do this anymore, you simply couldn't. Centuries more like this and you were likely to truly go mad, and the worst thing was, that would delight Hyunjin all the more. That you could not let happen.
You had to escape.
You knew what happened to humans who ran. The stories were practically drummed into you after Hyunjin broke your heart but wanted to dissuade you from even risking the chance. You knew the consequences, the repercussions. But what if you could twist and tailor this escape to benefit you? You had lived amongst the Fae long enough to have learned a trick or two. 
For weeks, the plan coiled and formed in your mind. If you ran, Hyunjin’s bond would direct him where you were. But Hyunjin was a spoiled rotten Fae, he wouldn’t dirty his hands and go after you. He would run back to his parents, for he was from the Oidhche court originally. When you were still starry-eyed for the Fae world, Hyunjin would fill you with stories from the darker realm. He told you of how they would hunt humans for sport, to make you squeal and giggle. But you distinctly remember the stories about the Hound.  
The Hound was a cautionary tale but a useful one. During one of the many wars between the courts, a Fae Hound had been changed from a dog to a humanoid form. It had been a way to save one Fae from fighting teeth and claws. That Hound had survived the war, miraculously, and gone on to settle down with a Fae woman. They had copulated and made a child, who much to the horror of the mother, had his father’s characteristics that he had kept hidden. The child was left at the mercy of the dark forest within the Oidhche court’s borders, but had grown up, albeit a bit more wild than most Fae children, which was saying something, really. That Hound Child was indebted to Hyunjin’s father who had taken him in, and that particular Fae would be sent to bring you back.
How were you going to escape when a Fae who was part Hound of the Hunt was tracking you? Well, you had an answer for that. You see, Hyunjin had also taken great glee in telling you said Hound was celibate, and had been for as long as Hyunjin could remember. So if you could offer the hound sex, tempt him with breaking his vow, he would be forsworn and nothing meant more to a Fae than his word. He would be worthless and without standing in his court. He would be… at the same level as a human, basically a death sentence. You could work with that. You would need a liquid aphrodisiac to prepare yourself for the seduction but you knew in your gut you would need more to seduce a century’s old Fae.
Hyunjin found your rooms the next day in ruins. But the true fact that actually made his face cloud over in anger was his ruined painting. That sent you to servants quarters. They put you on duty to the breeding pits, delivering their pittance of food. 
You found Rose in a bad place and yet still she found a smile for you. An idea struck. It was very clear that Rose was recovering from a game played with her body and a Fae. You told Rose of your idea to escape and asked to exchange your clothes for the provocative dress that covered Rose’s body.
“Are you sure about this?” You couldn't help but worry that Rose would get in trouble for losing her dress.
Rose’s smile was strong despite her fragile appearance. “Even if they take it from me tomorrow, at least I’ll have slept in some clean clothes that were warm for one night.”
Rose’s attitude, despite what the world had thrown at her, only made you steel your spine. You were going to be like Rose and persevere. You were going to leave this place behind. 
Hyunjin’s visits, however, were throwing you in a loop. You had a pack prepared and stashed for weeks before you were given an opportunity. If you left and Hyunjin found you gone too quickly, your escape would be pointless. So you had to wait until Hyunjin visited you next but there was no rhyme or reason to Hyunjin’s visits. 
All you could do was work on perhaps the last thing you might write in your human life. 
You wrote a story thinking of your sister, of your childhood, of how not everything was better on the other side of the grass. You wrote and distracted yourself and soon enough Hyunjin visited. You showed him your work, his eyes gleamed with inspiration and then he visited for three days before his painting was finished. And if you were honest with yourself, his painting was one of his best in decades.
Hyunjin eyed you curiously. “What’s got you suddenly so fired up? You haven’t written something that refreshing in years?”
You shrugged. “I’ve got a new lover.”
Hyunjin blinked at you blankly for a few seconds and then burst into laughter. He would have felt your lust if you were having sex with someone else through the bond. He knew how lonely you were for companionship, it practically wafted off of you when he visited. Hyunjin clutched his arms around his belly before finally he wiped some tears from his eyes. “Well, whatever it is, keep it up. I might let you come back to court if you do.”
Honeyed lies were Hyunjin’s specialty. He had you living off hopes and dreams forever until you let your love for him die for him. He would promise the world and mean it but there was no keeping track of the amount of loopholes he could find. He was Fae after all. 
Once Hyunjin left, you could hardly contain yourself until nightfall. Then, during when the moon rose to its highest peak, you stole into the night in a dress that would lure every predator out. You ducked your head and told each guard passing that you were finally destined for the pits. They either made noises of sympathy or laughed at your demise, having seen you with Hyunjin during one time or another. 
That was how you made your way down the Tower. At the base, you brightly informed that guard that Hyunjin had finally taken you back. You watched as a romantic look passed through his eyes and he let you go. For Fae that twisted the truth to their own benefit, slipping through them as a lying human sure was satisfying. 
You pulled out a map and followed the landmarks to quickly get out of Ciaradh and cross over into Oidhche territory. Hyunjin would think you were an idiot, moving closer to the Fae that would be hunting you but that was all a part of your plan. You wanted the Hound to find you. 
First things first, you had to get out of Ciaradh. 
The various cities were easy to avoid. It was the faerie mounds and valleys that made it hard to travel. There was nowhere to hide. Just the beautiful rolling hills, which was the other reason why you wanted to get to Oidhche. 
There was one place that you spotted and thought perhaps it would give you relief. A tree had fallen high atop a hill. With its roots still clinging to the earth, it made an impromptu overhang. You’re not sure if an ogre had knocked down the beautiful, solitary tree or perhaps the earth was simply taking back what once it gave, but either way, the hair on your arms rose with the feel of power once you reached the shadow of the overhang. 
This was a well of the natural magic of the Fae realm. With it, you would be hidden from the majority of any Fae magic. The natural magic simply messed with anything else. Except you weren’t the only one that thought that it was a good hiding place for a human fleeing. 
During the early morning after you had slumbered in the well of magic, you heard talking and shouting, waking you up immediately. “Oh, Yeon-Yeon, are you hiding here?”
You froze as an adorable female Fae with wings poked their head from the top of the overhang. “You’re not my human,” she said, clearly perplexed. “He’s not here, Binnie!” The head disappeared and you thought perhaps your luck won out. It had not.
The female fairie yanked you by your arm and half flew, half dragged you out to show the other Fae she was with, that you were, in fact, not ‘Yeon-Yeon’. You protested and ended up landing on your ass in front of a very buff Brownie. “I told you he isn’t smart enough to hide here!” She scoffed.
He frowned down at you, arms having a hard time crossing over his chest, but contemplated you with a hand at his chin. “But I swore I smell him this way.”
“Are you sure we can’t just take this one? She’s adorable too!” The female cooed at you. You slapped her hand when she reached to bop your nose. 
Binnie’s frown deepened. “No. We have to find OUR human, Heart. This is not our hunt. And you know we must respect another’s hunt. Now respect ours and leave that human.”
The female sighed heavily. “Fine. I don't like that one anymore anyways. She’s not that cute if she slaps.”
After your encounter with the two Fae, you continued to hit your streak of bad luck. You almost got lured into a satyr’s traveling party, where the music got your feet tapping and dancing, and you would never stop. As a human, it was a death sentence. You ate a flower that you thought you read gave you night vision but in fact made you believe the opposite of everything you thought true. You almost backtracked a full day before it wore off--your feet trying to take you back to Hyunjin. 
You almost cried in relief when you saw a dark forest in the distance. That was the territory marker for Oidhche. You had felt Hyunjin’s rage a few nights ago zoom through your bond and you knew that the hound would be sent to retrieve you. The second part of your plan was about to come into effect and you couldn't help but be excited. And that’s when you downed the Faerie Dew, preparing to seduce a Fae.
🐕🐕🐕
“Get up, Hound.”
A boot kicked San’s foot and he rolled his eyes upwards slowly in response. “Hyunjin,” He acknowledged.
Hyunjn’s eyes scrunched up into half moons, malicious delight beaming from them. “I’ve got a job for you.”
“I don't do jobs for you,” San retorted and closed his eyes again.
“It’s an order from my father,” Hyunjin said tightly.
San sighed heavily. “What is it?”
“It’s time for you to hunt down a little lost human,” Hyunjin revealed.
San rolled his eyes and stood up. He rolled his neck, cracking it dramatically. “Why do I feel like this has to do with you?”
To say that San did not like Hyunjin was an understatement. San was a useful tool to have in the household he was adopted into but Hyunjin was the prized son. Where San was made to work and toil, sneered at by the majority of his peers, Hyunjin was sought after, praised and elevated. The two had never liked each other; Hyunjin because San was the son his father chose and San Hyunjin because he was never a beloved son. 
“It doesn’t matter why the command was given, just follow it like the good little doggie you are,” Hyunjin sneered.
“At least I didn’t flee my family because I couldn't live up to their expectations,” San shot back, balling his fists and readying for a fight.
But San would get none. Hyunjin’s power was not in his fists but in his words. “Go fetch my scraps, doggie. That’s all you’re good for, after all.” Hyunjin threw a piece of personal clothing of yours at San and turned around.
Every muscle in San’s body tensed but he knew he could not attack his benefactor’s son. He would lose the tiny foothold he had in the Oidhche Court, however tiny it was, it was something he clung to. He would always want to be a part of the Fae, to prove he was worthy of remaining amongst them; that he was not an animal.
Hyunjin walked away, confident that he came out on top, and from his point of view, he had. But San had the true last word. 
“I’ll fetch her and come back and be told that I am his most worthy son, that you are worthless, and that I should have been born to him.”
🐕🐕🐕
San transformed to his other form, a Hound of the hunt, in order to use his abilities to the best. His sleek, powerful form ran through the Oidhche dark woods and marshes, ruins and lakes. He followed your scent, nose to the ground, taking only time to drink water and rest only minutes at the time. His endurance could take him far but his determination even farther.
Something San did not call was that he would encounter another Fae on the hunt. He drew abreast with a horse that was not a horse. San recognized Kai in his other form, the dark horse with long fangs, a Kelpie. 
Kai, like himself, was a bit of an outcast within the Oidhche court. Kai had slowly become blind when he changed courts and was looked down upon, like San was as a half-breed. They weren’t friends but more like allies in a world that saw them as the bottom of the barrel of Fae.
Kai threw his head to signal that they should veer towards a nearby lake and San barked in reply. The two of them slowed their pace and then changed forms, to speak to each other. 
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” San said first, cupping his hands and pouring water over his head from the lake. 
Kai looked amused. “I’m hunting a human but what’s your excuse?”
“Fetching trash for the master’s son,” San grumbled.
Kai’s amusement slowly melted away. “You should snap it’s neck then.”
San ran a hand through his hair, shaking out access water, and stood up. “Wish I could. You know we can never interfere with a hunt. An escaped human is an escaped human.”
Kai’s slightly amused expression was back and present. San recognized it as Kai’s default face, the mask he wore at court. “Then we should do what’s in our power to help each other out.” Kai gestured with his chin towards the lake that spanned far and wide. “I’ll help you cross the lake.”
San shutdown the feeling of gratitude and surprise he felt immediately. Kai wouldn’t be able to see it anyways but his court training of not truly revealing what he felt kicked in regardless. “That would be appreciated.”
Kai waded into the water and changed form once again. This was his third form, his truest form. His upper half was that of a horse and the lower part of a fish. San rode on Kai’s upper back, amazed at the speed of the kelpie. That lower half that was tail helped them sail through the lake’s waters and Kai’s Kelpie presence kept all the other, nastier, baser Fae away. What would have been hours of circling around the lake was cut in half as Kai swam through the center of the lake and delivered San on the other shore.
Kai changed back to his human form to rest but jauntily saluted San as San turned back into a hound and went back to his hunt.
📗📗📗
Your attitude once you were inside the dark forest was a bit 50/50. Your heart was in your throat, knowing at any moment a Fae Hound would be on your heels, and you were excited for that, but what if he never changed into his human form? What if he simply clamped his jaws around your wrist and dragged you back to his master…back to Hyunjin?
Soon, you felt like the forest was fighting against you. Branches tore at your bare arms as if they were trying to slow you down. Roots threw themselves in your way, trying to trip you up. Noises, that which you had never heard during the years you had lived in the Fae Realm, haunted you. There was a small part of your human mind that knew you shouldn’t be here but was that a part of the dark spell that was this forest or was that instinct kicking in for you to survive?
Your lower half was slick and wet, preparing for someone to fuck you and that conflicted with your state of mind. How could you be so turned on but so terrified about what was around each thick, gnarled tree trunk? Did your heart beating in your throat add to the throbbing of your cunt? It had been so very long since the last time Hyunjin had fucked you, perhaps this hadn't been a good idea to tempt yourself, and fate, like this…
A loud howl broke through your inner thoughts and you shivered in response. The hound had found you. You knew it in your bones that this was the defining moment that would free you… or break you.
You broke out into a run, stumbling at first and then becoming hyper aware of everything. The rocks that you had to jump over, ducking under low-hanging branches, you ran in the opposite direction of where the howl had sounded. 
“Please, please, please, please,” You chanted to yourself. Tears pricked the corner of your eyes, the need to fuck and to survive prompting them. You dashed them away with the back of your hand. That wasn’t going to help.
Soon, the howls began to get closer, and you could hear sharp barks. Did he smell your scent as a human or did he smell how wet your sex was? Was he eager for the hunt or for your cunt? Your heart and mind were working a million miles per second, the unknown playing with your mind. 
A growl made you jump and you almost tripped and hit the ground. You caught yourself, pushing back up and running. You didn’t dare look back, afraid you would lose your courage in completing this if you did. You did hear a snapping of jaws and a snarl and you hoped that your planning would all work out in the end. It had to.
You gasped as something hard and real slammed into you and you finally fell. There were no nails digging into your shoulder blades nor teeth snapping at you, so you felt relief to know that the hound had changed into his humanoid form and sealed his fate.   
The snarl in your ear was just as real as the body pressed up against you, pushing you into the soft, forest floor. The snarling tampered down to a quiet, curious growl. You could feel puffs of air along the skin behind your ear and then down your neck. Your pulse was beating wildly and you were worried for a moment that instead of this moment pushing towards lust, it would turn towards bloodshed like its original intent.
You pushed your ass back into the body above you and the snarling started up again. “Do not struggle, human, it’s futile.” The one on top of you was Fae, you knew that, but his melodic voice was not what you had expected. 
“I think you like the struggle, pup,” You shot back at him. 
You pushed and rubbed your ass further into the hard body and struggled to halt your smirk. You could feel him hard against the soft material of your dress. His hips pressed forward to pin you harder but he only managed to choke on a moan at the friction.
Just as soon as your body had been pushed against the ground, you were flipped over and hauled up with a harsh hand around your upper arm. The sharp cut of his jaw and cheekbones almost took the breath from your lungs, despite living amongst the beautiful fae for so long. 
The hound opened his mouth to probably threaten you some more but no sound left it. His eyes scanned over your dress, that was ripped in a few places that definitely aided in your plan. The globes of your breasts were pushed up, the swell of your hips framed by the cut-outs in the dress, it was the perfect peekaboo dress.
His eyes snapped upwards to meet yours. “Where did you get such a garment?”
You smiled sweetly. “I live amongst the Fae. Is it so odd to acquire a few pieces of their beautiful clothing?”
The hound shook his head, almost as if he needed to clear it. “I’m taking you back now.”
You were still in close proximity, so you boldly pressed your hand to his tight leather pants. “This poses a problem, does it not?”
The whimper that escaped the hound’s lips made you clench your thighs tightly together. Anger immediately radiated from him. “Stop with your human tricks.”
You cocked your head. “Tricks? But I’m a mere human. What could I possibly offer?” The heel of your hand grinded down on the head of his cock and he gasped softly. 
The hound grabbed your wrist and wretched your hand from his cock. His shoulders moved slightly, indicating you’ve got his breathing increased at least. “I am under a vow of celibacy, you will cease your antics.”
You raised an eyebrow at him. “A willing vow of celibacy?”
The hound kept his grip on your wrist and began to tug you back the way he came. “I am a mongrel; I cannot further pollute the bloodlines,” He muttered over his shoulder.
You tugged back, trying to halt your movement, but just ended up slamming into the broad back of the Fae sent to bring you back to your life of torture and tedium. “I’m not Fae. You won’t muck up my bloodlines.”
You felt rather than heard the sigh from the hound. “A vow is a vow. Now, be quiet, it was hard enough tracking you down from one kingdom to another.”
Instead, you wrapped your arms around his tiny waist, fingers tracing his padded leather armor. “We don’t have to head back so soon,” you purred.
Once again, you were manhandled. Both of his hands clamped down on your wrists. With movement speed beyond a human’s comprehension, you were whisked around his body and pinned up against a tree now, your wrists in manacles made by his hands, the bark digging into your back.
“I don’t know what your intentions are, and I do not want to know. All I know is that I’ve been ordered to track a human pet that’s escaped from the Ciaradh kingdom and to drag her back. I’ve been ordered to bring you back alive but accidents can happen.” And in all his righteous anger, he was a glory to behold. You had struck gold, to be hunted by such a Fae.
You licked your lips in anticipation. You hooked one of your legs around his slim waist and arched your back. “Is it really breaking your vow if you slid into me just a wee bit? Surely getting your tip wet isn’t against the rules.”
You watched as the hound’s adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. “Why do you tempt me?” He whined, perhaps already feeling the temptation you were offering.
“You are temptation itself,” You whispered back. Your eyes moved over his features, strong and handsome. “How could one not want to tempt you?”
He scoffed, looking away. “You are a human drunk on Fae magic.”
“I have lived for a long time amongst the Fae. Their magic isn’t as strong as it used to be on me. I speak no lies,” You pushed.
The hound examined you for a moment, pursed his lips and then looked away again. “You could be lying about a lie, you are human after all, and do not have to adhere to our ways.”
“What do they call you, hound?” You wondered, feeling yourself falling into your own trap, in a way.
The hound’s eyebrows furrowed in genuine confusion. “Why? I am nothing.” He shook his head. “You are a peculiar human.” When he saw you still waiting patiently, he professed his name was San. 
“San,” You tested it out, like it was candy on your tongue. “It’s a good name to scream during ecstasy.”
You watched as his eyes changed, a fraction from his righteous anger, to curiosity. He simply did not understand why you were offering what you were. Surely he was used to the games the Fae played, he was one of them after all. But he did mention he was a mongrel. Perhaps he did not get treated as one of them?
You took the moment to wrap your other leg around his waist. San’s arms flexed to balance out the weight so that your upper half was still pinned successfully as your lower half pressed against him. “I’m offering a taste. Don’t you want it?”
“I have been celibate for more years than you have been trapped here,” San whispered, a tinge of sadness coating his words.
You weren’t sure when was the last time Hyunjin touched you. It had been so long that you gave up ever hoping for it again. It was odd to have such a thing in common with one of them. Your body was practically singing for San. This was how you survived but couldn't you perhaps enjoy it as well?
You rolled your body against San’s again, groaning lowly when your completely uncovered bottom half ran against San’s leather-covered groin. “Please.”
San’s precarious control snapped like a leash on a feral dog. His lips slanted over yours, tongue tangling with yours. His hands released your wrists and connected at the small of your back, urging your body against his. He sighed into your mouth, this time of relief instead of defeat, still kissing you in earnest, messy and full of saliva. Your hands curled around his jaw in an attempt to hold him in place, to gain control, but there was none of that with San. 
He led the pace and the pace was grueling. He was rutting against you and you were very sensitive due to the aphrodisiac, the Faerie Dew, you had drunk. “Wait, wait,” You protested against his mouth, “You should be inside me, not against me.”
San panted heavily now, eyes wary and dangerous. “I should not. We can circumvent my vow this way. Simply take what I can give you, human.”
His sentence gave you a bad taste in your mouth, similar to how you felt after interactions with Hyunjin.
“Oh human!”
“My name is Ash,” You snapped. 
San narrowed his eyes on you. “And I'm the Fae in charge of hunting you down. The Hound. We all know our place by now.”
You reached between your bodies and desperately pulled at the ties of his pants, undoing them and revealing something mouth-watering. Hyunjin had always been long and slender, but San’s cock was heavy and thick, something that looked like it deserved to part lower lips. “Goddess,” you cursed under your breath.
“Just the tip, right?” San reminded you, tongue coming out to lick his lips.
“Just the tip,” You reassured him and then sunk down on his cockhead.
You both groaned in unison, eyes rolling into the back of your heads. You started to move your hips when San’s hands grasped them hard. “Don’t move,” He ordered you.
“I plan on doing more than moving,” You informed him, lifting a little only to push him further into your heat.
“You--you can’t,” San whined, his eyes getting a faraway look. 
“Who would imagine, a Fae pussy-drunk on a human’s cunt.”
San’s eyes sharpened on you. He pulled out of you completely and you almost cried out at the loss before he slammed into you full-hilt. Your breath was caught in your throat at that moment. You were so full and he was so thick--
“What’s wrong, Ash, stupid from my dumb mongrel cock?” San hissed into your ear. His nose ran along your neck, inhaling deeply.
“It’s so--” You desperately shook your head. You had a plan to enact, you couldn't afford to fall into the lust so deeply. Your life depended on this.
The hard snap of San’s hip against you had your body jolting. San’s eyes zeroed in on the mounds of your breast bouncing because of his harsh pace. He withdrew and then snapped into you, his head dipping low to lick the tops of your breasts. “So good,” He growled.
You wrapped your arms around San’s head, pushing him into your bosom. “Indulge in me,” You encouraged him.
“I--” San raised his head, looking as if he was barely treading water from his lust-filled mind.
“Take it,” You whispered, pressing your forehead back to his. “Take what’s freely offered. Take what you’ve been denied.”
San’s eyebrows furrowed again, pain and pleasure etched across his strong features. “I can?”
You reached down to the neckline of your dress and ripped it effectively freeing your breasts. “You can have whatever you want, San.”
It was off to the races after that. With the freedom to indulge, to experience, to take what he had been denied for so long, San was lost in his urges. He licked and sucked all over your breasts, leaving marks and bites, even whimpering when he fought over the need to hold them in place or leave his hands on your hips so he could hold you in place. His thrusts were calculated sometimes, looking to hit that sweet spot inside of you, to hear your moans of his name. The rest was lost to his passion, fucking into your wet pussy in search of his climax. 
“Oh, Goddess, yes,” You cried out, feeling your climax approach. “Fill me up, pup.”
San’s eyes took on a look of fear for a moment. “I can’t!” You realized you had said the wrong thing. 
“You can, you can!” You held his head between your hands, making him focus on just you. “I’m just a useless human cunt, right? You can just fuck me like you were fucking your hand. It’s the same thing.”
San shook his head. “It’s not the same. You don’t look at me with derision or perverse pleasure. You don’t play with me, you encourage me, you…”
You began to panic. Where was the feared Hound, the legendary Fae from the Oidhche court, who executed others with his teeth dug into their jugular, just at the whim of his master? Who was this creature peeking out of the mask, looking for softness, looking for heart? Fuck, what was that pushing feeling at the base of San’s cock?
You looked down and took San’s gaze with you as well. He paled at the sight of the base of his cock pushing outwards, almost as if-- “Nonono,” San began to chant, “I cannot--!”
You had to throw all caution to the wind, despite the worry that you were about to be connected to a Fae for a few hours, by the looks of things. Not what you wanted when you were about to make said Fae break a very important oath, but there was no avoidance of it, it seemed.
“Follow your instincts,” You whispered before slanting your lips over his. Your teeth tugged playfully with his bottom lip. “Let us both see the stars behind our eyes, come on, San.”
San whined but thrusted up into your cunt. “So close,” he allowed, closing his eyes as if he couldn't witness his own treachery. 
You moved your body up and down on his length, encouraging his head into your bosom once again. “Fuck me San, fuck me full of your cum, release inside of me, release your beast, let yourself go.”
With a loud howl, his back arched and his head thrown back, San ejaculated inside of you. He panted and sighed and then the knot at the base of his dick stopped, the copious amount of cum he had just dumped inside of you, firmly sealed inside of you. The knot pushed against your g-spot and sent you into a spiraling orgasm you didn’t see coming. 
You gasped, squeezing San even tighter to your breasts. “That’s it, pup, fuck, that feels so good.”
With a precious look sent up towards you, filled with raw emotion, San closed his eyes and then bit onto the mound of your tit. You were so deep into your climax that you almost didn’t register the pain but the flood of emotions that weren’t your own into your skull sure let you know what you had let happen a second time…
“San!” You panicked. “You! You imprinted on me!” What did that mean? Wait…
“Mine,” San said drowsily. A wave of satisfaction was felt through the new bond as he lazily lapped at your breast and then he started to sink to the ground.
“San? San!” You protested, your dress barely protecting you against the bark rubbing against you as you sunk with him.
“Tired,” He mumbled. His tongue absent-mindedly licked at his bite. 
You had a dick tight inside of you, a large Fae slumped against you, and your tit hurt from a bite. This was not really how you were looking to finish this plan but perhaps this worked even better in your favor. 
📗📗📗
“What have you done?!” 
That rage and fear woke you up reasonably fast. 
“What I had to do to get what I wanted,” You replied quickly.
“I have broken my vow!” San moaned, pacing a few steps from you.
You preened at your success. “And thus, you cannot go back. They will see your word broken. You will be worthless.”
San stopped his pacing. “...you planned this?”
“I've lived here for centuries and you think I'd just up and run away?” You sneered at him. “I may be human but I am not stupid.”
“And now I've even imprinted on you!” San looked horrified.
“That was your fault, I didn't do--” 
Your words were choked off as San’s hands wrapped around your throat, long nails digging into the thin flesh of your neck. Your fingers clawed at him to let you go. San bared his teeth at you, peaks of fangs flashing between his lips that had previously been kissing you. A mental image of San’s raw glance before he bit you rushed through your mind and you whimpered. 
San let you go just as fast as he started choking you. “You have ruined my life.”
You choked and coughed and gasped for air and choked again. “And I'd do it again. I'd do anything for my freedom.”
San started pacing again. “What is freedom when you have a home? You live in the Fae Realm, your life extended. All your days are warm and you do what you love. What is it that you're running away from?”
That's when it hit you. You weren't connected to Hyunjin anymore. You didn't have to feel anything of his mind or emotions again. You were finally free. You smiled in glee. 
“It's not what I'm running away from, it's what I'm running towards,” You rasped.
San sent you a look that could have cut diamonds. “Do not wax poetic to me, human. I will only fall for it once.”
You raised your chin. “You will escort me to the nearest mushroom circle. I will leave this place.”
San shook his head, grinning and shaking his head. “You are truly not right in the head! What if you crumble into a pile of dust once you leave?”
“Then I will die disconnected from a man who broke my heart and that will make me happy,” You said firmly.
San carded his hand through his hair in frustration. “I can feel how determined you are!” He didn't say anything about the broken heart. 
“And I'll have died after having some of the best sex I've ever had in my entire life.” San didn't need to know your only comparison was a village boy named Jake, Hyunjin and now he.
San frowned hard at you. “You still smell like it.”
“There's a lake back there--” 
San stepped in your way. “No, you won't bathe there.”
You fetched your pack and changed into the set of clothes in there. “Make up your mind, San.”
You examined the bite on your breast mid-change, tutting at the mark that was now going to be there for the rest of your life. You patted your shoulder for the mark you had on your shoulder but without a mirror, you were unsure if it had healed or it would remain as well, even though it was nothing more than a scar rather than a tool to use against you. 
“Do you have anything for the bite?” He asked.
“I have only food, water and clothing. I wanted to pack lightly for the journey,” You admitted.
San sighed. “I…I have a power. They don’t let me use it--I don’t want to use it! But… I’ve seen what happens to Fae when the one they’re imprinted with dies, so I will help you.”
You eyed him cautiously. “Pardon me if I don’t jump at the offer.”
“I’m not! Trying to trick you!” San insisted. His face was open and honest. 
But still, your trust was not easily won. You shook your head. “No. You’ve done enough damage.”
“Fine!” San huffed and immediately turned back into his hound form.
You swallowed hard, memories of that same hound hot on your heels, chasing you through the woods--you couldn't help it when a whimper escaped your throat.
San’s head cocked in curiosity and he padded over to you closely. You held still as he sniffed your head. You couldn't help but ease a bit when he licked your cheek. And then he licked your wound that you left uncovered in hopes it would heal in the open air. But when the bite started to tingle, you yelped backwards from him.
“What did you do?!” You demanded.
San whined and dug a foot into the soft ground. It seemed somewhat of an apology.
But when you looked down next, you watched as the bite healed. Oh, the scar was there, but it was as if it was days, even weeks healed. Did San’s tongue have healing abilities? Perhaps it was a result of his mixed heritage. 
You shook your finger at him. “Just because you're in dog form, that doesn’t mean I won’t hit you!”
San’s head lowered and then he began to sniff the ground. He slowly followed its meander trail until he was almost in between your legs. You slapped his snout and he yelped. “I get it, I smell like sex, that does not excuse your nose from going to where it shouldn’t.”
San sneezed and you rolled your eyes. “Can you lead us to the nearest faerie ring or not?”
You followed San in hound form in a quick jog, the pace that the hound of the hunt set grueling for someone who spent the majority of their time sitting and writing. San would only wait for a few minutes as you gasped for breath and then he would bark sharply at you and you two would start running again. 
“San! San, I can’t.” Eventually you called it quits, collapsing at a copse. 
San transformed into his human form and sent you a disappointed look. “We would be twice as far if you weren’t a human.”
“Sorry I can’t change into a dog,” You spat.
“No but you sure are a bitch,” San spat back.
“Takes one to know one,” You retorted.
The two of you snapped and snarled at each other for the entire journey it took to get to the nearest faerie ring. This one was located deep in one of the dark forests, surrounding a tree that had a gap in the front of it; almost as if it was a door to the Mortal Realms. 
“I can’t believe it.” It was almost too good to be true, that your plan had truly worked out and you were finally escaping the Fae--and leaving your past mistakes behind you. You knew the chances were slim that your sister was still alive, but if you had the chance to apologize to her, to tell her she had been right…
San stood a ways off, looking very closed off. “It’s not that different,” you conceded to him.
“I’ve never been there,” San admitted, face still very shut down.
“If a fragile human can live in your world,” You sent a knowing look his way.
You watched as San visibly straightened and shook his head. “You’re right.”
“Imagine that,” You muttered under your breath. 
The two of you stood shoulder to shoulder, and for a moment, you were both equals. You were unsure, San was unsure, and neither of you wanted to be the first. So when you brushed San’s hand against his, and after a moment of hesitation he took it, you both stepped through the faerie ring and back into the Mortal Realms
📗📗📗🐕🐕🐕
It was a rough month when you crossed over. You were very lucky that only a day had passed in the Mortal Realms instead of centuries. You found your sister and she was in tears that you had left but you had a lot of explaining to do--especially when you came back with a different man that you had left with. 
Eventually, with help from your sister, you and San were able to settle into a cottage that was in the next village over from where your sister still lived. For better or for worse, you and San had imprinted and that basically meant you two were married, so the illusion had to be maintained. You wrote and found a publisher in the closest big city, earning some coin in that regard, but San became a hunter for the surrounding villagers and that was truly how you were able to survive.
Regardless of how much San informed you on the daily that you had ruined his life and it was your fault he had to work for his keep, you saw a change in the Fae. The village was more than happy to receive the kills he took from the forest, unaware he actually took down the prey in his other form. San was very easily received in the village and that seemed to be the turning point for him. Other hunters and men of the village joked with him and you saw him lose the sharp edges he had acquired growing up in the Fae Realm.
One morning, when San had risen from your shared bed with the sun, to hunt, you lurched from the bed yourself and barely found your basin before you threw up into it. 
San wrinkled his nose at you, one leg lifting to be put into his boot. “If you’re sick--” He paused, sniffing the air and then his eyes widened. You felt fear and hope surge through your bond with him.
You waved him off. “I’m sure it’s nothing you can catch.”
San blushed and that threw you off. He quickly put both his boots on and found a cloth for you to wipe your face with. You stared at him with intense scrutiny. Although the two of you lived like husband and wife, San didn’t go out of his way to be kind to you. You were the reason he was reduced to a mortal’s boring life, after all. 
“Ash…” San offered his hand to you, and you took it, but you were confused.
“What’s going on?” You demanded. 
San looked a bit bashful, running his thumb over the back of your hand. “You are going to have to endure a change in me. It is a part of a Fae male to become extremely territorial when their partner is pregnant--”
“Excuse you!?” You screeched.
San flinched at your volume. “You’re pregnant, Ash.”
You blinked at him several times, still unable to comprehend. “But we haven’t…”
San’s eyes shot upwards to the ceiling. “It only takes one time.”
You felt your knees weaken and San quickly escorted you to your bed to sit. “It can’t be.”
“I can smell the change in your smell. You have morning sickness. Have you bled since we’ve been back?” San inquired gently.
You shook your head. “I just thought my body was adjusting from one realm to the other, I didn’t--”
A child only bound the two of you tighter. Your heart sank. San was only going to hate you more for this. “I promise, I didn’t plan this!” You protested.
“Human,” San started and you felt anger surge through you. 
“Don’t you dare make our baby hate me, you will not refer to me as such in their presence!”
San, the bugger, had the audacity to smile shyly. “I would never think of it.”
You frowned. “Why are you being so weird? Why aren’t you yelling at me?”
San shrugged. “I told you. Things are going to change.”
And change they did. Your sister was ecstatic. Not completely won over by San personally, she still admitted he was a good provider and in the very least, she was excited for a new niece or nephew. You worried about her approval but it seemed like she had no care for the fact that it was part Fae.
The biggest change was San. His shrewd eyes were always on you. You never seemed to have enough pillows or blankets to cover you or keep you comfortable. He was constantly asking if you needed more food. He worried about the baby non stop. But the minute he pushed his head against your stomach, to use his hound hearing to listen to the baby’s heart, a soft smile would pull at his lips and your own heart would feel as if it was about to burst.
Your mood swings affected you the most, after your morning sickness, and San took those in strides. There were times when you threw anything within arms length at him and then there were others where you sobbed into his arms, and he rocked you in sympathy. You didn’t know how you felt, carrying a child into this world that had been born from trickery. You felt slimy, truth be told, and you didn’t want the baby to carry that into this world.
Until one night, when you were reading in bed, San crawled into your shared bed and scooted over until you had to sit up to let his arm curl around you. “Ash,” He called out your fake name to grab your attention.
You hummed in acknowledgement and closed your book. “What is it, San?”
“I think I should tell you this, before our baby is born,” San said solemnly, hand slipping over your protruding belly. 
This was it. San was going to inform you that once the baby was born, things would go back to how they were before. He would despise every breath you breathed and it would grate your nerves to live with a man who hated you. You braced yourself; you had been somewhat preparing for this.
“Although it was not your intention, you bringing me into the Mortal Realm has let me realize that I was not living a life before this. In the Fae Realms, I was considered not of them. They begrudgingly even acknowledged I existed. But here… with your sister and the village… they are happy I'm here. They enjoy my presence. I have never known such a feeling of belonging.” San paused swallowing and you felt nervousness through your bond. “And you. You have had to endure living with me, who cut you any time my mouth opened. You are with child from a man… no, a mongrel, a monster, who despised you. Yet, don't think I haven't seen you retrieving the few paintings Hyunjin had gifted you of the place he had grown up in. You hung up paintings done by the Fae you despised, just so that I could have pieces of my home here. I know how much it means to have a reminder of him.”
You pressed your lips together. San had never mentioned the paintings. You didn't think he even noticed them. “Well--!”
“Let me finish,” San said, cutting you off firmly but gently. “I have every reason to thank you but my stubborn self could not. But you need to know that you are my mate, and I do not regret imprinting on you, because in that moment, you had truly made me feel like I was important and I will love a child that was born from that union.”
Your throat tightened and tears threatened to escape. “That's lovely, San.”
San lifted his hand from your belly and used it to tilt your head to meet his gaze. “I will love the child… just as I love you.”
You could feel it. There was no lying with the bond that existed between you two. San truly loved you. It wasn't the grand romance you had once felt for Hyunjin but that wasn't a bad thing. Your love for Hyunjin burned brightly but went out just as quickly. The love San had for you was fragile but it was hopeful. And if you nurtured it…
“San, I--” Your heart was beating wildly but you found that it was not as bruised as it once was from Hyunjin’s false words. You leaned to San’s cheek and whispered into his ear your true, real name.
San reeled back, surprise and shock all over his face. “You honor me, wife of mine.” By bestowing your name upon him, you acknowledged that you trusted him with something he could use to have complete control over you. It was better than saying I love you.
You smacked his chest at the ‘wife’ comment, however, and San let out a high pitch giggle that you weren't aware he was even capable of. You stared at San like he was a completely different person.
San’s eyes grew hooded and he drew you in close. You protested, sensing the taste of lust from the bond, but he didn’t let you go against your half-hearted struggle.
“The midwife suggested that mounting my wife would aid her in feeling like she wasn't a lump on the log and would ease her moods,” San purred.
“So you're saying you're doing this just because the midwife suggested it?” You raised your eyebrow at him.
“No, I wish to make my wife happy,” San said, leaning in, his lips whisper-close.
“I am happy, San,” You said softly.
San grinned. “Then let's make you elated.”
La Fin
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aftercamlann · 2 months
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ACBB 10th Anniversary Recs: A Witch Hunter in Ealdor
This ACBB was recommended by guiltyscarl3t:
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Title: A Witch Hunter in Ealdor Writer: thenerdyindividual Artist: kairennart  Ship(s): Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Word Count: 46,632
Summary: Merlin's life in Eadlor is quiet. He keeps his head down, or tries to anyway, and spends his day working the land with his mother and Will. Then a peace treaty between Camelot and Essetir brings Ealdor into Camelot's borders. With it comes not only a flock of Camelot knights, but Prince Arthur himself; a man who was magically altered to give him special abilities to track and kill sorcerers.
Arthur's duties in Ealdor consist of chasing off bandits, providing aid to the people, and making sure Ealdor follows the law of Camelot. Through a twist of fate, Merlin ends up as Arthur's scribe, and as they work together, Arthur comes ever closer to discovering Merlin's secret. Perhaps the worst part is that Merlin can't bring himself to hate Arthur as much as he should hate someone designed to kill him and his kin.
He thinks if things had been different, he and Arthur might have been good friends.
Link: FIC & ART: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41533269
Why guiltyscarl3t recommends this ACBB: I *adore* this author's works but this one especially. It has such an interesting premise, and wonderful excution. The art is absolutely stunning. Canon AU, different first meeting, my beloved. Aaaaaaaand, the angst was golden There’s still time for you to rec an ACBB fic yourself that you feel deserves some more love. So feel free to send us your rec through our 10th Anniversary Rec form!
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dcfan-event · 2 months
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DC FANWORK EVENT
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INTRODUCTION ✧
This event is being held During the entirety of December 2024 and is for the DC Fandom, whether you focus on the Batfamily, Superfamily, etc. does not matter- write (or draw or do something else) who you feel comfortable writing (or drawing or something else again, it does not matter) for.
Prompts are linked below, there is both a fluff and an angst prompt for everyday, feel free to do either, and you can also participate with smut if you wish (just make sure to include appropriate tags/warnings, AND be OVER 18 years old.), you will simply use the daily prompt as a guide and interpret it how you see fit for your story.
Reminder, this event involves ALL types of fan creations, whether or be fanfic or fanart or something else entirely does not matter.
PARTICIPATION ✧
If you end up Participating please use the tag #DCember24 in order to provide easy access to anyone who wishes to read your work, and for precaution if you'd like to tag the account with a simple @dcfan-event in order to prevent your creation from disappearing from my radar that would be useful.
on ao3 a collection has been made called 'DCember 2024' which you can post to alternatively/additionally as well :).
There will be some Alternative Prompts as well in order to minimize discomfort for the writers, and even if you do enjoy the original prompts feel free to play around with the extra prompts.
For all those participating, please follow the rules below, if you do not your piece will be excluded from this page entirely.
RULES ✧
⇾ discrimination will not be tolerated by any means. whether it be racial hate, religion based hate, homophobia or transphobia, and any other form of hate, you will be reported and ignored during the event.
⇾ please do not participate or interact with smut/mdni works if you are under 18/ageless.
⇾ have. respect. for. the. artists.
⇾ do not feel the need to participate with every prompt, do as many as you choose, whether that be 1 or all 31 is up to you.
⇾ please remember to tag your works appropriately, simply as a respect for the readers and your fellow writers.
⇾ During this event if you are reading, follow the most basic rule of 'don't like, don't read'. Hating on other peoples creations that they worked hard on simply because you did not like it is very much disrespectful and not going to be tolerated.
PROMPTS ✧
⇾ will be added/linked soon
MASTERLIST ✧
⇾ will be added/linked after event
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chvnnie · 1 year
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Vows
lee minho x reader
word count: 4.1k
genre: smut, and heavy angst — MINORS DNI
warnings: non modern au (1800s author!minho), established relationship, MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH - NO DETAILS GIVEN BUT PLEASE USE DISCRETION, fingering, unprotected sex, only minho orgasms, dirty talk. there’s not a happy ending. i think that’s it, but if i missed anything, PLEASE LET ME KNOW
summary: Minho doesn’t know why he can’t seem to beat this writer’s block
a/n: NOT PROOFREAD BECAUSE I AM TOO SAD TO TRY AND EDIT SO DO NOT DRAG ME IF YOU FIND ANY TYPOS. i’m never writing angst again, i cried the entire time i wrote this. and i’m at work. it’s a mess and it hurt but i loved it so. have fun!!!
this is a work of fiction. this fic in no way represents lee minho as a person or stray kids as a whole. you are responsible for the media you consume. please read responsibly.
taglist: @lix-ables, @rachalixie, @gibbysupremeacyisreal, @katieraven, @miamormi, @woahfruity, @isilentprincess, @hugs4chan, @stranger-thighs, @beautifulcolorgarden, @scottmcallisdaddy, @whatudowhennooneseesyou, @humayraaaa, @americanokisses, @djeniryuu, @epiphanynaffit - comment/send ask to be added
His hands feel cold as he rubs his face, fingers creeping up to run through his dark locks. In the process, he licks his chapped lips. The winters are already dry enough; really, he should stop before they crack.
But he just can’t help himself. Minho thinks all broken things are beautiful.
With a sigh, he drops his hands. His elbow dings the small ink pot in the process, spilling the black liquid off his writing table. It swirls under the candlelight, landing in heavy puddles on discarded parchment. Typically, the author would hurry to pick up the pot. His money was limited and his practice was expensive; wasting even a little was fatal.
Tonight he sits. Counting the drops as the plop, plop, plop, ruining all of his terrible work. No one will ever know the worlds he’s created and destroyed, the ink making sure to remove them from existence.
Minho is almost jealous of the parchment. What he wouldn’t give to be washed away and made anew, for the burden that being an artist in this life has brought to be returned to the higher powers.
Before he thought it was a blessing. Weaving words to create fantastical lands, to write of unfathomable love. Now, as the candle wax is hitting his wooden table and the ink is running dry, he knows this is a curse.
A walk. A walk might do him well. It could help Minho move the boulder that’s blocking his mind, tapping him dry. Though the hour is well past midnight, it couldn’t hurt to try.
The ankle length coat is heavy on his shoulders, yet he’s grateful. The wind is nippy and is doing nothing to help the dryness of his lips. His tongue rolls over it once again, thankful for the protection it provides. Even if it’s fleeting.
Why can he not get this right? No matter what he scribbles, nothing is making sense. The story he’s made is falling flat, losing its traction as it continues on. It’s a brilliant idea, one that his editor even called a masterpiece. But that’s all it is — an idea. No matter how many times he’s tried to bring it to life, it’s damn near impossible.
What could have happened to it?
Minho walks without really paying attention. He knows the way by now; a left here, down the curved road before you take a right, past the bakery. Every time the golden window comes into view, he stops. Time stops as he looks into the dark store, blinking slowly as snow flutters down and clings to his lashes.
He blinks—
“Minho!” You cry excitedly, your giggle immediately warming his body.
When his eyes open again, the first thing he sees is your bright smile. Smirking, he takes the loaf out of your hand, tearing a bite off the end.
“I’m just saying.” He talks as he chews, turning on his heels in the direction of your shared home. “It would be silly of you to do that.”
“What?” You hike up your lilac colored dress, jogging to catch up to him. He rolls his eyes as you jump in front of him, walking backwards. Many strangers pass, eyes wide and looking at you in disgust, wondering what fool would do this on a busy sidewalk. But the smile on your face doesn’t waver, unaffected by the hurtful whispers of insignificant people. “You don’t think I could bake my own bread?”
“Darling, you can hardly cut an apple.”
“Bread and apples are not the same.” You exclaim, throwing your head back to sigh dramatically. “When you married me, you vowed to always be supportive of me—“
“And I always have been.”
“So, encourage me!” You suddenly stop, putting your hands out to catch Minho before he runs into you. Hands on his jacket, you bunch it up. Pull him close. “Oh, my darling, if that’s what you wish to do. You’ll be wonderful at it!”
Your fingers are so close to his heart, he wouldn’t be surprised if you could feel how quickly it was pounding. There’s something about the way your eyes sparkle when you look at him; wide, full of a life he’s always been envious of. Minho finds it impossible to remember a time before this look of yours.
It started when you were five. Caught up in a tree, crying because you had climbed too high and were too frightened to jump. He remembers the braids you wore, how your hair was falling from them. The tears on your little brown dress from where the branches grabbed the fabric.
Even at a young age, he knew he needed to help. His mother always taught him to help someone in danger. In retrospect, the tree wasn’t that tall. If you fell, the possibility of breaking a bone wouldn’t have been high. Yet it seemed scary, even to the young boy, following your path up it.
“Don’t be scared.” He said to you, reaching his hand out. Shakily, you grab onto it. You squeezed him so tight, his hand began to throb.
Minho knows what it’s like to be scared, and he never would want to leave you alone.
As he returns you to land, you turn to the boy you recognize as your neighbor. Arms flying around his shoulders, tugging him into the tightest hug your little body can give.
And then you pull back, and look at him. The sparkle of life in the depths of your eyes.
He swore you would never be scared and alone again.
It’s hard not to smile, lips pressed together and curling up as he cups your face. “I also vowed to never lie to you.”
With a huff, you pull away from the hug, turning in the appropriate direction this time. “You are the bane of my existence, Lee Minho.”
Now it’s his turn to jog. Catching up to you and gripping your hand to pull you into his side. Despite your wiggles, your faux pout and empty complaints of being exhausted by him, you make no effort to really move. Tucked into his side is the best place, both in reality and fiction, you once told him. The scent of his cologne, the smell of fresh bread and the mint tea he drank earlier. A comfort you always will seek, and one he’s more than joyful to give.
It’s a short walk home; a left and then you’re up the curvy path, walking until you take a right at the bookshop near your home. It’s a quaint little shop, but cozy nonetheless. The door was propped open, smells of cinnamon and leather spilled onto the cobbled road in front of it. Come in, take a seat. Enjoy the writings of authors old and new.
Right in the middle, on a golden stand, sits Minho’s recent work. The yellow cover was your idea — “It piques interest! Come on, do you really want it to be red or blue like all the rest?” The book didn’t need to be published for him to know you were right, but it’s satisfying to see the stacks behind it dwindling. The community enjoying another one of his gorgeous worlds.
“It’s running low.” You hum. “It might be time to mail production, get more copies out.”
“Hm, with what funds? If I recall, you spent it all on poppy muffins not even an hour ago.”
Rightfully, a fist gently collides with his abs. Minho laughs from the impact, leaning down to kiss the top of your head. “I’m so proud of you, Min.” You don’t take your eyes off the book. Instead of your trademark beaming smile, you look almost stunned. In total awe. “It’s what you’ve always dreamed of.”
He loops his arm around yours, tugging you away from the window. “It’s not but a hobby. I have greater dreams than that.”
The familiar brick comes into view. A flowerbed in front is home to the brightest plants on the block; daisies, pink flowers that Minho can’t remember the name of, daffodils. There’s even mint for tea, freshly plucked by you (if you can remember). It’s a comfort, a reminder of your love. Of the home you’ve built together.
“Like what?” You fall back in step, letting your husband take the lead so he can get to the door before you. The door swings open, Minho bowing dramatically and you following suit as you pass.
Once the door shut, he began on the buttons of his coat. “Where’s the fun if I tell you?” He teases. When he looks up to see your exasperated expression, it’s only held for a beat before you start to laugh. “I dream of more of this life. Of easy morning walks—“
His eyes open, the cold winter air making his fingers start to numb. It’s time to move again. To continue down this path. This time, he’ll walk straight. Listen for the meows of street cats that always greet him at the block.
Rummaging his deep pocket, Minho finds the little treats he pocketed on his way out. Crouching down, he lets the cats eat from his hand.
“Careful.” He whispers to the biggest one. “Let your friends eat.”
Once he’s sure that they return to the warmth of the home he built for them, Minho starts again. Licks his lips. Takes a right.
And crashes into you, grabbing your hips to help ground himself.
“My love.” You gasp, a hand flying to your chest. Your fingers toy at your necklace, the collision spooking you more than you care to admit. “I didn’t even hear you coming.”
His chest hurts from where your head hit him, flinching slightly as he heartbeat starts to pick up. It’s the first time he’s seen you all day, nose too fair in his journals to pay attention to the outside world.
And wow, is he kicking himself for waiting so long. The yellow dress you’re wearing is perfect for the weather, clutching the roses you picked from the garden to your chest. Seems you kept yourself busy while he worked.
“I’m sorry, darling.” He draws, bending down to catch your lips with his own. “This hallway is just too small for us, isn’t it?”
You smile against him, standing on your toes to steal another kiss. “Maybe, but I’ll never complain about running into you.”
“It’s because you’re not the one with a sore chest.” Finally, he pulls back. “What have you done today?”
“I was busy in the garden.” You adjust the bouquet in your arms, making sure none of the flowers lost their petals. “I wanted to cut the roses before autumn comes.”
Like Minho loses himself in words, you lose yourself in the garden. It’s like you don’t even notice the sun setting some days; fingers too deep in the soil to care about anything surrounding you. The two of you take turns pulling each other out of your little worlds, bringing one another back into existence together.
This crash was a good grounding moment. You both were too far gone.
“They’re lovely.” He says with a smile, delicately stroking the bud of one.
“They were, until you so rudely ran into me and fussed with my bouquet.” You can’t even say it without a bright smile, always delighted to tease your husband. “Watch where you’re walking, Min!”
His eyes roll so far back, he thinks they’ll get lost in his mind. Hands move from your hips to tangle in your hair, pulling you in for a deep kiss. The flowers fall to the floor, and this time the petals come falling off. Scattering the hallway carpet you stand upon.
It’s been too long. Too long since your lips met his, since your body was merged with his own. And it’s only been since this morning.
Maybe too long is an exaggeration, but Minho’s always had a flair for the dramatic.
“Are you planning to go back out?” He mumbles, tongue sweeping against your lips until they part, letting him in.
You whimper as you shake your head, hands on his biceps as you cling for dear life. “Not anymore.”
Oh, how it overjoys the author to hear. Minho walks with you, guiding your bodies to the nearest door before he kicks it open. Though the hallway has seen, and heard, so many parts of you, you deserve more than a stuffy hallway quickie.
It’s a stumble into his office that doesn’t stop until your hips hit his work table. He lets go of you just briefly, sliding the papers, notebooks, quills — all clatter to the ground. The desk sits in front of a window, cracked open just enough to let the summer breeze dance in. It lands on your shoulders, on his face. Ruffles your hair and warms his skin. The fireflies have just started to come out, a few twinkling near the stained glass and lighting it up in beautiful pieces.
Minho cups the back of your head, lowering your body slowly onto the wooden surface. It feels like a dreamlike state as he breaks the kiss, moving himself away from your lips slowly. Your head lays at the edge of the desk, crossing over just a bit onto the windowsill. The breeze makes your hair flutter in strands, the pale light of the fireflies painting your face.
Blue and red. Yellow and green. Pink and orange. Stained glass eyes, bright and full of life, blink up at him. Always happy to see him.
“My darling.” Goosebumps decorate your skin, rising up your neck at the sound of his low tones. His fingers are delicate as he strokes your cheek. “Your beauty always leaves me in such awe.”
Rolling your head, your lips brush against the tips of his fingers, overflowing with gratitude. “You are too kind to me, my love.”
The corners of his lips twitch into a soft smile. “No. No, I believe I am not kind enough.” His other arm hooks around your right thigh, heaving it up in his arms. The dress slides down your body in rippling waves, pooling like golden ink at your hips. “But I will never stop trying to make it up to you.”
Before you can reply, the hand on your cheek slips the nape of your neck. He pulls you up as he comes down, making your body arch into his touch when his lips collide. This kiss is more than the one that let you here — be it the weather or the feral instincts clawing at his throat, Minho’s body is like the brightest flame. Hot enough to bring the entire planet to the brink of extinction.
And it’s all because of you. The smell of roses, the taste of strawberries you had for lunch. His life force, his drive. His muse, who is tugging on his worn out dress shirt and pulling until the buttons pop. Across the room they scatter, lost and never to be found again.
Your hands run across the smooth skin of his chest, carefully feeling every ridge of him. Sweet moans fill his mouth as you enjoy the touch, covering the same spots over and over as if you can’t get enough. It’s easy to get lost in the touch of a lover, feeling their bodies in ways that only you can enjoy. Maybe that’s why you don’t notice his hand moving up your thigh, stopping right at the lower hem of your panties.
But you do notice when two fingers slip inside and quickly brush against your folds, making your body jolt in shock and delight.
“Shh, shh, shh.” Minho says as he pulls back, smiling at the cute expression on your face. “Just relax, darling. Let me care for you.”
“You did.” Your words are breathy, teetering on broken moans. “All morning.”
The chuckle he gives makes you flutter around nothing, new slick starting to coat his digits. “Well, let me do it again. Didn’t I vow to always?”
In the space between his rapid heartbeats, his fingers find your entrance and push inside. With vigor, Minho starts to pump them in and out. The palm of his hand hits your cunt, heel pressing into your clit with each thrust.
It’s an intense feeling, especially with how much torture your husband put you through this morning. You’re more sensitive than usual, hips buck and legs kicking out at the intensity. Only a few thrusts and you’re near screaming, the ache overpowering.
He vowed to always help you, even when you aren’t aware that you need it. Free hand flying to your hip, he pins you down by your hip with enough strength to bruise you.
“Still.” His voice is dark and low, the warning tone causing your bright eyes to widen. Nothing more needs to be said, fear like cold rain washing over you. Following his commands without a fight.
“That’s my good girl.”
Minho has always been good at keeping control. It’s easy for him to calm his mind enough to make sure he doesn’t break. Yet it’s always impossible when he watches your eyes flutter shut, body like the perfect toy in the palm of his hand. His cock aches and twitches in his trousers, demanding for some sort of release.
Even when it seems unlikely, he contains it. Not letting himself get too caught up in the moment, focus narrowed on bringing you the most pleasure he can—
Your left hand cups your breast over the dress. In the light of the fireflies, the simple band of diamonds shine.
When he bought you that ring, his pockets were empty. It was the best that he could find with the little money he had, and even then he had to barter for it. He swore to himself that one day, when he didn’t have to struggle anymore, he would get you the wedding ring that you deserve.
That day came after he published his first book. When the first check came in the mail, he ran to the kitchen, dropping to his knees and proposing. Again.
“Get up, this floor hasn’t been swept yet—“
“Marry me, my darling.” Both of his hands cup yours, the check wrinkling in his fist. “Let me give you all you deserve, starting with this ring.”
His thumb rubs over the jewelry to emphasize his point. He was going to make it better, to make you happier.
“No.” You say simply. “You’re not taking my ring from me.”
“But, darling—“
“I don’t want just any ring, I want the first one you ever picked for me. This one. Now, please, love, get up before I use the broom to sweep you away too.”
It shines as brightly as your eyes under the fireflies. Maybe that’s why Minho can’t think straight. The love coursing through his body bringing him to the edge.
With a loud groan, he stops his movements. Fingers buried knuckles deep inside of you, your husband hangs his head. Your eyes shoot open, concern heavy in them. “Min, are you-“
You fall silent as you notice. The wet spot on his bottoms, growing in size right where the tip of his cock is. Neither of you move, neither of you speak. Watching as cums his pants.
Slowly, he looks up at you. Your hand hasn’t moved from your breast, lips parted in shock — or is that terror? After all, his eyes have never been so dark before.
“See what you do to me?” His voice is more of a growl, pulling his fingers from your cunt aggressively. “See how you make me feel?”
There isn’t time to think. To speak. He doesn’t even take the time to undress you properly; trousers fall to his mid thighs to let his still hard cock spring out. Your head hits the stained glass as he inserts himself into you. Slow, yet rough. Savoring the soft feeling of your walls.
Minho steadies himself by gripping onto your other hip, loudly groaning your name over, and over, and over like a prayer until he’s deep inside you. If you thought his fingers were intense, you’ve shattered from this stretch, clawing at your exposed skin in ecstasy.
All is right when your bodies create one. Limbs tangled, lips swollen. He leans down as he starts to thrust into you, not pulling out more than half an inch. Each one is deep, hitting places neither of you knew existed until this moment.
Nothing else exists. In this moment, you are both all that was. All that is. All that is to come. The universe pauses for you, time stopping as you love each other to an extent that no one thinks is possible. The earth cracks under you, breaking from the strength of this connection.
Better than any story written across time.
His head lays on your chest, the position thoroughly uncomfortable though Minho is convinced it’s perfect. He listens to the beating of your heart, kisses your warm skin, fucks you in unimaginable ways.
“I love you.” He mumbles against the swells of your breasts, nuzzling deeper into them. Craving a life only you can bring. “I love you so much, my darling. I-I don’t even know how to say it.”
This time, you shush him. Threading your fingers through his dark hair, you turn his head so he can look at you. Meeting your bright eyes, full of life.
The metal is cold against his palm. Hard to move regardless of how hard he pushes.
“I love you.” You smile at him. “In ways I’ll never be able to tell you.”
The snow and gravel crunch under his boot. Only a few more steps.
“You’re my everything, Lee Minho.”
Though he’s sniffling, he still smiles up at you. Fully consumed by your presence, wishing to freeze this moment so it never ends. “I thought I was the bane of your existence.”
The laugh you give is full. “Why can’t you be both?”
Though his pants are thick, the cold still seeps through. He sits with his legs crossed, letting the snow melt under him and numb his thighs. It’s a nice distraction — one he really, really needed.
“I don’t know what to write.” He says out in the dark of night, staring at the jewelry in his hands. A small, golden heart pendant and the simple ring cling to the chain, warm from his body heat. They were tucked away the entire walk, pressed close to his slow beating heart. “I’ve gone through sheets of parchment and at least five journals and…nothing.”
With a sigh, he starts to spin the ring. It’s too small for his fingers, though he had tried. Once it got stuck on his pinky. Minho left it there for days, not doing anything until his finger started to turn purple. It hurt too much to take it off.
“You would be appalled by the state of my office.” The laugh he gives is dry and shaky. “I let a pot of ink spill today, and I don’t know when I’ll clean it up. It was almost refreshing to watch it wash away my work.”
The tears have started. He’s not ready. Not now, he just got here—
“I don’t know why this is so hard for me.” He licks his lips, over and over and over until they finally crack. “You’re all I could ever think about, all I could ever talk about. So writing about you should be the easiest thing I’ve ever done. But I try, and I try, and I lose sleep wracking my brain to try and encapsulate what you were. How you held existence in your eyes and loved with such a fierce heart that it could have been the comet that killed the dinosaurs. How can I love you so fucking much, and not know how to talk about you?”
Minho was determined not to look up. If he doesn’t look, he won’t get hurt. Reality can be nothing but a hoax as he talks to you, lost in a world the two of you created.
The dream he wants to never escape from.
But there’s only so much he can take. Finally, his head lifts and fuck how he desperately hopes to see your bright eyes. Instead, the stone sparkles. Your name engraved above the dates, a small reminder that you were real.
Slowly, the author sits up on his knees and begins to crawl. At the headstone he stops, slowly lowering himself to the ground. Letting his body sink into the snow as he lays with you and clutches your jewelry to his shattered heart.
It isn’t long until his eyes start to shut despite his efforts to stay away. One blink, then a slower one, and another until there’s no more. On the last one, right as sleep pulls him in, he swears he hears your laugh.
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k2ntwo · 9 months
Text
20 Questions for Fic Writers
A bunch of writers that I follow have already been tagged and responded @helloliriels @khorazir @7-percent @discordantwords @totallysilvergirl to name just a few. Now I have a few new things to read that I somehow missed the first time around as well as a bunch of old favorites to go and re-read. So much good fic is out there by so many talented writers!
In the spirit of adding to folk’s ever growing MFL list I’ll just pile onto the bandwagon with my answers as well.
 1.  How many works to you have on AO3?
56 although there are several collections of snippets that technically could be counted separately. On AO3 I'm KtwoNtwo.
2.  What’s your total AO3 word count?
496,860
3.  What fandoms do you write for?
Primarily Sherlock Holmes (most all iterations from ACD to Sherlock) and James Bond.  However, I dabble in a good number of other fandoms upon occasion.
4.  What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Metamorphosis
Conversations from Q-Branch
50 Reasons (The Q-Branch Edition)
A Rare Breed
Brothers Three
5.  Do you respond to comments?
Yes, even if its just a “I’m glad you liked it.”  The only ones I don’t respond to are the generic solicitations to join some random contest or fic publishing website.  Those get blocked and reported.
6.  What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Well, I don’t really write major angst but The Four Riders has got a bit as does the poem Gun in the Drawer though they both end on a hopeful note.
7.  What’s the Fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Most of my fics have happy endings but probably A Toast to the Science of Deduction resolves the happiest of the lot.
8.  Do you get hate on fics.
Nope.  Only got one anonymous troll alleging trademark infringement due to a title.  I fired back a factual rebuttal: basically "there is no book by that name by that author, there is no lawyer by that name, you didn’t provide contact information and btw trademark doesn’t work the way you allege" then added a set of quotation marks to the title.  Never heard anything more about it.
9.  Do you write smut?
I have but I’m not terribly good at it.  Most of the time the characters look at me then politely, or not so politely, shut the bedroom door in my face.
10.  Do you write crossovers?
Oh God Yes!  Technically I think I write fusions, where both fandoms end up in the same universe, as opposed to crossovers but I’m rather unclear on the difference between same so I tend to just call 'em crossovers and leave it at that. 
11.  Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I could find or prove.  I did have a couple of strange search results pop up with my use name and some fic titles attached but the websites all seem to be defunct now.
12.  Have you ever had a fic translated?
Not to my knowledge.
13.  Have you ever co-written a fic before?
No.
14.  What’s your favorite ship?
Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
15.  What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
There’s a fic based on a song by Abney Park that I’ve got an outline for but it never seems to go anywhere.
16.  What are your writing strengths?
I can merge and/or crossover all sorts of different fandoms. 
17.  What are your writing weaknesses?
Typos and punctuation.  Being slightly dyslexic I can’t spot the former and I never know if I’m using commas correctly or not.
18.  Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I actively avoid doing so because I’d butcher it badly.
19.  First fandom you wrote for?
Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker.  I will admit that I wrote in my head, but never got around to put on paper, a number of Star Trek stories when I was significantly younger.
20.  Favorite fic you’ve ever written?
I like all of them for different reasons.  The one I’m most proud of however is The Emerald Falls my Study in Emerald inspired ACD Fic.
I'd love to have some of the artists/podcasters respond to this with whatever modifications are necessary to fit the medium involved. Hours of podcast or number of artworks as opposed to number of words for example. @podfixx @bluebellofbakerstreet if you haven't responded to this thing already and I just missed it.
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It's busy this week, but don't think I didn't make the time to put this list together!! Thank you all you wonderful writers for the joy and entertainment you have provided me this month.
This month's list is long and full of spicy, fluffy, incredibly written fics. So kick those shoes off, get comfortable and browse for a new favorite. A lot of Bucky, too, I'm just sayin'. ;)
Happy Reading!
2023 reading list | fic rec masterlist
Dividers provided by @firefly-graphics
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Marvel
To Have and to Hold series by @indyluckycharlie Bucky Barnes x Reader: Mafia AU Summary: Love and obligation. How can you serve one and still save the other? Warnings: Dark themes. Threats and portrayals of violence, including murder and assault. There are references to but no depictions of noncon. Violent and abusive acts are directed at the reader, but not by Bucky. There is also betrayal, controlling/abusive behavior, death of loved ones/main characters, grief, LOTS of angst, a little bit of fluff, nonexplicit s.mut and sexual references. Please note, there is an element to this story that is a surprise and won't be revealed until about 4/5 chapters in. Therefore, I am not including the related warnings here, but I will include them in the tags in case anyone is truly uncomfortable proceeding without knowing what's coming.
Send Me An Angel by @navybrat817 Soft Dark Bartender!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: Bucky thinks you're an angel. Warnings: Implied explicit sexual content, Dubcon/NonCon elements (you are responsible for your own media consumption) dirty talk, kidnapping, beginning stages of stockholm syndrome, Bucky Barnes (he’s a warning, okay?).
Starting Gate by @navybrat817 Motorcross!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: You attract the attention of your coworker's friend who just happens to be a handsome racer who plays for keeps. Warnings: Flirting, tension, swearing, rivalries, future explicit sexual content, motocross!Bucky Barnes (he’s a warning, okay?)
Read at your own risk by @buckyalpine Bucky Barnes x Reader Warnings: 18+ smut
Drunk Bucky by @angrythingstarlight Chubby Baker! Bucky x Reader with a side of baker!Steve vs Honey. Summary: Baker!Bucky has a filthy mouth yet he's somehow still shy. He will spout off the most inappropriate, raunchy joke and have the nerve to blush like you're the one who came on to him. Warnings: none provided
Just One Taste by @angrythingstarlight Beefy Biker!Bucky Barnes x Reader Summary: Bucky has an offer you can't refuse. He'll help you pack for your trip but you have to give him a little taste before he does. Warning: Smut, Minors DNI, oral (fem receiving)
Sugar and Spice by @navybrat817 Tattoo Artist!Bucky Barnes x Baker Female Reader Summary: You make a sweet impression on one of the new tattoo artists in the neighborhood. Warnings: Flirting, fluff, innuendos, brief moment of insecurity (reader's mom kind of sucks, sorry!), Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?). Future couple, slight angst, and feels.
And Everything Nice by @navybrat817 Tattoo Artist!Bucky Barnes x Baker Female Reader Summary: You visit the tattoo parlor when an uninvited guest shows up at the bakery. Warnings: Bad ex, mild (h)arassment, protectiveness, brief moments of insecurity, slight feels (it's me), Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?).
Don't Let Me Down by @princessmisery666 Bucky Barnes x Reader Summary: fake fic title drabble Warnings: none provided.
What Dreams Are Made Of by @navybrat817 Tattoo Artist!Bucky Barnes x Baker Female Reader Summary: You’re on Bucky’s mind before your date. Warnings: Ki-ssing, Fluff, slight insecurity if you squint, slight feels (it’s me), Bucky Barnes (he’s a warning, okay?).
Us vs. Them by @princessmisery666 Bucky Barnes x Y/N (Reader) Summary: fake fic title drabble Warnings: fluff
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Supernatural
Tell Me You Believe Me: Rumors Part 4 by @deanwinchesterswitch Dean Winchester x Female Reader Chapter Summary: Dean thinks he’s doing the right thing, believes it’s for the best. Still, he struggles to let go, even when he overhears that you’ve moved on with someone new. Warnings: 18+ Angst; Some fluff; Language; Mentions of sex work(nothing graphic); Canon divergence; Descriptions of high emotional distress; Possible triggers
I Promised by @deanwinchesterswitch Dean Winchester x Female Reader Summary: He always keeps his promises. Warnings: Implied sex; Description of drowning
Even Better Than Pie by @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior Dean Winchester x Y/N Summary: Y/N knows just how to make Dean smile. Warnings: None really. Kissing. Implied smut. Smidge of angst. Pretty much, all fluff.
Prettiest One by @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior Dean Winchester x Y/N Summary: Dean's leg is broken and they've given him lots of morphine for the pain. What secrets will he reveal to Y/N? Warnings/Explicit 18+: None. Bit of Dean crack. Silly, drugged up Dean. Soft!Dean. Adorable!Dean. Lots of fluff. And a kiss.
Like We Used To by @princessmisery666 Sam Winchester x Reader Summary: fake fic title drabble Warnings: none provided.
Show Me What You're Hiding by @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior Dean Winchester x Y/N Summary: Y/N gets a glimpse of Dean, and is desperate to see even more. Warnings/Explicit 18+: Smut. Nothing too crazy. Nakedness, lustful thoughts, Dean objectification, and a smidge of dirty talk (from the reader.) Adorable!Dean being adorable, while simultaneously being the hottest fucker around. You know, that thing he's really good at.
Deep by @thoughtslikeaminefield Dean Winchester x Female Reader Summary: Dean shows her more about pleasure than ‘deep’. Warnings: 18+ ONLY, Dean being the best lay ever, biting, Dean being a fairytale prince, the jockey is my favorite sexual position (try it, it’s amazing), talking during sex, gratuitous use of terms of endearment bc it’s Dean
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Other Characters
Relaxing on Sorgan by @softlyspector Din Djarin x GN!Reader Summary: Part of the Significant verse. Din and riduur relax on Sorgan. Warnings: tooth-rotting fluff.
Sit by @negans-lucille-tblr Soldier Boy x Plus Sized!Reader Summary: Y/N finds herself in trouble when she doesn’t listen to her boyfriend’s instructions.  Warnings: angst, self worth issues, body image issues, oral sex (fem rec), face sitting, face riding, biting, p in v
Blueberries and Cream by @princessmisery666 Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Reader Summary: fake fic title drabble Warnings: none provided
When the Moon Watches Over You by @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior Beau Arlen x Y/N Summary: Some Beau and Y/N enjoying their time in the moonlight. Warnings/Explicit 18+: Smut and fluff. Romantic smut (?) is that a thing. 🤷‍♀️Lol! Skinny Dipping. Semi-public nudity. Implied semi-public sex. Unprotected PinV sex, oral mentioned briefly (m receiving).
Flowers of Fate by @princessmisery666 Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Original Female Character Summary: Serendipity, luck, coincidence – call it what you will, but Bradley is sure his parents may have had a hand in his good fortune. Warnings/Genres/Troupes: fluff, slight angst, meet-cute. 
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not-freyja · 1 year
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Linked Universe Big Bang 2023 - Infomercial and General Rules
What is a Big Bang?
A Big Bang is an event in fandom where authors write a fic and are paired with artists who create art to go with it. These pieces are posted at the same time/together, reprising the older zine tradition of writers and artists collaborating for fandom.
How can you participate? There are three ways you can join the LU Big Bang: as an author, an artist, or a beta.
Authors will write a fic, artists will make fan art for that fic, and betas will provide the invaluable service of editing said fic if requested.
F.A.Q. for Big Bangs and specific information for this event under the cut.
What counts as art? If you are an artist participating in this event, there are a lot of ways that "count." You can do traditional, digital, moodboards, banners, a piece of embroidery... as long as it is a visual piece of art that goes with the fic you are paired with, it counts!
Minimum Word Count: The absolute minimum word count for fic is going to be 5k. It can be a one-shot, or a multi-chapter fic. It can be 7k or 200k, whatever your heart desires. As long as it is at least five thousand words, and done by the deadline, it counts.
Can I write in a language other than English?
Of course you can! As long as you are able to communicate with your artist in whatever language to get the collaboration done, I fully endorse fanworks in the native languages of the authors.
LU-centric: This event is for the Linked Universe fandom. That means that all art and fic must fall into the greater umbrella of the LU.
That being said, if you want to write something that is entirely about one member of the chain, or only features three of them, that is completely fine. AUs are allowed. Crossovers are also permitted, as long as the focus is our beloved Links.
Go crazy. Just stay in the fandom.
Ratings: Go nuts. Fluff, angst, any and all archive warnings and ratings are permitted. Write G, write E, write whatever speaks to you. That being said, y'all better be tagging responsibly. Artists will be asked when filling out their signup sheets if they are comfortable creating art for certain ratings/warnings.
Original Works Only: All entries for this event must be original to this event. That means that authors can't add a few chapters to their current WIP and call it a day. And artist cannot decide that an existing project is close enough and make edits. The point of this is to create an explosion (or a BIG BANG if you will) of brand new fanworks.
Authors: this is the perfect excuse to dust of those plotbunnies and flesh them out.
Collaboration: This is a collaborative event. We are celebrating our love for the Legend of Zelda franchise, the Linked Universe, and the Chain together. That means that you have to keep in contact with your partner, and complete the two check-ins with me (the event organizer) so that everyone has a good time working together to make something beautiful.
Beta Reading: As someone who chronically posts without a beta, I am not going to enforce having one. That being said, this event will have a beta sign-up, and I strongly encourage taking advantage of our kind volunteers. Or use your own regular beta. Or live that "no beta, we die like men" life. You do you, I guess.
For those of you interested in volunteering to beta read, please, feel free to do so. There will be a sign-up for you wonderful, beautiful, selfless people.
Hosting: All fics will be hosted on Archive of Our Own. You are more than welcome to post them elsewhere as you so desire in addition, but the "homepage" for the event will be an Ao3 collection. If you are an author who wants to participate but does not yet have an Ao3 account, I recommend signing up for one now. Last time I checked, the wait list was about a week. Not bad. Paired art-pieces can be hosted anywhere that the artist chooses, as long as it is linked/attached to the corresponding fic.
Posting: Since a majority of the fandom is currently going though whumptober/flufftober/linktober, and I know how Nano can be, I am looking at a late early december post date.
That being said, when we do get to posting, there will be a couple of hard-fast rules. Fic will be posted with the art and a link to the art hosting page/artist. Art will be posted with a link to the fic. The point of this is that they go together, after all.
Support: Please reach out to me. Send me a message/ask for the tiniest thing. If you think that someone else already asked it, it's fine, I will answer it with a link to the other answered ask. This is not the first Big Bang or Reverse Bang that I have run, so no matter what the question is, I am sure I have heard it before. Ask it. It's fine.
Also, reach out to your fellow artists and authors. The point of events like this is to make friends, so go on! Talk to people!
Extensions/Deadlines: The point of this event is to create an explosion of content on one set date. That being said, I know that life happens. Words can be hard. The muse can abandon you, and leave you bereft of the ability to finish the work.
This is where that communication thing comes in. If you make sure that your partner and the mod (that's me, hi) knows that you are just running behind, then all is forgiven. That being said, do try to meet the deadline. And those who have not completed their work for this event will not be allowed to participate in the next event I run (if/when) that occurs until said work is completed. It wouldn't be fair to your partner otherwise.
Where do I sign up?
The official timeline and sign-up sheet will be out by this Sunday, October 8th. I will be posting it on my Tumblr. And will tag all successive posts for this event with #LUBB2023 (Linked Universe Big Bang 2023).
Any other questions?
Send me an ask, reply/comment on this post. Go crazy. And please reblog this post if this sounds fun. The more people that see this, the more people potentially signing up for the event.
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t-nd-rfoot · 2 years
Note
Hi can I please get the 7th prompt from forbidden love w/ either bob or Mickey? Ty!
BEFORE YOU DO aka The Best Man For You
The most important decision should be made at your wedding, not before it.
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Summary Mickey asks you to choose between your head and your heart the day before you get married
Pairing Mickey Garcia x engaged!reader
Theme angst
Warning/s reader is engaged to someone else; mentions of cheating; mentions of toxic relationship; emotional cheating?; conflicted feelings; prompt altered to fit dialogue
Word Count 701
Note Hi, Anon! Sorry huhu there was no specified list between the two forbidden love prompt lists so I just chose 😬 Also, sorry if I made you wait for this, I was literally halfway through my first draft when I realized the prompt wouldn't work with it 🙃 nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it and thank you for requesting!
Playlist (coming soon)
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If you enjoyed this, please reblog! Reblogs are the best way to support creators (writers, artists, gif makers, everyone!) on this platform. Share the content, share the love!
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“Don’t marry him.”
Your eyes shifted across the mirror and found Mickey—your fiancé’s best man—locking the bathroom door behind him and rushing over to you.
“Mickey, what are you—”
You were suddenly wrapped in Mickey’s arms, forehead resting on yours, hands cradling your cheeks.
“Don’t marry him. Please, please, please don’t marry him,” he whispered and begged, “you know he’s not right for you, and you know how I feel about you, and I know deep inside of you, you feel the same way.”
Guilt and longing battled inside you.
It pained you to know that Mickey tugged on your heartstrings more than your fiancé did. He was a good man, you kept trying to convince yourself. He provided for you just like any dutiful partner would. He greeted you with a kiss every morning and night—sometimes, he’ll even look up from his phone as he did so. He always asked you how your day went—before he locked himself up in his study. He showered you jewelry and flowers—only once, you saw someone else’s name on the card. He is a good man, you kept trying to convince yourself, in front of everyone else. And that’s what matters.
But then there was Mickey. It always confused you how he and your husband were related because they were polar opposites. Your fiancé was a talker; he was a listener. Your fiancé was stubborn; he was adventurous. Your fiancé was extravagant; he was simple. But Mickey was also the closest thing your fiancé had for a brother, so you maintained a boundary. And while the two of you have kept things platonic for the most part, you couldn’t help but notice all the subtle comments and gestures that said otherwise.
And little did you know how it hurt him to see your cousin dangle you like a little accessory: nice to show off to everyone only to take you off and stow you away until he needed to use you again. How you had to ask for his opinions on the wedding plans because his cousin couldn’t care less, only wanting to ‘lock you down.’
“I leave for base the day after tomorrow. If we leave now, we have time to get your things ready so you could come with me. We’ll never have to leave each other again.”
“Mick…” Tears welled in your eyes. Not just because your emotions were flooding, but because he was right. You constantly tried to put out the flame you held for him, but you couldn’t deny anymore to yourself that there was always something there. But how would it look to his family—to your fiancé—if you up and left him for his cousin at your dress rehearsal?
Your hands fell from his arms as you shook your head. You wanted this too, but there was too much at stake, and you weren’t sure if you were ready to face the consequences.
“We can’t—”
“No, sweetheart. You can’t.” He didn’t even want you to finish that sentence, not ready to accept your decision to push through with the wedding that isn’t meant to be. “I’ve been wearing my heart on my sleeve for you, and you…throw it away. Every time, you choose him, and I don’t know how much more I can take.” His voice strained of the emotional exhaustion he’s put himself through to do this.
“I’m sorry,” he said, trying to calm down, “but please, please. I promise you, if you do, you won’t ever regret it. Or I’ll be gone. Forever.”
You knew he wasn’t just talking about his deployment anymore. If you pushed through with this wedding, whatever was happening between you can’t go on.
“I…” You couldn’t find the words.
He could sense the wave of emotions inside you. So instead of demanding an answer, he held on tightly to what little patience he had left and kissed your forehead, as though that might soften the battle between your mind and heart.
“We still have time. If you want this, meet me by the fountain outside. I’ll be waiting for you.”
And just as quickly as he came in, he left, waiting for you to make the biggest decision of your life.
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Disclaimer  I do not own Top Gun: Maverick or any of its characters. Please do not copy my work or translate without my permission.
(edited layout)
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teitho · 1 year
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Welcome to the Teitho informational post!
ABOUT TEITHO
The Teitho Contest was an initiative of Aragornwriter, and is currently moderated by Carawyn, Sian and Lotrfan.
The contest runs through our ProBoards site in two separate cathegories - fanfiction and fanart, and invites writers and artists who like Tolkien's world to join in. You don't have to be a member of any particular mailing list or group, but do bear in mind our rules.
The contest was originally created for stories containing the characters of Aragorn and/or Legolas, and their friendship, inspired by the Mellon chronicles. It has been running without interruption since January 2005. In this long time, we have moved on to include more of Tolkien's world and characters, but have kept the emphasis on friendship in the stories - this is not a rule, just a recommendation to keep the spirit of the original contest even through the changes. (Rules are listed later in this post.)
Teitho stands for "Write!" or "Draw!", which is exactly what we want you to do!
Are you a Tolkien-fanfiction writer, interested in friendship stories about Tolkien's characters? Do you like to write angst, horror, comedy, etc?
Or, are you a reader on the lookout for exciting new fics or artist looking for new inspiration?
Then look no further. Welcome to the Teitho Contest, where you can participate with a variety of other writers and artists and send in stories and pictures based on our themes.
Join us in this writing and drawing contest!
New challenge is posted every month. On the first day of the challenge, we announce a new theme on this site. You then have two months to create your entry, which has to be finished when you send it in.
After the deadline of the contest, the voting period begins. Based on the number of entries, it lasts for two or more weeks. The winners are usually announced a day or two after the end of the voting. Teitho remains one of the last prompt-based, independent, Tolkien fan-fiction/fan art monthly contests.
Send in your entries to the following email address: [email protected]
Do NOT send in your entry to any other list or email address or it will not be eligible! This contest is unique!
All the entries will be posted anonymously, so you will not know which author you are voting for. The voting is individual for both art and fic, and you can vote for just one or both of them, if you want. We will announce the winners on this site and our social media pages.
RULES:
Contest Entries
-The contest runs in two separate categories - fanfiction and fanart.
- Ratings may go up as far as M, but please keep in mind that our audience consists of different age groups.
- The entry must feature character mentioned by Tolkien in any of his works set in Middle-earth.
- You can only participate with one entry per challenge.
- The entries will be displayed on the website anonymously to give everyone a fair chance of winning. Therefore, you may only repost your entry elsewhere after the voting is over and the winners have been announced. The anonymity is one of Teitho's unique features, don't spoil it!
- Of course you can use the Teitho theme as inspiration for a story or picture, even if you don't send it in as a submission. As a courtesy, we would ask you to not post your story until the contest is over as to not influence voters.
- Please use only [email protected] to send in your entry. Entries sent elsewhere will not be eligible for the contest. Send your stories as an attachment in a text file (doc, docx or rtf) and pictures as jpg or png. (If we can't open it, we'll get back to you, don't worry.)
The header information for stories must contain:
- story title
- penname (revealed only after the voting period)
- challenge
- summary
-characters
-warnings (AU, violence, character death and other potentially disturbing elements to some readers)
- rating (we follow the scale provided by fictionratings.com, which can be found here.
(Please be aware that stories which are graphic to the point of being explicit or inappropriate for readers under the age of 18 cannot be accepted, per the Terms of Service set forth by Proboards. This is not a Teitho rule, but one set by our hosts.)
The header information for art must contain:
- picture title
- name or nickname of the artist (revealed only after the voting period)
- challenge
- technique of creation
- optional: description of the depicted scene
There is no minimum length for stories, or required form - you can write poems or drabbles, submit traditional and digital art, or even artisan crafts. The recommended maximum length for stories is appr. 20 doc-pages.
Types of challenges
A new challenge is posted on the 1st of every month, and every challenge runs for two months (two challenges are always active at the same time).
- Regular challenges - a word or phrase
- Picture challenge - twice yearly, typically in March and September
- Joker challenge - in December, allows you to pick any of the past challenges—from any year—and submit an entry inspired by that prompt
- Other challenge - in June (music, a list of random words or some other type of prompt)
- Illustration for a Teitho story - we have a special artistic challenge running for the entire year (deadline is December 31st) to illustrate one of the stories posted in that year. Due to the long period of this challenge, the entries will not be anonymous and will be allowed to be posted elsewhere and one artist can participate with several entries.
Voting:
- The voting period starts with posting of the entries. To enable the voters to have enough time to read all stories, the voting period will be two weeks for up to 5 stories, and an additional week for each 5 more stories (3 weeks for up to 10, 4 weeks for up to 15).
- If you would like your vote to be as objective as possible, please refer to our voting guide at the ProBoards site.
- The voting is done through a poll, separately for the writing and artistic cathegory. You can vote for 3 entries, ordering them from 1st to 3rd place.
- Please do not solicit votes. Teitho is about creativity and displaying a wide array of entries for a given theme. It is not focused on a race first place. We would like to keep this contest fun for everyone.
- Please note that despite the voting guide, the voting might still sometimes reflect the voter's favourite characters and story genre rather than quality of writing or art. We would like to emphasize that it's more important to participate than to win, and to increase the number of quality stories available to fans of Middle Earth.
If you still have questions about anything, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]. We'll be happy to answer!
HISTORY:
The Teitho Contest was an original idea by Aragornwriter, inviting authors to tackle monthly challenges and "write, write, write!" Because that's what teitho means in Sindarin.
Throughout the years, different moderators have inherited the maintenance of the contest, all of them sharing a passion for Tolkien and for writing:
Aragornwriter January 2005 - August 2005
Alina August 2005 - March 2008
Michelle August 2005 - February 2010
Valante February 2010 - June 2011
Marethiel February 2010 - August 2011
Nautika February 2010 - April 2013
StarLight February 2010 - February 2014
Mirach July 2011 - Present
Karri January 2018 - July 2019
Carawyn January 2018 - Present
Sian22 January 2018 - Present
Lotrfan January 2018 - Present
Suggest a prompt!
We always love to use prompt ideas that have come from our participants! If you have a suggestion for the future challenge, please leave it in a comment below, and we'll be sure to consider it.
It helps to keep a prompt as general as possible, so that it can be used in any culture. For example "A picnic in a forest" would leave out any cultures in Middle Earth that doesn't have forests; Harad, for example, or Erebor. But "Picnic" can be used in any culture, and in any age!
We ask that prompts themselves be rated K, even if the stories they inspire may be rated up to M.
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sqwintersolstice · 9 months
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Hello, Swen!
The final steps are upon us. It’s time to put your works in the Swan Queen Winter Solstice collection, so they can eventually be revealed to the fandom! 💜
The deadline for posting your work(s) is midnight EST on January 22nd unless you’ve asked for an extension. (Click HERE to check what time that is in your area.)
Without further ado, let’s do this!
1. HOW TO GET TO THE COLLECTION
To start, head directly to the collection by clicking HERE, and then hit the Post to Collection button to submit a work to it.
If you have participated before in similar events, then feel free to skip the rest of this tutorial and create your work in the collection (the only exception might be if you’re posting a video, because we have a special formatting we’ve provided for displaying them on mobile. You might want to check it out in section 6.3).
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2. TAGS SECTION
The first section that will show up when you create a new work is the Tags section. Here you will add information about your creation: Rating, Archive Warnings, Fandom, Category, Relationships, Characters, and Additional Tags. It will look similar to the image below:
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The Rating and the Archive Warnings are very important steps, so please make sure they are accurate to your work. Make use of any of the options for Archive Warnings that might apply, keeping in mind that ‘No Archive Warnings Apply’ should only be used in case none of the others such as ‘Graphic Depictions of Violence’ or ‘Underage’ appear in your work. Otherwise, if you’re trying to avoid spoiling your plot for any reason, ‘Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings’ is a good option.
In Fandoms, you could add another besides Once Upon a Time (TV) if your work has a crossover; in Relationships, and Characters, feel free to add any others that might appear in your work besides Emma and Regina in case they’re crucial to the plot.
Additional Tags can include anything you feel might also apply to your creation, and that also might help people search for it. 
If there are any specific warnings you’d like to clarify, add them in. Is your plot set in an alternate universe? Or maybe it includes bed sharing? Are they being idiots in love? (Always.) Maybe they’re trapped together? Is there lots of fluff? Mutual pining? Angst? (Well, now that would be a plot alright.) 
Just don’t add too many to avoid overwhelming anyone, of course.
3. PREFACE SECTION
Now, to introduce your work to people. How will it be named and remembered? Here’s more or less how the preface section will look like once you’ve filled it in:
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In your Work Title, you name your creation. In Add co-creators, you add the name of your collab creator in case you have one. You put your Summary in its text box, explaining some of your plot — for writers and artists both, we recommend not leaving your summary blank! It gives a bit more insight into your work.
Specifically for artists — in the title, adding [Art], [Fanvid] or [Fanart] to the end of your title helps make it recognizable in the collection. (An additional tag with the same thing wouldn’t hurt, too!)
After that, we have Notes. You can have them at the beginning by checking the little box, or at the end (or both!). The first one is a good place for you to thank betas, cheerleaders, explain a bit about your idea, inspirations; while the second one can be another place to thank everyone, talk a bit more about your process, and remind everyone that comments are very very welcome.
If your work has multiple chapters, we recommend not marking ‘at the end’ for now unless you’d like for the same note to appear at the end of every chapter!
4. ASSOCIATIONS
Firstly, please check that SQWinterSolstice3 is still there in Post to Collections / Challenges — if you clicked directly on the link beforehand, it should be. If you don’t see it, type it in and you should be good to go.
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It’s possible to Gift this work to someone, too. You could gift it to your beta, cheerleader, or just a friend. Just type in their AO3 name.
This work is a remix, a translation, a podfic, or was inspired by another work — you can mark this if you worked with another creator. Just get the work’s URL from your collab partner, paste it in its box and AO3 will do the rest.
This work is part of a series — in case you’re writing multiple works set in the same universe, for example, you can mark this and create a series. Otherwise, feel free to skip it altogether.
This work has multiple chapters — as seen in the image above, when you mark the option you can type in the amount of chapters your work has, as well as name your first chapter. If your work does not have multiple chapters, just leave it unmarked.
Set a different publication date — do NOT mark it just yet! Once you receive your email with your reveal date, we will provide further instructions about this and when to change the date. If you set it to something different now, your work won’t show up at the beginning of the SQ tag once it’s revealed, so leave it alone for now.
Choose a language — select English and that’s it!
Select work skin — if you have worked with HTML/CSS before and have customized something for your work, select your work skin here. If not, leave it blank, or refer to 6.3 in case you’re posting a video.
5. PRIVACY SECTION
This section is completely up to you. While ‘Only show your work to registered users’ and ‘Only registered users can comment’ might limit mean comments, they can also make it harder for people to comment in general. ‘Enable comment moderation’ means you’ll have to approve comments before they show up on the page, so it’s a more viable option. Consider what’s best for you.
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6. WORK TEXT SECTION
Here is where you place your work. 
6.1 — Fics; 
6.2 — Fanarts, fanmixes etc; 
6.3 — Fanvids.
6.1. FICS
While you can use the HTML editor, we recommend switching to the Rich Text editor so you can directly paste your story from Word or Google Docs. Otherwise, your fic might lack spaces between each paragraph, making it harder to read. Most of the basic formatting will be retained from the original, such as bold, italics, paragraph division, etc so please make sure to change to Rich Text before pasting your work.
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If everything worked so far and feels correct, please refer to item 7.
6.2. FANARTS, FANMIXES ETC
Also using the Rich Text editor like shown above, to add an image click on Insert/edit image:
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This is what will pop up once you do:
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In Source, AO3 asks you to paste in the url of your work. There are a few options to get one. The easiest one is to post it privately on your Tumblr, grabbing the url from it. Please remember that anywhere you post it to get this url has to be private, since it hasn’t been revealed yet. Your URL has to end in .png, .jpg, .gif to be valid. AO3 also provides a few alternatives, if you want to check it out.
Next, we have Image description. Here you’re able to describe your work for people who use screen readers.
For Width and Height, leave it blank for now and see how your image looks posted before altering it. If it looks fine for all screens, then you don’t have to change it.
You might have to write something in the text box in order to have the image show up.
If everything worked so far and feels correct, please refer to item 7.
6.3. FANVIDS
Remember: your video has to be set to private until its reveal date! The following tutorial works for Youtube videos. It might not work if you’re posting it elsewhere.
If you head to your video, you’re able to click on Share and then Embed and copy the code for your video. While pasting that code on the HTML editor on AO3 works fine, it leaves it badly displayed on mobile. For this reason, we found a code from pigalle that embeds a youtube video and scales it correctly for any smaller screens.
It may be a few extra steps, but it does look a lot nicer for mobile viewers.
The first step is to create your own work skin so you’re able to apply it to your work. (You might have to save your work first as a draft in order to have your work skin showing up as an option to choose from. It’s necessary to refresh the page so the work skin shows up.)
So, to create your work skin, head over to your profile on the top right, then click on My Dashboard.
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There, click on Skins, then on the button My Work Skins, and, last but not least, Create Work Skin.
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Next, in the About section you can fill it in with any Title you’d like, as long as the Type is set to Work Skin. The description, preview and apply to make public options are not necessary, so you may skip them.
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Now, for the CSS part. The CSS is what sets the properties and values and decides how the HTML will look like. What matters is just pasting the code below in the box. You don’t have to alter it, just copy and paste it:
#workskin .mobilevideo {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
}
#workskin .videoscale {
position: relative;
height: 0;
padding-top: 56.25%;
}
#workskin .videocontainer {
max-width: 100%;
width: 560px;
}
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After that, just click on Submit, and that will mean your Work Skin has been created!
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Back to your work, in the Associations section, Select Work Skin should have your recently created one as an option. Remember that you might have to refresh the page for it to show up, so make sure to save it as a draft first so you don’t lose any changes you made.
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And then, in the HTML editor of your work, paste the code below:
<center><div class="videocontainer"><div class="videoscale"><p><iframe class="mobilevideo" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO ID HERE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p></div></div></center>
Then, when you go to your video on Youtube, grab the ID portion of it like the one highlighted below:
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Simply copy and paste that into the code where it says VIDEO ID HERE, like shown in the picture below as an example:
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If everything worked so far and feels correct, please refer to item 7.
7. POST SECTION
And that’s it! Please double-check if everything is correct, though you’ll be able to edit it later. If you’d like to take a look at it first, click on Preview. If you’re confident about it, just click on Post.
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If you’ve clicked on Preview, it will show how your work looks like on AO3. If something’s amiss, go back to the previous page by clicking on Edit. If it’s good to go, just click on Post — it’s the only way to have it be submitted to the collection, otherwise we won’t receive it.
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7.1 HOW TO ADD CHAPTERS AND EDIT YOUR WORK
If your work is one with multiple chapters, or you’d like to make it one, on top of the posted work you’ll find several buttons. Clicking on Add Chapter or Edit will provide you with the option to create a new chapter for your work.
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In case it only has one chapter and you’d like to edit it, just click on Edit and you should find the same page from earlier. Simply scroll down until you get to the Work Text section, and then click on the Rich Text button to edit your work.
8. HOW TO FIND YOUR WORK LATER
Once your work is posted as a Mystery Work, you can bookmark the page on your browser — the url will not change after it’s been revealed. It’s the easiest way to not lose track of where your work is and edit it later.
But don’t worry! If you lost your work’s url, there are a few ways to get the url and save it.
On your dashboard on AO3, there is an option on the sidebar that says WORKS. From there, you can either click EDIT WORKS (which displays all your works) or WORKS IN COLLECTIONS (which displays all your works currently in a collection). Either option will show you your unrevealed work.
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There we go! Now you’re all set. Thank you so much for submitting your work!
We will be emailing you your reveal date(s) soon, so don’t worry if you hear someone has already gotten it and yours hasn’t arrived yet. In the email you’ll have more details on what to do for your reveal day, so please make sure to check your email so you don’t miss it!
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] preferably, or on Twitter @SQWintrSolstice.
Sincerely,
Swan Queen Winter Solstice Mods
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gamesception · 1 year
Text
Sception Reads Cass Cain #11
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Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1, "Night Games" Story by Scott Peterson & Kelley Puckett Written by Scott Peterson, Pencils by Paul Ryan
Now that's an interesting lineup. Paul Ryan is a different artist, but Scott Peterson and Kelley Puckett is the initial story team behind Cass's solo title - only usually Kelley Puckett delivers the actual script, and here it's Peterson instead. I wonder if I'll be able to notice a difference? Probably not, it's been too long since I read the Batgirl title - I've been holding off on going back to it to try and preserve some fresh thoughts for this re-read.
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Story opens on this cute little fight scene where Cass takes down a group of street toughs in the time it takes for the bottle one of them drops to hit the ground. As I often call out when it happens, I like that the artist draws her face through the mask in the first panel there, but what I like less is that I don't particularly recognize that face as Cass? Just doesn't look like her facial features? But this is comics books arts, so different artists draw characters differently, can't get too annoyed about that.
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The gratuitous butt shots, though, that I will get annoyed at if it keeps up. Come on, Ryan.
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Agh! Selina! What happened to your waist! Your poor organs!
Yeesh. I won't complain about this all issue, and it's not like so bad I'm submitting posts to escher girls or anything, but yeah.
Anyway, we do have the premise, though. a pal-around team up with Selina and Cass. Which will doubtless have Selina trying to pull some tricksy business, and Cass seeing right through her, since it's not like Peterson and Puckett are going to forget how her body reading works. Should be fun.
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There's something very DCAU about how Ryan draws the city. I don't dislike it, but I feel like a similarly cartoony aesthetic to the characters would fit in better with the surroundings.
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So Selina's tailing some guy, and when a group of muggers start moving in on him she and Cass step in before he notices.
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I like the big smile on Cass there. Again, she likes being Batgirl. She's having fun. It's an important glimpse into the kid she really is underneath the guilt and self loathing that provides an essential counterpoint to her angst, and it's an extra twist in the knife too the angst, in a way that I don't want to get into now because I'm saving that bit for... when does that dream sequence happen?
... holy shit, Batgirl #18? That's way later than I remembered it happening? I thought that was in the very earliest days! A year and a half into her comic? I don't know if I can wait that long to talk about that. We might have to have an out of order interlude to bring it up early.
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Not today, though. For now we're sticking to this rare Batgirl/Catwoman team up. Selina's not used to fighting as a team and isn't sure exactly how to do it, but Cass doesn't really need the help, so Selina just leans back and throws in the occasional whip crack when she's bored. It's a fun little sequence.
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Cass is still a brand new character, one with her own title starting at issue one the same month as this book was released, so the writers are very clearly having Selina talk her up here, but it works in character since playful complimentary banter to put people at east and get them to expose weaknesses is just part of Catwoman's whole deal.
And I like the way Cass is arching a brow there in the first panel, & shrugging in the second. No words, but very expressive. The face feels a bit more like her too, here.
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There's a couple pages of cutaway to Barbara and Bruce wondering what Cass is up to. We get confirmation of her age here - 17. Though I'm not entirely sure how they know that, as I'm not sure that's something Cass would know herself. Sadly there's some sort of issue with the next page in the scan I'm working from, but it mentions that despite not knowing how to speak, Cassandra seems to understand more or less what people are saying to her, and Bruce mentions that he hasn't quite figured out how that works yet. He'll have figured it out by Batgirl #1, but it's a mystery to be hinted at in this book.
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Meanwhile, Selina and Cass track the guy they've been following to a meetup with a buyer for whatever it is he's got in his briefcase. The buyer turns out to be the Penguin, and item to be sold...
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Well, the new construction in Gotham is mostly down to Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. If documents detailed hidden surveillance that might be Lex, but hidden entrances feels more like Bruce taking advantage of the rebuilding effort to make his little appearing/disappearing trick a bit easier.
Obviously these would be valuable for a thief, like the Penguin, or Catwoman herself, but Selina views it as cheating, and opts to destroy the blueprints instead.
Thankfully she wasn't actually pulling anything particularly nefarious here. Thankfully for Selina, I mean. She can hold her own in a fight, but Cass, at least this version of Cass, is supposed to be in the Richard Dragon / Bronze Tiger / Lady Shiva tier for DC comics martial artists, and that's just not what Catwoman's about.
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Catwoman's curiosity is piqued, though, so after saying goodbye she doubles back to follow this new Batgirl home and find out more about her.
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But much to Selina's suprise, Cass knows she's following and cuts her off. Selina thinks there's no way she could have been heard, and Cass must have known she'd follow somehow, again hinting at but not outright stating Cass's body reading gimmick.
...
And that was that. This book's an anthology issue, with different stories by different creative teams, but this is the only one with Cass in it. It was a nice, lighthearted change of pace from the last Cass story. Kind of short, not too much going on, but we do get a bit of Cass having fun and a look at some of her books gimmicks - not just hinting at her body reading ability, but also the gimmick of interspersing Cass's adventures with Bruce and Barbara talking about her. Not essential reading by any stretch, but not bad.
Next time, at long last, we finally get to Cassandra Cain's solo book. Will it be as good as I remember right from the start? I'm eager to find out.
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neonponders · 2 years
Text
Harringrove for Turkey/Syria
This is an updated post! (additional charity links & info)
* * * masterpost about HFT * * *
We’re raising money for earthquake relief in Turkey/Syria! The links below are provided in the masterpost unless linked otherwise, where you can find more info. This post is for my details for HFT commissions ✨
Links for Turkey Charities:
Disaster Tents Donations (there are posts going around saying that this org is shady so research and use your best judgment!)
Search and Rescue Association
Isbank of Turkey (this site is in Turkish, just heads up!)
CARE
GlobalGiving
Links for Syria Charities (provided by this post):
Molham
The White Helmets 
Islamic Relief 
• $1 = 100 words (apprx.)
• MESSAGE ME before you donate so we can discuss and agree on the content of the ficlet you want.
• SCREEN SHOT your donation receipt (edit/blur out personal details).
• my ao3 is here, if you need a refresh for stuff I write.
• tl;dr
I do not write non-con/dubious consent, underage, violent smut/hard core bdsm, and minimal Neil Hargrove. Only major character deaths if it’s a ghost!character trope.
I take 84 years to write angst and smut, so be warned.
My easy go-to’s are omegaverse (traditional and non-traditional), vampires/werewolves, mafia!au’s, domestic fluff ~
I’ve also written daddy!kink, trans!steve, witch!steve, murder boyfriends, nanny!steve, and several others (feel free to ask me if I’m comfortable writing something specific!
.
Please don’t feel bad or anxious about donating! The chaos of natural disasters always trickles down into misinformation and uncertainty. We’re all just trying to do our best to help share a little good. 
Sharing the masterpost and posts of contributing writers, artists, editors, etc. really helps!! Thank you so much 💗
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talkingfilmsnet · 9 months
Text
Are We Lost? "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" Explores Gen Z's Existential Blues
In the bustling streets of Delhi, a group of Gen Z friends - Tara, Rahul, and Ishaan - navigate the emotional rollercoaster of their 20s. But "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan," meaning "Where Have We Lost Ourselves?", transcends the usual coming-of-age narrative. It's a raw, unfiltered exploration of the existential angst that defines a generation grappling with an uncertain future, amplified by the ever-present hum of social media. This blog post will delve into the Kho Gaye Hum Kahan review .
The film paints a poignant picture of a generation burdened by expectations. Tara, a bright-eyed aspiring writer, feels suffocated by familial pressure and societal norms. Rahul, a talented musician, struggles to find his artistic voice in a world obsessed with instant virality. Ishaan, the seemingly carefree social butterfly, masks a deep-seated loneliness and fear of inadequacy. Through their individual journeys, the film captures the collective anxieties of a generation navigating the treacherous waters of self-discovery.
The digital world looms large in this landscape of existential blues. Social media acts as a double-edged sword. It offers connection, a platform to express oneself, but it also fuels comparison and envy. The curated feeds, overflowing with picture-perfect moments, become a constant reminder of our perceived shortcomings. The relentless pursuit of likes and followers leaves us feeling hollow, like empty vessels chasing validation.
"Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of social media. Cyberbullying, harassment, and the normalization of unrealistic beauty standards become stark realities in the film. The characters become unwitting pawns in the game of algorithms, their choices and identities dictated by the invisible hand of engagement metrics. The film exposes the insidious ways in which the digital world can distort our self-perception and erode our sense of self-worth.
But beyond the critique, the film offers a glimmer of hope. It highlights the importance of genuine human connection in navigating the existential maze. We see moments of raw vulnerability and unfiltered honesty between the friends, moments where they shed their digital masks and connect on a deeper level. These moments, albeit fleeting, offer a respite from the digital storm, reminding us of the power of authenticity and shared experiences.
"Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" doesn't provide easy answers. It doesn't tell us how to navigate the existential blues of our generation. Instead, it forces us to confront the questions that loom large in our minds: Are we lost? Have we sacrificed our authenticity for digital validation? Where do we find meaning in a world obsessed with likes and followers?
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The film's power lies in its ability to resonate with our collective anxieties. It's a mirror reflecting the faces of a generation teetering on the edge of adulthood, searching for meaning and purpose in an uncertain world. It's a call to action, urging us to step away from the screen, look up at the real world, and forge genuine connections with ourselves and those around us.
Perhaps the most poignant scene is when Tara, sitting on a rooftop with her friends, gazes at the star-studded sky. In that moment of quiet contemplation, surrounded by the vastness of the universe, the glow of the phone screen seems to dim. A sense of peace washes over them, a temporary escape from the digital noise.
Final Thoughts: Kho Gaye Hum Kahan
"Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" is not just a film about Gen Z; it's a story for anyone who has ever felt lost, disconnected, or overwhelmed by the complexities of life. It's a reminder that we're not alone in our existential struggles. And while the film doesn't offer a roadmap to self-discovery, it inspires us to ask the right questions, to embrace vulnerability, and to find our own unique paths in the midst of the chaos.
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gabriellaraelyn · 1 year
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Why I Wrote 'wish upon a STAR'
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'wish upon a STAR' album art by GABRIELLA RAELYN
On May 5th, 2023, I released the first single in a series preceding the release of my 'NEPHELE: Act I' album coming out on October 13th, 'wish upon a STAR'.
To be honest, the first time I wrote and produced this song was way back in 2019. Back then I was still living at my old house, and I had felt a general dissatisfaction with life and how it felt like each day was passing by the same as the last. My music career was stagnant and it just felt like I'd been hitting wall after wall. So, I sat down and wrote 'Wishes on a Star', and produced the first draft. I really liked some parts of the song, but felt that the verses didn't fit well and that the instrumentation was a bit random and uninspired. I continued to work on it for a while, but after I kept hitting writer's block, I decided to table the track and return to it at a later date.
Fast forward to this year, I was putting together the ideas for my 'Nephele' project, and while I was sharing the ideas with my mom, she mentioned 'Wishes on a Star', saying that I'd never released it, and that I should go back to it. I thought that wasn't a bad idea since my biggest challenge had been instrumentation, but since 'Nephele' was decidedly inspired by the 80s, I felt that that problem took care of itself.
So I opened up a new project on Logic and got to work using the chords and lyrics I had previously put together. Like I had previously felt, the verses just weren't fitting, so I ended up re-writing them not only in the words, but the melody too. The result finally fit much better, and became the final version.
Since deciding to make the music heavily Synthpop-based, creating the instrumentation was much easier. I'm very comfortable (and in love) with electronic 80s basses, so I started there, and layering the chords came natural, as did the addition of the reverb-heavy snares and powerful kicks/toms.
What I ended up with was the perfect opening track to the beginning of Nephele's journey. As a character, she is very dissatisfied with life, and feels hopeless in the pursuit of her dreams. 'wish upon a STAR' (which I re-named it as I felt that the style better suited the aesthetic I was going for) is a song about hitting rock bottom while chasing your dreams.
It's a song about that moment when you feel like you've exhausted all other options, when you feel like all doors of opportunity are just slamming left and right in your face, that you turn to a higher power. You think 'maybe if I wish hard enough on a star, my dreams will come true. Maybe that will finally be it.'
I made this song to provide a source of comfort for anyone who may be feeling like that. I know that as an artist, there are many moments where these feelings pass through me, and sometimes they're hard to deal with. The ending of the song has a more hopeful tone because I wanted to resolve some of that angst. I want to say 'we are strong enough to keep trudging through these murky waters'.
So, if this song resonates with you, you're not alone and you are stronger than you think and feel that you are.
Listen to it here:
Also, if you'd like, here is the music video that I made for it with the help of my family:
youtube
Thank you for reading all the way down to this point. I appreciate you :)
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