#do i join random discord servers and just hope i click with someone????

[arkstray]

i need to make more online friends

EDIT: WHY DID THIS SHOW UP IN THE MH TAG. MH FANS DONT LOOK AT THIS COVERS IT WITH MY HANDS

[pocketfulofrecs]

Dee - So! We have a little game in our discord server where writers write a fic together, blindly, without any plot. One writer starts a thread, other follows up, and then another joins in. Our first run produced the story you see below. It was a game between @auspiciouscandy, @whiteflowercrimsonparasol (or justdoityoufucker) and myself or @vrishchikawrites.

We thought it should be shared with everyone. That's why Ju and I decided to start a new section on Pocketful called Storytime with Bunnies. We'll publish all stories that we write there on Pocketful and eventually on Ao3.

Personally, it was a great deal of fun and I'm so happy that we're continuing it! I hope you like the story! It was written by three people and still turned out so smooth!

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A Strange Encounter

by Vrishchika, justdoityoufucker, and auspiciouscandy

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It is dark, but Wei Ying has never been afraid of darkness.

The juniors shuffle nervously behind him, sticking so close to his back, he can feel the warmth of their bodies. Suddenly, there is a noise - loud in the silence of the night and out of place. Wei Ying clutches Chengqing tightly, ready to strike. He turns in the direction of the noise only to suck in a sharp breath and try to suppress the sigh threatening to overtake him.

He’d mostly been following the juniors, letting them take the lead to hunt the nest of low-level yao that had been terrorizing the small mountain town. They’d done well, so far, and had dealt with half of the yao without incident. The problem started when they’d run into a higher-level yao, which was to be expected given his luck on night hunts, but he hadn’t expected to see a strange man.

He seems almost as tall as Chifeng-zun had been; Wei Ying can't see his features clearly, but his instincts warn him to be cautious. The man says nothing as he steps forward. He doesn't have a corpse's stiff gait. Each step brings him closer and reveals more of him. Pale skin, dark eyes, lips as red as blood, almost unnaturally still features.

His beauty is disarming, but Wei Ying is unmoved. He's married to the most beautiful man in existence, after all. But he is curious. What is this strange, beautiful man doing in the middle of the woods? And while he looks the man over, cautious of any sharp movement the man could make, he steps forward. Though contrary to his beautiful appearance, his body is but a corpse and it is difficult to hide when he staggers and what appears to be his arm drops down onto the floor. Wei Ying hears someone gagging behind him, but he cannot take his eyes off the man; every instinct in his body is screaming about the danger in front of them.

Just when he is about to speak, the man's face changes to a look of pained horror, a look that the stiffness of a corpse shouldn't be able to achieve. There is something about the way his jaw moves, that makes it seem as if he was trying to speak, but no sound leaves his red, red lips.

"Stop," Wei Ying says, putting the force of his cultivation into the word. The corpse's mouth opens even wider, and Wei Ying senses it before anything, "Cover your ears!" he shouts, but it is too late, there are some indistinguishable whispers he catches before his hands reach his ears, and he doubts any of the juniors were fast enough even as he hears their swords immediately drop to the floor.

He wracks his brain to match the odd corpse with any of the descriptions he remembers from his studies and it suddenly clicks into place. He remembers tales of bewitching creatures. Beings that can ensnare and seduce with their voice and their beauty. Beings that can control the living mind as Wei Ying controls corpses. He remembers tales of how cultivators of immense strength would drop their swords and simply submit to these creatures, allowing them to consume their Qi without protest.

His eyes flicker towards his juniors, alarm stirring in his chest. What can he do? Think. Think, Wei Ying!

And he reaches a conclusion, the corpse uses its voice to control, to influence, and had Wei Ying not used his own to do the same? Resentful energy and spiritual energy are almost similar, it's risky, but there isn't much else to do. He already perceives the juniors trying to walk past him, and he is overcome with waves after waves of compulsion from his small amount of exposure, so Wei Ying does the only thing he can think of.

He gathers the power towards his throat. His voice laced with command, he opens his mouth and sings not a real tune, at first, but simply unbridled power that cuts off the corpse's control over the juniors.

But he cannot just wrest control; he needs to suppress the corpse, and that takes more than random notes. He slides into a familiar song, lyrics that Lan Zhan shared but have never been sung before in deference to their usual duets. The juniors have never heard Wei-qianbei sing before; they have heard his tuneful humming, whistling, and music, but not his true singing voice. It renders them silent. Wei Ying's voice is resonant and it bounces off the surrounding trees and rocks, becoming amplified. The effect is otherworldly, unlike anything they have ever experienced.

It halts the strange creature in his tracks. He sways dazedly. Something about the expression is almost covetous.

Wei Ying hears Sizhui whisper his name in worry. He is his father's son and has somehow inherited all of Hanguang-jun's protectiveness. Even now, he takes a shaky step forward to stand before Wei Ying. But there's no reason he should worry; Wei Ying's control over his power is absolute, his control over the corpse-creature the same.

He changes the intent of his power, the tone of his singing, to lure the creature to lower its guard and step closer. He trusts that Sizhui knows what to do, that the other juniors will assist as his voice lulls it into submission. The creature stumbles forward, his hand stretched out towards Wei Ying. He sways with every step and Wei Ying tracks his movements carefully.

"Good boy," he croons, maintaining a singing tone in his voice, "Whatever shall we do with you?"

The corpse's hand is still outstretched and his expression is still mesmerized. Wei Ying reaches out and closes his fingers around the hand, keeping his voice mellow and soothing. "You're a strong one, aren't you?" he sings, ignoring Sizhui's alarmed noise.

The corpse will only need to twist his grip to break Wei Ying's arm but something tells him he's safe. He leans forward, curious, "Wei Ying," and Wei Ying freezes. He doesn't let off his control but it is enough for the corpse to pull him closer, a hand reaching up to caress his hair—he is aware of the gasped whispers by the juniors of, 'Hanguang-jun,' the juniors who were just beginning to take control—but this is something out of his expectation. A normally high-level corpse of this type would be troublesome on its own, but one that could mimic?

The danger levels have increased far more than what juniors can handle; Wei Ying pivots in his singing, pulls Sizhui behind him and crowds back, keeping the juniors behind him. He pauses, for the barest moment, to say, "Flare."

That snaps Sizhui to action, and as Wei Ying resumes singing, voice louder and louder, he draws a flare out of his robes and sets it off, the sparkling blue of the fireworks temporarily catching the creature's attention, making Wei Ying snap forward and cup the corpse's face, physically drawing his attention back towards him.

It is intimate, the way he angles his body and draws the creature in. Something burns in him. He has never touched anyone but his Lan Zhan like this, with so much tenderness.

The creature that mimics his husband's voice seems to mimic his affection too. Wei Ying cringes as cold fingers trace his cheek, trailing dangerously close to his neck. One slip, and Wei Ying could potentially lose his life.

"Wei Ying," The corpse whispers in his husband's voice, and something dark stirs within him. His lips twitch into an alluring smile and Wei Ying has his hand slowly reaching up and caressing its cold skin. He thinks the eyes shimmer an amber shade, for they are nowhere near the molten gold of his husband’s. He's all too aware of this cheap imitation's intent and responds in kind.

Wei Ying ignores the yells of his nephew, the sound of another flare going up into the night sky; his hand is coated in resentful energy as it reaches the back of the corpse's neck, and he maintains eye contact with it, his voice softer to only reach the corpse.

It is completely enamoured, that is why when Wei Ying makes a hand sign to the juniors to tell them to leave, the creature doesn't react. It is like a careful, possessive lover, but, unlike his husband, there is no real care behind its actions as it closes in on him. The resentful energy on Wei Ying's hands increases, solidifies, a black, hateful knife.

When he drives it directly into the corpse-creature's neck, spearing it up into its skull, the creature makes a weak, pained groan in that facsimile of his husband's voice, and Wei Ying shouldn't feel the way he does—it is but a creature who had taken up the face of his beloved—but to hear the wounded noises it makes, trying to garner his sympathy, Wei Ying cannot help but feel that sympathy. Wei Ying should know that the hands around his neck are the ones that wouldn't hesitate to kill him, so very cold, lacking his husband's warmth.

He raises his voice, and sings a sharp tune, and the corpse whines once more before it’s rendered mute, opening its mouth wide with a final hissed, “Wei Ying!”

Wei Ying's eyes widen because, for a second, before he tightens his hands, he catches a glimpse of his husband, pain and grief on his face that he hasn't seen in years. The corpse falls, its weakness stabbed through, unable to move again and Wei Ying shudders, feeling so incredibly off-kilter.

He needs to see Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan is fine, he's sure, but the look on the creature's face, the timbre of its voice--it's almost enough to overwhelm.

The juniors, still near enough to catch the sudden silence, creep back through the trees, worried looks on their faces as they take in the look on their teacher's face, the still form of the corpse-creature on the ground.

"Xian-gege?" Sizhui starts, clearly shaken if he's reverted to that form of address. He continues forward as if to grasp Wei Ying's shoulder, but Wei Ying needs a moment. Maybe it is the leftover effects of the corpse, maybe it is his own fears and concerns.

But he takes in a sharp breath and pulls his mouth into a smile, "Now then, shouldn't we return? I assume none of you are hurt?" He looks them over, ignoring the sneaked glances from the dazed juniors as they stand up on their shaking legs, "Come along now—" he places his hand on top of Sizhui's, which shakes almost unnoticeably.

Sizhui wants to reassure him, but he knows already that Wei-qianbei wouldn't feel comforted until he lays his eyes on Hanguang-jun. Sizhui has seen enough of their love to know this is one of the few things that can rattle his indomitable Xian-gege. If anything happens to Hanguang-jun, Wei-qianbei would—

Sizhui draws his mind away from grim thoughts and watches as Wei-qianbei steps forward to the body, pulling out his qiankun pouch. Suddenly, there's a twitch of movement from nearby. As if called by Wei Ying and Lan Sizhui's thoughts, the austere white of Lan Zhan's robes appears, and he comes to a graceful halt near the corpse-creature.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying can't help but exhale in relief, "We're fine."

Hanguang-jun casts a look at the corpse-creature, then back at Wei Ying. He looks over Wei Ying completely before turning his gaze towards the juniors while moving towards Wei Ying, almost a split second of a glance but enough to know they're fine; it wouldn't have been noticed if Sizhui hadn't been looking for it. Then, he reaches up to caress Wei Ying’s face and Wei Ying melts into it, feeling the warmth seep into his skin.

"Wei Ying," Wei Ying can't describe how relieved he feels when the familiar scent of sandalwood envelopes him. It takes but a glance for Lan Zhan to see past his welcoming smile and glimpse the truly shaken core of him.

"Go forth, Sizhui, we'll join you soon." Lan Zhan commands and Wei Ying almost protests. He doesn't want the children away from him. Lan Zhan just shakes his head and pulls him close, "Breathe, center yourself."

Wei Ying presses his forehead to Lan Zhan's shoulder and sighs. Lan Zhan is here. Lan Zhan is safe, solid, and strong. That's all he cares about, and he feels his arms encircling him so he completely rests his weight upon his husband, his head on Lan Zhan's chest, hearing his heartbeat go thump thump thump.

He feels the earlier fight leaving his body as he relaxes against him, matching their breaths together. Wei Ying wants to stay there with him, the forest trees and the silence that was eerie and offsetting earlier feels serene and calming. But they can’t, because they have to get back, everyone in need of rest, the kids in need of checking to see if they're all actually okay.

Then there's the issue of the corpse-creature; research will need to be done when they are back in Cloud Recesses, to figure out what it is and if there might be more. Wei Ying breathes in the sandalwood scent of his husband, then steps away, qiankun pouch in hand. The corpse is where it had fallen, and he kneels next to it, Lan Zhan a comforting presence next to him.

"Aiya," He says, "They tried but couldn't get close to your perfection, Lan Zhan."

His husband huffs but keeps a steady, warm hand on his back. It is a reassuring presence that makes it easier to examine the body. Wei Ying runs his eyes along the tall body, mind stirring, "Who could be behind this?" How and why did they mimic Lan Zhan of all people? Wei Ying can't help but feel concerned. Lan Zhan hums in response but offers no commentary; he's probably still in a protective, vigilant state. Wei Ying smiles fondly and kisses him on his cheek, "let's return then,” he says, and gets up after putting it away.

Lan Zhan pulls him closer to himself; maybe he knows what worried Wei Ying as he keeps a comforting presence by his side. They walk to the Juniors standing ahead, who stop their whispers as soon as they get close. Wei Ying looks them over once again. They look at him with a slightly dazed look, but are steady on their feet. Wei Ying frowns, maybe it's the effects of leftover energy?

Jin Ling starts to say something about heading back to Jinlintai. As if Wei Ying would let him! It's almost midnight, and the night hunt has taken them to the far reaches of Gusu-Lan territory, a long trip of a couple days to Lanling-Jin territory. "None of that," Wei Ying chides, feeling like himself again. "Back to the village for all of us; Hanguang-jun needs to make sure there are no lingering effects."

Jin Ling half-scowls, but doesn't deny or try to argue back, and there's a blur as Sizhui all but pulls Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji into a hug. Jin Ling sees Sizhui’s shoulders shake slightly and he looks away. Terrifying situation or not, that illusion had felt all too real. It was as if it were Hanguang-jun standing before them, the mannerism, the voice, how he...he—

Before he can think more he feels a pull at his wrist and he feels the warmth of another person around him. He hears Jingyi make a startled noise as the other two are also pulled into a clustered little group hug. Jin Ling’s face flushes red and he opens his mouth to protest but doesn't push them away.

“You're safe,” Wei Ying says, as the teens start to pull away after a few moments. If a few of them have reddened eyes, or barely-there tear tracks down their cheeks, neither he nor Lan Zhan mention it.

"Aiya," he gives Sizhui an extra pat on the head, a smile finally pulling at his face as he takes in the juniors' despondent looks. "What is all this? I would think someone died if I came upon you all like this! Come now, back to the village.”

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan calls suddenly and Wei Ying doesn't understand why. He looks up at his husband, only to see his eyes shining with concern, perhaps even some panic.

"What? Lan Zha—"

An abrupt wave of dizziness overcomes him and he falters, feeling something dripping down his nose. He touches his upper lip shakily, his limbs starting to feel heavy. His vision swims and Lan Zhan catches him immediately as he sways forward. Something cold is settling within him. "Lan Zhan," he croaks. His vision is turning black from the corner of his eyes, and Lan Zhan is saying something but he can't hear it, it’s muffled and sounds so far away.

Wei Ying hates the feeling that floods him, the wave of cold dread that he hasn't felt in a long time. His hair stands up as he feels ghosts of the touches. They linger on the back of his neck, his face, his arms where the corpse had touched him, among the distant noises, he hears a clear, sharp "Wei Ying," but it sounds so odd, so unfamiliar despite it being his husband’s voice and that's when he crumples, losing all control of his limbs.

The cheer and safety of mere moments before has fled, and Wei Ying can't stamp out the panic that grips him as his breath hitches. He's vaguely aware, as if he is not truly in possession of his own body anymore, that his sweet husband, his Lan Zhan, has pulled his body up into his arms.

That awareness lessens even more as Lan Zhan's distant, warped voice sends out some sharp commands, and then he feels the slap of wind on his face and something isn't right. His senses are fading but he has practiced dual cultivation with Lan Zhan for several years now. He's intimately familiar with his husband's core. Something isn't right because—

—they're running. The wind is against his face. He remembers the trapped look of despair. His husband commands the children but something isn't right. He's leaving something behind. The arms carrying him are familiar but recognition slips him and he becomes increasingly aware as a sharp pain increases from his arm and he gasps, because it feels as if fire is under his skin, it moves from his arm and reaches up to his neck and it increases. Wei Ying has always had a large tolerance to pain, but he is in little control and he cannot stop himself as he lets out a pained scream, the wind feels faster as Lan Zhan—

—not right, not right, not right—

—he wakes up to the dark wood and white paint of the Cloud Recesses. He does not move, cataloging his body, the sensations, what he remembers. There was an oppressive feeling of pain, of wrongness, that is now mostly gone. Did they fly back? How long has it been?

He feels like he's forgetting something, forgetting; he thinks it over, the body, the pain, and reaches up his arm and sure enough, there are bright red marks, beginning from his arm, spreading out like spilled ink on paper, they resemble a spiders web as they crawl upwards, up along until they disappear into his clothes and he had no doubt they reach till his neck. What about his face? He reaches up to try and touch but before he can, the door slides open as Lan Zhan steps through.

Wei Ying's entire focus shifts towards the Second Jade. Lan Zhan looks pristine as always, calm like nothing can disturb him. His movements are steady, unhurried. He sets his things aside and walks into the Jingshi casually. There's no trace of urgency or worry in him. Wei Ying feels his heart grow cold. His Lan Zhan wouldn't have been as calm, nor would his Lan Zhan look at him the way it did, unmoving and—the same way that thing had.

"Lan Zhan" comes and sits by his bed, eyes lock over him, dark and amber. "Wei Ying," he—it—reaches up a hand, and cradles his cheek, the same way his husband did. Except, its thumb inches towards lips and it is colder than ice. Wei Ying acts unbothered, showing a soft smile as he puts his hand over the one on his face.

"I'm fine, Lan Zhan!" he says softly. The suspicion grows when he remembers the red veining on his body, when he realizes that the touch isn't as tangible as it should be.

Touching the creature's hand feels like holding a dust mote, and he abruptly realizes that he isn't sure if this even is the Jingshi. It is the same pristine colors, of course, but their possessions seem blurred, as if only half-existing. There is no familiar, comforting scent of sandalwood. Is it an illusion? A dream? Is this creature a figment of his imagination? Or is it something else? He tries to access his core and can't grasp anything. He tries to summon resentful energy but it slips through his fingers like water. His only choice is to get information.

"What happened?" he asks in a soft tone he reserves for his husband. He angles his body to be welcoming, like he would with Lan Zhan. None of his actions give any indication of his suspicions. "Are the children safe?"

Lan Zhan nods, "They're safe. Lan Xichen is looking after them and a healer is examining them. You are the only one to be harmed. We do not know the nature of your injuries—" Verbose. Too verbose. Lan Xichen, not xiongzhang or Xichen. Even his imagination wouldn't conjure an illusion so inaccurate. This isn't just a simple case of his mind making things up.

The last thing he remembers is Lan Zhan, his Lan Zhan sending waves of spiritual energy and holding him close, so he can rest assured his body is safe. The hand slips from his cheek, as the "Lan Zhan"—no, the corpse, raises his chin making him look directly at it.

"What is Wei Ying thinking of?" it croons and Wei Ying looks away from it, and bites his lip as way of disguising his eyes roaming over the interior of the Jingshi, now that he looks carefully, the arrangement of the bed, the dresser, everything is out of order—the hand on his chin tightens, "Wei Ying, I'm right here."

The meaning is subtle, and Wei Ying turns to it, his expression as if hesitant, "I..I'm worried about the kids.." he takes on a concerned expression, not entirely faked, "Can you take me to see them?"

A pulse of Lan Zhan's--his Lan Zhan's spiritual energy abruptly floods him, and then is gone. It is a miracle he is able to keep his expression level and unbothered by it, but he's beginning to put the pieces together. He needs to keep the creature distracted, talking.

"Wei Ying," the creature wearing Lan Zhan's body says, almost chiding, "they need their rest, and you need your own rest. I am here with you; do not worry about them for the time being.”

Wei Ying knows it isn't the right time to push. He decides on a different approach, "You know how I get when there's a mystery to solve, Lan Zhan!" he protests with a playful smile, "You can't expect me to rest without any explanation? What happened? How did I get hurt? What did the healers say?" Simple questions, things he would've asked Lan Zhan in any case.

There's a lingering heat of Lan Zhan's qi swirling around within him, too weak to actually heal him or bring him out of this state, but enough to sharpen his perception and remove his pain. He knows his husband is trying to save him and there's no person more capable than his Lan Zhan. Something in him settles at that. Let Lan Zhan work from the outside to resolve the situation. Wei Ying will work from the inside to get more information.

The expression that crosses the corpse's face, of being caught off-guard, seems so foreign on Lan Zhan's face, but it composes itself and lets go of his chin, and seems to contemplate before deciding on an expression of utmost gentleness and care. "This," it says, as it reaches to touch the back of his neck, where one of the webbings must be, "is a mark of possession." A hint of darkness, desire, flashes in its eyes, "It means Wei Ying's qi has been flooded with another’s—" Wei Ying tenses, but the corpse has no suspicion in its eyes, meaning it was referring to that moment in the forest—"and Wei Ying is one of the few who have been able to reject it, so these," it reaches down to his arm, tracing over the red, "remain as a reminder." It looks enthralled, pleased even.

And Wei Ying feels his lips press flat. "I don't like them at all!" He pretends to whine, shows how he absolutely abhors the idea of it, feeling satisfied when it frowns in displeasure. "I don't like any marks other than the ones Lan Zhan makes,” he adds, looking at the corpse through his lashes.

Its facade almost slips, with the anger appearing on its face, and Wei Ying fights back a smug smile when another rush of his husband's warm spiritual energy wraps around him. The corpse-creature's face blurs for a moment, with that rush of qi, but then resettles. It looks distinctly displeased, though it tries to mask the expression with one of fondness that looks laughably fake. Wei Ying does not laugh.

"If my Lan Zhan wanted to make some marks," Wei Ying says coyly, trailing off in a suggestive manner. The creature seems to freeze and flicker, as if it is wholly unsure of what to do with that. And Wei Ying pulls back just as the corpse makes a hesitant hand gesture and says, softly, "Of course I'm joking Lan Zhan, you know your Wei Ying, I can't relax until I see the kids, and—" he adds seeing it fume "—you too, I know you're worried about them but they're strong! So they'll be fine!"

Wei Ying finishes his 'assurance' and Lan Zhan succeeds. There's a towering surge of qi coursing through him, ready to pull him back, his to command. By now, he is so familiar with his husband's qi that he can use it as his own. He sees how it makes the creature's eyes widen and falter. He smiles coyly, tapping his chin as the binds holding him to this place snap one by one.

"Now, who are you, my dear friend?" he asks as Lan Zhan's power unseals his own. The core he has cultivated so diligently pulses with power and the remaining binds disintegrate. Before the illusionary world around him can disappear, he reaches forward and slams a palm against the creature's chest, a smile of triumph curling at his lips.

"There you are," he whispers and drags them both to the real world that awaits them. His eyes flicker towards the real Lan Zhan, who looks pale and strikingly furious, and smirks coyly, "Lan Zhan! Someone had the audacity to steal your Wei Ying from you!"

The fury in his husband's eyes brightens into an inferno ready to destroy the most powerful of foes, and Wei Ying can't help but quiver in delight, in satisfaction. No words are needed between them, their souls and actions in perfect harmony. The creature that had taken him, and now is beholden to him, collapses and rebuilds itself, now not in Lan Zhan's form but again the form of the corpse he and the juniors had first encountered. It tries to fight against his power, but it stands no chance.

Lan Zhan steps forward, Bichen already unsheathed and ready to cut the corpse down, but Wei Ying shakes his head. He turns to the corpse, "Now, my friend, let's figure out what you are."

Wei Ying slams a talisman on the creature's chest and watches in satisfaction as it binds the creature completely. It squirms and tries to break the binds but to no avail. Seeing that the prisoner is secure, the juniors, healthy and hale, rush forward, gathering around him in concern.

Wei Ying smiles and meets Lan Zhan's eyes over their heads. 'Ah,' He thinks with something like heat curling in him, 'still furious.'

Indeed, Lan Zhan is furious. His eyes are dark and tracking all of Wei Ying's movements. His smile takes on an edge and he tilts his head to the side, baring his neck just slightly. Lan Zhan's eyes narrow and lips thin.

"Aiya," he pats the children indulgently, "Let your senior go, your Hanguang-jun is getting impatient."

The juniors flush red, and mutter excuses to leave. Wei Ying looks at Lan Zhan and reaches forward to pull him, but that movement shifts his sleeve to show the red markings and he finds his arm in the other’s grasp as Lan Zhan pulls him closer, so Wei Ying’s weight is entirely on his body as if he's hugging him. He's startled.

"Ah, Lan Zhan what're you—" he cuts off mid-sentence as Lan Zhan curls one hand around his waist, holding him close, and the other raises his hair, letting air brush against his nape. The sensation tingles; Lan Zhan knows his weak spot and with the energy flow from earlier it's sensitive, and Wei Ying flushes figuring out—"Lan Zhan, wait, wait—Ah!!"

His back arches and he shivers as Lan Zhan’s lips infused with spiritual energy land on his neck and he continues with a sharp bite, one that lets Wei Ying know just how displeased his husband is, how worried he had been and how thankful he now is that they are safe. Wei Ying can't help the squeak that comes from him at the action, but he is not hurt. The bite is followed by a tender kiss, one that spreads his husband's spiritual energy through him, chasing away the redness of the spider-webbed marks on his arms, filling him with comfort and at the same time lighting a fire in him.

"Wei Ying is careless," Lan Zhan says, lips moving against Wei Ying's skin when he doesn't even pull away to speak, "I have been worried, Wei Ying was gone, alone."

He says the last part softly but Wei Ying hears it anyway with their bodies together, he can feel his warmth, their heartbeats and breaths mingling together, he can feel him and Wei Ying feels at ease, Lan Zhan’s words make his heart ache, 'Aish his beloved', "Lan-er-gege," he begins, his voice mellow and teasing, "Lan-er-gege, I felt you," he says, tracing Lan Zhan's back with his fingers as his breathing hitches. "I wasn't alone,” he finishes.

After waiting for a moment to soak in the comfort, Wei Ying leans back and looks at his husband, before leaning in to pull him into a kiss Lan Zhan leans into him, desperate and fierce. A strong arm curls around his back, holding onto him tightly. Wei Ying feels fond as he cups his husband's face, making soothing noises in the back of his throat even as the kiss grows heated. He pulls away with a gasp, chuckling when Lan Zhan doesn't let go, dipping his head to kiss along his jaw, "Aiya, husband, we're in public. Your uncle could arrive any moment now."

Lan Zhan doesn't let go and Wei Ying yelps when sharp teeth sink into his flesh once again, "How cruel to your poor Wei Ying!"

"It would seem you're well, Wuxian," An amused voice interrupts them and Wei Ying startles, looking beyond his beloved to see Lan Xichen watching them in amusement. Wei Ying pushes Lan Zhan away and, this time, his husband parts with him reluctantly to bow to their brother. There's not even an ounce of shame on his beloved's face and Wei Ying feels flushed. How unfair.

He turns to greet Lan Xichen. "Da baizi! Yes, I'm okay!" Lan Wangji's arm around him tightens and Wei Ying squirms slightly. Their robes are already in a complete state of disarray. "Lan Zhan!" he whispers though he's pretty sure it’s still loud, and, sure enough, he hears a chuckle as Lan Xichen shakes his head slightly.

"That's a relief," he smiles at them, which Wei Ying returns just as bright, "I will not hold you up further," he says gently, and adds a joyful and teasing, "I'll go let Uncle know."

To not disturb you is left unsaid as he turns to leave and Wei Ying hides his face in Lan Zhan's neck as he hums in agreement, completely unrepentant. "Lan Zhaaaan" but doesn't say anything else as the door closes. The smile remains on his face; everyone is home safe, Wei Ying is happy, and it all feels right once again.

[forrests-waterfall]

Little!Tommy and CG!SBI // RPF

A/N : Okay so I apologize if this writing is just everywhere. I just really wanted to get this done because it was a self comfort fic aa. I’m hoping that if I do enough small writings, it’ll help me improve! (Because I took a long long break from writing before this blog pff) Hope you enjoy none the less. (Is that how you use that sentence? I dunno). Also the place I talk about Tommy wanting to see is not an actual build on the Origins SMP.

Also, not edited!! There may be misspells!! And this does not represent the entire “Tubbo replaced Tommy with Ranboo” thing at all. I don’t like those kinds of things, so please don’t relate it to that. And this is based off their Internet personalities if that makes sense??

TW/CW : Cursing, the nicknames kiddo and bubs

It was a good stream with the bench trio so far, the three of them just hanging out and poking fun at one another from time to time. Basically just the normal for the three.

It had been just them talking for about an hour or so, but they ended up deciding they were going to hop on the Origins SMP. Tubbo and Ranboo needed to fix stuff around the server and Tommy would follow them around, probably making fun of little stuff that didn’t make sense.

It was fun for all of them, especially Tommy since he hadn’t been on the Origins SMP much. It was cool to see all the stuff everyone built.

“Burn bitch!” Tommy’s avatar hit Tubbo’s with a diamond sword, making the other’s health go down. “I didn’t even do anything that time!” Ranboo let out a laugh at the other two—he then attacked Tommy’s character with his own weapon. “Sorry, Tommy! I have to do it for the content”

Tommy let out a groan, “excuses! It just cause you two are fucking married so you have to be like ‘oh I’m Ranboo, and I love a man platonically who likes eating DIRT with bees. And I must protect him’” The teen raised his voice higher so it sounded like he was mocking the other.

“Bees don’t eat dirt”

They continued messing around on the server, Tommy proceeded to do the same thing he was doing.

Though, he noticed a building on the SMP that caught his eye. He hadn’t seen it before so he had to go to it.

“Hey, let’s-“

“Ranboo we have to go over there to get the right materials”

The blond raised an eyebrow, and then went to the other’s characters.

Deciding what he wanted to explore wasn’t that important anymore, he followed them.

The other two just needed smelted stone for—whatever reason. Tommy wasn’t listening, he was focused on something else.

While on the way back to where they were, they passed by the place again. Since it was on the way, it wouldn’t be too much of an interruption to what the other two were doing. And he didn’t want to go alone, plus he needed someone to tell him what the hell it was.

“Mr.Ranboob, I think we shoul-“ “that’s cobblestone Tubbo!” The brunet looked at what the other was holding, which was definitely not smooth stone. Tubbo let out an exaggerated gasp, “what??”

Letting out a soft sigh, he knew they’d be taking another trip. So he went along with it again.

It wasn’t that big of a deal, it’s just a building in a game. He could always see what it was another time.

—————

This went on for another two hours.

Tommy continued to be interrupted due to the other two needing to do something. And he didn’t want to get in the middle of what they wanted to do.

The teen always shook it off as what he wanted to do was not that important, and it wouldn’t be entertaining for the viewers for Tommyinnit to look at a new build he hadn’t seen.

Though he’d be lying if he said it didn’t upset him.

He just wanted to see the colorful arrangement of blocks! Was that so much to ask? Plus it had some flowers around it, it was pretty!

“Alright let’s go over here” Tommy whined at another instruction, at this point he felt like an extra. Not because it was them two doing stuff together, but because he wasn’t helping. He wasn’t adding on to anything, except some commentary.

But he wanted to do more than that! But after he saw the thing he wanted to see, but that wasn’t happening. So he couldn’t help but get distracted by what his mind seemed to be fixated on. (Aka, the structure.)

Luckily for Tommy, he wasn’t streaming. So nobody could see that he had his knees up to his chest, and that his eyes were a bit glassier than normal.

And they definitely couldn’t see him chewing on his fingers with his non vacant hand.

He was tired, mentally and physically. He wanted to be listened to, not ignored whether it was intentional or not. (Of course he knows it’s not intentional, those are his best friends! But he’s still upset about it.)

The now mentally younger let out a small whine, this wasn’t fair! They were barley paying any attention to him at all. “Tommy?” The little perked his head up and looked towards Ranboo’s character. He hadn’t noticed he was spaced out for so long. “Yeah?” “You were quiet so I was just checking up on you”

Tommy let out a long exhale before speaking, “I was doing big man shit! Somethin’ you wouldn’t understand, Ran-boo”

The other two let out a fit of laughter while Tommy took his other hand away from the mouse.

Acting big wasn’t fun and just hurt him in a way he couldn’t describe. He hated it. He wanted Wilby, and Techie, and Ph-

“I gotta get off. Mum is asking me to do the dishes”

He waited for a response, hopefully they didn’t question why is was so random. “alright! Bye Tommy!” “Bye Tommy!! Say bye to Tommy, chat!”

The blond let out a few giggles before clicking his mouse and ending the call. He let out a sigh of relief and quickly opened the group chat with the other sleepy bois.

He pressed the call button, not thinking if his friends were busy or not. He just wanted his caregivers right now, that’s all that mattered to him.

He messed with his fingers nervously while listening to the call ring. Surely someone could answer, right?

His doubts were cut off rather quickly by a familiar voice speaking up, “Hey Toms! Is everything alright? It’s not usual for you to call out of nowhere”

The little let out a small whimper again, too shy to explain what was going on. Though, Wilbur caught on quickly. He immediately shifted into caregiver mode, “Bubs, what’s wrong? Did something happen during the stream, bud?” Tommy messed with his fingers some more before chewing on them once again.

“Ah ah, go get your pacifier, Toms. Then you can tell me about what happened”

The mentally (and physically) younger got up from his chair and walked over to a nearby dresser. He grabbed ahold of his red and black pacifier and went back to his desk. “Good job! Now can you tell me what’s up, bubs?” Tommy messed around with his pacifier, since he had something other than his hands to distract him.

“Tub an ‘Boo ignorin’ me” he raised the pacifier up to his mouth, “don’ think they meanin’ to though”

Wilbur nodded at the response, seeming to think for a moment. “Well, why don’t I tell Ranboo and Tubbo how it made you feel, yeah? I’ll let them know after the stream. I’m sure they didn’t mean it”

Tommy looked up at the camera, “no! Theys gon’ think I’m c’ybaby. An’ then theys gon’ be sad cause they made me sad” he curled into a ball on his chair and put his pacifier in his mouth. Wilbur let out a small “ah” to show he understood.

“They won’t call you a crybaby, Toms.” The older took a second to think, “They’ll be happy that you told them though. So then they’ll know what they were doing to make a little one like you, upset”

The little seemed to think for a moment and then nodded his head as an, “okay”.

Discord made a noise from Tommy’s computer, notifying the two that someone else had joined. The blond smiled as Technoblade’s icon lit up, almost immediately he made grabby hands at the camera.

“Techie!!”

The older let out a soft laugh, you could tell he was smiling from behind the screen. “Hey, bubs. Do we have a little kiddo today?” Tommy giggled and nodded his head. Technoblade turned on his camera, he knew when Tommy was regressed it tended to make him comfier if he could see everyone.

“I’m sure Phil will be here in just a second, I was just on the call with him” he stopped to take a breathe, “and I’m sure he’ll be very excited to see little Tom Toms”

The little let out another small fit of giggles before standing up from his chair and grabbing ahold of a raccoon stuffie. He brought it back to his desk and held it up to the camera. “Look!! His name Racco!!” Tommy excitedly announced, basically bouncing in his chair. “He’s adorable, bubs! Is that the one Phil got you?” The mentally younger nodded as he played with the Raccoon’s tail.

Tommy looked up at his screen as he heard someone join, it was Phil!!

“Phil look!! ‘S name is Racco!!”

“Oh! You already named him, huh?” Phil had ordered him a new plushie since he had been doing good. It was a small gift from the older. “Mhm!!”

“Heyyy! I thought we agreed I’d give him his next stuffed animal” Wilbur fake pouted as he crossed his arms, “you took too long” Phil replied, letting out a chuckle.

Wilbur was going to get him a new stuffie too?? Wait huh? Tommy’s eyes lit up, “new stuffie from Wilby??” Wilbur replied with a nod, “yep! We can talk about that tomorrow though, there’s someone who wants to talk to you” the younger tilted his head to the side confused. “Well, two people”

Wilbur added Ranboo and Tubbo to the call after the stream had ended (after asking them of course). Tubbo spoke up first, “I’m sorry Toms, I didn’t know we made you upset and we didn’t mean to.” Ranboo hummed in agreement, “yeah. We apologize, we didn’t mean to hurt your feelings”

The blond thought about what they said for a moment before having a fake little conversation with his stuffie. “Shoul we fo’give them? They seems sorry” he whispered to his stuffie as he made the plush pat him on the arm, basically saying yes.

The little looked back at the camera and made a thumbs up. “Is okay! I fo’give you.” He seemed to think for a moment, “I will super fo’give you if you buys me a new sweater!!” everyone in the call laughed, “will do, kiddo”

Tommy then rambled on and on about a new cartoon him and Techno watched together the other night. They all listened and asked questions about it, and Tommy eventually forgot about what happened earlier. Plus, it didn’t matter anymore. They said sorry and it was all better!!

Soon enough, Tommy let out a small yawn as his eyes threatened to close.

“Aw, is bubs tired from his long day today?” Wilbur’s voice softened as the little looked away, “no! Not tired!!”

“You sure, Toms? You can always talk to us tomorrow if you want.” Techno explained while adjusting his headphones.

“Nope! Don’ wanna”

“But Toms, you can play allllll day tomorrow if you do! Wouldn’t you want to spend more time with Racco?”

The little looked at his plush before looking back at the camera. He let out a sigh and nodded.

“Otay”

“Alright, go ahead and get changed into some comfier clothes.”

“Yeah! Me and Ranboo have to go but it was really nice talking to you, kiddo! Goodnight” Tubbo smiled at the camera before waving. Tommy waved back as the two left the call.

He then turned off his camera and changed into a blue onesie with a rocket ship pattern on it.

He turned his camera back on, “good job, bubs! Can you try and switch over to your phone for me?

Tommy grabbed ahold of his phone and pulled up the discord group chat, with a click of a button he joined the call on his phone.

He went over to his bed with the Raccoon plush and pulled the covers over himself.

Everyone had turned their camera’s off by now.

“Goodnight, little Tom Tom. Sweet Dreams. We’ll be here when you wake up”

“Ni Ni”

Tommy then closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. Today was a good day for little Tommy.

[max-is-tired]

What the hell would I be (without you)

Pairing: Dukexiety

Characters: Remus Sanders, Virgil Sanders

Words: 2.078

Warnings: sympathetic Remus, swearing, self-deprecation, spiraling thoughts, anxiety, crying, kissing, tell me if I missed something!!

Notes: man I love soulmates AUs so much. This fic is inspired by this headcanon from @figurative-siren-song, I just loved the entire concept so much I simply couldn’t not try my hand at it. I hope you guys like it, comments and reblogs are always greatly appreciated!!

Commission me!!  Buy me a coffee!!  Join my Discord server!!  AO3!!

Virgil stared at the clock on his wall, nervously bouncing his leg on the carpet as he raised one hand to his face. Before he could start biting his nails, however, another hand appeared out of nowhere, giving it a quick slap to keep it away from his mouth.

“No biting,” chided a voice from above Virgil, Remus grinning down at him from his position lying upside-down on the bunk bed. Virgil grumbled but complied, opting to wring his fingers instead.

“You’re an ass,” he muttered under his breath, throwing his best friend a half-hearted grave.

“Well excuse me for trying to look out for you,” Remus shot back, his tone amused. “If you bite your nails you might hurt yourself, and there might be blood and then the whole thing might get infected and they’d have to chop your entire hand off and-!”

Without missing a beat, Virgil reached for one of his pillows and slapped it onto Remus’ face, effectively shutting him up.

“Alright, message received you fucking gremlin,” he said, a smirk of his own tugging at his lips. “Remind me why I have yet to smother you?”

“Because it’s gonna be your birthday in a few hours and you needed your big, strong best friend to hold your hand lest your anxiety reduces you to a hot mess for the umpteenth time,” Remus easily recited, winking down at Virgil. “Not that you need it, you’re already a hot mess by yourself.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, letting out an amused huff as he stood up and stretched his arms upwards with a tired groan -the curse of being born at fucking 2 am, he supposed. Currently, it was only 1:45 am, and for the first time in what felt like forever, all he wanted was to curl up under the covers and go the fuck to sleep.

There was no way he could ruin his soulmate’s birthday if he was asleep, right?

“Oi, Earth to Virgil!” Remus called, startling the boy out of his thoughts. “Did you decide to go for a mental walk without me? That’s just rude, Vee! Come on, what’s running around in that worrying head of yours?”

Virgil shrugged, plopping down on his spinning chair as he looked up at the ceiling.

“Do you think my soulmate will like me?” Virgil finally asked, frowning. “I mean, I know I sure as hell wouldn’t like myself. I’m an anxious, self-deprecating mess, Rem, why the fuck would anyone want to be stuck with me? I’m just going to ruin their birthday, and I don’t want to but I can’t help it, they’re gonna hate me and I can’t blame them for that and then I’ll end up all alone and soulless-”

“Hey, stop with that crap right the fuck now,” Remus suddenly exclaimed, snapping Virgil out of his self-deprecating spiral. The boy pulled his gaze away from the ceiling, only to meet a pair of determined, blazing green eyes.

“That’s my fucking best friend you’re insulting, and I won’t stand for it. You’re an amazing person Vee, you’re loyal and determined and got snark for days. And that’s not even talking about that beautiful ass of yours!! Whoever ends up being your soulmate is going to be one lucky motherfucker, and this is the hill I’m willing to die on.”

Virgil blinked, looking like a deer caught in the headlights as he stared at his best friend with wide eyes. Slowly, he felt the familiar tingle of a blush covering his cheeks, whipping his head to the side to avoid the instinct of doing something stupid like try and kiss Remus or something.

“Shut up,” Virgil muttered, looking down at his hands in hopes that his long bangs would hide just how flustered he was.

“Never,” Remus easily shot back, voice soft and earnest in a way Virgil knew was reserved just for him.

Fuck, and people wondered why he had done something so idiotic as falling for his best friend -he was just… perfect. He was honest, loud and everything Virgil would have wanted and more. He just got him, always had, and before he’d known it Virgil had found himself head over heels, falling and falling with no chance of getting up again.

Not that he would have wanted to, of course. Sometimes, during those endless nights when sleeping felt like the most impossible thing in the world, Virgil found himself wondering if maybe, he and Remus were meant to be. After all, Remus still had to go through the swap, even after having recently turned 20. It wasn’t so far fetched for that to be a possibility, was it...?

Except that it was. After all, why would the universe pair someone as amazing as Remus with, well, Virgil, who seemed to grow needlessly anxious about the smallest and most mundane of things?

And there he went again, his thoughts spiraling more and more as the seconds passed. Of course Remus couldn’t be his soulmate. Whoever the lucky soul was, they were probably someone as incredible as him, full of life and energy and desire of adventure. Not an introvert, anxious downer like him.

1:58 am

Like, who was he even kidding? Virgil probably had no soulmate. His birthday was going to come and go and no swap would happen, not today nor never.

1:59 am

After all, why would the universe doom some poor soul to be stuck with him forever? He should just start getting used to the idea of being alone forever, instead of letting that stupid hope still fester in his chest.

It was just so stupid. Worthless, really.

2:00 am

Except that it wasn’t, not at all.

All of a sudden, Virgil felt a surge of self-confidence overtake him. He stood straighter on his chair, a grin tugging at his lips as his head filled with a thousand ideas. He wanted to bolt out of the room, jump out of his window, run into the woods behind his house and get himself lost in the wilderness, maybe even catch some squirrels.

Who cared if it was the middle of the night and there could be an assassin lurking in the shadows? He could take them, Remus had shown him how to throw knives when they were like, twelve.

Talking about his best friend! Virgil snapped his head up, eyes twinkling wildly under the fairy lights in his room, only to feel his excited expression morph into a frown once he took in the other’s expression.

Remus was hunched over just a few feet away from him, his shoulders shaking slightly as he rested his head between his knees.

“Rem?” Virgil tentatively called, standing up and shuffling forward. He crouched down in front of the other, brow pinched in confusion as he tried to understand what was going down.

Slowly, Remus looked up, his eyes red and wet as he tried to get his shallow breathing back under control. He was clutching at his chest, his fist tight around the fabric of his shirt. All in all, he looked right on the edge of an anxiety attack.

But why? He had been fine just a minute ago! There was no way he could have been faking the determined fire in his eyes as he defended Virgil from his own thoughts, and besides, Remus didn’t get anxious. Like, ever. Virgil should know, they’d been basically inseparable since kindergarten.

Then, Remus spoke.

“Do you really hate yourself this much?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as some stray tears escaped from his eyes.

And finally, it clicked.

“I-” Virgil stared at Remus with wide eyes, trying to process the sudden life-changing information that had come to light. Normally, something like this would have sent him into some sort of attack, his anxiety, fears, and deepest insecurities filling his head until he could barely keep his head above the water.

Instead, all he felt was quiet, unmistakable happiness blooming in his chest, spreading further and further until he could barely keep himself from dancing around the room to try and get rid of some of the overwhelming giddiness.

“You’re my soulmate,” he breathed, a grin slowly stretching on his face. It was wide, bright, unhinged, the type of smile he would have never dared to let appear on his face before -but now, he couldn’t care less if his teeth were slightly crooked, or if a random stranger was annoyed by his smile.

Fuck them, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Remus was his soulmate, and that meant-

Oh. Oh no.

“Shit, Remus, I’m sorry,” he murmured, raising his hands to cradle the other’s cheeks. Gently, he wiped away the occasional tear still escaping his eyes, leaning forward to rest his brow against Remus’. “I’m sorry you have to feel all of that.”

“How do you deal with this every fucking day?” Remus whispered, looking at him as his breath slowly started to calm down. “I mean, I knew it was bad, but shit Vee, I didn’t think it was this bad.”

Virgil hummed, his smile turning a tad softer. “It sucks, doesn’t it?”

Remus silently nodded, carefully releasing his shirt to rest his palm above Virgil’s chest. His breath started to synchronize with his heartbeat, and after a few minutes, he finally looked like he wasn’t three seconds away from breaking down in the middle of Virgil’s room.

“God, this is exhausting,” Remus muttered, drawing a chuckle out of his soulmate as he slid his head down to rest his brow on the other’s shoulder.

“Holy shit, how do you deal with this shit basically every other day? It’s not even been five minutes and all I want is to curl up under the covers and sleep for like, a century or so. Maybe more.”

Silence fell around them, calm and comfortable as they held each other. Then, Remus looked up, a pensive frown on his face as he visibly mulled something in his head.

“Can I-” he started, sounding strangely insecure as he avoided Virgil’s gaze. “I mean, can we- uh- god, this is impossible!”

Virgil couldn’t help the amused snort that left his lips as he watched Remus frustratingly throw his hands up, his cheeks crimson red in embarrassment.

“What, Rem?” he asked with a lopsided smirk, feeling strangely coy, “do you want me to kiss you?”

“Yes!” Remus nodded vigorously, looking more flustered by the second. “I’ve wanted to smooch your pretty face since fucking high school, do you know how hard it has been to hold off?? So you better kiss me right now before the embarrassment decides to off me for real by sending my heart on a one-way trip around the world with how fast it’s beating right now!”

Virgil cackled as he listened to Remus’ rant, feeling the muscles of his face hurt with how wide he was smiling.

“Well, it looks like the swap didn’t take away your lack of filter, at least!” he exclaimed, before grabbing Remus by the lapels of his jacket and dragging him into a kiss.

They melted into each other, the world around them fading away until there was nothing but the soft press of their lips and their careful, roaming hands. And just like that, they felt something inside them fit into place, like a puzzle piece they’d never noticed was missing.

Virgil felt the extra confidence and energy slowly slip away, leaving behind exhausted happiness as the familiar background tingle of his anxiety started coming back. As for Remus, Virgil didn’t miss the way his soulmate -holy shit, Remus was actually his soulmate, what the fuck???- immediately straightened up, pushing forward a little until Virgil was bending backward and a massive grin had taken over both of their lips.

“Fuck, I love you,” Remus murmured almost reverently as he pulled back enough to look at the boy in his arms. “I hoped, once the switch didn’t happen on my birthday, I never stopped hoping and I just- I love you so much, you have no idea. You’re the only soulmate I’ve ever wanted to have.”

“I love you too,” Virgil answered, the giddiness in his chest ever-present, burning and shining like a million suns, “but I think you’re talking a little too much right now.”

And he leaned forward again, dragging Remus in another kiss. And another. And another.

Needless to say, they didn’t find themselves in need to talk for a little while more.

[batmansymbol]

Hi there! Do you have any advice on improving traction towards a fanwork/fic? I love writing—and it's not for notoriety by any means—but having validation and feedback also feels nice (I hope that's not conceited). What would you recommend to someone without a large audience/follower base? I do "advertise" on tumblr when my work is written/updated on AO3. How did your journey start? Thank you!

dear anon! i don't think it's conceited at all to want to write for an audience. it feels wonderful to know when your work is connecting with readers. advice below.

so, in terms of my fic journey, lol: i first got traction on FFNet with my first long fic eleven years ago. i had done nothing to advertise it. this is unhelpful in terms of actionable advice, but it DOES show that readership levels can be random and unrelated to quality. that fic, though objectively worse than anything i've written in the past five years, remains my most popular piece.

and these are good things to keep in mind. there are loads of AMAZING fics that don't take off for whatever reason, and many popular works are...... hmmmm...... of questionable merit not for me. very important to just keep trucking and focusing on the craft, and not to let the readership game get you down!

anyway, that's not what you asked. regarding advertising: since joining tumblr in the Days of Yore like a decade ago, i've done what you've said you do - post here under the appropriate tags when i update, and that's it. BUT i do know there are other fan hubs where you could spread the word about your fics further! i'm aware of subreddits and discord servers for both HP fanfic in general and specific ships. i'm sure there are facebook groups and tiktok communities too.

i'm not sure what the etiquette is, but i'll bet there are threads/channels where you can link to your fics and increase the number of eyes on your work.

if you (like me) feel that cross-posting and promoting is a lot of work and anxiety, i also have some other advice that doesn't involve "advertising." it's more under the category of like... "product marketing," if i were to be real corporate about it.

the outside of the tin must match what's inside. ensure that your title and summary give an accurate sense of your story's tone. with this sort of "packaging" stuff, accuracy is always more important than ~sounding cool and dramatic~. it doesn't matter if somebody clicks through to your story if they then discover it's different than what they wanted.

in general you won't want your summary to be too long or too anemic. (unless it's short and REALLY snappy, like this one)

also, on AO3, avoid gigantic tag walls. best to list focal characters, relationships, and themes rather than every single thing inside. otherwise, it's hard for readers to discern what they're getting into.

if it's a long fic, have enough written at the outset to update regularly in the early days. people in fandom are, in my experience, SUPER forgiving toward authors who abandon or hiatus their works - but in terms of building interest, readers will naturally want to feel that the piece has momentum.

for instance, it might be hard to get excited about a fic that obviously has a massive scope, when only 5k words of it are available, posted in two chapters four months apart.

so, posting regularly up front is a good way to show that you're here to stay and excited to complete the work!

stay in one place. use a single pseudonym for similar works so that if somebody likes one piece of yours, they can easily access the others.

in some ways, i feel like fic-writing is a long game. say your first fic doesn't have a massive readership, but there are some people who are enthusiastic about it and will look forward to what you do next. repeat that seven times, and by fic number 8, you will start out of the gate with people who know and are excited about your work.

this goes double if you keep writing pieces in the same ship or sub-section of fandom. which is basically just branding.

more excitingly, you will also have improved your work by seven fics' worth of writing!

i hope this is somewhat helpful! happy writing, anon!

[sickly-sweet-raven]

To the old members, new members and ex-members of the cursed discord server

So 2019 ends in like 10 min and I've been reflecting a lot lately (read : I'm emotional and it's yalls fault asksks). Spoiler alert it's gonna be a long one and boi is it gonna get cringy deep.

This damn year has been,,, something. I graduated highschool 5 months after joining this server and am now (dying) in uni, which is why I haven't been as active as I used to be. But I've been missing you all so much, I really want to get back to being an active cursed hoe.

While getting to know all the members of this hellhole, I've fallen in love, I've met amazing people, I've relapsed and gotten back into unhealthy coping mechanisms, I've contemplated suicide, I've gotten back into drawing and art in general, I've been dragged into many great fandoms, and I've never felt this inspired and hopeful for the future (are you cringing yet).

I know I've said this like 19382837373 times and at this point I'm gonna sound like a broken record but b oi am I glad I fucking clicked that link and met you all,, do you??? know??? how thankful I am??? bih

Also I know some of you have been busy and or/trying really hard to deal with shit happening in your life. I wish you the absolute fucking best, you deserve the world. I've said this before and I will say it again : my dms are always open whether it's to vent or to chat like two brainless dumbasses. You're strong and I believe in you.

Hopefully we can stay in touch for many, many months (or years,,, pls i beg,, am lonely and clingy) to come. You're making life so much more interesting and worth living, I actually have something to look forward to when I wake up and it's to yell in this damn server.

To those who left the server or who are currently inactive, I wish you the best too. I hope you had fun with us ! And my dms are always open if you wanna chat, too.

Long story short, happy new year you guys ! Thank you for being so incredibly supportive and open-minded, I couldn't ask for more. Good luck with school/work/life, even if you're a random person reading this!

🌸 ~ 🌸 ~ 🌸

You better comment how cringy this was on a scale from 1 to 10. I'll wait.

I'm gonna try to tag everybody but my dumb self is probably gonna forget someone dkdjdj I've been looking through the discord intros writing down yall's tumblr usernames and it's confusing my single braincell so I'm sorry in advance I swear I love you 😔✌ you're free to come attack me in dms if I forgot your name

I love you

@shuangxuan, @goaty-the-goatman, @nie-ming-daddy, @shdwthief, @incorrectcurseddiscord, @sqhs-iceblock, @deshirenz, @lianhuawu, @anaurael, @just-pasta-and-sin, @ignitingthesky, @baebeyza, @knight-jester, @lanzhanss, @xiefaelan13, @sevildea, @integrationbydarts, @mdzs-tgcf-svsss-fanblog, @sunnycider , @ella-marie2804, @maddyisenough, @yvoi, @shu-kaku, @rexnoctem, @hua-lian, @plsleafmelon, @papercranes-and-forgottenwishes, @kingofseafood29

[max-is-tired]

It’s Fine By Me (If You Never Leave)

Pairing: Dukexiety

Characters: Remus Sanders, Virgil Sanders

Words: 2.062

Warnings: Sympathetic Remus, swearing, crying, kissing

Notes: I... might be starting to grow lowkey in love with Dark Sides ships sdkjvnsjkfvn 

Anyway!! here is a new fic, not even a week after the last one I posted -miracles exist apparently. A big thank you to my boyfriend @afulldeckofaces for catching the mistakes that slipped past 3am me skvnsfjv you’re the best babe <3

I hope you guys like it!!

Commission me!!  Buy me a coffee!!  Join my Discord server!!

If you had told 15 years old Virgil that one day he would’ve fallen in love with none other than Remus Grimm, he would’ve probably ended up cracking a rib or two by laughing too much.

And yet, look at him now -19 years old ad head over hills for his best friend, who just happened to have had to move two towns over because of college.

God, feelings sucked.

Virgil groaned in frustration, letting his forehead hit the textbook lying open in front of him with a muffled thump.

He was tired. He was so. Fucking. Tired. Tired of college, tired of this stupid crush that kept stubbornly refusing to go away, tired of his stupid anxiety and tired of having to deal with all of this without his best friend by his side.

Yes, he was grumpy because he hadn’t seen Remus in more than a month, sue him.

As if sensing his worsening mood, his phone buzzed, breaking Virgil out of his thoughts. Letting out a series of annoyed grumbles and half-assed curses, Virgil snatched his phone from where it was lying on the desk, Remus’ wild grin staring back at him from the screen.

It was a photo they had taken that summer, just before Remus had had to leave for college. Roman had been the one taking it, the day Patton had decided to drag -for some more literally than others- their entire group out for some ice cream.

Remus had thrown his arm around Virgil’s shoulder, proudly showing off his chocolate mustache as the other fumbled with his cone to keep it from falling to the ground.

Virgil remembered glaring daggers at him for a total of two seconds before Remus’ waggling eyebrows did him in and sent him in a snickering fit.

Virgil remembered the weight of Remus’ arm around his shoulder, his warmth seeping through his shirt in a way that somehow, didn’t make him uncomfortable -he had never felt uncomfortable with Remus, not once, not even under the hot summer Florida weather in the middle of July.

He only saw that photo for the first time later that night, staring at Remus’ wide grin and sparkling green eyes as his heart hammered in his chest.

The realization had crashed over him like a tsunami, every thought in his head screeching to a halt as he slowly became more and more aware of the fact that he was very much in love with his best friend.

”Of course,” Virgil remembered thinking, staring at his phone with wide eyes, ”who else could it be?”

And boy if that thought alone hadn’t scared the living shit out of him.

For a moment, Virgil let his mind linger on the memory of that sunny afternoon, a soft smile stretching on his face.

Then, he swiped up and clicked on the notification.

”You up for a little chat?” read Remus’ message, followed by a string of random emojis Virgil didn’t even try to decipher -he knew it would probably be useless since they rarely made sense in the first place.

Virgil frowned, threw a considering glance at his textbook and the various papers still scattered on the desk and shrugged -it was not like he was getting anything done anyway.

“sure, why not”

Not even ten seconds later Virgil’s phone lit up with an incoming call, the first notes of My Immortal filling the room.

“Hey there Spider boy!” came Remus’ voice from the other side of the line.

Immediately, Virgil felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, relaxing back on his chair as he pushed himself away from the cluttered desk.

“Sup, Trashman,” he answered, not even bothering to fight down the tired grin tugging at his lips -Remus was not there to tease him about it anyway, so.

“Wow, don’t sound too excited to hear from me.”

Virgil snorted, his smile turning more and more genuine as the seconds passed.

“Fuck you.”

“Maybe later. But really, you sound like shit -everything alright? Are there some bones that I need to break?”

Virgil groaned, leaning back as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Now that he wasn’t panicking over his homework exhaustion was slamming down on him full-force, making it very hard for him to string together a coherent thought let alone think about filtering whatever shit was coming out of his mouth.

“It’s just… fucking everything, man. College is kicking my ass, my anxiety is kicking my ass and I’m just- I’m just tired, you know?”

From the other side of the line, Virgil heard Remus hiss in sympathy at his words.

“Yeah, shit, that sounds rough as hell.”

A beat of silence, and then-

“I can drive over and burn down your campus if you want. No college, no classes. Boom, airtight.”

Virgil couldn’t have stopped the amused snickers leaving his mouth even if he’d tried, shoulders shaking with his laughter as he fought to stifle it down.

“Thanks for the very tempting offer, but I think I’ll give it a pass for now.”

Then, he sighed, feeling his smile slip away as he stared at the ceiling, his sadness starting to creep up on him again. “... I miss you,” he whispered -he hadn’t exactly meant to say that out loud, but he had and now just couldn’t stop.

“I just- I miss our daily escapades and you sneaking into my room at the oddest hours of the day because you decided for some reason that simply using the front door was too mainstream.”

Virgil took in a ragged breath, distantly feeling his eyes start to sting with unshed tears.

“I miss being able to just call you when everything gets too much with the knowledge you’ll be knocking at my window in five minutes max. I miss having you physically by my side every day, I miss my best friend and I feel so fucking bad about it because you’re following your dreams and I’m proud of you, I really am but I also want you right here by my side and-”

Virgil audibly snapped his mouth shut, pressing a hand over his lips to stifle his sobs as tears streamed down his face out of his control.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, moving the phone away from his ear.

“Virgil-” Remu voice called, sounding worried and maybe a little desperate. but before he could say anything more, Virgil hung up, letting his room fall back into silence before throwing the phone somewhere on his bed.

Virgil bit down hard on his lip, but he could do nothing against the sobs that kept bubbling in his throat. One escaped, then another and soon Virgil could do nothing but curl up with his head hidden between his knees, yearning for the one person that could not help him the way he wanted him to.

+++

Virgil didn’t exactly remember when he fell asleep, his memory being somewhat hazy in-between the tears that seemed to never end and the way he kept feeling like something was trying to squeeze him to death from the inside-out.

What he did remember, however, was waking up to a very familiar sound -one he’d thought he wouldn’t get to hear again in quite some time.

Initially, during those few moments floating between dreams and awakening, when reality hasn’t quite set in yet and sleep still hangs heavily from your eyelids, Virgil had almost believed he was still dreaming, his own vain hopes playing cruel tricks to his brain.

But the seconds kept ticking and Virgil kept hearing the goddamn sound, so there were only two possible explanations -either someone was trying to break into his room, or-

Virgil bolted up, almost tumbling off the chair he had fallen asleep on -which, ouch- in his haste to get to the window.

And sure enough, there Remus was, with his signature manic grin as he waved at Virgil from the tree branch he was perched on.

Virgil stared, hands moving almost on their own as they went through the familiar motions of unlocking the window to let his best friend in.

“Thanks, it was starting to get chilly out!” Remus chirped, climbing in with practiced ease and plopping himself down on the bed.

“What the fuck,” Virgil answered, still trying to process what was going on.

“I- you- what???” Virgil felt like his brain was about to implode, his gaze flickering from Remus to the window and then back to Remus again.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing here? It’s fucking two am or something like that and you live like, three hours away!”

Remus shrugged, shuffling around so he could sit cross-legged in the middle of the bed.

“My best friend is hurting, why would I not come?”

“It’s the middle of the week, you have classes tomorrow,” Virgil weakly pointed out, starting to feel a little choked up with all the emotions coursing through him at once.

“It’s Thursday, or Friday morning is you wanna be accurate,” Remus easily countered. “I know for a fact that neither you nor I have anything important going on tomorrow and the weekend is class free, so I’m going to crash here until Monday morning since we both have afternoon classes. And no, this is not up to debate. It’s happening, Spider Boy.”

Virgil blinked, staring at him with wide eyes as his heart hammered in his chest.

There was a tingling sensation running through all of his body, electrifying in the best of ways. It felt like fire and ice and water altogether, filling him up and up until-

“I love you,” Virgil blurted out, unable to stop the words from tumbling out any longer.

Remus stared for a second before a dazzling grin took over his face.

“I love you too!” he chirped, grinning so wide Virgil distantly worried if it didn’t hurt to pull at the muscles that much.

“No, uh-” Virgil stuttered, all too aware of how flustered he probably looked at that moment.

He bit his lip, pondering his next course of action. He could still salvage this, just let it go and make Remus believe he meant it in a platonic way and nothing more, burying his feelings in the deepest and darkest corner of his heart. But on the other hand… did he really want to do that?

“I meant in a romantic way, Remus,” he finally admitted, looking everywhere but at his best friend, “I love you as in I want to be your boyfriend and kiss you and stuff.”

Silence fell, filling the room as Virgil kept carefully avoiding Remus’ eyes.

God, he’d ruined everything, didn’t he?

Then he saw a familiar hand reach out and grab a fistful of his hoodie, firmly tugging him forward before he could express his confusion.

Virgil let out a startled yelp, stumbling towards the bed until he found himself face-to-face with his best friend. Still grinning, Remus winked before leaning in, erasing the last few inches separating them as he kissed him square on the lips.

Virgil froze, eyes as wide as saucers as he tried to comprehend whatever the fuck was going on. But before he could do that, Remus pulled back, slowly letting his eyes slide open again as a small, soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips -it was such a strange expression to see on Remus’ face, but Virgil found that he didn’t mind it at all, as long as it was directed at him.

“I know what you meant,” Remus chuckled, pecking Virgil on the lips again for good measure, “and I love you too. Now, are you gonna actually get on the bed and cuddle or do I need to drag you under the covers myself?”

Virgil let out a startled snort, feeling like he was reeling from the last five minutes alone. Still, he dutifully climbed on the bed and flopped down, feeling his exhaustion start to creep back on him again.

Remus grinned, laying down beside Virgil and immediately cuddling as close as humanly possible.

“Comfy?” Virgil teased, moving his hand to gently card it through the other’s hair.

“Hush boyfriend, pillows don’t talk,” Remus grumbled, already halfway gone as he somehow snuggled even closer.

Virgil hummed, leaning down to leave a kiss in Remus’ hair.

Boyfriend, uh? Well, it did have a nice ring to it.

[max-is-tired]

In which Logan says fuck (Kid Sides AU part 6)

Characters: Character Thomas, Joan, Virgil Sanders, Remus Sanders, Logan Sanders, the others are mentioned

Words: 1.065

Warnings: swearing, sympathetic Remus, mentions of heart attack in reference to getting spooked, some anxiety

Notes: okay first of all, sorry it took me so long to finish this y’all. Second of all, I’ve written this with “Don’t Stop Me Now” on loop in the background and that’s all I’m gonna say about this ksdjcnsdjkcn

Remember to follow @tiny-feral-bois if you want to ask further questions about the AU or just watch me and Logan ( @romansleftshoulderpad) lose our collective shit about the chaotic mess that is this fic sajkcnsjkdnc

ch.1  ch.2  ch.3  ch.4  ch.5  ch.6 (you’re here!!)

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Joan buried their face in their hands, collapsing on one of the free seats at the table with a long, drawn-out groan.

“Fudge,” they muttered, much eloquently, peeking out of their fingers enough to peek at the cluster of children -and a snake- sitting all around the living room.

“So what you’re saying-” Joan said slowly, taking in a deep breath- “is that you saw Virgil slip out of the back door almost two hours ago, and didn’t think it might be good to maybe tell literally anyone about it?”

Remus shrugged, reaching into the pocket of his costume -that thing had pockets???- to bring out a small, neon orange tube.

“He gave me slime!!” he chirped proudly, popping the tube open to show everyone else the wiggling, slimy green substance present inside.

In response, Joan went back to holding their head in their hands, muttering under their breath.

“Well,” Logan sighed, closing his book, “looks like we are, as the young say, fucked.”

“Language!” Joan immediately shot up, looking at the kid with wide, scandalized eyes.

“I’m almost 30 I do what I want!” the seven years old immediately shot back, jumping up on the couch in all of his tiny, righteous fury.

Joan groaned, hitting their forehead on the table. They just hoped Virgil hadn’t gone too far.

+++

Virgil hadn’t exactly had a plan when he’d slipped out of the house and into the back of Thomas’ house. He had been angry, irritated, and all he wanted was to get some fresh air before he ended up doing something he might regret later, like snap at Patton or something.

Then though, after having moved just to the side so he could keep his eyes on the front door -he may be a very angry preteen right now, but he was still Anxiety- he’d seen Thomas step out of the door, using his keys to click the car open before turning back around to say something to someone in the house -Joan, probably.

It had been a split-second decision. One moment, he’d been crouching just behind the corner, and the next Virgil was bolting towards the now unlocked car, trying to be as silent as he could. Quickly, he slipped inside, slotting his scrawny, gangly body between the back and front seats, and waited.

Virgil kept his mouth firmly shut as Thomas entered the car and sat on the driver’s seat, forcing his breath to remain as steady as possible as they drove out of the driveway into the street.

Well, this was prospecting to be a long car drive for him

+++

Thomas kept biting his bottom lip as he drove, occasionally tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

Gosh, was he nervous. Lily had agreed immediately to meet up, sounding all too pleased to hear from him. He hadn’t explained the situation yet, one, because it didn’t seem like something that should be told by phone, and two, he wouldn’t even know where to start in the first place.

He still didn’t to be honest, and if Lily were to end up kicking him out of her hotel room while calling him crazy, well, there wasn’t much he could do to dispute such a claim. In all honesty, Thomas was still somewhat wondering if he really hadn’t gone mad and just started seeing things. Maybe he’d even imagined Joan’s call and their coming over, who knew.

Thomas let out a tired sigh, stopping in front of a red light and resting his forehead on the top of the steering wheel. He really was not looking forward to the incoming conversation, it didn’t matter how happy and excited he felt about seeing his friend again after so long.

“Oi, stop daydreaming, it just turned green,” an all-too-familiar voice rumbled from behind Thomas.

The man let out a startled shriek, jumping on his seat before whirling his head around. Virgil gave him his usual two-fingered salute from the backseat, his car belt put on in exactly the right way, of course.

“What the heck are you doing here, Virge?” Thomas asked, one hand raising to rest on his chest, just above his heart -Virgil’s sudden decision to speak had almost given him a heart attack, what the fuck.

Virgil arched a single eyebrow, looking immensely amused. Almost as if on cue, people started honking furiously from behind him, bringing Thomas’ attention to the now very green stoplight. Quickly, he pushed on the accelerator, driving away from the stoplight and near a random street before guiding the car to the side and turning the engine off.

Then, the man turned back around towards his Side.

“So?” he asked, obviously waiting for an explanation.

Virgil gave a nonchalant shrug, looking down at his hand. “Thought you might need some company. Also, you know I don’t like being left behind. I’m anxiety, dude, I gotta make sure you don’t crash or something.”

Thomas sighed, giving Virgil an unamused look.

“You know I’m a careful driver, Virge,” he commented, “and you could have always let me know you were in the car with me, geez.”

Virgil looked back up at him, looking downright skeptical. “Would you have let me tag along if I did?”

“... okay, fair point,” Thomas finally conceded, albeit reluctantly. “Still, was the attempt at giving me a heart attack necessary?”

“Yup,” Virgil nodded, a shit-eating grin tugging at his lips.

Thomas didn’t say anything, just turned around and dropped his head back onto the steering wheel with a muffled thud.

“You’re a little minx, kid,” he muttered, tiredly pushing himself up to stare out of the windshield.

“You can call me a little shit, you know that right? I may look like a 12-years-old right now, but technically I’m still a fucking adult.”

“Language,” Thomas chided, looking already done with everything as he turned the car back on.

“Come on, let’s just get to Lily’s. Hopefully, she’ll be able to help us.”

“Oh, I really hope so,” Virgi groaned from the backseat, “if I have to go through puberty one more fucking time I swear I will yeet myself out of the nearest window.”

“And risk making Patton cry?”

“... I hate that you know my weakness, you know that right?”

Thomas snorted, guiding the car back into the street. Maybe having Virgil in the car with him would not be such a bad thing, after all.