#Tariq/Volfred

[blue-unifox]

Fuck it

*adventure times your pyres*

[raynewton]

Pyre x Hollow Knight

Shae the Shaman, Confessor Tariq, Nailmaster Hedwyn (seems like he has secret ties to mantises), Volfred of the Greenpath (someone marked him as a kindred spirit) and the True Hunter Oralech!

Pssst @yakkitylylac here's your moontouched snail!

[laughingpinecone]

2260w, Complete, Teen and up, No archive warnings apply Relationships: Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood, Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel Characters: Oralech (Pyre), Volfred Sandalwood, Tariq | The Lone Minstrel Additional Tags: world hard and cold imp warm and soft, Pre-Canon, Near Death, Grief/Mourning, imps. imps are nice Summary:

Terrible starlight shines on Oralech as he lays dying on the northern slopes of Mount Alodiel. The same truth hangs over Volfred and Tariq, who are left to mourn. All they have is their memories and the warm embrace of failure.

Yuletide treat for decant!

[theroseandthebeast]

Yuletide 2022 Recs, Batch Five

17 recs for Master & Commander, Midsommar, Nope, Only Murders In The Building, Peacemaker, Persuasion, Point Break, Pyre, Ready or Not?, Severance, The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Transistor, and Under the Banner of Heaven

Cadential Motion

Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin - “I’ll be frank with you, Captain, it’s a relief to finally have you in my chair. I was beginning to worry that you didn’t trust my expertise.”

Aubrey and Maturin discover that their first impressions of one another were borne out of some misunderstandings.

Hasaeti 

Dani Ardor/Pelle - Dani learns about the ongoing responsibilities of the May Queen, deepens her relationship with the land - and finds her throne.

Beyond The Stars

Angel Torres, OJ Haywood - It'd been seven months since they last spoke, but who's counting?

Making wishes is a sucker’s game, but at least there’s cake

Mabel Mora & Oliver Putnam & Charles-Haden Savage - Mabel isn’t celebrating her birthday because she stopped doing that when she was 8 years old. Charles and Oliver find a way to be there for her anyway.

Portrait of the Artist

Theo Dimas/Mabel Mora, Mabel Mora & Oliver Putnam & Charles-Haden Savage - Winter brings back memories for Mabel, but also the opportunity to make new ones.

I'm Feeling This

Adrian Chase/Christopher Smith - Adrian doesn't have feelings but he does feel things. He feels a lot for Chris. More than for anyone else.

I Must Go Up From The Seas Again.

Anne Elliot/Frederick Wentworth - It sounds bitter to say that he's still not over his ex who wouldn't uproot her entire life, leave her entire support system behind, and go be a trailing spouse for five years in a place with no career prospects for herself.

Of Duty, and A Path Not Ridden

Anne Elliot/Frederick Wentworth - Two years after Miss Anne Elliot declined to marry Captain Frederick Wentworth of His Majesty's Navy, an opportunity arises for the captain to renew his suit.

come as you are

Bodhi/Johnny Utah - Johnny goes to Mexico, and there's one more Ex-President.

The Ultimate Ride

Bodhi/Johnny Utah - Even reeling from the shock that Johnny jumped out of the plane without a parachute to tackle him mid-air and point a gun at his head, Bodhi has never felt more connected to anyone.

Because Bodhi’s been chasing the ultimate ride his whole life and one look into Johnny’s eyes as they fall to earth together makes it crystal clear that Johnny is already there.

Constellations of the fall

Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood, Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq - Terrible starlight shines on Oralech as he lays dying on the northern slopes of Mount Alodiel. The same truth hangs over Volfred and Tariq, who are left to mourn. All they have is their memories and the warm embrace of failure.

A Smudge of Red

Daniel Le Domas/Grace Le Domas - "Funny story. Not really. But. Yeah. We were all adopted, Alex and Emilie and me, but I guess the old folks thought—rightly so—that baby me couldn't exactly play, uh, any board game. But Alex and Emilie were toddlers when their papers came through and they joined the family, so they did it, and I hadn't blown up yet by then, so. Yeah. Got left out of that one. A lot of goat sacrifices, though. To make up for it. Not fun. But, hey, I'm still in one piece. I guess."

"Great," is about all she can come up with. "I'm being asked some awkward questions, but glad I can blame it on your all being adopted and not on demons or whatever the fuck."

"Ah. The proper authorities." He grimaces."And hospital personnel, yeah." Her chair creaks. It's uncomfortable and noisy, and not making this conversation any easier.

all you are

Helena Eagan & Helly R. - In a dream, Helly meets Helena.

r/severed

gen - Welcome to r/severed! This is a subreddit to discuss the experience of severance and provide advice and support to fellow severed people (and friends and family).

Dear and Beloved

Tang Fan/Wang Zhi - Wang Zhi and Tang Fan are a lot more candid in their letters to each other than they are in person. One thing leads to another, until they have no choice but to admit what they really want.

i genuinely love to hear your thoughts

Mr. Nobody | Man Inside Transistor/Red - Red’s cheeks feel warmer than before. She’s never shared unfinished material with anybody—not even Sybil. She’d always thought it would cast a curse, doom the song to die before its first breath. If it dies, she thinks in the quiet of her lonely apartment, then let it be with him.

The Dust They Leave Behind

Jeb Pyre/Bill Taba - When to move on, and what to take with you.

[ofbleedingink]

Songs to Scriptures

The man in front of him remained silent for a long time. Finally, with a mournful smile, he said,

“You haven’t changed at all, Mister Sandalwood, sir.”

Volfred, against his better knowledge of social manners, scoffed. “Oh, I very much hope I have. I was quite brash and foolhardy in my youth — and that was over a century ago.” Volfred froze. “One moment. Did you just say that we’ve met before?”

A strange man dressed all in gray asks Volfred some even stranger questions.

Link to the fanfic - it’s 3.5k of that sweet sweet reincarnation pining which was mostly written thanks to @laughingpinecone​’s encouragement. 

(Also check out that really cool promo graphic I got a friend to make - image description below the cut!)

The center of the graphic shows an open book in sepia tones; below, serif text says “Songs to Scriptures - a historic reunion.” Above the book, serif text says “(Oralech/)Tariq/Volfred; reincarnation, pining; post-canon; 3.5k, G”

[azurefishnets]

if you are still doing these, tariq + stolen kiss i forget the letter

I didn't forget and I'm still doing them! Just needed time to let this one percolate a little, so I hope the resulting brew works for you!

Send me character(s) and a letter and I’ll write you a minific!

Tariq's dreams of the time before he exiled himself to his tomb of wood and sand vary wildly. Sometimes he dreams of the stars, or the Scribes, or Vision he as their Will was meant carry out. He dreams of his failures so often that they go from vague nightmare to commonplace to merely absent in time.

He dreams of generations of Nightwings. They stare at him, pallid and cold as stone in the glaring heat of a noonday sun, but Tariq is a consummate performer and knows what to do with a stubborn audience. His fingers strum his lute softly, even in sleep, and within a few notes those former Nightwings and his other half’s glare are laid back to rest in the cool light of a moon-song.

Only three remain. Erisa. Oralech.

Volfred.

Erisa and Oralech turn away and into the dark, although Tariq tries to reach for Oralech’s raiments, but only Volfred is left, gleaming like white birch in the moonlight. Tariq, at this, knows his dream for the lie it is, and dives deep into the dream in which he and the blackwagon are buried, reaching for the night.

It is the other dreams of Volfred that are more beguiling. In them, Tariq rises gently from the dark loamy earth where Volfred has rooted himself, so different from the barren desert where Tariq himself is buried. He grows slowly, over time, germinating from seed to sprout to sapling to birch-white Sap, until root to crown, he is entangled within Sandalwood's embrace under a vast starry sky.

He can feel the stars’ music all along the material that makes him up, the way the Hundred-Mind must once have, and his eyes close in the sheer richness of feeling, so different from the star-pulse that normally stays pliant in his veins and under that close approximation of skin. When he opens his eyes again, this dream of Volfred has awoken, is watching him, so close they could breathe each other's breath if either breathed in the way of the Nomads, but the air is still between them.

Time stops. Thought stops. Music stops, and there is quiet in Tariq's head for the first time in his entire life as he leans forward and, just barely, brushes his lips over Volfred's.

He knows what he is stealing in this beating time, and it is more than a dream of a kiss. It is the Vision of aeons, the Scribes’ plans overridden by the loyalty he feels to their many-times removed descendant. It is not a Will’s job to belong to those who inherit what it bequeathes, and yet Tariq would willingly gift himself to their heir. Tariq does not know what to do with that thought. He’s not sure he ever truly thought for himself, before meeting the history professor and the doctor with dreams of reforming the world from the roots up.

The silence is deafening, and Tariq is suddenly awake, raising a hand from his lute for the first time in... many moons, he thinks. His fingers brush his lips. They feel like paper, dry and cool. They don’t feel like the warm wood he was dreaming of. He lowers his hands to his lute once more, plays the first few chords of a familiar tune… but no. It is not yet time for plans, certain or not. He must wait even yet, and see what the Plan holds for him.

He can feel Celeste’s fury, radiating from the furthest reaches of Alodiel. He turns his back on her again, ignoring her boiling hiss of futile outrage, and settles back into sleep, waiting for the day the last Nightwing’s dreams grow to fruition, waiting for the day when the Scribes’ Will is adeemed.

[exultedshores]

It’s Ti’zo who finds him.

They’ve been searching for days by now, trekking through the near waist-high snow gathered at the valley separating Mount Alodiel from whatever lies beyond. Tariq warned them not to cross the darkness; there is no telling what lurks in the plain where even the Scribes’ radiance does not reach, and they may very well be lost forever if they cannot return to the light of the stars.

Neither of them cares. They will not leave Oralech in this place.

[dotoro3]

commission for OfBleedingInk on twitter! this is for his pyre fic, which is still a w.i.p., but you can check out a snippet of it here!

[axeknee]

Completed Nightwings set, as promised.

[baejax-the-great]

Pyre Characters Ranked by Quality of Hug

Hedwyn. 10/10. His hugs prove to all he can be counted on in times of need. Gentle, plentiful, delivered with a smile, a perfect combination for getting your physical affection needs met in Hellish exile.

Jodariel. 9.5/10. The best hugger of the crew by far. Big, strong arms full of love, but it takes time before she’s willing to dole out what have to be the best hugs of the Downside, so points off for missed hug opportunities.

Moon-touched Girl. 9/10. In her enthusiasm, she threatens to knock you off your feet. One point deducted for danger.

Pamitha. 8/10. It takes some convincing to get Pamitha to hug, but it’s worth it for her smile. She’s a bit spiky, but overall being enveloped in her wings is very cozy and deeply worth it.  Eventually she stops accusing you of having ulterior motives.

Rukey. 8/10. He’s a wiggler.

Ti’zo. 6/10. A natural snuggler, Ti’zo’s size works against him. He can be hugged, but he is too small to effectually hug back. Every hug is still completely, entirely worth it, though. Retroactive 10/10.

Bertrude. 4/10. She’s not a hugger, which is a shame because under that cloak of hers she’s hiding some completely jacked arms.

Volfred. 3/10. Beneath his cold, hard exterior beats a warm and revolutionary heart. Unfortunately, the exterior is the part that counts in hugging, and his bark is a little scratchy.

Sir Gilman. 2/10. His height and complete lack of arms puts him at an unfortunate disadvantage. Upon receiving his marks, he dedicates the rest of his life to improving his hugs. It doesn’t work, obviously, but the effort is appreciated.

Tariq. 2/10. He’s just not interested in touching something that isn’t an instrument. Also he’s uncommonly cold and smells a bit weird.

Sandra. 1/10. Okay technically she can’t hug you in any real, physical, tangible way, and mentally she would never admit to wanting to give you a hug, but those deep moments of quiet understanding between you come pretty close.

The Voice. 0/10. Man, fuck that guy.  

[tuinendraws]

This was originally meant to be part of the SSG secret santa project, but then the recipient of the gift dropped out of the project and I got a new gift recipient. I figured I might as well finish this drawing now.

[raynewton]

After Volfred joins the Nightwings, Oralech learns to read

Tariq: Master Doctor, isn't it time for bed? The pre-dawn watch is coming up.

Oralech: Sandalwood said: from the first word to the last. And I'll show him what a graduate of the Physician School is worth! Let the wood bookworm choke on that Book of his!

Tariq: I daresay Master Reader didn't intend to test you. If you have a problem, just tell him, he'll take it into consideration.

Oralech: No way! I'm not groveling in front of that pompous sap who thinks I'm a foolish child! Enough, Tariq, I've got work to do!

Tariq: Master Reader, I'm very sorry to interrupt your nightly meditation, but could you ask Oralech to temper his... thirst for knowledge? He still hasn't gone to bed.

Volfred: I can't figure out what his problem is. A simple text, only eight chapters, a preface and the rules of the Rites. Perhaps I overestimated the thinking abilities of the nomads. Tariq, I've already put down roots, I give you Reader's permission to put Oralech to bed in an orderly fashion.

Tariq: Master Doc... tor...

Oralech: *sleeping on the Book*

Tariq: I believe the Reader's permission allows me to move the Triumvirate member to his sleeping place.

Volfred: I suggest you see if your nightly vigil over the Book has borne fruit.

Oralech: Oh, please! I can start anywhere in this Book of yours!

Volfred: All right, then. Please read "Indigenous Imps" from the Jomuer chapter.

Oralech: Nothing to it! Special mention must be given to the Downside's most prolific native creature, which we call the Imp. With all respects to our comrade, Ha'ub...

Volfred: Excuse me, where's the Book?

Oralech: I put it in the stack, back where I got it.

Volfred: You memorized the Book by heart?!

Oralech: From the first word to the last. When we were told that at the Physician School, we had to memorize everything. But here I have to understand what's scribbled down first.

Volfred: May Lu Hundred-Minds have mercy...

[paulnewmanlover]

pyre update: sent my big strong wife to freedom so she could look out for our ginger son, added snake grandma to the family, and met oralech, whose design and theme song are so fuckin cool I can't even come up with a funny nickname for him yet its just 😍😍😍 right now

[laughingpinecone]

Candy hearts exchange 2024 letter

AO3: laughingpineapple (double-checked a-ok for treats as per the recent AO3 update blah blah)

Hello and thank you for writing for me! I hope you’ll have a great time playing with one of these wonderful canons!

I love a wide variety of fics - from the most delicate gen to explicit, any tense, any format, big yes to all kinds of weird experiments up to and including interactive fiction. In general, I love canon expansion (showing new places in the setting or exploring those that are barely mentioned, just outside the borders, and ditto with events), character work of all stripes (expanding on little quirks, putting characters in situations that complement/challenge certain personality traits of theirs, just... observing these weirdos as they live their lives, for better and for worse), magical realism and adjacent approaches. I eat up emotional moments with a spoon when a fic is character-centric (danger! catharsis! hurt/comfort! the nitty-gritty of attraction!) and also love abstract stuff that is not character-centric at all: fake academia, a wider focus, inhuman povs, anything goes.

For both romance and friendships, I love it when it’s clear (not necessarily to the characters themselves, but to the narrative) what they like about each other, how they get along, if and how they trust each other, what’s annoying but worth it, what flaws of the other are they or are they not well equipped to handle... The specificity of each dynamic! I also love it when the characters are very into something that makes sense for them, be it a hobby or a kink or whatever, even if it’s something I may not personally care for.

For art, I love when characters are doing something. I much prefer a simple illustration of a moment in their lives (basic examples: sharing coffee, walking together) to a more ornate symbolic illustration like eg a tarot reimagining.

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children,  pregnancies, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents and paired-up OC randos are okay!), canon retellings  

GHOST TRICK

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: Jowd navigating the "whoops turns out I'm bi" part of the whole thing is always fun Alma/Jowd: what's their dynamic, exactly? I'm open to many possibilities, for example an Alma who's just as much of a cosmic pessimist as her esteemed husband! Cabanela & Pigeon Man: unexpected intergenerational friendship of my heart, Cabs is A Lot and Pigeon Man expertly wrangles him. Guess he’s good with birds Cabanela/Jowd: please let them be intensely ridiculous about their attraction Emma & Jowd: double menace pls Jowd & Pigeon Man: what sparked PM's unshakeable devotion toward Jowd? Alma/Cabanela: fashion! and legs! Clothes swap? Some time on their own?

PYRE

Bertrude/Pam: they get each other quietly… anything based on their paired ending, especially Downside? Ignarius & Oralech: I’d just like to weaponize Iggy’s fascination for big survivor demons and point it at an unsuspecting Oralech, for fun Oralech/Tariq: beyond the Scribes' vision… Oralech/Volfred: Downside reunion! How do you let go of all that mis-aimed anger AND mourning? Volfred & Pam: here's a guy who's very pragmatic about reaching his idealistic goals, and a gal who's a trained agent. Or maybe just two teammates after a rite. Volfred/Tariq: Tariq's small attempts at defiance?

DISCO ELYSIUM

Call Me Mañana & Steban: that time when Steban tried to talk Mañana into joining the group and it sounded like he was hitting on him (at least according to Harry, who is, on occasion, an uncannily accurate judge for this sort of thing) was fun! What about a second meeting between them, or would Steban be willing to just sit next to him and talk? DJ Flacio & DJ Mesh & Kim: I just want Kim to meet his loud, vulgar, communist-leaning (according to one line in reply to Harry, at least) heroes. Maybe after he got his shout-out? (Harry and Kim/Harry welcome if you want) Liz/Cindy: Things got very real very fast for Liz at the tribunal, can actual gang member Cindy help her through it or make things worse? Dros & Nilsen: bitter, cancelled old codgers, how unpleasant could they get? I like to picture Nilsen's ghost bothering assorted leftists in the game and Dros could do with the company… Uli/Steban: a Wirrâl session turning intensely homoerotically charged? Anything else turning intensely homoerotically charged (looking at the canon slap, it's kind of what they do)? What Mazov/Nilsen parallel do they see in themselves?

SACRED AND TERRIBLE AIR

Khan & Nilsen: as one of Elysium's famous disappearances (as per a stray line by Lilienne in the game), Nilsen should by all means be part of Khan's special interest. Khan who, for his part, dresses as a dialectical materialist, so did he like what he was reading about Elysium's Most Cancelled? Khan & Tereesz & Jesper: any exploration of their strange, frayed friendship, the ways in which they care for each other, their breaking points, how they're all called to the void… Khan & Zigi: does Khan find him, at the end of the world? Or is Zigi forever out of reach, beyond even the totality of the pale? Or does Khan manage to reach Rodionov's Trench at last, in dreams or otherwise? Mazov/Nilsen: they held hands… any exploration of any part of their lives (first meeting? Nilsen's return from his feral hut era? Reunion in the pale?) and their beliefs and their opposite responses to defeat? Lund sisters & Rodionov: party at the heart of the pale! Tereesz & Frantiček the Brave: echoes, archetypes, feeling the weight of dead revolutionaries and joining the ICP, the same story happening again, once as tragedy twice as farce… Zigi & Nilsen: ngl I need seven seasons and a movie of these two. The dialectical angle is great, the embodiment of the core dialogue between communism and nihilism, the imaginary frenemy angle is great, the ghost story is great, the concerning amount of applicable Breaking Bad memes is also great, and so on…

FULL CORE STATE NIHILIST

Esteban/Hulio: political posturing and transgressiveness bleeding in and out of actual queerness. Any exploration of nihilist, petrofascist Innocentic seat and global superpower Mesque is welcome, as well as the characters' approach to nihilism vis-à-vis Ambrosius'!

PENTIMENT

Gnaziu/Baltas: I love Baltas' whole thing and seriously what is UP with Gnaziu. I thought I'd missed some plot but he's just… hanging out there? How does he spent his days over at Baltas', in this little village so far away from home… Magdalene & Andreas: post-canon letters, maybe even a collaboration on some book to print? Otto & Ulrich: they were my act 2 faves and I just think they're neat? ;^; to Tassing's martyrs, to their kindness…

[stemmmm]

volfriq! from pyre! for @kamil-a / @jodaaariel

commission info   ko-fi   patreon

[ofbleedingink]

2021 Fanfic Meme

Tagged by @samcybercat!

Published wordcount for the year: 63,252

Written wordcount for the year: 90,000-100,000

(About 20k were pre-written in 2020 still, so I had to subtract those from the “Published Wordcount” first.)

Holy shit that is actually a LOT. Goddamn. And I’m not counting all my college essays.

Number of stories posted to AO3: 21

Pairings written for — fics are linked where possible: 

Ares/Athena (unpublished)

Aphrodite/Ares

Aphrodite/Ares/Dionysus

Ares/Reader

Ares/Thanatos

Ares/Zagreus (unpublished)

Achilles/Patroclus

Achilles/Patroclus/Zagreus

Hermes/Aphrodite et al.

Hedwyn/The Reader

Tariq/Volfred with background Oralech/Volfred (unpublished)

Volfred/The Reader (unpublished)

Hedwyn/Tariq + Hedwyn/Tariq/Volfred (unpublished — link leads to tumblr post with excerpts)

Dimitri/Claude (unfinished)

Sylvix (background, focus on Hilda&Felix + Glennst)

Fandoms I wrote for: Hades (+ Greek Mythology & Lore), Pyre, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Most popular story: Definitely Delight, Agony, and Everything in Between (the Hermes/Aphrodite et al. linked above) — it’s 6 horny snippets corresponding to many different popular tags on AO3. 

Story I’m most proud of: Honestly? Life’s final cruelty is pretty good, and I still like the premise: a canon-divergent AU in which Achilles dies first and Patroclus has to live on.

It ‘s the longest fic to date that I’ve finished (though not the longest that I’ve written), my writing style developed into a more elegant and flourished type, and it was just very enjoyable to outline and then write from start to finish. It also has gorgeous art.

Funniest: You know what. You know what? I’ll list my Ares/Reader smut fic for that (light the match to taste the heat). It’s so incredibly, embarrassingly self-indulgent that I’m just going to reframe that embarrassment into pride and self-aware amusement! #HadesSuits had been going on and who am I if not a whore for well-dressed men. So yeah, nice job, me, for persevering and writing that 4.4k of office sex. :D

Kinkiest: Also the one above. I don’t write a lot of sex. Alternatively, the unpublished and unfinished Volfred/The Reader one. I HAVE A TYPE AND IT’S BAD

Saddest: Either Life’s final cruelty (see above), or the unpublished and unfinished Hedwyn/Tariq/Volfred fic, currently clocking in at 27k.

Least popular: So technically that should be A freshly-baked friendship, which is a short 400-word poem about Ingrid and Claude trying to bake together. However, that was still written in 2020, so I’ll throw Penance in there as well, which is a hastily-made translation from a Russian Sandra-centric Pyre fic. It’s a smol fandom over here.

Most cringe-worthy: The exposing self-indulgence of my smut has already been elaborated on and shall therefore not be reaffirmed. We don’t do cringe in this house (though it does live underneath the floorboards and I’m trying to exorcise it).

Favorite opening lines: Ooooh. Either “It’s Charon that tips him off.” from the ThanAres fic (lank) or “When they bring in Achilles’ body, Patroclus doesn’t cry.” from the afore-mentioned Life’s final cruelty (lank) - technically not the first line, but the opening line of the plot and everything before that is technically a prologue.

Favorite closing lines: Bold of you to assume I remember my closing lines. But I think “Well, then… tell me more about those other dragons. Do all of them talk as sweetly as you?” from The Princess And Her Dragon should count! I do still love that story with transfem “kidnapped” princess Aphrodite and loving dragon Ares. It was a good fairy tale.

Top Scenes from Anywhere You Would Choose to Have Illustrated (TM): Bro. I just. The Hedwyn/Tariq. They kiss. And.  I want that as a comic page so bad. But it’s not even published but,,,,, they TT-TT

Story I haven’t yet written, but intend to: Part three of the unpublished Hedwyn/Tariq/Volfred. The idea is slowly taking shape in my head, so that’s really good. And actually, that is also my...

Fic-writing goal for 2022: I want to keep working on that fic! It’s been giving me a lot of joy and I can’t wait to have that one finished. Once it’s done (and I mean done-done, edits and proofreads and all), printing that would be cool just to have a copy of it on my bookshelf. Also, I do have commissions open, so if there’s something you want to see me write, you know what to do!

Not tagging anyone on paper but you are tagged in my thoughts <3 so there you go