#nikartoirel

[redwayfarers]

Radiant

[redwayfarers]

How it started -> how it progresses -> how it's going

Hey... hey anyone with wolships or other FFXIV ships (since I know not everyone's characters are WoL).

Show me your "How it started // How it's going" can be gpose, art, writing. I just want to know about your ffxiv ships. Can be OCxOC, OCxNPC, Polyships, multiships, or anything else I didn't account for.

[i-mybrunettelady]

20 questions for 20 writers

i was tagged by @accidentallyadorable, ty for the tag friend <3

tagging: @archesa, @thevikingwoman, @scionshtola, @antariies, @anneapocalypse, @ghostwise and whoever sees this and wants to participate <3

q1. how many works do you have on ao3?

i don't post all my work on ao3, but on ao3 alone, 28!

q2. what fandoms do you write for?

guild wars 2, wayfarer, ffxiv, blood moon, infamous, the exile <3

q3. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

tales of the red wayfarer - a cassander character study

overflowing - intellis pining

somewhere after midnight - cassmel post-sex cuddling and pillow talk

ties that sever, ties that bind - an inteus family study, currently being finished

songweaver - more intellis pining (all wayfarer works lmao)

q4. do you respond to comments?

always! they're few and far between so i make sure i do <3

q5. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hard to say... i write angst, but i write hurt/comfort, so like. by that alone it's ties that sever because cass cries by the end of each one and is very much alone so like. ties that sever??? bonus points go for scenes of an arson site also.

extra bonus points go to on theokleia, my mother which is a part of the ties that sever series, but a piece that haunts me to this day.

q6. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hm.. ones that gives me budging hopes are a flickering light, or a tale of two survivors (ffxiv) and my future will listen to me! i'm really fond of the endings of these two even if they're not typically... happy. i have happier endings but these two seem a different kind of happy to me. a wistful, hopeful happy as opposed to a typical happy.

q7. do you get hate on fics?

so far no and i hope it stays that way. i only recently hot my first hate ask lmaoooo

q8. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

yes! i write for.. pairings, moreso than one type. so far i mostly have mlm smut, and that's because they're cassander pairings and he is a bisexual/achillean dude, but i do want to write wlw smut if the inspo strikes, and i do wanna write some het scenes i have in my head (namely a crossover that's nyra/estinien atm tbh. i also wanna write nyra/mirka for that wlw stuff.)

i also have a nyra solo i'm very proud of :>

q9. do you write crossovers?

i wrote a wayfarer/ffxiv crossover (a flickering light), and i wanna write a gw2/ffxiv crossover (nyra and estinien!) i also wrote a wayfarer/gw2 crossover with mordrem!cassander (a story of how (not) to be a big head)

other than that i rarely write crossovers tbh

q10. have you ever had a fic stolen?

girl no god forbid :xxxx

q11. have you ever co-written a fic before?

a long time ago, yes, with @guildwarsgirl! it was a braham shippy one, and i wrote for braham <3

q12. what's your all-time favorite ship?

honest to god? i got a few ships i cherish and keep near and dear to my heart: cassmel (cassander and melchior, wayfarer), trammander (nyra and trahearne, gw2), elion (el and liv, gw2) and angelina and farro from blood moon! i may not write about all of them equally but i do cherish them deeply

q13. what's one WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i do have certain series i wanna finish, such as my nikartoirel apology trilogy, called trials and tribulations - parts 1 and two are out - and ties that sever <3 when ffxiv brainrot comes back, i'll probably finish the nikartoirel apology series.

one other thing i wanna finish but it's not high on my to-do list is nikartoirel bridgerton au <3 gotta love regency husbands

q14. what are your writing strengths?

character voice! on god i love character voice so much and it shows.

q15. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i technically am since english is my second language! so yeah, full speed ahead

q16.first fandom you wrote for?

gw2 baybee <3 back in 2021. my first fic was actually trammander <3

q17. favorite fic you've written?

please don't ask me that ;; but between us... my future will listen to me, ties that sever, ties that bind, say hi to yourself, scenes of an arson site, a gravitational pull !

q18. what are your writing weaknesses?

fighting scenes hands down

q19. have you ever had a fic translated?

not yet but if anyone wants to.. i owe you my LIFE,, i could also tecnically do it but translating your own work is hard as fuck

[redwayfarers]

scarcely can speak for my thinkin'

ffxiv. wol/artoirel de fortemps. genderbend. set post stb. no spoilers. mature, 1k words. n.b genderbent artoirel was heavily inspired by this artwork by @eemamminy-art. ty for putting this bug in my head cass!

Nika thinks all of this is fucking weird. 

The mirror stands still, an axis upon which his mind twists and turns at random. His reflection moves with him and highlights the weirdness of the whole thing. Orchestrion plays a weirdly classy tune, Artoirelle’s work (with Nika’s added commentary, he thinks proudly) and that too offsets Nika’s desire to laugh at the whole situation. 

A situation that he himself chose to be in, mind. Now that’s the funniest thing of all. 

“You look good in them,” Artoirelle says, lounged at a chaise nearby. The orchestrion plays softly still. 

Nika frowns at his own reflection. “Really? I think I look dumb.” 

“It is pleasurable to you, yes?” She gives him one of her small, yet wolfish smiles. “Then it does not make you look dumb.” 

“You’re just into it.” 

“I will not force you to wear them if you dislike them,” she simply says. Nika turns to her and watches shadows play on her face, the soft fall of her dark hair, the contrast between the collar of her shirt and the messy strands on it. “This is all on you, Nika.” 

“I hate you,” he whispers and puts his hands on his hips. The offensive material rubs against his knuckles. She laughs. 

The lacy lingerie feels rich, expensive and exquisite. That’s what you get when you marry a Countess; you express one fucking fantasy one night, just the one, and suddenly you find yourself with a pair of white lingerie and stockings in your room. All discreetly packaged, delivered with a note in your wife’s stupidly fancy script. 

Okay, white does suit him. He even went as far as to add some pearl earrings and unearth his flowery perfume. So now, like a stupid doll, he keeps staring at his reflection, the scars and wiry, dark hairs on his body, the softness of his belly hanging out a little, the broadness of his shoulders and arms. 

And the worst part is that he likes it.

Artoirelle likes it too, judging by the way she looks at him. Her gaze lingers on the line of his ass and he laughs, but it sounds a little too awkward. Better laughing than squirming in place, he reasons. He may have fucked up, however, because she stands up and rolls her neck lazily. Nika swallows at the sight of her neck, long, pale and entirely too markable, but he isn’t allowed to relish in the moment. 

“Something’s funny?” she asks, but there’s steel to her voice. 

“Only me,” he mutters, dropping his hands to his sides. “I just–” 

She comes to stand near him; if he only dared move his hand, he could touch her. He can see the creases on her shirt this close, deep V of her shirt that falls lower than she normally wears. He knows that shirt, he loves that shirt. She borrowed it from him. It’s too short and too wide for her elezen self, but she wears it well. Nika gives a smile, private and vulnerable, at the gesture. 

Artoirelle knows, however. She’s always been attentive, always straightforward and never overt, mindful of perceptions of others. His is the only perception she cares about tonight, just as hers is the only perception he cares about. He doesn’t bother suppressing a thrill. 

“It should be me in that shirt and you in lingerie,” he says quietly. “It’s how other couples do it, right? It’s how it’s done? And yet, we dress up in reverse.” 

Her heels echo strongly, like a bell, against the marble floor. She’s a warm and long pressure behind him, and she drapes a hand over his shoulder. “What is done is me marrying an Ishgardian nobleman,” she says, leaning down. Her eyes are wide and impossibly blue this close. She smells like cologne. “And did that happen?” She drags their wedding band against his cheek. 

Nika giggles. For fuck’s sake. 

“Halone supports it,” Nika says, half to make a joke, and half to convince himself. He isn’t sure Halone is real, but it’s good enough for her, right?

“Halone supports it,” Artoirelle whispers solemnly. Nika laughs. She takes a chance to sneak her hands around his waist and pull him closer; he doesn’t even have a chance to react before she’s kissing him, letting her hands roam his exposed body. He doesn’t even have a chance to think about how fucking weird and strange it is for them to be this into it. 

He moans a little into her mouth when her hand finds a nipple and rolls it between her fingers. She parts their lips for air, but he can feel her breath on his cheeks. She’s always been this type of demonstrative person, and it’s a language Nika understands well. The fact she speaks it too is why he married her. 

It feels so fucking weird to say he’s married, and married to the most striking woman he’s ever seen. And that she likes him in coats and suits just as much as she likes him in lingerie and pearl earrings. 

“Don’t overthink it,” she breathes out, looking into his eyes. He can’t look away. “Come to the chaise and don’t overthink it.” She then sticks her tongue out to lick at his scar. Nika huffs and then yelps when she picks him up and carries him over to the chaise. 

He has more than enough time to blush from ear to ear and thank Halone or whoever the fuck that it doesn’t show that much. 

“Don’t overthink it,” she repeats when she sits down and he’s sitting in her lap. Rich people business, he thinks fondly, and then she kisses him again. Her hands land on his ass and she holds him there, feeling the lace under her fingers. He wraps his arms around her neck and kisses her, buries his hands in her hair, and it feels right, somehow, transgressive yet so right, to be here, with her, where his head can’t catch up. 

And maybe that’s half the thrill, he realises as their tongues meet. The transgression, the safety, the trust because– fuck, he trusts her, he trusts her strong arms, her stalwart soul. Here, it is uncomfortable but safe. 

Deep down, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He isn’t ready to say it yet, and the knowledge will crush him later, but it’s there, it’s singing. So he settles. 

It’s the best feeling in the world. 

[redwayfarers]

There's something increasingly romantic about windows

[redwayfarers]

You're riot dancin', but I just wanna fly

[redwayfarers]

Belle, n’aie peur de cela, Partout où sera ta demeure, Mon ciel, jusqu’à tant que je meure, Et mon paradis sera là. - Baiser, Joachim du Bellay (1542)

one year of nikartoirel <3

[redwayfarers]

i will never get over the fact that the first time nika fully enjoys sex as a pair bonding activity so to speak - and the first time he laughs during sex! this is key - is with artoirel

what do you mean he finally got to experience joys of a caring and tender and loving sex life, with someone he deeply loves and cares for in return....

nika & his relationship with sex will never not make me emo

[redwayfarers]

one of my like, big romantic gesture nikartoirel ideas has been artoirel playing the piano and nika singing to the melody... music is truly their thing, their shared passion... artoirel being the only person nika trusts to correct and/or give opinion on what he writes, and to make suggestions...

if there is a piano somewhere in the game i will pose this but rn it's in my head only

[redwayfarers]

My thriller scandal, take a bite, you know my favorite part

[redwayfarers]

updated husbands

[redwayfarers]

happy monday, here's nikartoirel in the royal menagerie <3

[redwayfarers]

How easy do you find it to write romantic (or sexual) dialogue for your OC? If they are in a relationship with a canon character then how difficult is it to keep these interactions faithful to their established character and communication style?

hi! ty for dropping by! <3 since you didn't specify a dude i will do both of them!! @ubejamjar asked the same thing so here's the reply, with receipts like a true lit graduate :>

for both nika and cass, it's a funny thing. they are both kinda inexperienced in varying degrees, so it shows in their dialogue! but they do it in different ways. i will focus on sexual dialogue here, because romantic one could take forever, especially for cass! nika has one (1) romantic admission in comparison lmao

cassander makes sexual jokes and innuendos all the fucking time, but for strictly funsies purposes; he can't admit to himself that he likes calling his partner daddy in bed directly, so he has to mock it, like a brat he is. here are a few examples from my fic just desserts:

“You’re too old for that. Seen too much. I think I just make it juicier. More acerbic. I’m bittering this old lemon again.” I shake my head and laugh. “Or a blueberry? Are blueberries acerbic? Hold on, I have to google that now.” I look around to where my phone is, but end up hitting my cheekbone into his temple. He is a warm pressure against my back, and his hands are sliding up and down my sides. “I do think this particular blueberry has a case of… blue balls.” Pause. “Please don’t laugh at that. It’ll shame us both.”    (...) Mel shakes with laughter. “You’re a delight, Cassander,” he says between laughs, and warmth spreads all over my chest. Some days I can hardly believe my luck that I met the two of them, and that we’d be here, living together, cracking silly jokes in what feels like domestic bliss. Not that I have anything to compare it to, but still. Then, Mel’s voice goes low, though still chipper. “Do you know how you’d be an even more of a delight?”  It makes me swallow. “Tasting the blueberry?”  “Hmm, not quite yet. I don’t think you’ve been a good enough boy for that, with all your offenses against language in the last 20 minutes.”  I fight the urge to squirm. “You’re really not holding back, huh,” I whisper and he kisses my cheek. His hand slides to my belly and promises to dip lower, but doesn’t. I look down to where his fingers are toying with my shirt. “So, however will I atone for my sins, Daddy ?” I know, I know, I shouldn’t sound so derisive about it, but it comes out as a half-mocking. Oops. 

nor can he directly admit he's extremely virginal in his exile au and in yet another fic, two snakes, one bed:

On my end of things, I’m jelly. I’m boneless. Bonerless and boneless. I can hardly control my breathing and I don’t dare open my eyes. I just came like a fucking teenager. From a simple handjob. Embarrassment settles in and brings out its daily newspaper. There’s something fragile inside my chest that can’t withstand looking at him as he laughs. I can already feel my eyes watering.  I close my legs and turn to the side. “I haven’t,” I whisper. I can feel his eyes bore into my back.  “Never?” He sounds flabbergasted.  “Never. Zero fucking experience. I led armies and could turn into a giant snake but I never had sex. Only me and my good old pal, the hand.” I’m just digging my grave further at this point, but I don’t care. It hardly matters anymore. He’ll mock me regardless. Any second now. 

this is fairly easy to write - as it is close to my own way of talking sometimes - but it is charming in that he's extreme about it, even in his narration, which is always a treat to write for me :> i like pairing him with more experienced people for that reason, so his inexperience stands out. it isn't terribly difficult for me to write those interactions, if i'm in a mood for writing a smutfic, because most of my ocs end up in relationships where their respective communication styles play off nicely with their partner's!

nika on the other hand doesn't have the witty spirit that cass does, and his whole thing is denial about his own feelings, a lot of his sexuality too, even more than simple fact that he's bisexual. his overall communication style is very obtuse and confusing, and he rarely says what he truly means in this very direct way, and even when he does say it, it comes out well and truly.. weird. he is emotionally constipated after all, and very much full of shame. here are some examples of what i mean, from my fics (you) restless son and how unreasonably in love i am with (everything) you (do):

“Do I have something on my… throat?” Artoirel asks, confused, red in the face, and Nika looks at the glass in his hand.  “No,” he says and rubs the side of his neck. “I just think you look better without the cravat.”  “Such are the fashions of Ishgard, Nika.”  “Fuck the fashions of Ishgard, Artoirel.” Nika looks at his own shirt, open at the front, and the length of his white boots. Artoirel follows suit; his eyes linger on the exposed skin of Nika’s chest. “Some of them, anyway.”  “Not all of us can make that shirt look good,” Artoirel comments quietly. “You and Lord Stephanivien, perhaps. As for myself? The cravates are that much presentable.” “Bah, you’re too prim and proper.” Nika puts a foot down. The heels echo in the otherwise silent room like a battle trumpet. It may be the drink he’s had, but his next words come out offensively shamelessly. “I like the way your collarbones look.”  (...) “Let’s go play the piano,” Nika says. His voice is gruff, stuffed to the brim with need and anger and yearning and the drunkenness of the whiskey and the warmth of Artoirel’s skin. “Let’s go play the fucking piano or I’m pinning you down on these overpriced floor covers.” 

“You’re doing it again,” Nika says. “Looking at me so intensely. Like I’m.. Like you’re in love with me, or something.” He laughs, awkwardly. “Are you in love with me, Artoirel?”  Artoirel purses his lips and looks away. He stands up and runs a finger over the surface of the desk. “I am fond of you, yes. That much is obvious.”  “Being fond and being in love are two completely different things!” Nika puts his cup down on the windowsill and rubs his face. “Artoirel, I.. You are not like everyone else. You are dear to me, and I care for you, and–” He takes a deep breath. “I care for you more than I should. And twelve help me, everything else I’ve done feels like– fucking foreplay for the main thing. Which is–” Nika waves his hands around. “All of this.” 

nika and artoirel are a joy to write together because of their very kinds of communication vibes - artoirel being prim and proper, nika being very direct and downright rude, neither saying what they mean but saying it directly anyway. i often joke that they could talk for each other in therapy because of this, and they absolutely could. it sometimes feels like they're the only person who ever understands what the other guy is trying to say :>

[redwayfarers]

Halone approved hand holding

[redwayfarers]

found an outtake for my suggestive nikartoirel shot

[redwayfarers]

Deep in Nikartoirel feels today. Nika and his tall, knightly, princely masc wife..

The story would read differently in this case but no less interestingly