#i want a trebuchet

[lauronk]

Springald and idk what that is but I am mad jealous of the October babies with their trebuchet

[cephalopodsquad]

[ukulelegodparent]

It is truly terrible to work at a festival where you don't really listen to the music there. Like I'm at this huge goth festival rn and my goth friends when I told them were quite jealous but truly all I can say about it is like. The market I was supposed to go to this weekend has a working trebuchet and really you cannot compete with that

[miodiodavinci]

woughh,,,,, busy,,,,,,,,,

[darewolfcreates]

pov your getting a child launched at you

[call-me-strega]

Dc x DP Prompt #8: Best Friend’s Brother

Preface: this prompt can be used with different characters but I’m writing it as Dead on Main bc that’s my favorite. Also the colleges I mention are real colleges from the DCU

~~~

Danny Fenton was 18 when he moved to Gotham for college.

It was the only place with a half decent engineering program that would take a kid with his record; drop in grades, unexplained absences, missing class, a disciplinary record, etc. Plus there was a decent saturation of both magic and ectoplasm in Gotham’s air. After he got accepted he decided to tell his parents he was Phantom. They reacted surprisingly well all things considered. They were horrified to learn they’d been hunting their son but it quickly turned into acceptance to listen to what he had to tell them. Now they turned their obsession from hunting ghosts to learning more about ghost more humanely. He also managed to get his former rouges to agree to call off any major shenanigans in favor of less destructive outlets. (He got Ember a TikTok and a YouTube channel, he set up a drag racing circuit in the realms for Johnny and Kitty, let Technus enter the internet as long as he stayed within Amity’s grid or help Ember manage her stuff, allowed Desiree grant wishes for Make a Wish Foundation kids so long as she didn’t horribly twist them, etc.)

Now with the town not at constant risk of danger and his parents agreeing to really handle any rouge ghosts, Danny could leave Amity with a clear conscience. His friends were also growing up and heading to their own colleges. Tucker was heading to Ivy University in New England, which rivaled MIT in terms technological prestige, and Sam decided on Vandermeer University in Pittsburg, which had a reputation for being a very liberal, anti-authority campus. Although their trio would be spread out, Danny found comfort in the fact that they’d all moved from the Midwest to the Northeast.

With promises to stay in touch a visit. Danny got set up in GCU’s dorms, ready to move into the next chapter of his life.

~

Danny Fenton was 20 when Tim Drake (age 19 but nearing 20) officially became one of his best friends.

They had been introduced to each other by their mutual friend Sebastian Ives for a new Warlocks and Warriors campaign. Their friendship extended beyond WnW when they ended up on the same Applied Physics and Mechanics class. It was cemented when they got pair up for a project in class and had to spend lots of time around each other.

Danny didn’t mind that Tim tended to be a bit flaky and Tim didn’t mind that Danny was possibly not 100% human. They didn’t ask each other too many questions about that stuff. They knew the other had something odd about him and that was fine with them. It was nice to have a causal friend they could be normal with, without being questioned about their more peculiar behaviors.

They officially became best friends when the built a Rube Goldberg machine with a working trebuchet within an hour of the three they had to complete it for their Applied Phys-Mech final. Danny introduced Tim to Sam, Tucker and Jazz. Tim introduced him to Steph, Tam, and Cass. They texted and hung out fairly often. They truly did consider each other one their best friends.

~

Danny Fenton is 22 when he meets Tim’s family.

Tim’s 21st birthday is coming up and he has plans with his family the day of and is going out with his friends, including a couple from out of town, that night. They want to take him out for his first drink and it’s fortunate timing since it’s the weekend so nobody has to worry about classes. Everyone who was going was already informed that Tim would be spending most of the day with his family before Steph and Cass would bring to the club everyone was meeting up at. Which is why it’s purely a coincidence when he runs into them at BatBurger during the lunch rush.

Danny had just picked up the part-time job to earn a little extra cash to pay for his hobbies. Tim new about it but didn’t know the exact location he worked. That’s why they were both presently surprised when they heard each others voices in the drive through. When they pulled up to window Danny saw his friend leaning over a tired looking black-haired man, trying to stick his head out of the drivers window to give Danny a maniacal grin.

He quickly introduced the other passengers of the car as his dad, Bruce, and three of his brothers Dick, Jason, and Duke. He mentioned he had a fourth brother, Damian, who was still at home. Danny couldn’t really see everyone all that well on account of they were inside a car but he happily greeted them as well. They laughed and Danny wished Tim a happy birthday saying he’d see him at his celebration later tonight before handing them their food. He could the rowdy boys ribbing their brother as the car drove away and Danny resumed his work.

That incident seemed to have opened a gate because now Tim felt more comfortable inviting him over when his brothers were still around the house. He occasionally talked about his family more and Danny returned the favor letting snippets of his own family spill a little more. Occasionally, he’d see Tim’s family outside of his interactions with Tim.

He’d run into Damian, and sometimes Bruce or Dick was with him, at the museum or in the park while the younger had been walking his dog and stopped to say hi a couple of times. He chatted with Dick a couple of times when they were both in line to get coffee at a cafe. He saw Duke on a college tour once and waved at him.

The family member he probably saw the most other that Tim (and by extension Cass) was actually Jason. He’d ended up ditching BatBurger to get some more practical experience at an apprenticeship at the auto shop Jason went to to get his motorcycle serviced. The two of them got along pretty well and would often make conversation when Jason was waiting on his bike to be ready or to get his bill.

At first is was small talk about little things like how he and Tim were doing in class or how their days were going but they soon grew to have genuine interests in each other. Jason let Danny talk about space and mechanics and even gave his own thoughts sometimes, once helping Danny realize he was over complicating the circuit board of the device he was building. In return Danny let Jason ramble to him about literature, even taking the initiative to read a book Jason mentioned so he could talk to him about it better. Their conversation tended to be on the briefer side but were always enjoyable to both parties.

Danny actually liked being around Jason a lot but didn’t really bring that fact up a lot around Tim as it didn’t seem necessary. Tim was pretty glad that Danny got along with his family but he preferred to keep them in separate places in his mind. Danny knew and respected that, only really mentioning that he’d seen them recently and that they’d told him to say hi on their behalf (or die in Damian’s case occasionally).

~

Tim Drake was 22 when he came to a horrific realization.

Well, perhaps horrific was a bit of an exaggeration. Tim wasn’t necessarily horrified by the revelation. In all honesty he didn’t know how to feel. He felt an odd mixture of protectiveness, possessiveness, confusion, and optimism(?).

You see, Tim and Danny had been hanging out in the campus center, studying and goofing off when he got a text from Jason saying he was coming to pick him up for family dinner at the manor since he was closest and Dick was busy picking up Duke and Damian from their after school clubs.

“What’s up?” Danny asked him curiously.

Tim set his phone on the table and started putting his stuff away. “My brother is coming to pick me up for family dinner so I gotta head out soon.”

“Ah well I should probably get going too. Tell Dick I said hi.”

“Actually, it’s Jason. Dick is picking up Duke and Damian,” he said shoving his textbook into his bag.

“Oh? That’s nice of him. Hey do you wanna just head out together?” Danny asked, fidgeting with his hoodie strings.

Tim noticed a slight strain in Danny’s voice at the mention of Jason but didn’t comment. He just nodded his head sure and walked outside with Danny. They got out to the street when Tim realized he’d left his phone in the library. He faced palmed and asked Danny if he could hold his stuff so it wouldn’t slow him down as he ran back to the campus center to get his phone. Danny agreed to and hold his stuff and wait for Jason while Tim went back.

After getting his phone Tim started heading back to where he left Danny when he saw that Jason had arrived that Jason had arrived and was talking to Danny. He was about to call out to them when he noticed several things in quick succession. Danny was fidgeting with his hoodie, something he tended to do when nervous. The tips of Danny’s ears were a light shade of pink (it isn’t cold out yet?). Danny looked deeply absorbed in his conversation with Jason in a way that reminded Tim of how he talked about space. And Jason seemed just as absorbed in the conversation as well.

The gears in Tim’s head went into overdrive and he realized ‘Ah- Danny has a crush on Jason’. His eyes widened as his head whipped around to examine Jason again. He saw a look of genuine fondness in his eyes. Thus Tim was confronted with the aforementioned horrific realization and complicated feelings. Tim didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or both.

‘My dumbass best friend has a crush on my brother. And worse(?), my idiot brother returns those feelings.’

[thestuffedalligator]

Thoughts on magic words in fantasy settings.

I really like the idea of magic words as just a release pin on a trebuchet. The word itself is meaningless. A wizard makes a spell, winds it up to take effect, and designates a word to trigger that effect when spoken aloud, and the reason magic words are so weird is because you really really emphatically don’t want the trigger to be something that comes up in conversation.

This is different from magic rhymes. Everything sings, and old magic, truly old magic, wants to sing. The Kalevala tells us that Väinämöinen could sing the mountain cliffs to crumble, could sing a wooden sledge to turn back into budding branches. “Grandly sang wise Väinämöinen/Till the copper-bearing mountains/And the flinty rocks and ledges/Heard his magic tones and trembled.” Magic sings, and making a magic rhyme is to harmonize with magic itself.

And that includes “Skidaddle skidoodle your dick is now a noodle”

[sillystringpasta]

i would kill to see a Home Alone adjacent AU with tim drake. teeny tiny timmy drake, when jason is still robin.

the premise is this:

tim's still feral, still stalks the streets at night, and hasn't yet learned physical combat. but he has unlimited time, and the bats for neighbours, so he has mechanical knowhow already by sheer want of... idk, getting closer to the wayne family through buisiness? being a good heir to drake industry's RnD? being a freak?

he also has Jack Drake's shotgun at home, and a lot of money.

the drake parents bring something home from their most recent archaeological dig. this thing is maybe alien, maybe tech, maybe magic. they don't know that, but they do know it's old, so they add it to their manor's collection.

and then they, canon typically, leave.

so tim has this artefact in his manor's vault, and he studies it because his parents(!) brought it home(!!!). he doesn't figure it out at the start, and he quickly gets distracted, because some crooks come for it.

here is the story my brain has cooked so far:

it starts with the local mob groups' lowest goons who can be trusted not the drop The Artefact. maybe falcone?

tim calls the police on them as they break in, and lists the address as the drakes, the rich ones, so the cops actually help.

tim doesn't know why mobster goons just tried to break in, but he does know that the batman is his neighbour. tim knows that he has some sort of security system from the wayne manor galas (he has, after all, not managed to take pictures of where the batmobile is after investigating the garage).

so tim comes to the totally rational conclusion that he needs to trick out the manor. but, like, subtly, so his parents don't get mad when they come back.

as he's making the traps, for fun mostly, serious goons from falcone, and some guys from penguin show up. they fight each other, and tim, again, calls the cops. they take the unconcious (and shot) goons off the front lawn, and ask tim about being Home Alone.

after some gaslighting, tim builds serious traps.

and thank god he does, because black mask goons show up. and a bm enforcer. ruh-roh. they somehow get taken out by the traps, and tim chugs so much coffee making new ones that he blacks out and can't remember some of the new traps he makes (hello chekov! we've already seen you here :).

then comes the riddler himself, having heard about the puzzle traps, and wanting to just, y'know, play a game. after finding out it's a kid stepping on his toes, he's gonna go, but then tim offers to buy some trap components from the riddler. a lucrative allience is established.

riddler goes to try and find out what the other bosses are trying to steal. catwoman catches wind of the investigation from his questioning; that people are struggling to steal a valuable item from a rich mansion. (tim also learns this is about The Artefact from the riddler, when he drops off some... materials.)

catwoman interrupts a theft attempt from... idk, deadshot, or deathstroke, hired (by luthor?) to get the Artefact. after getting beat up by tim, both are horrified by tim's living situation, ironically the mercenary's more than catwoman because they are Dads tm.

so now tim has two gotham rogue's and a mercenary on his side, who help make more traps (and subtly make them lethal) and give him some shooting lessons with his dad's gun. which is good, because the moment they leave, the court of owls show up, having gotten word from the goons to the social elite about the drake family's new Artefact.

the talon's don't die from the new lethal traps, but they do get their zombie selves stuck in them. the league of assassins show up. the talons were given orders to not be seen. being unseen is standard LoA operating procedure. they kill each other unitl the only one left is a young pru. (from canon red robin's brucequest, if you don't remember her.)

the bodies are dumped outside, into the yard, by being trebucheted off a balcony. poison ivy turns around and leaves without even getting started. she takes the bodies with her. whatever is pumped into the talon's is great ferilizer, and the basic nitrogen in blood is pretty good too.

things escalate more.

the Artefact begins to glow in a lonely vault. a heavy hitter shows up, and so does Klarion, attracted to the chaos. they fight. batman is distracted from this by investigating what is happening in the lower levels of the gangs, and why the riddler is smuggling so much weird, random shit. no seriously, why is he smuggling silly string??? use it to start inefficiant fires? (fun fact, ss is highly flammable.) and the industrial amounts of glitter??? Riddle me this, Batman, who is the world's largest consumer of glitter?

miraculously, drake manor is undamaged by the fight.

tim wasn't at the manor that night, he was stalking batman again. he will never know that this happened either.

but pru was there, deciding if she should stay or return to the league. this makes her choose to stay. tim gets a sister, and he doesn't even have to date her first!

pru also helps tim get ready for school the next morning, and is at the manor during the rest of the day, scoping out the interior.

alfred pennyworth does notice the lightshow, and he goes over to talk to the neighbours himself that morning, because really, he can handle some noise disturbances, he handled young master bruce after all.

he knocks on the door.

the riddler is inside, setting up silly string streamers and glitter with a few other rogues, goons, mercenaries, a baby assassin, and some small children of deadshot/deathstroke.

it's tim's birthday.

alfred considers this situation very seriously, and decides to bring master jason Robin over, to moniter the situation (relax and socialize with other kids).

tim comes home to a surprise party, from people who are concerned about him, and care for him.

it's all he's ever wanted.

(the wish granting Artefact dissolves into shimmery dust.)

the party goes smashingly. it's great. there's a massive cake, and no clowns jump out of it.

tim has spent the last month being harassed by superpowered and unpowered crooks. he goes to another room to cry from happiness, when the distinctive sound of one of his traps goes off. it's not one he remembers making. he hears an adult man swearing.

he gets his dad's gun.

a large figure bursts into the party. tim reacts before anyone else.

he shoots.

it's batman.

tim shoots his shotgun at batman, who broke in thinking alfred had been abducted and used to sign jason out of school.

catwoman catches it on video.

tim is mortified. so is batman. everyone else thinks it's the best party ever.

the party continues. tim is presented with several adoption offers. he cries again, and says yes to all of them.

tim has a vigilante's happily ever after.

[spoonyglitteraunt]

I've seen a lot of takes on sag joining the strike go by. Some focus on the fact that most actors are in fact not big names being paid big bucks so don't let the studios fool you. And yes very good, don't trust company propaganda.

Others talk about the less frequently mentioned (and more challenging) take that every actor, and writer too, deserves to be paid fairly for their work. Yes even if they are the big names who have already been paid bigger bucks. Excellent, love to see workers' solidarity and people learning the difference between well paid and hoarding money indiscriminately.

But the one I so far haven't seen mentioned, is the fact that you in fact want the big names with the big bucks there. You need them to join in. They add the weight, the leverage and are harder obstacles to ignore.

Let me put it this way.

Sag and wga members are the army besieging the castle and the big names are the trebuchets ready to fuck shit up.

[trebuchet151]

Slept like 12 hours. Vertigo gone. Theres a cute dog here waiting at the gate for my flight back. The optimism returns lmao

*sung to the tune of the Simpsons intro jingle*

✨️"New symptoms"✨���

[sansaorgana]

— DECEPTION (X – ADAR)

DECEPTION MASTERLIST ALTERNATIVE ENDING (SAURON)

PAIRING — Sauron x fem!Elf!Reader // Adar x fem!Elf!Reader

SUMMARY — You are trying your best to support Adar even when his own children are starting to doubt him. Another challenge that you must face is him learning about your secret.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — First of all, thank you so much for your comments under every part and your support because this fic (and this fandom) was what brought back my joy for writing! 😊 This part is less canon-like than the alternative ending where The Reader chooses Sauron but I just had to give them a happy ending here! 🥰 BTW, I was googling the Elven word for "mother" and I hope I used the right one because there were so many... 😫

WARNINGS — forced/arranged marriage, Reader is NOT a good person – she is proud, greedy, fake and corrupted by Sauron, "love" triangle situationship

WORD COUNT — 4,450

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

DECEPTION (X – ADAR)

You spent the rest of the day and half of the night inside the forest, in your new favourite place, feeling uneasy. Alone, just in case Sauron wanted to reach out to you again. But he was not making such attempts and it was making you anxious more than ever. His wrath was something you did not want to experience yourself and you knew very well that you had earned it.

Nervously fidgeting with the wedding band around your finger, you were sitting there by the fallen tree and listening to the sounds of the battle taking place nearby. Once more, you felt like sneaking back into the camp, stealing your own horse and running away to some place where no one knew you. But you knew you could not. You had to face the consequences of your actions.

Eventually, you took a deep breath in and decided to find Adar. You needed him close to feel safe and secure again because your anxiety was growing bigger and bigger with each given moment.

You found him near your shared tent, surrounded by the Orcs, small fires to light the path and all the war machines that made you realise how truly close you were to the battle indeed and how serious the situation was.

As you were approaching Adar from one side, you spotted Glûg walking up to him from the opposite one, with some of his friends standing behind as if they were waiting for him to speak to their Lord Father in the name of them all.

“Lord Father,” Glûg started just when you stood next to your husband and wrapped your trembling hands around his arm, happy that he was still there; that Sauron’s rage had not taken him away from you just yet. “The wall is stronger than we thought,” Glûg continued with his head slightly bowed down. “We may not breach it before morning. The Elf is faring better than you expected,” he added. “His troops have already destroyed five of our trebuchets. Many Uruk are dying,” he emphasised, his voice filled with pain and fear. “What are your orders, Lord Father? Shall we sound retreat?”

“No,” Adar’s answer was quick, nearly harsh. It caused a shiver to go down your spine as you watched with interest the conversation between him and his son. “Sauron must not escape,” Adar stated and turned around in your direction, putting his arm around your back to walk you inside the tent. “Bring down that wall. At any cost,” he added.

“Adar!” Glûg exclaimed and you exchanged a meaningful look with your husband. There was desperation but also a hint of disappointment mixed with anger in the Orc’s voice. You both froze and turned around to face him once more. “You told us… You loved us,” Glûg reminded his father in the Black Speech and your heart clenched inside your chest at his words that you could understand perfectly well now.

“With all that is left of my heart,” Adar answered with pain but also determination in his voice. Too much to let you become Sauron’s slaves.”

There was no answer from Glûg or any of the Orcs, so Adar left your side and went inside the tent. You hesitated at the sight of their faces, though. Their expressions did not mean anything good.

“Glûg, my dear, come here,” you approached him and put your arm around him as you walked together into a bit more secluded place where no one else could hear you. “Can I trust you?” You asked him and he nodded after a short hesitation, visibly moved with the fact that your hand was on his arm, protectively. “In my short time by your father’s side, you and I spent a lot of time together,” you reminded him. “And I am going to tell you something that not even Adar knows,” you took a deep breath in and moved away slightly from him.

“What is it, my Lady?” He asked, curiously.

“I know Sauron,” you confessed and his eyes widened. “I met him at the dawn of this Age when I was a young maiden,” you explained. “He is no stranger to me, and believe me when I tell you… Your father wants the best for you. There are things about Sauron that he simply cannot reveal to you but he is the most dangerous spirit living amongst us. He cannot be trusted no matter what,” you told Glûg, feeling a sudden heaviness in your heart. You were betraying your lover now but how could you not under such circumstances?

Glûg’s eyes filled with fear but also admiration towards you. You trusted him with your secret and it made him feel special.

“Your father is not entirely rational now but he is doing it all because he loves you so much,” you assured the Orc and patted his arm.

“Yes, my Lady,” Glûg nodded and bowed his head down before hurrying back to his friends.

You took a deep breath in, trying to compose yourself before you would face Adar. But when you entered the tent, he was visibly nervous and angry. You glanced at the pole, to which Lady Galadriel was supposed to be chained to but she was gone.

“What happened?” You asked.

“She escaped,” Adar stood up and showed you a small Elven key Galadriel had to use to get out of her shackles. Suddenly, you realised what Herald Elrond had done while kissing her. He had managed to distract everyone from the fact he had handed her his brooch with a hidden item inside.

“My dear,” you approached him, sensing his nervousness. You placed your hands flat on his chest and tried to soothe him. “Have you ordered already to search for her?”

“Yes, I have,” Adar nodded with a sigh. “I am now going to light the pyres for our fallen children. Are you coming with me?”

“Yes, of course,” you nodded and caressed his cheek softly. “Please, do not make decisions in a haste. Whatever happens, I shall remain by your side,” you promised and he smiled gently at you.

After that, you joined him by the funeral pyre. He lit it up with a torch while saying the phrase in the Black Speech that you had heard him say many times before whenever you had been burying any deceased Orc:

“In flames they return to darkness.”

You stood above him and kept your hand on his arm while he mourned with the Orcs. You looked down sadly, too and squeezed his shoulder as he raised his hand to join your fingers together.

Glûg was standing next to you and you could feel his curious eyes watching you closely throughout the short ceremony.

The battle was getting worse and more ferocious but you remained inside the tent now, nervously patting the surface of the wooden table with your fingers. Then, suddenly, Glûg entered the tent without even announcing himself. You turned around, surprised and raised an eyebrow at him.

“My Lady,” he bowed his head. “Forgive me but I must speak with you.”

“What is it, dear?” You furrowed your brows out of worry as you hurried to his side and put your arm around him once more to invite him inside.

“I come to you because Lord Father remains deaf to my pleas,” Glûg looked into your eyes, looking for compassion.

“What pleas, darling? He will not agree to go back home. Believe me, I’ve tried,” you cracked a sad smile.

“That I know, my Lady,” he nodded. “He has just ordered to send the troll in.”

“And why does that bother you so much?” You inquired. “Have we not brought that creature here to use him in battle?”

“He is killing our own kind!” Glûg tried to protest and you gasped when you realised what truly was the matter here.

“I understand,” you squeezed his arms. “I mourn with you, my dear, I truly do,” you nodded at him and it was not even a lie. “However, we must trust your Lord Father’s orders. In every battle there are heroes who lose their life for bigger ideas; who sacrifice themselves for others. I know how painful it is but our purpose is the most important. Sauron wishes to enslave your kind,” you tried to explain to him as if he was truly a child. “We cannot let him. And every hero amongst the Uruk that loses their life today, will forever be remembered and cherished.”

Glûg looked down, sadly, but you could feel his muscles relaxing a little under your comforting touch.

“All this pain,” he glanced up again to meet your gaze as you took your hands away from him and looked at him, confused. “Why does it hurt so much, Lady Mother?” He asked and his sincerity caused your eyes to fill with tears.

“It hurts me, too, Glûg. It hurts your father as well. It hurts because we love and care,” you explained. “However, some sacrifices must be made if we want to live peacefully in the future. I wish we did not have to but you have Sauron to thank for that and him only,” you added. “Do not forget who is the one who loves you and who is your enemy,” you reminded him and he bowed his head down before leaving your tent.

And when he left and you turned around while taking a deep breath in, you realised how he had called you a few moments ago.

Lady Mother.

You smiled to yourself. Somehow, it filled you with pride to earn this title.

When the dawn came, you could no longer stay in one place. You left the tent and went deeper into the forest to hide between the tall trees. But instead of going straight to your favourite place, you took a small detour, trying to calm down your pounding heart and your shaky breath.

And while walking around like that, you found another beautiful location – a forest clearing with a stone circle that had been built there by the Elves back in the First Age most likely. What surprised you the most about this place, though, was seeing your husband kneeling by the biggest stone in the middle of the circle. And upon that stone, Morgoth’s crown was laid.

“Are you praying, my love?” You whispered nervously as you approached him from behind. You would be very surprised if he said yes.

“How blind I was…” He only said mysteriously and moved his right hand across the stone’s surface, revealing a beautiful Ring on his finger and you gasped.

It was chiming with a beautiful song of the Elves and vibrating with pure lightness. It had to be the Ring Lady Galadriel had mentioned. Her Ring.

Adar raised himself very slowly as you kept watching him with a surprised and nervous expression. When he turned around, your jaw dropped slightly at the sight of his face being healed completely from all the scars and corruption.

He looked now like an ordinary Elf; like he had been before Morgoth. Your heart ached for him and you hurried to his side, reaching your hands out to cup his cheeks but his hands stopped your wrists as he looked into your eyes with a very sad expression.

“Loneliness caused my blindness when it came to you but this Ring made me see… It made me see everything,” he revealed and your heart skipped a beat as your eyes welled with tears instantly.

“Then it surely made you see how much I love you as well,” you breathed out. “And how much I regret everything.”

“I cannot blame you,” Adar let go of your wrists but you did not dare to make an attempt to touch his face this time as you looked down with tears and shame in your eyes. “You were forced to marry me and I know how tempting he can be even to the old and wise and you were nothing but a young maiden.”

“But now you see that my heart is even more rotten than you thought,” you mumbled out.

“On the contrary, my love. Only beautiful things can get corrupted. Your love and devotion towards him were your downfall and no heart able to love and devote itself as much can be rotten,” Adar pointed out and you looked up to meet his gaze once more.

His eyes were soft and sad but still not angry.

“What else do you see with that Ring?” You asked him, curiously.

“I see the future. How it might be if we form an alliance with the Elves. I see that these two items together,” he looked behind at Morgoth’s crown, “are enough to get rid of Sauron.”

“And do you see how much I want this, too?” You bit on your lower lip.

It felt so odd to speak to him when he looked like that. You felt like a child being lectured by an old and wise Elf like all those sages you had met in Mithlond and Eregion back in the day.

Perhaps Adar would be one of them if he had never chosen to follow Morgoth. Perhaps he would be your husband either way – you had been sent to these cities as a young maiden to study. Perhaps you would meet him there and fall in love with him. Even though the circumstances would be different, two Elven souls who loved each other would always find one another.

“I see much more,” Adar smiled softly and shyly reached out for your hand to hold it gently. You allowed him, gladly. “I see new life in the future. A possibility of it at least,” he explained as his voice trembled.

“What would that life be like, though?” Your heart skipped a beat at his words.

“Pure, if that is what you are worrying about. It would be full of Valinor’s light,” he assured you and you cracked a smile.

“It is a possibility I might take under my consideration,” you told him. “One day… After you heal enough from my betrayal to forgive me.”

“I have forgiven you already, my love,” Adar said in the Quenya language as he raised his hand to brush your cheek. “I would forgive you even if you killed me for him.”

“Who would watch over your children then?” You shook your head.

“Our children. You would watch over them. Of that, I am certain, Emel,” Adar smiled.

Mother.

“Glûg called me that yesterday. He called me Lady Mother,” you told your husband, excitedly.

“I know,” he nodded, calmly. He was not surprised but visibly glad. “They have been calling you that behind your back for a while now,” he informed you and his words made you grin widely.

You made one more attempt to cup his healed cheeks and this time he allowed you to. His eyes closed themselves slightly at your touch and you felt warm tears streaming down your face because you wished he had never endured all the pain and suffering Morgoth and Sauron had put him through.

“Do not pity me, my love,” he interrupted your thoughts.

“It is scary how much you can penetrate my mind now,” you admitted with a chuckle and his eyes opened again to look at you.

“I wish it could stay this way,” Adar admitted. “I wish I could hide in yours when mine becomes unbearable.”

“Oh, Adar, my love…” You leaned in to join your lips together in a sweet and loving kiss.

You were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. You moved uncomfortably but Adar was standing still, so you relaxed once more and just went back to kissing him.

“She-Elf turned herself in,” you heard one of the Orcs as he threw a sword on the ground.

You broke the kiss and turned around. It was Lady Galadriel herself, standing there with widened eyes. She could not see Adar yet because you were standing in front of him but she was surprised enough already to witness you two kiss.

“Leave us,” you nodded at the Orcs and they walked away. They were trying to curiously look behind you and see Adar but he looked down as he hid behind you even further.

And he remained this way, as if he was shy to show his true form to Lady Galadriel. So, you took a step to the side to cover him from her even more and your hand found his to hold.

“I accept your terms, Uruks,” Galadriel announced, looking at you since she could not see your husband’s face. “I have what Sauron seeks. End this slaughter and I will do as you asked. I will help you destroy him.”

“How do you expect to destroy Sauron without your Ring?” Adar asked behind you and you slowly moved away as he revealed himself to her.

Galadriel gasped as her eyes widened with wonder.

“It would seem, even wounds that have endured an age, can sometimes yet be healed,” he said, softly.

“Adar…” Galadriel whispered, her voice filled with pain and compassion.

“When last I looked like this, I was known by another name,” he confessed and you stood by his side to wrap your hands around his arm.

“What was it?” Galadriel asked.

“A meaningless name. A name I was given,” Adar shook his head.

“The man he once was is a stranger to us, Galadriel. He should not concern us,” you told her, quoting the words he had once told you when you had asked the same thing.

“Adar is the name I earned,” he smiled softly at you before laying his eyes upon her again. He walked up to Galadriel and you followed him, still clutching to his arm. “Help me to earn it back.”

You watched your husband taking the beautifully crafted ring off and handing it back to Galadriel and your heart sank deeper into your chest when you realised his face was turning paler and greyer once more as his old scars were showing up on his skin again.

Not that you ever cared about them. It was no matter of beauty to you but it was a painful reminder of the suffering he had been through and for that reason you wished for him to be free of them.

And – despite that suffering – he had enough softness inside of him to love his children. Enough softness left deep inside of him to forgive his wife such a betrayal and to even understand her.

You couldn’t help the feeling that you did not deserve Adar but you would do anything from now on to be worthy of him.

“Take it,” he said to Galadriel. “Help me vanquish Sauron with it and I swear to you, we will recall our children to Mordor. Never to make war on Middle-earth again.”

Galadriel’s face filled with pain at his words and at the sight of his face going back to its previous state. She was full of light and compassion at that moment – just like she should always be. You felt bad for her now. For the corruption Sauron had been trying to cause within her, too.

“I have slain more of your children than any Elf alive,” she admitted with remorse and gentleness.

“I forgive you,” Adar said in the Sindarin language and you squeezed his arm tighter.

As you focused on him, you nearly missed the fact that the short silence occurring was caused by the fact Galadriel was looking at you and waiting for your answer, too.

“I am the last person you should seek forgiveness from,” you only said, mysteriously. “I have my own sins to redeem.”

After those words, Galadriel finally reached out for her Ring and took it from Adar’s hand.

“No more flames and no more darkness,” he promised her. “Let this Ring heal the rift between Elf and Uruk,” he added. “Let us create a lasting peace in Middle-earth.”

“Now and forever,” you added as you watched Galadriel put the Ring back on her finger and her face lit up with a smile.

Your small moment of blissfulness was interrupted by a few Orcs carrying Glûg on the stretchers. His face was wincing out of pain and he seemed to be hurt. Adar left your side immediately and you stood there with Galadriel while you observed.

“What happened?” Adar kneeled down to check on his son.

“We found Sauron, Lord Father,” one of the Orcs explained and you moved uncomfortably at that mention. “We refused to follow him. So, Sauron did this. He has fled from Eregion, they say.”

You exchanged a meaningful look with Lady Galadriel. It was no surprise to you that Sauron had disappeared after such a failure. After all, he was left with no army. His rage, however, had to be great now. And you were sure he would come back sooner than later to collect everything he believed belonged to him.

“We shall be ready when he comes,” Galadriel nodded at you and you nodded back but the worry about Glûg was occupying most of your thoughts now.

“Forgive me, child,” Adar whispered to him as you hurried to their side and kneeled down to take the Orc’s hand and squeeze it in yours.

“It’s too late for me…” Glûg groaned.

“No… No, no, no,” you shook your head and looked up at Galadriel. “Lady Galadriel, please. Can you try to heal him with your Ring?” You pleaded and all the Orcs looked at her as she swallowed thickly.

“I… I can try…” She hesitated and you moved away slightly to make more space for her.

“I will not let you die, my dear,” you promised Glûg as you squeezed his hand tighter. 

All the Orcs watched with widened eyes how Lady Galadriel crouched down to put her hand with the beautiful Ring upon it and place it on Glûg’s chest. She closed her eyes and focused as the Ring chimed and you could feel that Glûg’s muscles were beginning to relax.

“It’s working,” one of the Orcs mumbled, surprised.

You watched with relief because they were right and Glûg managed to sit up right after Galadriel retreated with her Ring.

“Galadriel, the Orc-Slayer,” you smiled at her. “You have begun to redeem yourself amongst our kin.”

“Thank you, Lady Mother,” she nodded at you and you nodded back.

“Tell your brothers we are going back to Mordor,” Adar stood up and informed one of the Orcs. “Stop the siege. We have a pact now with the Elves.”

“And what then, Lord Father?” The Orc asked him.

“We will prepare ourselves for when Sauron comes because he will surely come. We will be ready to welcome him in our own land, on our own terms,” Adar answered.

“Will you go with us?” You asked Galadriel and her eyes widened slightly. “We need you there… and your Ring.”

“I must go where I’m needed the most and to defeat Sauron is my only purpose,” she agreed. “However, I am not sure if I am welcome in that place.”

“You are if I say so,” you smirked at her and finally let go of Glûg’s hand when you could feel his blood flowing properly again through his veins and you were sure he would be fine. “I am the Lady of Mordor,” you reminded her.

You were on your way home on the back of your black horse with Adar on the back of his right in front of you and Lady Galadriel still standing by her white mare as Herald Elrond was saying goodbye to her and glancing at you from time to time with a huge amount of distrust.

“We do not hurt our guests in Mordor,” you assured him playfully after a while. “And she will be back with you in one piece soon.”

“Just make sure to answer our calling when we need an Elven army to help us defeat Sauron,” Galadriel took Elrond’s hands into hers and he stopped looking at you to nod at her.

Adar and you exchanged meaningful looks and soft smiles as you led your horse a bit further, so you would stand next to him.

“Are you happy to go back home?” He asked and you nodded.

“More than you can imagine,” you answered and extended your hand towards him as he reached out for you and you squeezed each other’s fingers for a brief while.

You heard Galadriel hopping onto her horse behind you and Adar nodded at the rest of the Orcs, which meant that you all could retreat back to Mordor where you would prepare for Sauron’s comeback with Morgoth’s crown Lady Galadriel with her Ring by your side.

You slowed down your horse to ride next to her now and you both exchanged soft smiles. She had no idea of your history with Sauron – Adar made sure for it to be your secret. However, you had a feeling her soul somehow knew because you could sense a thread of friendship based on a similar experience forming there between you two.

“What will happen to the men from The Southlands, Lady Mother?” She asked you.

“They will be given their homes back. Those who wish to stay in such a dark land at least and the rest are free to go. They will have to learn to share their land with the Uruk now, though,” you answered.

“And what about you? Where will you reside?”

“I was thinking of it,” you looked at her. “I wish to rebuild Ostirith,” you answered. “The fortress might not have been grand but it was my home. I wish to go back there and watch over Mordor from there with my husband like my parents once watched over The Southlands.”

“As King and Queen?” She inquired.

“No,” you shook your head. “That is not my desire. Nor my husband’s.”

Lady Galadriel seemed to be pleased with your answer and you took a deep breath in, looking at the road ahead of you as you felt at peace inside of your heart.

Peace and freedom. You were free of Sauron’s shackles. You no longer had any secrets from your husband or any guilt towards your former lover. Nothing felt better.

You were aware that the war was far from over but you were hopeful about your future and when Adar turned around to make sure you were still there, you smiled at him lovingly, still not being able to believe that he loved you so much to forgive you.

You would make sure to never make him regret that.

AUTHOR’S NOTE 2.0 — Hi, it's me again! 👋🏻 If you are curious, you can read Sauron's ending as well to see the possibility of what could have been only if our Reader made slightly different choices. If you read both endings, you will see that it was mostly small gestures of kindness and compassion that decided her fate. 💓

MASTERLIST

[jksarchives]

THE LOVE BUG (AND A SPIDER)

Jungkook is well aware of your extreme fear of spiders for as long as he could remember you. You never fail to remind him of your Sunday chores together of sweeping every corner of the house to look out for the creepy crawlers that could be hiding anywhere.

➪ PAIRING; Jungkook x reader

➪ GENRE; humour, fluff, established relationship

➪ TAGS/WARNINGS; drabble, humour, established relationship, reader is really scared of spiders, jk is annoying but a cutie, brief tears and comfort

➪ WORDCOUNT; 1.3k

𐚁₊⊹

▎13 AUGUST 2023 — [10:35 a.m.]

Sunday mornings in your apartment always had the same chaotic rhythm: music blaring from the bluetooth speaker, laundry in a haphazard pile on the sofa, and a thin layer of dust your husband had been promising to clean “next week” for the past month.

For you and Jungkook, it was your ritual. Sunday’s always been your house-cleaning day, and while you approached it like a military operation, Jungkook treated it like an improv show. Although it was a shared act of love, it was mainly irritation wrapped in Clorox wipes and mismatched socks.

Jungkook was assigned the bathroom which he approached with theatrical groans of suffering, while you tackled the living room with a feather duster.

“Jungkook, how does toothpaste even get on the ceiling? Are you conducting some sort of experiments in there?” you hollered over the music.

“I told you, babe, it's a science thing. You wouldn't understand,” he called back, voice muffled under running water. You rolled your eyes but couldn't hide the smile tugging at your lips.

“You're the only guy I know who thinks 'science' involves a toothbrush trebuchet” you scoffed.

“I accept that as a compliment,” Jungkook shouted proudly.

The two of you continued to clean while Jungkook continued to complain about how he should’ve been hanging out with his boys for yet another dangerous round of skateboarding at the skatepark. The man was pushing the age of thirty yet his body was as solid as he was back in high school.

“You missed a spot,” Jungkook said, leaning against the doorway, grinning. And you, crouched by the coffee table with a rag in hand, glared up at him.

“Do you want to help, or do you just want to supervise?” you asked.

“Oh, l'm a phenomenal supervisor” he said

“You're also fired” he then added.

Jungkook laughed as he strolled into the kitchen to take care of the ‘dishes’ portion of your cleaning routine, though his version of ‘taking care’ usually involved stacking dirty mugs like a game of jenga and then wandering off.

You rolled your eyes but couldn't suppress the fond smile tugging at your lips. Living with Jungkook was like sharing a home with a hyperactive puppy. It was exhausting, but impossible not to love.

Half an hour later, you were in the bedroom dusting under the bed with your trusty duster wand, when your hand froze.

Something moved.

You tilted your head, peering closer.

A spider.

No, not a spider. A nightmare with eight legs.

Your stomach flipped. Your throat tightened, and a strangled yelp escaped before you stumbled backward, your hand slapping over your mouth.

The spider didn't care. It sat there, unmoving, a sinister blot against the hardwood floor.

“J-JUNGKOOK!” you shrieked as your voice cracked with panic.

“Yeah?” came his distant reply, muffled by the sound of running water.

“Jungkook! Get in here now!” you screamed.

Something in your tone must've conveyed the urgency because seconds later, Jungkook appeared in the doorway, his hands dripping with soap suds.

“What's —oh”

He spotted the spider immediately. You were already on the bed, knees pulled to your chest, arms wrapped around yourself like you were holding yourself together.

“Get rid of it!” you demanded, scared for your life.

Jungkook’s mouth twitched, and your eyes narrowed.

“Don't you dare laugh,” you warned, your voice shaking.

“Babe,” he said, holding up a hand like he was trying to be serious.

“It's just a spider” he tried to reassure you, which did absolutely nothing to calm you down. Instead it irritated you.

“It's not ‘just a spider’, it's-it's—” you gestured wildly towards the creature, your words dissolving into an unintelligible squeak.

“Look at it!” you pointed.

Jungkook crouched for a closer inspection, his head tilting thoughtfully. “Yeah, okay, that's a big one. I think I saw it carrying a briefcase” he commented.

“Jungkook!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” he stood, rubbing the back of his neck.

You sniffled, and his teasing grin faltered as his head turned to you.

“Are you...crying?” he asked.

“I hate them,” you whispered, your voice breaking.

“I hate them, Jungkook. Just-please get rid of it” you told him desperately.

Jungkook’s playfulness evaporated instantly. He crossed the room in two strides and reached for you, his hands warm and steady as they found your shoulders.

“Hey, hey, it's okay. I'll take care of it, I promise. Don't cry baby” he comforted.

You nodded, hiccupping as you buried your face against his chest. For a moment, Jungkook just held you, one hand smoothing over your hair while the other rubbed slow circles on your back. He could feel how tense you were because your whole body was vibrating with barely contained panic.

“Alright,” he said gently, pulling back.

“Here's the plan. You stay up here on your throne-”

“It's not a throne, it's a bed” you corrected him

“Same thing. And I'll deal with Lord Arachnid over there” he replied.

“Just kill it” you mumbled.

“No way” Jungkook straightened, grabbing an empty cereal box from the dresser.

“We're doing a catch-and-release operation. This guy's going back into the wild where he belongs” he said. You opened your mouth to argue, but Jungkook had already sprung into action.

He approached the spider with exaggerated stealth and crouched low like a big-game hunter.

“Okay, pal, this is your eviction notice” he murmured, and the spider twitched.

Jungkook froze, “whoa. He's fast” he let out a tiny gasp.

“Don't say that!” you groaned, clutching a pillow to your chest like it was a lifeline.

With careful precision, Jungkook lowered the cereal box over the spider, trapping it with a triumphant flourish.

“Gotcha!”

He slipped a piece of paper under the box to seal it off, then straightened, holding it aloft like a trophy.

“Mission accomplished. I am the spider whisperer” he said.

“Just take it outside!” you wailed, your knuckles white where they gripped the pillow.

Jungkook chuckled but obeyed, striding toward the balcony. He slid open the door, stepped out, and released the spider into the flowerbed below.

“Be free, little dude,” he said, watching it skitter away.

When he came back inside, you were still perched on the bed as your shoulders sagged in relief.

“All clear,” your husband said, grinning. You stared at him for a long moment, then burst into tears.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Jungkook crossed the room, his smile vanishing as he climbed onto the bed beside you.

“What's wrong? It's gone, I swear!” he tried to reassure you.

“I know,” you sniffled, wiping at her eyes.

“I just.. I can't help it. They scare me so much, and I feel so stupid-” but you were cut off.

“Hey” he cupped your face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away your tears.

“You're not stupid, okay? You're brave as hell. That thing was terrifying” he said, trying to be honest.

“You laughed,” you mumbled.

“I wasn't laughing at you,” he said softly.

“I just…I didn't realise how upset you were. I'm sorry, baby” he pouted. You leaned into his touch as your breathing finally started to steady.

“You're annoying, you know that?” you told him.

“Yeah, but you love me anyway” he chuckled.

“Unfortunately” you sighed.

Jungkook smirked, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“You're lucky I love you enough to battle giant spiders for you” he said and you snorted, half-laughing, half-crying.

“Giant spiders, huh?”

“Absolutely. That thing could've been in the Olympics” he answered.

“Shut up,” you told him, but you were smiling now as the tension eased from your body.

Jungkook pulled you into his arms and cradled you against his chest. You both stayed like that for a while as the world outside faded into the background as he held you close.

“I don't know what I'd do without you,” you murmured eventually.

“You'd probably have to move,” Jungkook said, grinning against your hair.

“Probably” you hummed.

“Good thing you're stuck with me, then”

You tilted your head to look at him, your eyes still red but full of warmth.

“Yeah,” you said softly, “good thing”.

[cottoncandiescupcakes]

Pick your own adventure!! Ancient Rome style

Pick a dress

A) Empress(My dress costs more than your life is worth I'll step on you)

B) Noble's daughter(An innocent young lady married off to the Emperor)

C) Slave girl(Humble beginnings can't keep a bad girl down)

D) Gladiator(I will jam a sword through your eye and you'll thank me for it)

E) Concubine(My body make empires rise and fall)

F) Not a girl(I'm a senator's son sleeping my way to the top)

Marry a crazy Emperor

A) Emperor Commodus(I want my Emperor tall, dark and handsome)

B) Emperor Geta(I just want my husband to be prettier than me)

C) Emperor Caracalla(Eeee so cute! Comes with FREE MONKEY)

Cheat with a General

A) Marcus Acacius(A handsome loyal good man who'll actually treat me right)

B) Maximus(I like my men butch as fuck and I'll be his little swooning princess)

C) Claudius(I have a bad Emperor and now I want a bad General too)

It's your birthday! Pick a gladiator sex slave

A) Hanno/Lucius(I'm simple, I like poetry and big thighs. Take me now)

B) Spartacus(Brooding and piercing eyes and will stab a bitch in the solar plexus? Yes)

C) Varro(I just want a big smiling blonde himbo to hold me I'm lonely)

D) Crixus(I want the man all the Roman noblewomen thirst after. Mine now, bitch)

E) Agron(Cute, violent and possible threesome? Any day)

F) Nasir(Just because I get a gladiator doesn't mean I have to give up on pretty boys)

Your time is up! Pick a worthy death

A) Decapitated by sword in combat. Quick and bloody.

B) Dondus, Emperor Caracalla's pet monkey, eats my face clean off

C) The glamorous Lucretia finds out I've been banging one of her favorite gladiators and poisons my wine

D) I am accidently launched by trebuchet far past Roman walls

E) I choked on rose petals at Elagabalus' orgy. Woe is me

F) Horror of horrors! I must face off the arena's undefeated champion, Moo-Deng the hippo. A crowd favorite, I have no chance of a thumbs up at all and slowly but surely, the creature devours me, starting with my knee caps

You died.... the Gods may not sing of your glory but you lived and lived well! A true citizen of Rome to your last breath.

[guess-that-ship]

Guess That Ship Tournament Season 15: Submissions CLOSED!

The Concept: You describe your ship* to me, I pick out the submissions which I find most compelling and pit them against each other without revealing who they are, people vote on them, and their identities gets revealed once they’re eliminated.

Quite a few things have changed this time, so even if you're a regular, I recommend you read through the rules carefully!

Every other season, ships from fanon (something unofficial derived from the canon of a work), fanworks, and OCs will be allowed. This is the case for Season 15.

Submission Guidelines

*For the purpose of this tournament, relationships do not have to be romantic in nature. (I’m sometimes going to use “ship” as a shorthand, just know I mean “relationships” in general.)

Relationship can be between any number of characters.

Real people are accepted if they’ve been dead for more than 100 years.

Roleplay characters are accepted as long as the description only pertains to the characters and not the players.

Ships from fanon and fanworks (including crossover ships and crackships) are accepted. (If the fanwork is lesser known or on a smaller scale, please do not submit any ships from it without permission.)

OCs and OC x Canon are accepted. (Please do not submit other people's OCs without their permission.)

No overtly NSFW submissions. (Mentioning they have sex or are a sex worker is fine, but try to avoid anything more than that.)

Two submission per person. (Do not submit the same ship twice. I cannot enforce this on Google Forms without forcing you to log in. So just be champs and respect this rule.)

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in all of your submissions being disqualified for this season.

Summary Guidelines

Selection Process: I will read through the list of descriptions submitted without reading their names and pick the most compelling submissions. Then, I will check the name to make sure there's no repeats.

Keep it concise, but also bring something unique to the table. Make sure to describe their relationship, not just summarize the events of the story.

Previous submissions for reference. The ideal submission should be 1-2 paragraphs, but you can make it as short or long as you want. Please keep in mind the longer your submission, the less likely it is to get in.

Tips on what to avoid while writing a summary can be found here.

Descriptions should be based on the canon of the source material (e.g. You can say “they love each other” instead of “they’re lovers” if their romantic nature is debatable.). If you are writing a description based on how they appear in a fanfic or your headcanon, it is considered as fanon and should be labeled as such in your submission.

Avoid author commentary. (e.g. "They're canonically x," "I love them," "Play/watch/read this," etc.)

Use canonical pronouns.

Avoid identifying information or setting specific giveaways. (i.e. ninja village, space necromancers.)

When submitting OCs, please make sure to at least put a name somewhere. (e.g. "John and Bob by anonymous" or "OCs by Joey.")

The more popular your ship is the more vague the description should be.

Exclusions

Generally, ships that have been accepted into previous seasons will not be accepted. For a complete list, please look here. (No need to look through the whole list, just Ctrl+F to find the ship you want.)

Due to them winning S14, ships containing the characters Mira Marchand and/or Delnys Raethran from Trials & Trebuchets will not be accepted in S15. Ships containing them will be allowed again in S16.

Any submissions from Harry Potter will also not be included.

Notes

I will not vet the ships/pairings for problematic content.

If you participate in this tournament, know that you run the risk of unintentionally voting for your nOTP. The mod does not take any responsibility for any distress that may cause you.

There will be a limit of one ship per media in the bracket. You may submit two ships from the same media, but keep in mind only one ship will be able to get in. (A series or franchise will generally count as one media, but they will be evaluated on a case by case basis.)

There will be a maximum number of fanon ships and OC ships accepted into the tournament. The maximum number will depend on the bracket size, but for a bracket of 16, the maximum number will be 3.

Submit your ships here! Submissions will be open until Sunday, March 9th at 9 PM EDT.

Please reblog this post to spread the word! The more submissions, the better!

[deluxewhump]

Wishbone

cw: pet/slave universe, otherwise nothing

His new master, a man of only twenty-nine and still somewhat of a mystery to him, turned to him with an expression of bemused curiosity.

“Did you save this for something?” he asked, holding a piece of chicken carcass in his hand.

It hadn’t occurred to Carlo that the wishbone thing was perhaps not universal until this very moment. He’d done it without thought, more concerned with putting all the dishes away correctly on the first try. But now that Max was asking, it seemed ridiculous he’d cleaned, washed, and left a piece of bird clavicle on the windowsill to dry in the spring sunshine.

“It’s the wishbone,” he said. From Max’s unchanged expression he knew this was not a helpful bit of information and that he’d have to explain himself. “You save the wishbone, dry it out, and then you can… uhm, two people can each make a wish and break it. Whoever gets the longer piece of bone gets their wish. It’s just an old superstition, it’s—”

Stupid, he was going to say, but Max had taken the dried fork of chicken bone between his thumb and forefinger as an upside-down V. “Like this?”

Carlo took the other dry end, yellow as parchment, and nodded.

“And we just… pull?”

“At the same time.”

“Count us down from three then. Pull on one.”

Carlo counted backwards and on one gave a tug. The brittle nexus of bone at the top strained and snapped, and each came away with their portion. Upon comparison, it was clear Max had gotten the longer end, either from luck or a more confident pull at the count of one. Carlo smiled graciously, which he always remembered to do upon losing anything. He’d been distracted by Max’s sudden nearness, their knuckles almost touching, his indistinct but alluring stranger-smell that he was beginning to smell on his own clothes now as he used the same detergent, the same shampoo, that he’d forgotten to even make his wish. Perhaps fortune always favored an wishmaker over an abstainer.

“Can I tell you my wish, or is it like a birthday wish type of thing?” asked his new master with a hint of a smile that narrowed his eyes.

“I—don’t know.” As many wishbones as he and the cooks Erik employed had snapped between them over the years, it had never come up. He tried to guess which answer this man might want, if there was one.

“I’ll tell you if it comes true, how’s that?” Max said, and gave him his end of the wishbone. They looked like an archaeology find in his palm, broken but with the whole they had once been plausible and obvious. He thought of his life in similar terms, pulled from the cushioning flesh and tendon he’d come to rely on, left high and dry to be suddenly and irreparably snapped into two pieces. He was immediately a little ashamed of the cliche. Erik would say ‘life as a snapped wishbone’ was only appropriate for the imagination of a middle class child of divorce. You’d win a sixth grade poetry contest with that champion of a metaphor for sure, Lo, he’d say dryly.

Intending to throw away the bones, he found himself instead watching from the kitchen window as a spring wind shook the blossoms of the apple trees in the backyard. Max told him the hard and sour crab apples they produced were technically edible, but that as a boy he’d stabbed them onto sharpened sticks and flung them as far as he could instead, imagining he was operating a trebuchet mid battle.

One of the bones was poking into his palm. Half subconsciously, he’d been tightening his grip to feel the needling bite of it and letting off when the sensation grew too sharp. It left a white indent in the skin, turning red as blood returned to the spot. He tossed the pieces in the trash beneath the kitchen sink. At the vast kitchen island behind him, Max was talking on the phone with a colleague— or a friend, it was sometimes hard to tell, but Carlo felt his gaze anyway and turned, confirming that his new master was watching him. It was a gentle gaze, though. One that asked only what are you thinking about? When Carlo met his eyes, he looked away politely.

[dearwriters]

In the last weeks I might have written more (creative writing that is) than in probably years. And why? I got inspired to write fanfic again. For the first time in, like... ten years? And it's no pressure at all, because it's only fun and the people on AO3 are so nice and I just crank out chapters without much editing. And it actually inspires me to get back to my original works. So...

...write for fun, folks! That's what it's all about. Let yourself be messy with it and silly and stupid (like, my fanfics are intentionally tropey romcoms which I've never written before and always thought wasn't my style, but since it's just for fun who cares!)

If you feel like you lost inspiration for your big original work you want to take very seriously... write something unserious! It will fling you back into it like a trebuchet!

Edit: oh, and when I say I've written more than in years, I am talking 150k words in about 6 months 💀