So it’s been awhile since I’ve bound anything, but when I read the Cursed Amulet Story by @sunderwight, I was like, I gotta make an actual, physical evil amulet now. Except the evil amulet is also going to be a book. And the book is like a diary by the guy trapped in the amulet.
The book is held in the brass frame (also made by yours truly) by friction; it pops out super easily so you can read it but it’s not going to fall out accidentally.
The typeset fit into exactly one piece of normal 8.5x11 printer paper, and if anyone else wants the file to make their own evil amulet, I’m happy to share.
yknow I'm feeling a bit brave so I will venture to say what this blighted essay's pitch actually is: reading project hail mary (novel and film) as a ravishment fantasy. in both main threads of the narrative grace is brought wildly out of his element and pulled into the orbit of a mysterious foreign stranger who is significantly stronger / richer / more powerful than him, forced to accept unsolicited lavish gifts and personal praise despite protests and discomfort, and made to live in isolated locations in extremely close proximity to these people with no say in the matter, all of which are common motifs in ravishment fantasies. on her own, stratt also brings in other common motifs of restraints, drugging, being above the law, multiple kidnappings (I'm doing crazy things with the classical definition of "rape" as in "abduction" and its shared etymology with "rapture" as in "being taken to the heavens"), and the very specific yet still common motif of "otherwise trustworthy partner goes too far and doesn't take 'no' for an answer." rocky on his own brings in the overprotective flavor common to a lot of dark romance novel heroes, i.e. "I make sure you sleep and I like to watch you while you do it, I make sure you eat enough even if you've got baggage about it, I make inhuman displays of strength when you're injured, and as long as I'm around I'll make sure nothing bad ever happens to you ever again."
the issue I was running into with researching this a few weeks ago is that almost all of the scholarly writing on the content of people's forced-sex fantasies focuses solely on women's fantasies and starts with the research question of "why would women enjoy imagining such a horrible misogynistic thing?" despite surveys often showing that men have force-fantasies (where they are the one being forced) at very comparable rates to women. my hypothesis for a bit was "either men's fantasies are exactly the same as women's or they're completely different in [x] way," which was disproven interestingly when I did finally find something about men's force-fantasies: in content they are almost exactly the same as women's fantasies but the emotional motivations are often different in [y] way, which I hadn't expected. and [y] also super applies to my buddy ryland, perhaps even more than my original [x] hypothesis.
my hopes for writing this are twofold: a) to address the question I sometimes see phm audience members come away with of "if grace likes his life by the end and doesn't seem that mad about all of that, is the message supposed to be 'violation of bodily autonomy is good, actually?'", and b) to lightly resist one of the prevailing notions in the study of forced-sex fantasies, that ravishment fantasies are solely abstracted and fantastical and pleasurable and are completely 100% separate from fearful paranoid imaginings of / flashbacks to realistic sexual violence.
oh also: the most common interpretation of why people have ravishment fantasies is that it allows the fantasist to disavow a desire they feel ashamed of because, in the fiction of the forcing, they don't *want* it at all, they're being made to do whatever it is and can't be considered at fault. as I allude to in my final paragraph of the original post, I think it's a tad more nuanced, but there's definitely a lot of truth to that. grace can tell stratt that he's not smart or important or capable or brave or selfless enough to do what she wants, but she'll ignore it, make him do it anyway, and kit him out with skilled staff members and expensive lab equipment and coffee just the way he likes it. it's a fantasy of being respected and heroic and good whether he likes it or not.
with rocky, the fantasy is of being forced to be loved and protected. rocky decides to initiate contact, he decides that he's moving into the hail mary, he decides that he's always going to watch grace sleep even if grace says he doesn't need it, he decides to gift grace the fuel to get home even when grace pretends he doesn't want it, and he decides he's not going to let grace die to save him even when grace says he's made his choice. the two scenarios allow grace to experience the rewards of being selfless without needing to be so gauche as to ever say he thinks he's that good of a person AND to experience the rewards of being selfish without saying he thinks he deserves to be cared for.
Legolas pretty quickly gets in the habit of venting about his travelling companions in Elvish, so long as Gandalf & Aragorn aren’t in earshot they’ll never know right?
Then about a week into their journey like
Legolas: *in Elvish, for approximately the 20th time* ugh fucking hobbits, so annoying
Frodo: *also in Elvish, deadpan* yeah we’re the worst
i mean, honestly it’s amazing the Elves had as many languages and dialects as they did, considering Galadriel (for example) is over seven thousand years old.
english would probably have changed less since Chaucer’s time, if a lot of our cultural leaders from the thirteenth century were still alive and running things.
they’ve had like. seven generations since the sun happened, max. frodo’s books are old to him, but outside any very old poetry copied down exactly, the dialect represented in them isn’t likely to be older than the Second Age, wherein Aragorn’s foster-father Elrond started out as a very young adult and grew into himself, and Legolas’ father was born.
so like, three to six thousand years old, maybe, which is probably a drop in the bucket of Elvish history judging by all the ethnic differentiation that had time to develop before Ungoliant came along, even if we can’t really tell because there weren’t years to count, before the Trees were destroyed.
plus a lot of Bilbo’s materials were probably directly from Elrond, whose library dates largely from the Third Age, probably, because he didn’t establish Imladris until after the Last Alliance. and Elrond isn’t the type to intentionally help Bilbo learn the wrong dialect and sound sillier than can be helped, even if everyone was humoring him more than a little.
so Frodo might sound hilariously formal for conversational use (though considering how most Elves use Westron he’s probably safe there) and kind of old-fashioned, but he’s not in any danger of being incomprehensible, because elves live on such a ridiculous timescale.
to over-analyse this awesome and hilarious post even more, legolas’ grandfather was from linguistically stubborn Doriath and their family is actually from a somewhat different, higher-status ethnic background than their subjects.
so depending on how much of a role Thranduil took in his upbringing (and Oropher in his), Legolas may have some weird stilted old-fashioned speaking tics in his Sindarin that reflect a more purely Doriathrin dialect rather than the Doriathrin-influenced Western Sindarin that became the most widely spoken Sindarin long before he was born, or he might have a School Voice from having been taught how to Speak Proper and then lapse into really obscure colloquial Avari dialect when he’s being casual. or both!
considering legolas’ moderately complicated political position, i expect he can code-switch.
…it’s also fairly likely considering the linguistic politics involved that Legolas is reasonably articulate in Sindarin, though with some level of accent, but knows approximately zero Quenya outside of loanwords into Sindarin, and even those he mostly didn’t learn as a kid.
which would be extra hilarious when he and gimli fetch up in Valinor in his little homemade skiff, if the first elves he meets have never been to Middle Earth and they’re just standing there on the beach reduced to miming about what is the short beard person, and who are you, and why.
this is elvish dialects and tolkien, okay. there’s a lot of canon material! he actually initially developed the history of middle-earth specifically to ground the linguistic development of the various Elvish languages!
Frodo: *frantically scribbling* Hang on which language are you even speaking right now
Pippin, confused: Is he not speaking Elvish?
Frodo, sarcastically: I dunno, are you speaking Hobbit?
Boromir, who has been lowkey pissed-off at the Hobbits’ weird dialect this whole time: That’s what it sounds like to me.
Merry, who actually knows some shit about Hobbit background: We are actually speaking multiple variants of the Shire dialect of Westron, you ignorant fuck.
Sam, a mere working-class country boy: Honestly y'all could be talkin Dwarvish half the time for all I know.
…You know, dwarves (obviously) don’t have any problem learning other people’s languages. They kinda have to, since they don’t share their own. And they presumably deliberately teach and pass on other people’s languages.
…And historically speaking, they get along better with Noldor than they do with Sindar.
Now, Gimli grew up in exile/as a refugee, so I’m sure lessons in very rare languages you’ll probably never need weren’t heavily featured in his studies. But especially later on in Erebor, it’s not impossible that the library might have an old copy of “Conversational Quenya for Merchants” lying around, and it’s not impossible Gimli might have picked it up – or even have deliberately picked it up later, after the war, so
It’s not completely implausible that upon arriving in Valinor, Gimli would have to try to translate.
The Noldor, as a concession to Thingol’s language ban, did all switch to speaking Sindarin (except in Gondolin) and the Dwarves of the first age actually did interact mostly with the Sindar, only coming into contact with Finrod, Caranthir, and Maedhros later.
By the second age, Belegost and Nogrod had lost a lot of their population as the Blue Mountains took damage in the War of Wrath. When the elves moved east to Eregion, there were a lot of Noldor - under the leadership of Galadriel and her Sindarin husband, and were probably still speaking Sindarin, not Quenya.
Celebrimbor inscribed the Doors of Durin with Sindarin, using his Sindarin name and a Sindarin password, suggesting that Sindarin was probably the lingua franca between Eregion and Khazad-Dum.
Galadriel does speak Khuzdul, and Elrond can read Thorin’s map as well as the Quenya on Orcrist and Glamdring, suggesting that there is some potential for some Quenya-Dwarvish cross-pollination, but I doubt it was ever really a trade language outside of Valinor.
That said, Gimli absolutely seems like the kind of person who would take an interest in old languages and scholarly pursuits. If he got any Quenya from Galadriel and her people, he would have pretty comprehensible Telerin Quenya, but if he got Quenya instruction and resources from Elrond’s people or Glorfindel, then it would be the Beleriandic mode of Noldorin Quenya spoken in Gondolin, Fëanorian Quenya with all the political ramifications of the shibboleth, or the excessively formal Parmaquesta. This has high potential for hilarity and I’m all for it.
I will take you home (zu den Bäumen der anderen Welt)
A new co-writing project between @varanere00 (Ao3) and @whisperwritingstuff (Ao3)! This fic was written for MCYTBLR AU Fest Summer 2026, @mcytblraufest, with beta editing by @bearwritesthings (Ao3), and art done by @edgewitch (Ao3) (which will feature in the second chapter). We had a blast making a new AU and working with our beta and artist to bring this story to life. Updates planned for Tuesday/Friday/Sunday this week and next, posted directly to Ao3. Enjoy some more convexian shenanigans, fae-style!
Read 'I will take you home (zu den Bäumen der anderen Welt)' on Ao3
Main relationship: Cubfan135/GoodTimesWithScar/Grian
Fandom: Hermitcraft/Life Series
Rating: Unrated/Explicit
Words: 13 344/113 766
Archive warnings: Chose not to Warn
AU: Faecourts
Impotant Tags: minor dubcon (tho everyone is into it), depictions and themes of decay, blood and injuries, explicit sex
Summary: Fae Prince Scar seduces human Grian into the fae world, complicated by rival fae Prince Cub vying for Scar's attention. Can they work out something between the three of them?
Here's a little teaser!
"I could feed you! You could come with me." Ash offers, sounding fully earnest. A glance at him where he's walking beside Grian reveals his expression matches, open and sincere, and that the rosemary sprig with its little paper lantern blossoms is now stuck in his hair.
Wait. Is that chicken of the woods? Grian pauses, stepping past Ash to inspect a fallen tree.
Sure is, a closer inspection reveals exactly what he thought. If Grian could make it home today, he'd stir fry them with a few potatoes and the wild garlic. Alas, that's not looking likely, so he'll have to settle for roasting them over a fire.
"We've already been over why I won't take food from you." Grian sees no reason to re-hash the topic, too busy harvesting a reasonable portion of the mushrooms. Ash, of course, is no help, simply wandering over to perch on the tree trunk.
"Aw, but I told you, I know my morsels!" Ash protests.
"They're called morels Ash, not morsels." Grian sighs. That's enough mushrooms for him, with plenty still on the tree.
"I suppose you would know, being a morsel yourself, and all." Ash nods, rosemary sprig in his hair bobbing with the motion.
"I'm not a mushroom." Grian tucks away the mushrooms he gathered into his hoodie pouch, re-sheathing his knife.
"The mushrooms chatter about you, you know. They say your hands are ever so clever." Ash gives him a dreamy look. "That's why I sought you out."
"What are you on about, mate? Mushrooms don't talk. Besides, 'sought me out' makes you sound creepy and stalkerish." Contrary to his words, Grian settles on the tree trunk as well, an arm's length away from Ash. Far enough to be proper, not tempting Grian to lean in and lick Ash. Kinda annoying that he still wants to do that. But hey, the guy's hot enough Grian could roast his mushrooms on Ash, so can he be blamed? It's been ages since Grian got in more than a quick shower time wank. Of course he'd have some inappropriate thoughts when presented with such a scantily clad specimen! He simply has enough sense and self control not to act on them.
"I didn't stalk you!" Ash protests. "Spending a few minutes admiring you from afar after the mushrooms told me of you is not stalking. It's admiring. You deserve to be admired, G, baby. You're beautiful." The look Ash follows that up with has Grian's mouth rapidly drying out. Like Ash wants little more than to devour Grian, leaving Grian sorely tempted to let him. To give in to the wispy, unreal dreamlike quality that being around Ash evokes, and dive in headfirst. To take what they both so obviously want-
"See, now that's exactly what a stalker would say." Grian forces teasing words over dry lips. Ash watches them like a bird of prey when Grian flicks out his tongue, trying to wet them.
"Aw, come on, Sunshine! Live a little! Take a risk! I promise I can make it good for you!" Ash coaxes, leaning towards Grian.
"No thanks. I'd rather play it safe. That's served me well this far." Instead of leaning in, Grian reaches over to pluck the rosemary from Ash's hair. "Here. You got a little something stuck there." He hands the freed sprig to Ash.
For a split second, something that can't possibly be terror replaces the confusion on Ash's face.
"How kind of you!" Ash accepts the sprig, tossing it away like it's nothing. "Though I'm afraid I must be going, so you'll have to accept this as your thanks." Taking Grian's hand in his, Ash kisses the back while maintaining eye contact. Slowly, sensually, yet surprisingly dry. Even when Ash flips Grian's hand to press a cheeky, fleeting kiss to palm as well that only fans the heat pooling in Grian's gut. He's never had his hand kissed before while being flirted with.
"Wait. What do you mean, you need to go? We're in the middle of nowhere!"
"Oh, you know how it is. Places to be, functions to attend, people to show up. Or maybe you don't. Either way, dream of me, sweet sunshine!" Ash pats Grian's knee, and between one moment and the next, he's gone, leaving nothing but a vague memory of golden backs disappearing between trees and an odd sense of loss between Grian's ribs, curling around him like a cold breeze.
Lo! for i have participated once again in MCYTblr AUfest @mcytblraufest. This year's format was a Mini Bang, so this is an illustration for a scene from chapter 2 of I will take you home (zu den Bäumen der anderen Welt) by Varanere @varanere00 and WhisperNorbury @whisperwritingstuff (do note: while not rated or archive warned, the fic contains explicit sex, explicit violence, and assorted consent fuckery played as dubcon. mind the tags!)
as we all know, everyone falls in love once and only once with their one true love the first time, and if they had relationships before that they weren’t real and didn’t love each other, and you can’t love more than one person at once, and your friends and family need to be pushed out of the picture to focus more on your romance, and no one has sex with people they don’t love, and if they did, they’re dirty and they have to have hated it and the sex they have with their one true love after they’re officially together has to be better sex than they ever had before, and no one ever breaks up for any reason other than death, and everyone wants to get married and have kids. aren’t you fucking tired.
today's reason I fucking love the open source community: Ageless Linux, a brand new Debian-based operating system specifically designed to break the law by giving children access to computers that explicitly refuse to track their age.
stormborns
prguitarman
discoholicmusic
snowghoul
germansingergirl
titsay
areudirty
