I absolutely LOVE this idea of other races not quite understanding exactly how much of these things it takes to effect a human and thus taking their precautions to an extreme.
The part about the dwarves got me thinking. Have you ever been to one of the Colorado skiing towns? The ones that are at a much higher elevation than most of their visitors are used to? Last year, when I went skiing, I remember seeing several “oxygen bars” where you could go and (from what I understand) just breathe a high content of oxygen to help combat altitude sickness. So, in relation to this post, what if the dwarves started developing little “sun cafes” where visiting humans could go to get their fill of sunlight, generously provided by local clerics/wizards? They could even have plants from the surface, because some humans don’t do well when they haven’t been around any type of greenery for an extended period of time.
I just feel like Sun cafes would be a really adorable addition to a fantasy world :)
Reading fantasy again, I've started thinking about how odd it is how in books like that, the non-human races invariably scoff at human frailty and vulnerability, even those that they'll call friends. Like that's mean?? Why would you be a dick to your friend who you know is not capable of as much as you are, and it's not their fault they were born like that. That's mean.
Like consider the opposite: Characters of non-human races treating their human companions like frail little old dogs. Worrying about small wounds being fatal - humans die of small injuries all the time - or being surprised that humans can actually eat salt, even if they can't stomach other spicy rocks. Being amazed that a human friend they haven't seen in 10 years still looks so young, they've hardly aged at all! And when the human tries to explain that they weren't going to just unexpectedly shrivel into a raisin in 10 years, the longer-lifespan friend dismisses this like no, he's seen it happen, you don't see a human for 10 or 20 years and they've shriveled in a blink.
Elves arguing with each other like "you can't take her out there, she will die!" and when the human gets there to ask what they're talking about, they explain to her that the journey will take them through a passage where it's going to be sunny out there. Humans burn in the sun. And she will have to clarify that no, actually, she'll be fine. They fight her about it, until she manages to convince them that it's not like vampires - humans only burn a little bit in the sun, not all the way through. She'll be fine if she just wears a hat.
Meanwhile dwarves are reluctant to allow humans in their mines and cities, not just out of being secretive, but because they know that you cannot bring humans underground, they will go insane if they go too long without seeing the sun. Nobody is entirely sure how long that is, but the general consensus is three days. One time a human tries to explain their dwarf companion that this is not true, there are humans that endure much longer darkness than that. As a matter of fact, in the furthest habited corners of the lands of the Northmen, the winter sun barely rises at all. Humans can survive three weeks of darkness, and not just once, but every single year.
"Then how do they sane?" Asks the dwarf, and just as he does, the conversation gets interrupted by the northland human, who had been eavesdropping, and turns to look at them with an unnerving glint in her colourless grey eyes, grinning while saying
"That's the neat part, we don't."
May Trope Mayhem is a multi-fandom/original creation event open to writers, artists, and creators of all kinds! Our creators have shared their favorite tropes, and we’ve put together a list of 31, one per day through the month of May. We encourage creators to join us for this month of fun tropey mayhem.
Our goal is to promote motivation and help with habit building, so we’re encouraging authors to keep their ficlets under 1,000 words, artists to stick to making just a sketch, gif makers to only do a single image, etc., as applicable to whatever you’re making.
This event is primarily held on Tumblr, but you’re welcome to participate anywhere Duck Prints Press has an account (you can see all our current platforms here) and we’ll keep our eyes on our tag everywhere!
How can you participate? It’s easy! There’s just a few simple rules:
write a ficlet or a poem, create art, make a gif, or create any other content that you want, aligned with the prompt for the day!
post your correctly tagged fills to Tumblr, and we’ll reblog them! We’ll reskeet works on Bluesky, retoot those on Mastodon, you get the idea. Note: we do not use Twitter.
you must tag warnings such as gore, MCD, sexual content, etc., so that people can make informed decisions!
please also tag fandom and ship, so people can find what interests them!
we ask that you put the tags at the top of your post, so they’re easy to find.
if you write more than 1k words and post the whole text on Tumblr or wherever, please use a read more if the platform allows.
if you create something with NSFW content or potentially triggering material, please put the entire work under a read more.
Ping us (duckprintspress) or tag your creations “#may trope mayhem” and so we can find them! We’ll reblog all fills that follow the above rules and are posted between May 1st and June 8th, 2025. Posting starts May 1st!
If you post to AO3, you can also add them to our collection there!
You don’t have to sign up for May Trope Mayhem, just post your fills. You don’t have to be a member of the Press nor do you have to be following us. You don’t have to be part of a specific fandom. We’re open to all ships, genres, formats, ratings, kinks, etc.! You can post whatever properly tagged content you want. You don’t have to post fills on the corresponding day, though we ask that if you’re creating for a day that hasn’t happened yet, please wait for that day to post.
MAY TROPE MAYHEM Prompt List Text Version:
Fairy Tale Fusion
Bachelor Auction
Stowaway
Superhero x Supervillain
Inherited Blessing or Curse
Tiny Adorable Eldritch Horror
Love Triangle to Polyamory
Wardrobe Malfunction
Body Guard Character
Fake Dating
Ghost Love Interest
Idiots to Lovers
Unresolved Sexual Tension* (*resolved)
“Who did this to you?”
Character is Conveniently Unrecognizable in Glasses
Breaking the 4th Wall
Time Loop
Wing Grooming
Accidental Summoning
Language Barrier
The House is Alive
Pet Acquisition
A+ Parenting
Mentor and Mentee
Amnesia
Body Swap
Royal x Knight
Second Chance with a Former Love
Identity Porn
Accidental Baby Acquisition
Magical Familiar
Chapters: 1/? Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings (Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Éomer Éadig/Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Aragorn | Estel/Éomer Éadig/Faramir (Son of Denethor II) Characters: Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Éomer Éadig, Aragorn | Estel Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-War of the Ring, Aragorn is King of Gondor, Éomer and Faramir are married, Éomer and Faramir are the Kings of Rohan, Minas Tirith, Burns, Chronic Pain, Because his father tried to burn him alive, Caring Éomer, Bold Éomer Éadig, Flirting, Embarrassment, Soft Éomer Éadig, Men Crying, LOTR men are the best, Bathing/Washing, Scars, Faramir has Chronic Pain, no toxic masculinity here!, Magic, The hands of a King are the hands of a healer, Kissing, Anal Sex, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, POV Faramir Summary:
Faramir has chronic pain after being burnt alive by his father. When Aragorn finds out, the King insists on trying to help heal him. This leads to Faramir and Éomer telling Aragorn their feelings for him, and the three of them end up in bed together.
*Please wait to post your entries until the fest begins! It makes running the fest much easier for our guild keepers.
Welcome to The Guild's Next Quest!
[Before we continue, big thank you to @camelotsheart for this beautiful gif!!]
This week long mini fest is a Prompt Quest! There will be an overall, general theme to stick to, and then 7 Prompts (one for each day) will be provided centering around the theme, for you to use in your fanworks if you so choose!
This week we are doing things a little differently! We will have Double Prompts.
By this we mean, writers will have a daily couple prompt. There will be alternate prompts offered, though, if a particular couple does not resonate with you but you still wish to participate everyday.
This weeks Theme: Polyamory Appreciation Week!
Your Quest this week is to use the prompts below in your Poly love-filled fanworks!
You do not have to participate everyday, if a particular prompt does not resonate with you! If you wish to make a fanwork for each day, that is spectacular and we cannot wait to see what you do! If you only want to do a few days, or even just one, that is still great and we can't wait to see what you do!
Minimum Requirements
We aren't very picky here at the guild, but we do ask that your fanworks meet these minimums before you turn them in, and post them to the collection if you use Ao3!
***For Polyam Appreciation Week (lovingly acronym-ed PAW), we do require any works created contain a theme of polyamory! Gifmakers, editors and those who take from Merlin Footage, obviously have some leeway with this, but the implication at least should be there! This is Polyamory Appreciation Week, let's see some love for Poly love!!***
Fanfiction: 500 words minimum (no maxiumum!) Artwork: 1 completed work minimum (when it comes to completed, we trust that whatever you create you believe is complete. That means that works do not have to have color or anything special. Whatever you believe is complete is good for us!) Gifsets: 1 gifset containing 3 gifs minimum Edits: 15 second minimum Podfics: 5 minute minimum (with permission from writer, or clarification if you wrote the fic & recorded the podfic!)
For Writers - Daily Trope Prompts:
Day 1 – Merlin/Gwen/Arthur AND/OR Friends to Lovers Day 2 – Merlin/Gwaine/Arthur AND/OR Bed Sharing Day 3 - Elyan/Gwaine/Percival AND/OR Soulmates Day 4 - Mithian/Vivian/Morgana AND/OR Hallmark Au Day 5 - Merlin/Gwaine/Lancelot AND/OR Hurt/Comfort Day 6 - Morgana/Gwen/Mithian/Elena AND/OR Modern Era Day 7 - Merlin/Knights/Arthur AND/OR Fake Relationship/Marriage
For Editors/Gif-Makers - Daily Suggestions:
Day 1 - Favourite Ship Scene Day 2 - Most Chaotic Scene Day 3 - Your Ship + Symbolism Day 4 - Favourite Polyam Crackship Day 5 - Favourite Polyam Rarepair Day 6 - Quote Day Day 7 - Free Day
We look forward to seeing all of your entries! Don't forget to Turn In Your Quests & Add Them To Quest 3's Collection (which opens on the first day of Questing Week!) if you use Ao3 when you finish!
*Please remember to tag your works with your entry week (i.e. #entry: PAW) and #the sorcerers guild so we can find your entries and they are easily searchable! Especially if you do not submit your entries to the blog--if you don't submit them or use the tags, we won't be able to find your posts!
P.S. The Merlin Pride Celebration will be running the week of this fest, and we 100% allow and encourage crossposting to MPC!!
Rating: M
Warnings: Graphic Descriptions of an Injury, Mentions of Drug Use
Summary: Based off of prompt #57. Hiccup tries to befriend the Armorwing, and it’s all going well until his prosthetic falls off and the dragon tries to help and weld it back on.
Hiccup cautiously approached the Armorwing, left hand outstretched. The dragon flicked its tail in agitation, snapped out at him, and Hiccup jumped back.
“Whoa, whoa! It’s okay! It’s me! Remember me? I helped you!”
“Yeah, and we also got it attacked by Singetails,” Snotlout said, folding his arms, and Hiccup looked to him with a roll of his eyes.
“Snotlout, the Flyers would have come after the Armorwing anyway,” Hiccup explained. “You know, because of the Dragon Eye lens.” He stepped away from the dragon, closer to his friends, who were in the bushes. He rubbed at his chin. “Maybe he’s afraid because there’s so many people around.”
“Hiccup, what are you suggesting?” Astrid asked.
“Maybe if I was given some time alone with him, he’d-”
“Uh-uh,” Fishlegs said, stepping forward. “No way, Hiccup. This dragon’s not tame in any way.”
Toothless made a rumbling noise as if in agreement, nudged Hiccup in the side.
“Look, guys, I know what I’m doing,” Hiccup assured them. “I trained a Night Fury after all.”
“Really, Hiccup? You’re gonna bring that up?” Tuffnut questioned.
“I mean, yeah.” Hiccup scratched at his head. “Look, what else do you want me to do?”
“Maybe leave the dragon alone,” Ruffnut said. “We don’t have to train it. We can just leave it scrap metal and go.”
“And get scorched in the process?” Hiccup asked, folding his arms, jutting out one hip. “No way. I’m doing this, okay? And besides, what if I can actually train it? Wouldn’t that be cool?”
Snotlout sighed in defeat. “Have fun losing another limb.”
“Great.” Hiccup wasn’t going to let anyone else argue with him. “So the rest of you take Toothless, and uh, go check out the island, I guess.”
“Shouldn’t we at least leave Toothless with you?” Fishlegs seemed nervous.
“He’ll just freak out the Armorwing,” Hiccup pointed out, gesturing to the dragon behind him. “Guys, I’ll be fine.”
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"Daddy, why do you only have one leg when Mommy has two?"
Hello! This request was written by @astrid-foreverythingelse! Hope you enjoy!
“Daddy, why do you only have one leg when Mommy has two?”
Hiccup looked up from the vegetables he was chopping into the curious eyes of his daughter across from him. A piece of parchment with a crude drawing of sheep in a pasture lay forgotten in front of her. However, the charcoal remained in her hand as she absentmindedly fiddled with it, waiting patiently for her father’s response.
Hiccup glanced down at his prosthetic and then back to his daughter. “I have two legs! See?” he said, stepping around the table and dancing in a small circle.
Zephyr laughed. “No, Daddy! How come Mommy has two normal legs and you have a metal one!”
“Well, I’d hardly call your mother’s legs normal,” he joked, earning him a punch in the arm from his wife. She scooped up some of the vegetables and playfully glared at him, crossing the room to the firepit as Hiccup massaged his sore arm.
“Daddy,” Zephyr insisted through giggles. “Uncle Tuffie said a troll took it ‘acuz you wouldn’t give him a buckle off your s’irt. Is that true?”
Astrid snorted over by the firepit, and Hiccup rolled his eyes. “You’re absolutely right Zephyr,” Astrid said before Hiccup could say a word. “Your Daddy loves his shirt buckles so much that he let a troll take his leg instead of losing one.”
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Fanfic is a free hobby.
It's one of the last few things we can have as a society that's free. You can engage, for free. People give you things (art, stories, etc), for free.
Don't buy into the consummerism just because it's everywhere else.
You don't have to consume everything you interact with. You don't have to use things, just because they exist.
You're allowed (still, for now), to have things that are enjoyable for free.
Do you realise how insane the world is? We don't have many places where we can just be, for free anymore, but ao3 is. Did you notice we don't have ads in ao3? We don't have pop ups? Where ELSE do we not have that?
Where else can you just go and not have to wait for a commercial to be over or for ads to be on the sidelines?
I don't think the younger people understand, but the whole of internet used to be like this. YouTubers would do Youtube for free, just because. You couldn't monetise your internet presence before.
Ao3 is like a little preserved corner of the internet where the old internet used to be, and it's being attacked by people who do not understand that free things are allowed to exist without judgment.
Please don't ruin this for us.
Some of us need it.
rare vent art from a few months ago
I wrote a thing. I haven’t written a fic in over 5 years, so this feels very strange. I’m not sure how things work anymore….
Comments are appreciated.
Title: The Raid Mishap
Rating: PG-13 for language and blood.
Pairing: Hiccstrid
Summary: Set between HTTYD 2 & THW. Raids don’t always go as planned.
Read on FF.net here - https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13287398/1/The-Raid-Mishap
“I think that’s all of them guys, wings up!” Hiccup called, dodging a swinging mace and clubbing a faceless attacker with the back of his sword as he spun around to look for Toothless. There was a loud clang of a metal cage door from behind him before and the cry of a hunter that had gotten stuck it the way and suddenly his dragon was underneath him in a way that was practiced to perfection.
Keep reading
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Boromir (Son of Denethor II) & Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Éomer Éadig/Faramir (Son of Denethor II) Characters: Éomer Éadig, Faramir (Son of Denethor II), Boromir (Son of Denethor II)(mentioned), Aragorn | Estel (mentioned), Denethor II (mentioned) Additional Tags: Canonical Character Death, not on screen though, It's just being discussed, Faramir misses his brother, Established Relationship, Denethor's A+ Parenting, Has convinced Faramir that he's not worth anything, Éomer hates Denathor for how he treated Faramir, So do I, Men Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Loving and supportive Éomer, Rohan (Tolkien), Post-Canon, Post-War of the Ring
Summary:
Faramir struggles with guilt over Boromir's death, as well as missing his older brother. Luckily, his husband Éomer is there to comfort him.
I’ve had so many ideas for fics since getting active in the fandom, and while I’ve written pieces of things, I haven’t finished anything yet. So, I want to release some of these ideas into the wild for anyone interested to run with. If it ends up inspiring me further later, well, the more the merrier, right?
“I would not allow Merlin to be executed under any circumstances,” Arthur said. “I mean it. He could practice magic under the king’s nose, and I would still see no harm come to him.”
Uther tells Arthur to reward Merlin after he publicly saves his life again. Instead of giving him money or some other minor gift the king might recommend, Arthur decides to give him an education worthy of a noble, which carries implications.
A blizzard overwhelms Camelot while Arthur, Merlin, and the knights are on a patrol. The life-threatening weather forces them to seek refuge, and the nearest sanctuary turns out to be a magical temple. After learning Arthur’s identity the temple guardians/priestesses intend to refuse them shelter. Merlin reveals himself as Emrys to ensure their entry.
KNUCKLE KISSES