#and he ends up being killed by sauron anyway

[fistfuloflightning]

Maeglin gets left behind when Turgon ditches the Nirnaeth. He’s subsequently adopted by Fingon’s grieving people as his “son”. Guess looking just like your mom (and all your other Finwean relatives) can be a good thing. Being forced into kingship because there’s no one else alive: less of a good thing.

#silm crack #maeglin #gil galad #random crack au idea #maeglin is gil galad #and he ends up being killed by sauron anyway #the silmarillion #silm au #fic ideas #unapologetic maeglin apologist

[thelordofgifs]

Ranking all the Kings of Gondor

Based on what, you may ask? Vibes. Let's go.

Eldacar. Twenty-first King. THE bestest boy in the legendarium. The hero of the Kin-strife, the archetype of immigrant child trauma, the exiled king, the vengeful father... we love him so so so much ok!!

Aragorn. First High King of the Reunited Kingdom. Yes I know your list would put him at the top but this is my list and I do what I want. Anyway he's wise and kind and "the hands of the king are the hands of a healer" and he's brave and clever and has an excellent fairy-tale romance going on and I am very much not immune to Viggo Mortensen covered in blood with unwashed hair.

Elendil. First High King. He's brave he's cool he's wise he DEFEATED SAURON. Love him.

Isildur. Second High King (co-ruler). Justice for my boy the movies did him so so dirty!! Anyway he saved the line of the White Tree and fought so so bravely and he did his best. I will not countenance Isildur slander actually.

Valacar. Twentieth King. Ranks this highly mostly because he's my blorbo Eldacar's father, but Valacar is cool! His father sent him to the Northmen to build an alliance and Valacar promptly fell in love with their chief's daughter instead. And then Vidumavi died long before he ever even became King and you have to wonder if Valacar feared he would outlive his children too :(

Aldamir. Twenty-third King. Also ranking highly mostly because of genetic proximity to my guy, but Aldamir is sooo tragic actually. He's a second son who never should have become King except his older brother was MURDERED and maybe he spent the rest of his life trying to live up to him!! Also he was also killed in battle which I am sad about. This family cannot catch a break.

Eärnur. Thirty-third and last King. This is the idiot who challenged the Witch-king of Angmar to single combat and was never seen again, but I have a soft spot for him on account of. that was really sexy.

Eldarion. Second High King of the Reunited Kingdom. We don't know much about Aragorn and Arwen's son, but movie!Eldarion is very cute which is enough to earn him a high rank.

Rómendacil II. Nineteenth King. An all-round competent guy who ruled as regent for years for first his lazy uncle and then his lazy father. Built the Argonath!! Also he's Eldacar's grandfather which again earns him points.

Eärnil II. Thirty-second King. Ended up with the crown after his predecessor and both his sons were killed in battle (although NOT his daughter. JUSTICE FOR FÍRIEL). Anyway Eärnil strikes me as a decent guy who was doing his best. Props to him for taking pains not to alienate the Dúnedain of Arthedain.

Ondoher. Thirty-first King. The aforementioned predecessor, who is mostly ranked highly because I feel bad that he died :( and he tried to ensure Gondor would still have an heir to the throne if he and his eldest son were killed! But his youngest son joined the battle in disguise and got killed anyway!

Minardil. Twenty-fifth King. Another tragic one, he was Eldacar's great-grandson and was slain in battle by the descendants of Castamir. I am upset about this.

Meneldil. Third King. We don't know much about him, but he was the first solo ruler of Gondor and also the last child born in Númenor before the Downfall, which is cool.

Telumehtar. Twenty-eighth King. Finally got rid of the last descendants of Castamir, excellent work.

Calimehtar. Thirtieth King. Defeated the Wainriders attacking Gondor in a great alliance with the Northmen, which we love to see. Also he built the White Tower of Minas Anor! Good for him.

Anárion. Second High King (co-ruler). He was initally a lot higher on the list because I feel for him always being overshadowed by his father and brother, but then I learned he was killed by a THROWN ROCK which is kind of pathetic ngl. Sorry, Anárion.

Tarondor. Twenty-seventh King. Had the unenviable task of rebuilding the realm after it was ravaged by the Great Plague, but unfortunately he moved out of Osgiliath for good (which makes me unreasonably sad. I love Osgiliath) and also allowed the watch on Mordor to lapse for good.

Eärendil. Fifth King. We don't know much about him, but his name is nice.

Anardil. Sixth King. We don't know much about him, but his name is also nice.

Telemnar. Twenty-sixth King. Died in the Great Plague, sad for him I guess.

Narmacil II. Twenty-ninth King. Slain in battle with Wainriders, made no impression on me at all.

Siriondil. Eleventh King. We know very little about him, but that's a good name.

Cemendur. Fourth King. Boring and doesn't even have a good name.

Turambar. Ninth King. Mainly this low down because THAT'S A TERRIBLE NAME WHAT ARE YOU THINKING.

Hyarmendacil II. Twenty-fourth King. Defeated the Haradrim in battle, good for him I guess.

Atanatar I. Tenth King. No personality. I don't like his name either.

Rómendacil I. Eighth King. Defeated some Easterlings in battle, but apparently not very well because they later killed him. Oh well.

Ciryandil. Fourtheenth King. A Ship-king, and I don't like Ship-kings (mostly because Castamir tried to be a Ship-king).

Ostoher. Seventh King. Didn't do much, although he started the practice of the King spending his summer in Minas Anor. Good for him? I guess?

Eärnil I. Another Ship-king. Died in a great storm, which is one of the perils associated with being a Ship-king!

Calmacil. Eighteenth King. Generally incompetent. Gains a couple of points for being Eldacar's great-grandfather.

Narmacil I. Seventeenth King. Also pretty incompetent. He let his nephew do all the work of ruling for him.

Atanatar II. Sixteenth King. Lived in indolence and splendour, and neglected the watch on Mordor which was not very wise of him!

Hyarmendacil I. Fifteenth King. Ok he actually sucks. The King who defeated the Haradrim and instituted the practice of taking their sons as hostages to live in the court of Gondor.

Tarannon. Twelfth King. The first of the Ship-kings, also known for his loveless marriage to his wife Berúthiel who gets blamed for everything for some reason.

Castamir the Usurper. (Technically) twenty-second King. Should not be on this list and is here purely so that I can say. FUCK. THIS. GUY.

#lotr #eldacar #aragorn #elendil #isildur #valacar #not tagging all of them #this took me most of an afternoon please admire

[nelyos-right-hand]

I was just spontaneously hit by sadness over Finrod's fate. We often make fun of him for the let's-challenge-Sauron-to-a-rap-battle-to-the-death idea, which is then often compared to Fingolfin, but I keep thinking about how absolutely terrified he must have been.

Because, contrary to Fingolfin, he did not want to fight Sauron. He probably didn't want to be on this quest at all. He went out of loyalty to the son of his friend, and because of the oath he had sworn, but I highly doubt he enjoyed the thought of going on a suicide quest to steal a Silmaril. Finrod wasn't stupid after all, he knew their chances of survival, and he had probably already made peace with the thought of his death.

And then, after he gets betrayed and abandoned, he suddenly ends up in Sauron's throne room. And Sauron starts singing.

That wasn't a dramatic act of bravery the way it was in Fingolfin's case (though it was of course incredibly brave) (and less stupid), but of pure desperation. They had maybe seconds left until their disguises failed, so Finrod had to do something right now. So he just started singing.

And I just keep thinking about how afraid he must have been. He just started a singing contest with an Ainur. One might think that he really wasn't risking anything when doing it, the result of loosing would be that same as doing nothing at all, but that's not the case.

Had Finrod not started singing, Sauron would have seen through their disguises immediately and probably just killed them. End of the story. As it is, the disguises fail anyway, but now Sauron is faced with an elf who can stand against him in songs of power. He is both angry and curious.

And, as I said, Finrod isn't stupid. He has seen the scars on Maedhros body.

He took the greatest risk possible when fighting Sauron, and he escaped only so closely from paying the greatest price possible. Really, being killed by that wolf shortly before Luthien arrived was tragic, but from Finrod's perspective, who had no idea that Luthien was coming, that was probably the most optimal outcome.

I know this is nothing new that hasn't been analysed in 200 fics and tumblr posts before, but, you know, I was sad, so I shared my pain with the fandom the way we do it here 🙂

#finrod #sauron #silmarillion #the silmarillion #tolkien #beren and luthien #angband #my post

[buffyfan145]

I wanted to make another post about some of the possible massive season 2 leaks for "Rings of Power" as I've gotten so many more thoughts about it and need to get them out. 😀 Also I'm hoping this does happen now as my mind has been thinking on this and how much it makes sense to me that I'm going to be sad if it doesn't. LOL

So if anyone didn't see The One Ring Net posted a tons of leaks last week and I've posted another post all about that. But the ones that got to me obviously was the reveal that they're going to give Sauron/Halbrand a son that Adar killed. This was before s1 happened and the form Adar knew (played by Gavi). This would add so much complexity to Sauron/Halbrand/Mairon as him having a child is huge and showing he actually is capable of love despite being a villain. Some of my favorite villains in other shows/movies/books do have families and sometimes the only people they love are their children and partner, so adding this to Sauron would just be a plus for me. It also would prove that he does have feelings for Galadriel and is capable of loving her. We all know he was good in the beginning and like Melian is a Maiar so it's totally possible for him to become a father and fall in love with an elf.

Then it makes me wonder who is playing this boy. Is it someone already announced or is it just someone in one episodes explaining this backstory? Then what is his name and like another fan pointed out could Sauron choosing the name Halbrand actually be honoring his son if the name is similar? Also if he's part Maiar does that mean after Adar killed him the son went to Valinor? That would also explain why Sauron/Halbrand was thinking of just living on his own and even contemplated trying to get redemption as maybe he thought he'd be able to reunite with his son at some point.

Then this all brings me again to Celebrian and if it's possible the show really could make her be Sauron's daughter. Weirdly enough one of the leaks said that Sauron/Halbrand is actually pretending to be Celeborn and that's who really reunites with Galadriel. So we have that possibility and that Galadriel gets pregnant that way, but personally I would prefer if it happens after she finds out it's Sauron/Halbrand and we do have another leak that she gets captured by Adar and then have to make a choice in the season finale and possibly decides to stay with Sauron/Halbrand setting up season 3.

All along I figured Celebrian will be born in season 3 so they could even make it to where Galadriel and Sauron/Halbrand did decide to try to make it work as a couple and she changes her mind to be his queen. We know season 4 supposedly is Sauron/Halbrand going back to Numenor from Charlie's interviews, so I've been wondering what the s3 story for them is and it could be this. Once Galadriel finds out he had a son that died it actually would bond them more as then that connection between them in s1 was real and they both experienced such deep loss of family. Then if she has Celebrian but in the end they're doomed anyway and she eventually leaves him and takes their daughter to Lothlorien.

This would also explain why Sauron never attacked Lothlorien or Rivendell and why Dul Guldur was right next door if his ex-wife and daughter are living there. The real Celeborn would likely be back by this point and Galadriel restarts her marriage with him and he helps raise Celebrian as her step-father similar to some of our fics, including my own "Building a Mystery". Plus there was a version of Galadriel escaping thanks to the dwarves with little Celebrian but she also had a son named Amroth that Tolkien later decided to delete. Now makes me wonder if this is where the writers got the idea to give Sauron a son too.

Then it makes me think too when Celelbrian goes to Valinor if she turns out to be Sauron/Halbrand's daughter that she actually reunites and meets her older brother that's been in Valinor since Adar killed him. That way too besides Galadriel's other family and Melian and Yavanna/Aule, Celebrian would have family there. And then when Galadriel finally goes back to Valinor at the end of LOTR she also meets Sauron/Halbrand's son and promises Sauron/Halbrand that she'll be with their children even though he can't be with them.

It just weirdly works for me and makes sense in a way I never expected. I know a lot of the purists/die-hard LOTR probably would hate these changes but I think it just adds to it and that's not just me being a Haladriel shipper. I now see their relationship as a tragic romance and it just fits with that. But also I'm really forgiving in a lot of my other fandoms for huge changes like this if it makes sense. It just a lot of the LOTR aren't since there hasn't been that many adaptations like those of public domain things like Jane Austen's books and all the "Sherlock Holmes" stories to name two. So we'll see what happens but I'm all for this.

#the lord of the rings #the rings of power #spoilers #haladriel #galadriel x halbrand #halbrand #sauron #galadriel #celebrian

[thesummerestsolstice]

Part three of my little series on the Rivendell guards! Meet Hrivossa here and Celecoll here! Today we're covering the founding of Rivendell in the late Second Age, and my headcanons for how it happened, as well as how Elrond and Celecoll met.

It is the Second Age– 1697 to be exact

(Fair warning I've messed with the timeline and events a bit, but this isn't too far off of canon)

Eregion has just been destroyed

Elrond was there as Gil-Galad's lieutenant; he was there mostly alone, no one expected the city to fall so fast

Elrond was there with Erestor and a few others, which should've been fine, but he gets separated from them in the fighting and ended up unconscious

In the aftermath Elrond is actually captured by Sauron's forces, though not immediately identified

And while the party of orcs was dragging him off to Sauron's fortress, a vaguely feral figure in a cloak stepped in to save him

Everyone meet Celecoll again! She's been living alone in the woods hunting Morgoth's forces and refusing to engage with society for the past couple thousand years! I'm sure she's fine

(Yes, she does know that Doriath fell after she left, yes, that did compound the guilt crisis, yes, she did almost drown when Beleriand sunk, yes, this has all been amazing for her state of mind)

Anyway Elrond wakes up in her camp with his injuries treated, very quickly realizes that Celecoll's doing not great, and manages to convince her that he really needs as escort back to Lindon

(Look, Celecoll is an old soldier clearly suffering from some flavor of trauma, and Elrond really wants to help her, even if he knows she doesn't feel like she deserves that help)

Problem: Morgoth's armies have completely cut them off from Lindon; hell, no one in Lindon even knows if anyone survived the Fall of Eregion

Elrond manages to join back up with Erestor and the others, who were able to escape before being captured with a few of Eregion's people

They also meet Glorfindel, who rode out of Lindon on his own when he heard about the fall of Eregion and just managed to sneak past Sauron's lines before everything really went to shit

Elrond quickly realizes they're all going to die if they stay out in the open, and instead leads them to a valley that had caught his eye when he was traveling the region earlier– a place hidden and defensible enough for them to hunker down there until relief comes

It had called to him, and he'd wanted to come back to it, but hadn't had the chance

On the way, they also join up with a few orcs who are– look, it's complicated, there was a kidnapping and some surprisingly productive cultural exchange– they're basically Elrond's friends, and because they turned traitor against Sauron, they're also liable to be killed

Normally, several people there (especially Celecoll) would be completely unwilling to team up with orcs, but the situation is dire enough that nobody complains about a few extra sets of eyes and hands to help out

Tension dies dies pretty quickly between everyone all things considered, there's not a lot of room for distrust or anger when you're all constantly fighting for your lives together

When they finally reach the valley, they are as follows: Elrond, Erestor, Glorfindel, Celecoll, and a few assorted elves, half-elves, and orcs

There are a couple dozen of them total

And they have to turn the valley into a siege fortress in the hopes that someone will find them before Sauron's army exterminates them all

Given the circumstances, it's maybe unsurprising that they don't waste too much time coming up with a name for the valley

They call in 'Rivendell'

Here's the part where I play with the timeline a little– the siege ends up lasting for years

By that point, the people of Rivendell– especially Elrond– have grown very attached to their valley

And Celecoll decides to stick around, and try her hand at being a guard again

Tomorrow I'll write about what happened after the seige broke, as well as the eternal feud between Celecoll and Hrivossa. Also, the Tolkien wiki ended up being super useful for this post!

#silmarillion #silm headcanons #rivendell #imladris #elrond #elrond peredhel #erestor #glorfindel

[orkishereemily]

i really really don't want this to be some sort of petty rant account (i've done too much already, i'm still repenting), but i have this little pet peeve that i'm just dying to vent about

so, you might've seen this picture before!

a watercolour sketch made by tolkien himself

usually said to be how sauron is 'supposed' to look (and occasionally accompanied with a comment about it looking bad or tolkien 'not being an artist' which is mean :/)

but it's always missing the context!!

for one thing, this really shouldn't be seen as "what sauron looks like" this is that bit at the very end where sauron is killed and he takes the form of a giant shadow for a moment before disappearing we don't really know what sauron looked like in his normal form (just big and scary basically), but it wouldn't be this!

also, this is basically just a doodle! like, that's why there's another arm randomly placed below it! it's just him testing out an idea, not a finished piece or anything like that

in fact, he was testing out this idea so he could do a better final copy later!

this was tolkien's concept for the cover of ROTK and at the top right, you can see a MUCH better version of the spooky sauron shadow there were definitely things tolkien struggled with drawing (people mostly, and perspective/scale are usually pretty wonky) but i think this picture of sauron is actually pretty effectively sinister! he doesn't get enough credit as an artist, he had a really charming style and i really love a lot of his pieces

unfortunately they couldn't include sauron on the finished cover because it wouldn't have printed legibly (it is already kinda hard to see just in the concept) honestly too bad, i do think the rest of the cover is kinda. mmm. i have never been able to figure out what those two feathery things on the sides are supposed to be

so yeah, to sum up: that watercolour sketch really isn't "what sauron really looked like" or anything like that, AND there's a much cooler version of that picture out there anyway

#lotr #tolkien #sauron #no judgement here to anybody #mainly an excuse to show more fans the version on the cover #and to geek out about obscure tolkien art #not enough people know about it! #i never see it brought up when the watercolour gets posted #and i think that's too bad

[marietheran]

LotR reread - book 2, chapter 2 - The Council of Elrond

Tolkien once envisaged Galdor of the Havens as the same person as Galdor, Lord of Gondolin. He seems to have gone back on it, but I like that version a bit.

Mysterious Allusions Counter at 4.5

"And yet not so many, nor so fair, as when Thangorodrim was broken, and the Elves deemed that evil was ended for ever, and it was not so."

"The Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aeglos and Narsil, none could withstand" -- proof that what's important is a really really good sword, able to survive contact with evil beings?

"The blood of the Númenóreans became mingled with that of lesser men. Then the watch upon the walls of Mordor slept..." - hmmm... otoh, weird with the "lesser men", otoh, given the next sentence, it might mean less a racial change and more the Gondorians forgetting their heritage.

Boromir's (Faramir's really) dream: voice speaks out of the West. This seems important.

Another poem I learned by heart completely accidentally at 13.

Bilbo telling his story - "He did not ommit a single riddle" xdd

Mysterious Allusions Counter at 5.5

"In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe"??? In the wars of the First Age, yes, but I can't really find any instances of treason later on, unless it's the Númenóreans' collective descent into evil idiocy. But the "Dark Tower" means Sauron. A slip? Or were there betrayals we haven't been told of?

"It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill"

Whatever one thinks the Valar would say about someone bringing the Ring into Valinor (LotR declines to elaborate on "they would not receive it"), the explanation that the road to the sea will be guarded against them seems very reasonable anyhow. "Too often the Elves have fled that way" and Sauron would not have forgotten how his predecessor ended.

"But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right: and though all the mighty Elf-friends of old, Hador, and Húrin, and Túrin, and Beren himself were assembled together, your seat should be among them" (!!!)

I used to not understand why Túrin and Húrin are held in honour so high. Now I get Húrin, because the Silm seriously undersells his bravery (he was long, umm, persuaded to give up the location of Gondolin, and you can guess what kind of methods of persuasion were used - and said nothing), but despite Túrin being a problematic fave of mine, I still feel like remembering the killing of Glaurung and forgetting everything else, which everyone in ME seems to do, is a bit weird. I have seen the interpretation that it is done specifically to spite Morgoth, and I guess it makes as much sense as anything.

But anyway, rest in peace, Túrin, and that praise Frodo was given was something.

#realised I've been writing Thrangorodrim with that additional r for years #oopsie #the professor's mythopoeia #lotr reread #lotr #original post

[nateofgreat]

Alright, the ROP rumors have forced my hand. I'm going to give my thoughts on them.

"Season 2 will begin with a flashback to the creation of the universe."

Might I ask, why? Even if they nail the portrayal itself what narrative purpose could it serve at this stage in the show?

To show that Sauron was there? They already had Sauron confirm he was there for it in S1.

To introduce Melkor? They already did that in the opening of S1, more than that they explained Sauron's connection to him too.

I don't see a purpose other than it being a thing that people recognize. For that reason, I wouldn't be surprised if this rumor turned out to be true.

"Tom Bombadil and Goldberry will be confirmed to be Morgoth and Ungoliant serving out their sentence."

Yeah, no way. They don't even have the rights to use Ungoliant for one thing and I doubt even they'd go as far as to have Morgoth become a jolly hermit and claim it's punishment.

Now what I can see them doing is suggesting that Tom (if he does appear) used to be evil in some way. I can see them doing that under the misguided notion that it adds complexity and makes him "morally gray" when that's really not the point of his character. As far as I know he's supposed to represent the spirit of Tolkien's English countryside, so it'd be a bit weird to make him the ultimate evil in Middle Earth.

Also how the heck would Ungoliant end up as Goldberry? Last we heard of her she got so hungry she ate herself alive, lol.

"Sauron will go back to Eregion again, this time disguised as Celeborn."

This one I can unfortunately see happening. They've already hinted (after everyone complained) that they're going to have Sauron double-back to Eregion and repeat his entire infiltration plan to forge the other rings. Which in itself is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard but regardless...

They still don't have the rights to the story of Annatar, so Sauron will need another disguise. And if they don't want Galadriel to deliberately hide the truth from the elves again, it'll have to be a disguise that fools her. Hence, Celeborn.

This would serve their shipbait purposes as to appease the only fans they do have (the shippers). I know it sounds like something straight out of a soap opera but that's about at the level of Rings of Power anyways, so hey.

"Sauron has a son who was killed by Adar."

... Why?

#anti ROP #anti Rings of Power #anti Amazon lotr #anti Saurondriel #anti haladriel #ROP critical #Rings of Power critical #anti ROP Galadriel #anti ROP Sauron #Tom Bombadil #Goldberry

[rohirric-hunter]

Anyway I think I'm all caught up with the Corsairs of Umbar expansion now.

Thoughts:

Legolas suggested that Azagath was a Gurzyul and I agree. I think that's very likely. I think that's super probable actually.

Nakasi can go fuck herself.

Caebar I know your relatives are being dicks but maybe moving to Umbar shouldn't be your first reaction to that. Do you even know anyone here? Anyone who isn't an assassin?

Jajax is going to be so fucking insufferable about this isn't he.

I've missed watching Horn and Nona try to kill each other.

I'm worried about Tathata. I hope she's okay. I need to apologize for bringing an assassin onto her ship, that was very uncool of me.

I hope that Harmelak isn't too mad that I ran away very fast with my tail between my legs instead of killing Azagath like she wanted me to.

Tangential because licensing issues probably won't let them get into it but if Azagath is using the power of the sea to his own evil ends (like possibly sustaining himself after the fall of Sauron stripped him of his Gurzyul powers) then how does Ulmo feel about that. Again, licensing issues, but I'm sure he has Opinions.

#lotro #spoilers of umbar

[kob131]

I am sick and tired of people claiming that Jacques is a good father just because he rescued Weiss from the battle of Beacon. Last time I checked, basic human decency isn’t worth rewarding, it’s just doing the bare minimum to get by in life. Also, a villain doing one nice thing (or at the very least neutral thing) to a hero doesn’t mean that they’re a good person. Sauron not teleporting to The Shire to kill Frodo and all the other Hobbits living there as soon as Frodo put on The One Ring for the first time doesn’t change the fact that he’s a 60000+ year-old demonic turbo-Hitler.

Guess we're doing RWBY venting today.

Reminder I have a side blog for this @kob-bitches-about-rwde

Anyway-

I don't know why Jacques is such a hard good faith check in RWBY. He shouldn't be.

Jacques is the definition of a one-dimensional bad guy. He has no reason for his actions beyond 'selfish'. He has no history beyond 'abusive husband/wife'. He's not even a racist or a sexist because that would imply he has some kind of standards, he's just an opportunist. Jacques is basically a Captain Planet villain. And yet people continuously fail at understanding him.

I know the point. That 'Jacques is so poorly written that the writers actually didn't make him bad/made him a good parent and Weiss was wrong!'. They know Jacques is supposed to be bad, they argue the writing fails.

My issue is that the barest amount of scrutiny shows that they aren't paying attention.

'Jacques picked up Weiss from the Battle of Beacon'? Why the fuck would Jacques not do so? Especially since he didn't want her going in the first place?

'Jacques let Weiss go to Beacon'? We never see that actually. I bring this up because people love to ignore the info about the White Trailer basically being Jacques sicing a monster onto his kid by saying 'we don't see him doing that!'. Well, Jacques isn't seen letting Weiss go to Beacon out of the goodness of his heart either.

'Jacques let Weiss spend his money'? Then he took it away when she stopped talking to him. This is literally the definition of finical abuse. And while a parent taking away an allowance isn't always finical abuse- a parent with a known history of abuse doing so for something as petty as not talking does indicate it as such.

'Jacques slapping Weiss was just disciplining her for attacking someone and lashing out at him'? Weiss is a god damn veteran at this point and Jacques openly said he was parading her around for PR reasons. Even though Weiss is clearly not okay with this. Even though the people of Atlas clearly do not care about the events Weiss suffered through. Even though it could have been avoided by doing ANYTHING else.

Weiss' 'attack' was accidental, to the point even James knew she wasn't at fault. And Jacques OPENLY stated his reason was because it made him look bad, not out of concern for the target or frustration with her attitude. And he slapped her ONLY when she verbally struck him, not because she refused to take responsibility.

This stuff is blatant. We've seen this in fiction so many damn times already. It's to the point that when someone pulls this card, I can only assume one of two conclusions-

1- The speaker is stupid/ignorant that they cannot see obvious writing and thus shouldn't be taken seriously.

Or 2- The speaker is so manipulative that they are willing to outright lie because their audience wants to hear 'RWBY bad' thus they should NEVER be taken seriously.

The eternal shit criticism end- Stupidity or lying?

[lady-byleth]

As we all know, I am a bit of an obsessive nerd. Not quite Silmaril hunting levels of obsessive but getting there

Today I shall use this power to draw up a few fun parallels between the most famous love story in Arda and Beren and Luthien (lol, I couldn't stop myself).

This is not going to be in chronological order because the parallels of the two stories don't happen at the same points and it might be a bit jumbled because I'm wicked sick with covid so bear with me

Let's start with the setup for both.

Broken down to its essentials, Beren and Maedhros are sent to retrieve a/the Silmaril/s from Melkor by a great elven King who happens to hate one part of the pairing.

Feanor is no fan of Fingolfin's line in general, Fingon being his half-brother's heir would not have been the most beloved person to Feanor. Thingol is also not particularly fond of Beren.

The difference is that Thingol is giving Beren this task because he deems it impossible and hopes Beren will either give up or straight up die while Feanor's sons swear the Oath so they can't stop unless they die.

In any case, the setup is quite similar at its core.

Of course they do not set off alone. Maedhros is accompanied by his family and the host of Feanor, sharing the Oath with his brothers. Beren meanwhile cashes in on his own family's good relationship with Finrod Felagund (himself a relative of Maedhros and Fingon) and gets his own company for his quest. Now we have an Oath of some sort on both sides and Finrod to connect them further.

Next we have Luthien and Fingon, who out of devotion themselves set off on a journey to follow their partner. Now, I don't quite remember where this comes up but Fingon, if memory serves, goes for two reasons: 1, cuz he too wishes to build something new in Middle-earth, a call to adventure if you will, and 2, because Maedhros is going. Luthien follows Beren when she senses he is in danger, so like Fingon there's a deep bond there that motivates her.

Maedhros and Beren both end up captured by the enemy (Maedhros after losing a significant portion of his company and Beren loses them while captured) and against the better judgment of just about any sentient being Luthien and Fingon both make the solitary treck to some of the most dangerous places on the planet to save them. Thangorodrim are three mountains/volcanos atop Melkor's stronghold Angband, teeming with evil creatures and magic. Dol-in-Gaurhoth belongs to Sauron at this point, where his werewolves make their lair. Incidentally, Beren and Luthien also head for Angband later on.

At this point, Luthien does manage to save Beren from Dol-in-Gaurhoth with the help of non other than Huan, a hound of the Valar gifted to Maedhros' brother Celegorm, again drawing a connection between the two tales that is not quite a parallel but interesting. We won't get into the logistics of how Luthien and Huan came to be a team but like her, Fingon also receives the help of a beast close to a Valar - Thorondor, King of the Eagles

How does Thorondor know to help? Well, Fingon manages to track Maedhros down by doing what every elf does when they are distraught: he sings. And Maedhros, by a small miracle, hears his song and answers, the same way Luthien found Beren in Angband because when all else fails, sing. Well, he sings. Actually they both do, at different points.

Anyway, Maedhros is weakened and in agony, and begs Fingon to kill him. And Fingon, because he sees no other way, raises his bow and prays to Manwe that his arrow might fly swift and true. And Manwe, despite all the bad blood between him and especially the Feanorians, despite the Doom of Mandos promising that everything the Kinslayers do ends in failure, and despite everything that went down between the Noldor and the Valar...sends Thorondor instead. Thorondor, who also appears to help Luthien bring a dying Beren back to Doriath, much like he carries Fingon and Maedhros back to Lake Mithrim.

Beren is currently dying because Carcaroth bit off his hand and poisoned him that way. His right hand, to be precise. Maedhros is in horrific shape because he was tortured for decades and then had his hand cut off.

So if I had a nickle for every time Thorondor carried someone on the quest for some shiny stones back home after they lose their right hand, I'd have two nickles.

Luckily both Maedhros and Beren survive their ordeals...until they both die with a Silmaril in their hands later on. But that's neither here nor there.

Luthien, in her grief, sings her sorrow to Namo, who consults with Manwe on her behalf. And Manwe hears her plea and does what he can do help her, like he heard Fingon's plea and helped him.

So, to summarize, dudes taller than most of their families set off (together with their respective companies, which include Finrod at some point) to retrieve Feanor's shiny stones because an elven King said so and end up captured by the bad guys. Pretty dark haired people follow them, against all odds find them (one of them even twice) and beg the Valar for help, who answer in unexpected ways. Tall dudes lose their right hands, Thorondor is there to play Great Eagle Airlines. Someone is found through singing. Both Maedhros and Beren end up dying very soon after reclaiming one Silmaril.

I hope this is halfway coherent because again, covid. It's probably jumbled all to hell but I think I made my point

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk

#beren and luthien #russingon #luthien tinuviel #beren erchamion #Fingon #Maedhros

[demonscantgothere]

More Haladriel / Saurondriel fic recs:

Between Us by ninathena

Modern AU. Knocked up from a one night stand. Pining!Halbrand is present. Galadriel could probably kill him, but really, why would you kill a puppy? Nah, you pet 'em and take 'em home.

Anger Turns to Honey by ninathena

'Bad Guys Made Them Do It' trope. Adar is just following orders. Sauron and Galadriel ain't got a choice. Questionable situations ensue. Accidental bonding occurs. Mind the tags (non-con).

with hands as gentle as rain, i shall strangle him by poeticmemory

Sauron is Annatar. His gifts are not nice gifts. Galadriel may or may not want to kill him. It is sexy. I am digging the confliction and the dark tone. Celebrían is present. I am in heaven.

but i thought you might by poeticmemory

Modern AU. Halbrand is not nice, not by a longshot. You're going to want to crawl through the screen and strangle him. It is okay. The author is doing her job. It is dark. It is roiling with tension. Mind the tags (dub-con/non-con).

Shadow-Bride by eye_of_a_cat

I'm seeing a pattern. I like Jerk!Sauron. He's such a jerk. Somehow, he manages to finagle Galadriel into being his bride. She doesn't want to, but it's for the good of the realm—Sauron's only price. He will have her to come to him eventually. Willingly.

On the Twelfth Night, or, Epiphany: How Galadriel Seduced a Priest and Discovered the True Meaning of Christmas by Thrill_of_hope

Modern AU. Halbrand is a Hot Priest. Galadriel may or may not be involved in a bet to seduce him. There is definitely hot oral sex in a confessional. You can pray for forgiveness afterwards.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Coraleeveritas, SomeBird (which jUST eNDED, but idc you need to read it anyway~)

Modern AU. The banter. I just . . . the banter. It's adorable. There is angst and secrets! It is sexy. Galadriel is all sass! Pining!Halbrand returns! He saves her number in his phone as "Baby Girl." Trust me, this one is worth it. Oh boy, is it worth it.

Consider this Part 2 of my Haladriel/Saurondriel fanfic recs for ones that didn't get mentioned on the first round, except for "Between Us." All of these are hidden gems that may not have a ton of kudos, but all of them have phenomenal writing, and I am floored they don't get more response.

#saurondriel #sauron x galadriel #galadriel x sauron #haladriel #galadriel x halbrand #halbrand x galadriel #fanfic rec

[bracketsoffear]

Doc Scratch (Homestuck) "The mostly omniscient First Guardian of Alternia, who has been pulling the strings for millenia to cause the tragedies befalling Alternia and orchestrate Lord English’s arrival. His understanding is limited to the Alpha Timeline, but if he comes across something he doesn't know naturally, he's usually able to figure it out pretty quick; the only way to entirely block him out is the power of Void. He considers people who don’t have his near-omniscience “Suckers,” but when Terezi tells him Vriska has one of his magic cue balls (which gives her just a fraction of his near-omniscience), he flips the fuck out. He seems to lack traditional senses and instead perceives the world using his omniscience, which allows him to possess faultless knowledge of his environment's contents, appearance and behavior without using physical senses to derive it. When he attempts to make amends with Vriska and implies that she will come across a monopoly of misfortune if she refuses, and is answered with insults, he almost-outright states that Vriska will not survive the destruction her actions will cause. Given his omniscience and role in preserving the Alpha timeline, this may have been nothing more than an attempt to slip in a barb on Vriska; he knew she wouldn't act differently, and his job was to preserve the cascade of misfortune that brought about Lord English — but he left her with the blame for it. He manipulates sessions into guaranteed failure so he can warp them into twisted, sociopathic killing pens designed to produce "ideal" players… whose actions only create another failed session. His MO is to "nudge" people down routes that they would have taken anyway, using his knowledge to manipulate and mislead; as of the end of Act 5, each and every playable character, Jack Noirs included, were being set up in order to help him create the Green Sun, when everyone who knew about the Green Sun thought that they were trying to destroy it, and he never once lied."

Sauron (Lord of the Rings) "“His gaze pierces cloud, shadow, earth and flesh… a great eye, lidless, wreathed in flame.”

Sauron, the terrible watchful eye that looks out across Middle Earth and all the horror that lies within it. His rings offer a taste of his power, but at an awful, corrupting cost. You may pass unseen, able to safely observe others as much as you will, but know that he, in turn, watches you."

#eye poll #the magnus archives #the eye #poll #homestuck #lord of the rings #lotr #tolkien

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Propaganda under the cut.

Galadriel:

ok so by the time LotR rolls around she’s a fancy queen in a whole special girl kingdom but she STARTED as the youngest daughter of the youngest son of a king, with five million cousins and three older siblings who were all older and probably better-respected than her; and then some shit happens and the king dies and they all decide to leave Elf Heaven in order to chase down the guy who killed their grandfather, and she is SPECIFICALLY noted as wanting to leave because she wants to rule a kingdom of her own, and she can’t do that in Elf Heaven where there aren’t any openings to rule bc everyone already has a king. so she goes with most of her extended family to try and make their way across the ocean and back to the continent their grandparents travelled to Elf Heaven from, where they hope to avenge the king and also rule some kingdoms (although it’s worth noting!! that other people already live there, and they all KNOW this), and then some more stuff happens and some of her cousins on the “leaving” side start a fight that escalates into a pitched battle where they kill! her mother’s father’s people! (bc she’s also a princess on her mom’s side, lol) and in some versions tolkien decided that she actually fought AGAINST her cousins and killed some people in defense of her mom’s side (which is a BIG DEAL for an elf to Choose to do). after this, her dad is like “actually i Will Not be leaving with you people, murder is Not Okay and i’m going back home to ask the gods for forgiveness and if you had any sense you would too” but galadriel decides SHE’S STILL GOING. anyways then some more stuff happens and her entire extended family on her dad’s side dies, but not before killing some more of her extended family on her mom’s side and also (indirectly) her favorite brother; amongst all this she spends some time as a handmaiden in her great-uncle’s court but eventually decides that that’s not enough for her, so she packs up and heads further east to found her own kingdom, which incidentally will be populated not by her own close family’s subjects, but by some people who at one point were subjects of her great-uncle and may or may not have decided to leave his rule. and then once all the first age drama has died down, even though there is very much a new, undisputed high king of their people on her father’s side who’s still ruling (and doing a damn good job of it), she just Doesn’t swear fealty to him or join his court. instead she founds her own realm. some more intrigue happens and sauron stuff too and she’s forced out of power so she leaves; there’s a war, the king of the place she’s been staying in dies, and then a while later there’s Another big Problem and his son (the new king) just dips, so she just Executively Decides that she’s gonna be in charge of his people now, and THAT’S how she became the Lady of Lothlorien. and then she hangs out being Queen (functionally, if not nominally) there for like two thousand years while occasionally going other places to use her vast magical powers to fight sauron but mostly she just protects her fancy special kingdom. and then LotR happens and she does some mind magic on the entire Fellowship which is also at least a LITTLE creepy, and she admits that she’s Very into the idea of having the power of the One Ring, but doesn’t take it bc she’s got Wisdom now (and also imo bc she’s HAD her chance to rule a kingdom for a very long time so she doesn’t crave power now in the same way she did when she was young). and tolkien writes about her like she’s Perfect but genuinely she’s kinda fucked up and power-hungry! good for her!

Charlie:

Where do I even START She used to be a stage assistant to a magician practicing dark magic. After he got them both dragged into basically super hell, she made a deal with an ancient being and become the embodiment of darkness. She ended up dethroning the magician and become a shadow queen. She's seeking out ancient powers. She's tormenting old men. She's got STYLE and AESTHETIC, and HORRORS.

#poll #tournament poll #round 2 #galadriel #lotr #lord of the rings #charlie dst #dont starve #dont starve together #dst

[tanoraqui]

💙

this isn't your fandom but SOMEONE needs to know that someone else, actually, did write a Silmarillion fic in which [mumbles faintly about timelines] Sauron grabbed Finrod's spirit when he died and shoved him into a baby werewolf, and took baby werewolf!Finrod with him when he fled from Lúthien, and baby werewolf!Finrod grew up into at least teenage werewolf!Finrod in the time it took Lúthien and Beren to catch up, and he doesn't really remember being an elf but he DOES remember that a) he doesn't want to be here and b) he likes Those Other People. They smell like Home and Good Things. So he sneaks out and, after some romping around the forest and adopting a pack of non-were wolves, he finds them...

And the fic ENDS there, which is perfectly fine for a fic but it HAUNTS me as a prompt for more. Werewolf!Finrod! Just torment that elf down to his barest essentials: giant friendly golden retriever who can and will be terrifying and deadly if necessary, particularly in defense of his mortal friends! Werewolf!Finrod giving rides to baby Dior, and then to baby Elwing (out of Doriath), and then to babies Elrond and Elros (and maybe very begrudgingly accompanying them to go with the Fëanorians, whom he vaguely recognizes as Family and Trustworthy With Children, even if they both smell more like blood and fire than anything else, now). (This dramatically diminishes the plausibility of "we're holding them for ransom", but...they were unlikely to hurt those kids anyway, giant blond werewolf guardian or not.)

Werewolf!Finrod whose howls send all but the strongest spirits to their knees in terror and despair, because it is all the power of Finrod Felagund but filtered through a form chosen by Sauron. Werewolf!Finrod whose friends definitely debated mercy-killing him but, like, he seemed okay? And Melian a) did Something to be (almost entirely) sure he couldn't be outright commanded by any Dark Powers again, but b) thought Sauron probably still had first dibs if he died again. Werewolf!Finrod who maybe wasn't generally known to be a werewolf - or, was obviously a werewolf, but wasn't generally known to be Finrod, because none of the above is exactly reassuring, you know? Especially if you didn't know him well enough as an elf to now look him in his big wolfy eyes and say, "Oh yeah, that's my guy, he's still himself." It's just another giant canine whom Lúthien befriended while rescuing her bf, stealing a Silmaril, etc. What, like it's hard?

...Which means it's eventually up to Elrond and Elros to explain this all to Finrod's parents and fiancé, when they arrive for the War of Wrath.

(Finrod is sitting next to them whipping the floor with his tail because Mom! Dad! Girl I was going to marry and live in a beautiful house full of shiny things and go on adventures and have pups with?! If he properly remembered being an elf, his feelings at this reunion would be much more complicated; as is, he's just restraining himself from happily jumping on anyone again. It's rude to make people with swords nervous and there's actually enough of them here to cause him problems, which means he wouldn't be able to properly protect his half-grown half-elf pups, which is still the most important thing.)

I JUST THINK IT'D BE NEAT.

#professorsparklepants #ask meme #the silmarillion #finrod #beren and luthien #ficlet #my fic

[eilinelsghost]

I would *love* to hear all your petty bitch thoughts about Orodreth 😍

Ha! I wish I had good ones? I really am just the pettiest when it comes to Orodreth.

Mostly it boils down to: Finrod ran that place for like 400 years and things were FINE (always barring that whole Fen of Serech incident and the whole oath-that-might-have-gotten-everyone-killed fiasco). But then Orodreth got the reigns for less than thirty and he built a fucking bridge?! And just...trotted out to go see that dragon in the neighborhood? Buddy. Come on, now. You couldn't hold onto a well-fortified hidden kingdom for three decades? I get losing Tol Sirion when Sauron came knocking (dude is freaky) but Nargothrond?! In less than 30 years?! My dude.

But in honesty, most of my petty bitch-ness around him is more HC than canon. He has always showed up in my head as the most straight-laced of the group. I have absolutely no reason for or way to explain this, but he is the St. John Rivers of the Noldor in my head.

So anyway, HC Orodreth is constantly judgy of all his kin for the whole leaving Valinor thing (despite having also gone along with it if he wasn't born in Beleriand) and can get a bit preachy about it. Also he ends up being rather condescending re how much Finrod brings the Edain in on everything and thinks it would be better if they stayed more aloof. He has some feelings about habits and mannerisms Finrod picks up from his time hanging out with his new friends. (Uncle, this is distinctly undignified behavior.)

But then when a human shows up in Nargothrond on his own watch and is kicking enough orc ass that it makes Orodreth actually look like he's heading up some decent military accomplishments, he lets it go straight to his head and just shrugs at any good advice, including a direct voicemail from the literal Vala who told Finrod to build the damn place in the beginning.

So...yeah. Nothing really of depth, just extremely petty beef with ol' Orodreth in what is probably an entirely unfair way since most of that is just a ton of extra-canonical fluff that popped into my head for no reason while reading the Silm, but is now embedded beyond repair.

I'm so sorry you had to listen to that 😂

#orodreth #silmarillion #petty #the silm #finrod