#what of the lords of gondolin are all kids?

[polutrope]

oooh holiday prompts! Can I ask for Maedhros & Maglor, and “singing carols” please? ❤️

Thank you for the prompt! Here we have ~1100 words of Maedhros saving the show -- a little canon fix-it, if you will. Handful of F-bombs, otherwise G-rated brotherly fluff. Posting these to AO3, here. Prompt list. Beleria Cast of Characters.

Maglor flung his hand under the tap and unleashed a string of curses entirely inappropriate for the greenroom of a children’s theatre school. Already blisters bubbled up on the tip of his index finger and the heel of his palm. There was a gash across his thumb joint from the broken ceramic.

Shit. He glared at the microwave as if it had personally injured him. What kind of shit-ass microwave only heats the bowl—! Why was it so damn hot!

“I swear, I could throw you out the fudging window right now,” he grumbled at the appliance.

“Hey, uh, Mr. Finvesen? Are you okay?”

Maglor startled. “What? Oh, hi, Galdor. Yeah yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine,” said Galdor with all the arch attitude of his thirteen years.

“I just burned myself a bit.” Maglor examined his blisters with trepidation.

“Why is there a shattered bowl and soup all over the floor?”

“Because that’s how I burned myself!” Maglor snapped, then took a deep breath.

“That doesn’t look like a microwavable bowl,” Galdor drawled.

Maglor grit his teeth and did not respond.

“Hey,” said Galdor, “how are you gonna accompany us for the concert if your hand is fucked up?”

“Galdor! Don’t swear!”

At that, Maglor’s eyes flooded with tears and he sank to the ground in front of the greenroom sink, cradling his bleeding, burning hand in his lap.

Galdor huffed and left him to his misery.

*

Relatives and friends filed into the small black box theatre at Lindon Studio. For all the effort that went into the children’s summer musical, it was the Yule concert that the kids’ families looked forward to most. The old metal folding chairs creaked as proud parents took their seats and boasted good-naturedly about their children’s many achievements that year.

Maglor stood in the entrance, greeting each group with forced enthusiasm and hoping no one would notice that his left hand was rammed in his pocket where it clutched an ice pack.

In the background, he listened anxiously to the garbled melodies Daeron was plunking out on the piano. It was not good. It was frankly embarrassing. Maglor had to implement Plan B.

But would he come?

There! Maglor nearly tripped as he wound a path through the press of bodies towards the head of red hair rising above them all.

“Oh thank god you're here,” Maglor said in a breathless rush.

“Whoa, hey. Of course I am,” said Maedhros, pulling him into a hug, which Maglor returned one-armed. His head fell against Maedhros’ shoulder with a pained choking sound.

“Uh, Cáno?” Maedhros pulled back to look at him. “Are you okay?”

“No, no. Not at all,” Maglor gritted through his teeth, aware of the crowd around them.

Maedhros guided him to a bench around the corner of the building.

“What’s going on?” he asked when they were seated. “Why do you have your hand shoved in your pocket like that?”

Maglor took a deep breath and pulled the hand and ice pack from his slacks. Then, eyes shamefully cast to the ground, he showed Maedhros the ruination wrought by his dinner plans.

“Yikes,” said Maedhros. “Still not using a rag to take things out of the microwave, then?”

“Shut up,” said Maglor.

“Sorry. Looks pretty bad.”

“It is bad. I’ve got to lead kids in a concert in twenty minutes and my hand is fucked! I can’t play piano!”

“Oh. Right, shit. What about Daeron?”

Maglor frowned and glared at Maedhros. He waited for the sound of Daeron’s playing inside the theatre to make itself heard.

“Is that him?” Maedhros asked, and grimaced. “I thought he was, like, super talented.”

“He is!” Maglor said, and stuck his throbbing blister in his mouth. “But he can’t read sheet music,” he said around the finger, “and barely knows his way around a piano. He taught himself by ear on a guitar, the fucking hipster prodigy.” He pulled his finger from his mouth and flapped it frantically in front of him. “That was mean. Don’t tell him I said that. Ugh! I’m just—!”

“It’s all right," Maedhros chuckled, "I know you like fucking hipster prodigies.” Maglor groaned. “Okay, so. Surely someone else who works here can play piano though?”

“No! Of course not! The admin is all actors who didn’t make it because they didn’t have these skills. Nelyo,” Maglor pivoted towards him, “you remember how to play, right?”

“Oh,” said Maedhros. “I mean, yeah, I guess, but…”

“Can you do it?” Maglor grabbed him by the shoulder and stared intently. “Please. Please, I am begging you. Save my dignity in front of these theatre moms.”

“I mean, I would, but…” Maedhros showed Maglor his right hand, which was wrapped in a tensor bandage. “The injury has been acting up. I’m down a hand, too.”

Maglor’s eyes dropped to his brother’s hand and back up. “Fuck.”

“Hey, hey,” said Maedhros. “No wait, I’ve got an idea.”

“Please,” said Maglor.

“Well you remember how we used to play duets, when I sucked too bad to do the bass and treble at once?”

Maglor smiled wryly at the memory. “Yeah, you were pretty terrible.”

“So we do that. People will love it.”

Maglor’s racing pulse started to even out. His eyes widened. “Nelyo. You genius. Agh!” He threw his arms around his brother’s shoulders. “I could cry. Again. You saved me.”

A discordant clang slipped through the theatre door. Maglor winced.

Maedhros patted Maglor’s back reassuringly. “Now let’s get your poor boyfriend off that piano bench ASAP.”

*

With his left hand resting on a fresh ice pack, Maglor lifted his right to the keys. Beside him, Maedhros did the same with his left. The house lights dimmed and voices dwindled to a hush. Maglor could sense the buzz of excitement from the choir of children huddled on the stage, holding their breath almost as a single being in their shared anticipation.

As the stage lights came up, slowly bathing the space in soft gold, Maglor looked at his brother beside him. Maedhros’ eyes smiled back.

“I might still suck,” he whispered out the corner of his mouth.

“Too late,” Maglor replied, and struck the first chord to cue the children: Jingle Bells was about to begin.

Maedhros did struggle a little, but Maglor barely noticed, overcome by the warm pride that welled up in his heart whenever he heard a chorus of young voices singing in harmony. Yes, he was terribly underpaid, and terribly overworked, and terribly stupid about handling hot objects —but he loved this job.

By the time they were singing Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, Maedhros was mouthing the lyrics along with them. Soon after, he was merrily singing along to Wonderful Christmastime (“ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding!”) with such performative gusto that Maglor laughed so hard he fumbled his own part.

No one seemed to mind.

#maedhros #maglor #holiday prompts #modern au #beleria au #my fic #can you tell I was a theatre kid? #what of the lords of gondolin are all kids? #if*

[imakemywings]

So Maeglin apparently was handsome af, popular, charismatic, and a close confidant of Turgon during his time in Gondolin. In fact, he was a lord and was close to Turgon's ear so he was heard more than Idril. I just wanna know why the fandom loves to portray him as this kid who was hated by everyone (he was not), whom Turgon hated (didn't Turgon love that kid so much?), and whose love for Idril was seen in a good light (when in fact, he was willing to kill earendil just to get Idril). I was honestly shocked when it was such a popular narrative that he was being abused and hated pretty much by everyone in Gondolin and he didn't mean to cause the fall of Gondolin because he was a poor mew mew when the real poor mew mew was Turgon for listening to him in the first place. Lmao I was just genuinely shocked when it was the other way around. I like his character, he's interesting and complex but it kinda takes away the complexity of his character when he is being woobify but that's just me. What do you think?

Anon, idk if you looked at my blog and could tell I would be receptive to these takes, or if you just happen to keep landing on things I agree with XD

But yeah, I have thoughts on Maeglin's reception by the fandom and it's mostly in agreement with what you said.

With Maeglin, he is sympathetic in a lot of ways, which makes you want to root for him. He did have a difficult childhood--Eol was a shithead spouse so it's not hard to imagine he was not a great father either. Maeglin grew up almost totally isolated from anyone but his mom and dad, who did not have a good relationship, thanks to his dad's abuse. When he and Aredhel make a run for it, we want them to succeed! We want good things for them (we've been rooting for Aredhel since the beginning of the chapter)! When Maeglin witnesses his father kill his mother in an effort to kill him, we want him to find peace and security in Gondolin.

The thing is--Maeglin grows well past his difficult childhood. As you noted, Maeglin does very well for himself in Gondolin. At the end of the chapter Of Maeglin, it is described how he "grew great among the Gondolindrim" and there are various indications he was generally trusted and well-liked.

"Thus all seemed well with the fortunes of Maeglin, who had risen to be mighty among the princes of the Noldor..." ("Of Maeglin," The Silmarillion)

At this point, this is we want for him! We like the idea that he's shrugged off his past, that he's doing well, and that he's not like his creepy bride-abducting father.

We don't get much in Silm about what Maeglin's relationship with Turgon is like, but I talked here about why I can't buy that Turgon neglected or abused Maeglin.

"Then the King listened with wonder to all that Aredhel had to tell; and he looked with liking upon Maeglin his sister-son, seeing in him one worthy to be accounted among the princes of the Noldor. 'I rejoice indeed that Ar-Feiniel has returned to Gondolin,' he said, 'and now more fair again shall my city seem than in the days when I deemed her lost. And Maeglin shall have the highest honor in my realm.'" ("Of Maeglin," The Silmarillion)

The only fly in that pudding is that he and Idril get off to a bad start which never improves. He's into her, she's not into him, but he can't let it go. He lets it fester and generate anger, jealousy, and hatred, and in this way, he's like so many creepy guys who can't take rejection.

"But as the years passed, still Maeglin watched Idril, and waited, and his love turned to darkness in his heart. And he sought the more to have his will in other matters, shirking no toil or burden, if he might thereby have power." ("Of Maeglin," The Silmarillion)

But even so, Maeglin is trusted by Turgon! He's popular! He has his own craft and people who admire and follow his ideas! In almost every way, Maeglin should be happy. But he cannot stop obsessing over Idril, and he lets that spoil everything else that he's achieved, to the point where he's wiling to betray the entire city to possess her.

I think there's also a disconnect between those who've read The Fall of Gondolin and those who haven't, because TFOG expands on a lot of things only really hinted at in Silm proper. For instance, the attempted murder of Earendil (who, it should be noted, is seven years old during the sack of Gondolin). In Silm, we get this:

"Tuor sought to rescue Idril from the sack of the city, but Maeglin had laid hands on her, and on Earendil; and Tuor fought with Maeglin on the walls, and cast him far out..." ("Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)

In The Fall of Gondolin, we get a much more detailed account:

"Messengers by great stealth he had dispatched to Melko[r] to set a guard about the outer issue of that Way when the assault was made; but he himself thought now to take Earendil and cast him into the fire beneath the walls, and seizing Idril he would constrain her to guide him to the secrets of the passage, that he might win out of this terror of fire and slaughter and drag her withal along with him to the lands of Melko[r]... Now then M[a]eglin had Idril by the hair and sought to drag her to the battlements out of cruelty of heart, that she might see the fall of Earendil to the flames...When M[a]eglin saw [Tuor] he would stab Earendil with a short knife he had...the mail of the small coat turned the blade aside; and thereupon Tuor was upon him and his wrath was terrible to see." ("The Original Tale," The Fall of Gondolin)

In TFOG, Maeglin's malice is even more apparent as we get a blow-by-blow account of his effort to force Idril to watch him kill her child and then drag her to Angband, but even looking exclusively at canon Silm, Maeglin clearly swings into the villain path. I don't like to criticize him too much for caving under Melkor's threats, because being threatened with torture by Melkor would be fucking terrifying and I don't think any of us can say for certain how we would respond in that kind of situation. Tolkien even tells us Maeglin wasn't a coward, but Melkor is Melkor. Not everyone can be Hurin "Noted Badass and Snarkmaster" Thalion. What I am happy to criticize him relentlessly on is that he allows Melkor's plan to move forward.

"But Morgoth sent him [Maeglin] back to Gondolin, lest any should suspect the betrayal, and so that Maeglin should aid the assault from within, when the hour came; and he abode in the halls of the King with smiling face and evil heart..." ("Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)

He never warns the Gondolindrim of what's coming, and in fact he encourages Turgon to refuse Ulmo's advice and stay in the city (where Melkor expects them to be). In TFOG, when Melkor does invade, Maeglin and his house fight on Melkor's side.

Maeglin fucked up by selling the city out, no argument. But it's more than that--he could have tried to fix it. But he doesn't. Because? Because he doesn't want his treachery revealed, and because Melkor promised him possession of Idril if he helped.

"Great indeed was the joy of Morgoth, and to Maeglin he promised the lordship of Gondolin as his vassal, and the possession of Idril Celebrindal, when the city should be taken; and indeed desire for Idril and hatred for Tuor led Maeglin the easier to his treachery, most infamous in all the histories of the Elder Days." ( "Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)

People resist the narrative of Maeglin the villain I think because they are still in phase 1 where we want good things for Maeglin and for him to overcome his past. And he does...but then he chooses his own shitty path and throws away all the things he gained because he can't be content without everything that he wants, which includes Idril. Making all Maeglin's bad choices someone else's fault--Idril's for rejecting his advances, Aredhel or Eol for parenting him wrong, Turgon for not understanding him, Tuor for who knows--means not having to acknowledge Maeglin chose to become the person who betrayed Gondolin and tried to murder his family.

"Then the heart of Idril was turned towards [Tuor], and his to hear; and Maeglin's secret hatred grew ever greater, for he desired above all things to possess her, the only heir to the King of Gondolin." ("Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin," The Silmarillion)

Maeglin's story is a tragedy of someone consumed with their own malcontent, someone who had so much opportunity to be happy but chose to perserverate on the things he couldn't have, who became so obsessed with his own desires that he was willing to hurt everyone around him to get what he wanted. Maeglin's story is of a man who could not handle rejection by a woman he wanted, so he decided to ruin her life and kill her family. Maeglin begins the story as someone we are meant to sympathize with--but he doesn't end it that way.

#asks #anonyous #maeglin #meta

[doodle-pops]

Types of Simps | House of Fingolfin

A/N: I almost forgot this.

Types of Simps: Ainur | Lords of Gondolin | House of Feanor | Imladris

⸼۰࿐·˚ Fingolfin — the “gentleman” simp

ʚɞ He’s a proud simp and he knows it. Fingolfin has no issue in showing you and everyone else how much he dotes on you. With that being said, he is still reserved with his actions and won’t outrightly initiate skinship in public.

ʚɞ Always ready to lend a helping hand with anything you require assistance; even if you do not and he sees that he can display his phenomenal strength with the underlying impression to flirt with you, he would.

ʚɞ Kid you not, if you were to call him out on his attempts at showing off his strength in a flirtatious manner, he will violently blush an argue that he wasn’t, he was simply helping someone in need (liar).

ʚɞ With his mature mind frame, he uses this to his advantage through his knowledge and responsibility. Playing with children to show you how family-orientated he is capable of being or fighting (internally combusting) the urge to scream (strangle) his older half-brother.

ʚɞ He enjoys speaking with you, mostly to hear your voice and swoon at the sound of it. Of course, he cannot be a gentleman by complimenting and praising you any chance he gets. Just know that he’s always ready to compliment you, so expect it anytime.

ʚɞ He’ll always make time to spend with you; seeking you out whenever his schedule is clear or even clearing a part of his schedule just to have you all to himself. A times he might become unruly and lie about his schedule to be within your presence.

ʚɞ Always offering his arm or hand for you to hold, opening doors, pulling out your chair, and offering you gifts. I can see him a tab bit possessive with wanting to ensure that others are aware you were taken, so he’ll give you something symbolic that states ‘taken’.

ʚɞ He’s a tad bit extravagant with gifting, believing that only the best for you, however, he does have his limits when it comes to being ostentatious (shocking considering that all the Noldor are ostentatious).

⸼۰࿐·˚ Fingon — the “enthusiastic” simp

ʚɞ There’s not a single person in a ten-mile radius that does not know he’s in love with you. His eyes literally sparkle whenever you walk by, or he hears your name, and this leads him to daydream about you. For you, his memory becomes superb; never forgets a thing.

ʚɞ Similar to his father, Fingon is ready to extend his arm, legs, and any body part he can offer to assist. It doesn’t matter what he’s doing, he will drop it and rush to your side eagerly to support.

ʚɞ Speaking of support, he is your number one supporter and will not allow anyone else to surpass him. As the person who adores you the most, he will go out of his way to show you how much he values you.

ʚɞ By this I mean receiving bouquets of your favourite flowers, him cooking or ordering your favourite meals, and desserts, and making the time (stealing away) to pay you a visit. He even goes out of his way to write you love letters, wanting to inform you about everything he adores about you.

ʚɞ As another singer in his family, you can also count on him to serenade you during dates or randomly. He enjoys seeing you cheerful, so he’ll take the chance and write songs for you and perform them in private.

ʚɞ He’s a mix of gentleman and love-sick puppy, but not the type to get jealous, however, he gets sad when you pay him less attention. The only thing that bothers him is the constant swarming of suitors around you which urges him to become heavily annoyed.

ʚɞ Whenever he’s around, there’s a slight rose-coloured blush on his dimpled cheek, and he uses the latter to get you to swoon. Always smiling and laughing to showcase his dimples just for you to compliment them. In return, he will compliment you endlessly. One time you praised him, and he nearly passed out.

ʚɞ He is a joyous person to be around, and he infects everyone else within the vicinity. You can never be down or sorrowful around him, this would lead to him becoming frantic at your sullen state, doing everything in his power to turn that frown upside down.

⸼۰࿐·˚ Turgon — the “quiet/subtle” simp

ʚɞ He knows he tends to embarrass himself a lot and so because of this, he tends to avoid you by standing in a corner away from everyone else and observing you. If someone called him out on it, he either goes quiet or immediately denies it and disappears.

ʚɞ Practices all the speeches he’d like to say to you and then the next time he sees you, he’ll walk in the complete opposite direction because either his words flew out his brain, became starstruck or bit his tongue.

ʚɞ If he does manage to gather the confidence, either he messes up his words and wants to fling himself off a balcony, or things go smoothly. Might have stumbled over a few words, but it when wonderfully.

ʚɞ He sends gifts to you with tiny notes because he still wants you to know it was him and not someone else. His way of ensuring that his position has been locked in. Note that his gifts are extravagant because he is Noldor.

ʚɞ Like most of the Noldorin men, he’ll later on gift you something that symbolises your status of being taken.

ʚɞ Not bold or open to affections both publicly and indoors, but he’ll kiss your hand or have an arm out for you to hold. Open a door and pull out chairs, give a kiss to the back of your hand and softly gaze into your eyes.

ʚɞ If someone were to ask him if he had feelings for you, he doesn’t deny it, it’s just that he wants to be able to confidently approach you without his nerves getting in the way. Should you be the one to initiate a conversation, his confidence will build and eventually he’ll talk to you with much ease.

ʚɞ You can count on him to defend you like his life depended on it. Make no mistake, Turgon would stand with you, tooth and nail, ensuring that your name and reputation will never be tarnished.

⸼۰࿐·˚ Argon — the “excited/clumsy” simp

ʚɞ He’s a love-sick puppy that trips over his two feet whenever you’re nearby. Always stumbling over the air or his feet because he is just so excited to see you.

ʚɞ If he’s not stumbling over his feet, it’s his words. He’d talk and talk until he realizes that he was not making any sense before growing silent and avoiding eye contact because he believes that you probably think of him as weird.

ʚɞ He does his best in hopes that you notice him and not take him as a fool. Which is why he practices a lot to ensure that he stops messing up.

ʚɞ A bit behind when it comes to remembering that gifts and trinkets are to be exchanged, but his cuteness and explanation would have you swooning. Argon’s gifts are considered less Noldor and simpler. Less flashy pieces of jewellery and more homemade items (cute).

ʚɞ He’s at your beck and call, just ask for him and he’s there with a bright smile and a blush on his face and a bit sweaty from how fast he’s been running to get there on time.

ʚɞ He does get jealous when others seem to have your attention. His face would contort into a resting face followed by a grumpy Argon who would melt the moment you call out to him. he just wants your attention.

ʚɞ Whenever you’re not looking, he’d waltz up to the person and let them know that you’re taken, so don’t even think about it.

ʚɞ Complimenting you is something he adores doing; taking notes from his older brothers and father, he’ll take a walk in their shoes and brilliantly compliment you with adoration in his eyes.

ʚɞ He tends to act all macho around you to mask the clumsy side to him because he believes that you’ll find him immature.

Masterlist

Taglist: @eunoiaastralwings @noldorinpainter @ranhanabi777 @lilmelily @someoneinthestars @mysticmoomin @aconstructofamind @the-phantom-of-arda @rain-on-my-umbrella @singleteapot @wandererindreams @asianbutnotjapanese @justellie17 @justjane @silverose365 @bunson-burner @wisheduponastar @stormchaser819 @ilu-stripes

#house of fingolfin #fingolfin x reader #fingon x reader #turgon x reader #argon x reader #fingolfin #fingon #turgon #argon #silmarillion x reader #silmarillion imagine #silmarillion headcanons #silmarillion fluff #middle earth x reader #middle earth imagine #middle earth headcanons #fingolfin headcanon #fingon headcanon #turgon headcanon #argon headcanon #fingolfin imagine #fingon imagine #turgon imagine #argon imagine #nolofinweans #x reader fluff #x reader insert #silmarillion #doodlepops writings ✨

[tathrin]

I'm working on some Background Timeline Nonsense for my Celebrimbor In The Fellowship AU fic and trying to put together stuff in a way that both makes sense and is fun (and reconciles some of the Unfinished Tales mess). I've already blathered at poor @babybat98 about this, but I figure I might as well subject the rest of you all to it share it here too, in case anyone has Thoughts or Suggestions:

A Timeline of the Lords of the Woodland Elves.

506 F.A. Doriath is sacked (about 30 years before the Third Kinslaying at Sirion).

By 511 F.A., refugees from Gondolin and a few Drúadain joined them there, and by 525 Earendil and Elwing were wed and ruling the Havens of Sirion.

539 F.A., the last of the Fëanorians show-up in Sirion and do their usual silmaril-slaughter, and Elwing jumps off the cliff. The Havens are left in ruins, and Morgoth has control of all Beleriand, blah blah blah.

545 F.A. the Host of the Valar land in Beleriad. The War of Wrath begins.

590 F.A. Morgoth defeated, War of Wrath ends, First Age ends. *Galadriel probably doesn't actually marry Celeborn until now, possibly because of the whole "don't marry during war" thing the Calaquendi tend to do? unclear, because everything involving them is unclear lmao

1 S.A. the Grey Havens are built in Lindon, the only place in Beleriand that really survived the War of Wrath.

By 20 S.A. Galadriel and Celeborn leave Lindon, where Gil-galad is now king (probably crowned because of Galadriel's influence somehow? Unclear, again!). Galadriel and Celeborn go to Eriador and dwell near Lake Nenuial, where they are accounted "the Lord and Lady of the Eldar in Eriador" according to one version of the Unfinished Tales. They have a lot of Noldor, Grey-elves, and Green-elves with them at this time. Now for the fun backstory stuff...what if we say that Celeborn, Oropher, and Amdír were all basically BFFs from their youth in Doriath, and will remain thus for many years before the eventual splintering around 750 S.A.?

So, as of S.A. 10-20 when Galadriel and Celeborn leave Lindon, what if we say that Amdír and Oropher are with them also at this point, and with them their sons? They can be part of the company of mingled Noldor and Iathrim who are mentioned there at Lake Nenuial, with Celeborn (relative of Thingol) and Galadriel (sister of Finrod) as the "highest ranking" of their little quartet, and also the ones (especially Galadriel) who care the most about rank/leadership, and thus fall naturally into that role both in behavior and in the eyes of everyone around them, while Amdír and Oropher are more advisors/etc (maybe they end up in charge of guarding everybody, as the Warriors of the group). Amroth could be as young as 110 right now if he was just a wee little lad when Doriath was destroyed, barely an adult, or at any rate easily less than 200 yet. Perhaps Amdir never made it to Sirion at all, and only rejoined his son after the War of Wrath? (Perhaps Amdir's mom died in the Kinslaying, like Nellglind?) Regardless, Galadriel and/or Celeborn could have been doing most of the looking-after of him during the War either way, and thus we get Amroth as sort of "their kid" like he was in that draft, while not actually being their son which wouldn't make sense. Maybe Celeborn looked after both Amroth and Thranduil while the other adults were involved more in the fighting, given that picturing either Amdir or Oropher NOT fighting if they were still in Beleriand at this point is difficult (albeit not impossible: they could always have gone "fuck this shit, this is a Calaquendi Problem, you deal with it") and Galadriel is The Mighty One while Celeborn is more chill (and because I like not having The Woman be the one doing the child-minding lol). Alternatively, they could have all fought to varying degrees, with young Thranduil the one charged with looking after younger Amroth? idk most of the War of Wrath is pretty hand-wavy even in Tolkien's stuff so this can stay vague lol

At any rate, we pick-up the thread with our next Known(ish) event:

300 S.A. is when Celebrían is probably born. At this point, her parents are presumably still in Eriador. So, we could have them all living together as a little found family unit of survivors at Lake Nenuial, with Amroth and Thranduil acting as sort of older brothers/cousins to Celebrian. Perhaps she has more of a brotherly relationship with Amroth, who is younger, and a little more distance between her and Thranduil, because he's so much older (and lived through the trauma of everything more directly)? He sees himself as the Sensible And Mature One who has to look out for the younger/more naive kids, perhaps? At some point, of course, there must be some kind of a falling-out of some sort between Oropher and Galadriel/Celeborn, because we need to have some reason as the driving factor (combined with the increasing numbers of Dwarves in Moria, which we know Oropher wasn't pleased by; hello Doriath Trauma Round One!) for him to do the whole "moved his people north three times" from the original location of Amon Lanc in order to avoid being near Galadriel and Celeborn in Lórien. Perhaps the falling-out can be traced back to Ost-in-Edhil somehow?

750 S.A. is approximately when Eregion is founded, and construction is begun on Ost-in-Edhil. 750 S.A. is also around when we're told that Oropher and Amdir took up lordship of their respective Silvan lands (although I'm already deviating from those details a bit because fuck colonialism lol; but that's easy enough to do and still claim canon-compliance due to the vagueness of all of this in "canon" anyway, so we'll still use that as the rough date of when the Sindar refugees came to Laurelindórenan/Greenwood, and just say the whole "king" thing in Greenwood happened later and the Noldorian historians never caught the nuances, shhh) So if we extrapolate from all that... What if the falling-out happens because of Eregion? What if Amdir and Oropher are not about to accept an open and friendly relationship with the local Dwarves, after what happened to Thingol and Doriath; and Galadriel, with her foresight and her stubbornness and her Noldorin love of craft (and the fact that her first main trauma was Alqualondë long before the Sindar were scarred by the Battle of a Thousand Caves), refuses to let her Goals™️ be held hostage to their grudges and trauma, and insists that the only way forward for this land is hand-in-hand with the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm. Celeborn reluctantly sides with his wife (even though he loathes dwarves as much as any of them) over his friends, and Amdir and Oropher go off in a huff with those others of the Elves of Eriador who aren't interested in More Noldorin Bullshit, crossing the mountains and joining with the Silvan Elves in the east. So:

750 S.A. Amdir and Oropher leave with a group of followers, while Galadriel and Celeborn found Ost-in-Edhil with Celebrimbor, the two of them being taken as Lord and Lady of Eregion while he's (presumably) just in charge of the smiths for now.

1000 S.A. Sauron, not wanting to start shit with the western elves or Numenorians right not because they're too strong (and presumably just not giving a shit about the little Wood-elves in their forests), beings building Barad-dûr.

1200 S.A. Sauron tries to beguile the Elves of Lindon, and Gil-galad tells him to fuck-off. He tries again in Eregion, and despite Galadriel going "big nope!" the Gwaith-i-Mírdain there welcome him.

1350 S.A. Sauron manages to get Galadriel ousted from Ost-in-Edhil, and Celebrimbor becomes lord of the place. Galadriel and Celebrían leave via Moria, and spend a while in Khazad-dûm with their dwarven friends before making their way eventually to their old friend Amdir and foster-son/brother Amroth in Lórien, where they are welcomed, and Galadriel and Amdir reconcile (possibly enthusiastically, possibly awkwardly) but Celeborn, refusing to step foot in a dwarven kingdom, stays in Eregion, where he is "disregarded" by Celebrimbor. So I like to picture him skulking about as That Grumpy Old Man muttering and scowling at everybody as they pat him on the head and go "there, there grandpa" and whisper apologies to whatever dwarf he's offended today.

1500 S.A. by this time, the Seven and the Nine are made, and Sauron leaves to go make the One Ring in secret in Mordor.

1600 S.A. Sauron makes the One Ring and proclaims himself as Sauron, and ready for war. Celebrimbor goes OH FUCKSHIT and runs through Moria to consult with Galadriel in Lórien. He gives her Nenya, and she convinces him to send the other two to Gil-galad in Lindon, and get them the fuck out of Ost-in-Edhil.

1605 S.A. Sauron's immediate attempt to start said war is potentially delayed by the first two of the Istari, the Blue Wizards, who in a much later draft of Tolkien's actually came to Middle-earth during the Second Age, long before the rest of them, rather than all coming over together. Instead, he had them come over with Glorfindel, and while Glorfindel hung around to help Gil-galad et al they made their way East, to try and save the tribes of Men who had fallen under Morgoth's worship, and to discover where Sauron was hiding, and work against him. I think I want to go with that version, simply because I like the idea of Glorfindel coming back with some of the Istari? But I ALSO like the idea of him having fought in the Last Alliance, which means I need him to come over before Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast do in the Third Age. So this splits the difference nicely! So, as of 1600: the valar have gone "oh fuck!" and thrown two maia and one reborn elf on a boat and thrown them back to Middle-earth to clean-up the leftovers of the mess left by the War of Wrath when they failed to drag Morgoth's most powerful lieutenant back to face judgement in Valinor OOPSIES, presumably because they figured out that Shit Was Hitting The Fan thanks to the whole One Ring Thing being big enough to be Noticed By The Powers lol Anyway, thanks to Morinehtar and Rómestámo being fucking badass, Sauron's plans for war are delayed several years, and Celebrimbor has time to hide the Three and presumably to warn the Dwarves about the Seven. Ooh, what if we say that he's been spending a lot of this time trying to devise some way of un-linking the Rings from the One Ring? He apparently has the Nine with him when Eregion falls, and Sauron just takes those, but the Seven and the Three aren't there; maybe he was working on the Nine, and knew the Seven were safe in Khazad-dûm where his dwarven smith-friends were doing the same there? And that's why he never tried to destroy them: he was still holding out hope they could be saved, be fixed. That he wouldn't have to destroy the greatest things he ever made, and all the hopes he put into them. He just needed a little more time...

1693 S.A. the War of the Elves and Sauron (finally) begins.

1695 S.A. Sauron slinks through the Gap of Rohan, thus avoiding the Elves in the Greenwood and Lórien, and invades Eriador. Thanks to the Númenóreans having cut down many of the Trees of Minhiriath and Enedwaith, the people in these lands welcomed Sauron's conquest and let him pass without trouble. (Well done, Númenor! Didn't anyone ever teach you deforestation is bad?) Celeborn leads the forces from Eregion (presumably having said "I told you so" to Celebrimbor a few times) and they manage to defeat the first wave of Sauron's army, but are then overwhelmed and forced back to Ost-in-Edhil. Gil-galad hears about this and sends Elrond leading a force from Lindon to help, and also sends messages to Númenor pleading for help. Nobody answers (men, pah!). Elrond's force is too small, and can't break-through to get to Eregion to help.

1697 S.A. Ost-in-Edhil falls. Celebrimbor is tortured into giving up the location of the Seven, but dies without revealing the Three. Sauron, not being an entire idiot, guesses that they're most likely with Galadriel and Gil-galad anyway, but is pissy about being resisted, and turns Celebrimbor into a banner that he carries into battle. Elrond's tiny army is about to be overrun when the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm attack Sauron from the rear, along with the force of elves that Amroth has led through Moria from Lórien, (because whatever Issues™️ his father might have with Dwarves, he's not about to let his foster-father die). This allows Elrond to gather the survivors of Ost-in-Edhil, including presumably Celeborn, and flee. The Dwarves are driven back as well, but they shut the Doors of Moria and Sauron can't get in. Haha, thwarted by Celebrimbor and his previous sweetheart, sucks to be you Sauron! The Doors of Durin are apparently not opened again until the Fellowship of the Ring comes to them (although that doesn't make sense, because Gandalf and Aragorn both passed through Moria at least once before LotR, so they must have been opened at some point; but perhaps the text only means they were not left open again after this point, and is not referring to when/if they were ever opened from inside by someone walking through and out?). The retreating elves found the stronghold of Rivendell, to which many of the survivors of Eregion flee. (Celeborn, presumably, says "I told you so" a lot at this point too, but not often enough for them to murder him.) The rest scatter, some fleeing Middle-earth altogether and some disappearing into the Wild with others fleeing through Khazad-dûm (before the Doors are shut, presumably) thanks to their dwarven friends, and make their way eventually to Lórien, where they join their fellows who left Ost-in-Edhil earlier and merge with the Silvans and Sindar there.

by 1700 S.A. Sauron has overrun all of Eriador except for Rivendell, which is besieged, and Lindon, where Gil-galad is also barely holding him off at the River Lhûn and Mithlond. Finally the Nûmenorian fleet arrives, and kicks Sauron's ass all the way back to Tharbad, although he burns the forests of Minhiriath and Enedwaith as he goes. He gets caught in a pincer between the main force and a smaller one that Ciryatur landed at Gwathló behind him, and barely escaped "with his bodyguard" to Dagorlad. It is unclear at this point if Sauron actually HAS any or all of the Seven, or just knows where they are; sources say that Durin at least was given his Ring by Celebrimbor himself, so perhaps Sauron never actually manages to collect all the Seven at this point? but still has his original influence over them. He does have the Nine, we know, because he gathered them up when he came to Ost-in-Edhil and defeated Celebrimbor on the steps of the House of the Mírdain.

1701 S.A. the first Council is held in Imladris, when Galadriel and Celebrían come looking for Celeborn and meet-up with all the other leaders of the various forces of Elves and Men. They decide to make Rivendell the new elvish stronghold in Eriador, as Eregion is in ruins and remains thus. Gil-galad at this point gives Vilya to Elrond (it's unclear when Cirdan gets Narya, because of course is it; he might already have it, or he might not get it until Gil-galad marches to War in Mordor, although wtf was he thinking leaving Narya behind when he went to war just when he would need its power most? Gil-galad wtf mate???) and declares him his vice-regent. This is also when Elrond and Celebrían meet for the first time. (Presumably at this point her foster-brother Amroth teases her mercilessly about her very obvious crush on Gil-galad's pet peredhel, and she probably smacks the crap out of him for being a jerk.) At some point after this, Galadriel and Celeborn (and Celebrían presumably) leave Rivendell to live near the sea, probably because Galadriel was apparently "striken with sea-longing" the moment she put Nenya on. They go to Belfalas, which will be later called Dol Amroth, and apparently visit Lórien at least twice more before the end of the Second Age, but we don't know anything else about them here.

At this point, there isn't much relevant canon information until the Last Alliance happens, since most of what's going on of import now is happening in Numenor, but let's hit the highlights in case we want to expand on any of this later.

2251 S.A. the Nazgûl appear.

3262 S.A. Sauron taken to Numenor as a prisoner.

3319 S.A. Numenor sunk, Sauron flees back to Middle-earth, and the world is reshaped.

3429 S.A. Sauron seizes Minas Ithil.

3430 S.A. formation of the Last Alliance.

3431 S.A. the Last Alliance marches to Rivendell.

3434 S.A. the march to Mordor, and the Battle of Daglorlad, where Oropher and Amdir both die. Siege of Barad-dûr begins.

3441 S.A. Sauron defeated (for now), war is over. Thranduil and Amdir go home with their scant surviving forces.

#(sorry about the wonky formatting; tumblr is weird) #greenwood #mirkwood #lothlorien #lorien #galadriel #celeborn #oropher #amdir #amroth #thranduil #celebrian #lotr headcanons #lotr fanfiction #celebrimbor fellowship au #sauron #last alliance #celebrimbor #ost in edhil #rings of power #gil galad #elrond #blue wizards #rómestámo #morinehtar #glorfindel #unfinished tales #lotr drafts #lotr #khazad dum

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Going through the debate/argument at the beginning of the Return of the Noldor, and some of the ideas that flow from that:

Not all the Finwëans actually participate in the argument. The sides of the sons of Finwë and those of their kids who agree with them are: Fëanor and his sons (“Time to go! We’ll kick Morgoth’s ass, and we’ll kill anyone who gets between us and the Silmarils”), Fingolfin and Turgon (“the Oath is a Really Freaking Bad Idea and You Should Not Have Done That”) and Finarfin and Orodreth (“can’t we all calm down and think this through?”).

And then the fourth side, Galadriel (“Fëanor is The Worst but we should go anyway”). Galadriel’s the only case of one of the Finwëan grandkids openly taking a position that differs from all of the older generation. And, on top of that, she’s speaking for that position alone among her family - Fingon and Angrod and Aegnor agree in spirit, but they’re not saying so openly. That gives a really strong impression of the strength of her personality and opinions.

It also feels important that Finrod - the diplomat and conciliator in Middle-earth, the one who’s friends with virtually everyone in Beleriand and who spends a lot of the Siege of Angband resolving conflicts between different groups - is not on team “can’t we all calm down and think this through”, but is in fact, openly (the only one besides Galadriel who’s openly on a different side from his father) on team the “The Oath Is Really Bad News and You Should Not Have Done That.”

I think the statement that Angrod and Aegnor agreed with Fingon “as they ever did” is also significant. It means that when they get to Beleriand, the main parts of the front lines (Fingolfin & Fingon in Hithlum; Angrod and Aegnor in Dorthonion; Maedhros in Himring) are set up so that all of them are held by people who are very close to Fingon, the crown prince. It’s valuable to have your main commanders working together effectively and communicating, not merely tolerating each other; that setup feels intentional. (Putting all the other Fëanoreans in places where they have as little contact as possible with other elves is outright stated as being intentional; putting Turgon (pre-Gondolin) as far as physically possible from the Fëanoreans is probably also so.)

Continuing on from that thought: from what I can gather, Finrod initially only has Tol Sirion as his territory, a key strategic point but a very small area territorially speaking, in contrast to everyone else. This is important, because it means that the (very large!) territory he holds has Lord of Nargothrond is something permitted to him by Thingol, not by Fingolfin. Its area, west-central Beleriand, is explicitly not one of the areas where Thingol initially granted the Noldor leave to settle (“Hithlum, and the highlands of Dorthonion, and the lands east of Doriath that are empty and wild”). Finrod having the largest territory of any of the prince of the Noldor is specifically a consequence of him having a good relationship with Thingol - who was also the one who initially told him about the site of Nargothrond.

I feel like the friendship between Turgon and Finrod doesn’t get enough recognition in fanfic - partly because, due to their hidden cities, they spend almost no time together in Beleriand, and partly because of the strong fandom impression of Finrod as the cute fluffy friendly one and Turgon as the stodgy one. The Fingon-Angrod-Aegnor friendship definitely merits more attention; there’s too little recognition of Fingon being close friends with anyone other than Maedhros. (Fingon loses his dad and two of his best friends in the Bragollach! That’s pretty brutal.) In general, the statement that all the sons of Fingolfin and Finarfin are as close as brothers to each other goes underacknowledged.

EDIT: Does the fact that Turgon and Finrod are the only Finwëan grandchildren on team “The Oath Is Very Bad News” make it worse that their people are the two groups of the Noldor hit with the worst direct fallout from the Oath (Nargothrond via Celegorm and Curufin’s…everything, Gondolin by the Third Kinslaying killing off the remnant of their survivors)? I think it makes it worse.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #fingon #finrod #galadriel #angrod #aegnor #thingol

[novemberthecatadmirer]

Headcanon: House of the Mole, and the Concept of Sapping in WWI

Nobody:

Me: So recently I accidentally learned about the concept of Sapping and cannot take it away from my mind

Sapping is a term used in siege operations to describe the digging of a covered trench to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire. The purpose of the sap is usually to advance a besieging army's position towards an attacked fortification. It is excavated by specialized military units, whose members are often called sappers. - Wikipedia

Me: Is this it. Is this the actual combative purpose of House of the Mole. Aside from their mining job during peace times.

Before the development of explosives, sapping was the undermining of an enemy's fortifications, which would collapse when the sap's supports were removed. Later, explosives were placed surreptitiously in the undermining sap or mine, then detonated, as was done with 450 tons of high explosive in the First World War battle of Messines, the largest planned explosion until the 1945 Trinity atomic bomb test. - Wikipedia

Now I am imagining scenes. And I have been very excited.

During First World War trench warfare, the combatant's sappers, who were often experienced civilian miners who had been rejected for combat duties due to age or ill-health, strived to undermine each other's positions, working silently to avoid detection. After completing a mine it was filled with explosives, sometimes hundreds of tons, and detonated, followed by an attack on the surprised survivors from the destroyed position. - Wikipedia

Me: (knocking on the blackboard dramatically) Listen you all Maeglin is a good kid out there! (I mean, elves did not get age or ill-health, but they did get injuries do they.)

Loyal to their lord, those from the House of the Mole turned upon his killer, but though they were numerous, they could not stand against the folk of the Wing and Tuor's wrath. - Tolkien Gateway

Me: Now that makes sense. They were insanely royal to their lord; they stood no chance because they were not exactly a specialized unit for fighting.

Russian sap A Russian sap is a tunnel dug at a shallow depth under no man's land towards an enemy position. It allows the attacking infantry to approach an enemy position without being detected and safe from enemy fire. For the attack, the tunnel is opened and the infantry attacks the enemy position at comparatively short range. Russian saps were widely used in the First World War.

Me: Yeah that does sound like “proved fell and fearless in battle.”

--------------------

I have no prove for this theory except that Tolkien fought in the trenches of WWI. And sapping is a rather ancient and common practice in war. 

(Good enough for me!)

--------------------

My headcanon is at least some of the smiths and miners at House of the Mole were closer to engineers and geologists. They needed to make sure the mines they dig did not collapse.

(I tried to do my research, read some articles, understood nothing, and concluded that digging mines is awfully complex and tricky and dangerous. Apparently some geologists need to assess the situation from time to time. Because the land is made of complex elements.)

--------------------

What I want to say is

I’m throwing this post out here because I really hope one day I will find a fiction including “destroying shit by digging tunnels”!

The problem is I do not know how sapping is possible in first age? Apparently Gondolin did not get involved in many wars. There was the Unnumbered Tears, but Angband was already underground and I don’t understand enough about its structure. (There isn’t even a map! Unacceptable.) Surely Angband itself was highly diggable, but was the area around really diggable? (Morgoth/Sauron in canon did sound like the type to ignore little people quietly digging underground though.)

Then there was the Fall of Gondolin, which, well. One can surely suspect that Maeglin turned a blind eye to Idril taking his engineers. But we don’t have prove for that which means that is firmly canon reinterpretation.

#tolkien #the silmarillion #silmarillion #silm #silm meta #silmarillion meta #silm headcanon #silmarillion headcanon #gondolin #house of the mole #maeglin

[that-angry-noldo]

If you're willing to share, I'm interested in hearing about the post-nirnaeth details for the werewolf au! (For that matter, I would enjoy hearing about any and all details for the werewolf au!)

(anon i'm so sorry i told i'll answer the ask in the morning but never really got the time so it's a bit late)

Here are some bits of the au, both pre- and post-nirnaeth:

Finrod doesn't return to Nargothrond for a while, and when he does, he has no intention to lead again - his goal is to simply persuade his people to help Maedhros against Morgoth

He wanders Beleriand for few years beforehand. He's got his own pack of 3 wolves - their names are Mary, Coal and Em (short for Emerald). The name Mary makes no sense in-universe, but. you know what. neither do werewolves

The Second Kinslaying doesn't happen! It's actually a part of subplot where Luthien finds a loophole in the oath and says "look if you wait for like 40 more years both i and beren would be dead and no one else would have touched your silmarill aside from my dad but i'm sure he wouldn't be a problem by then. whatever that means"

Finrod's forehead is tatooed with multiple tree ornaments/branches that hide Sauron's eye. The tattooes were done by Beren and Luthien

The following joke was made at least 10 times:

Maglor: Maedhros can I have a werewolf lord

Maedhros: no we have a werewolf lord at home

Finrod: i swear to valar if you make this joke one more time i'll go batshit insane and you don't want to see me going batshit insane

Finrod's eyes sometimes change color from grey to bright green

After Nirnaeth he, Maedhros and Maglor (and the rest of Feanorians to lesser extent) can't choose who should rule while Fingon is in Gondolin; they never do, instead deciding to unite their forces and rule together as some sort of Council

Finrod grows closer with Ambarussa - he spends time in their realm sometimes, helping them with hunting

Finrod met Hurin and considered him an acquintace

Kids of Beleriand know from craddle a story of the Werewolf-King - about the elf who went on an adventure one day, disappeared and returned back changed and with eyes green like emeralds. They say he haunts forests and lakes, and that his wolves devour any nasty kid. Finrod's not sure he loves that fairytale.

Thanks for asking!! Please, feel free to send more, it's an excuse for me to rant about the au :)

#finrod #tolkien #silmarillion #werewolf au #noldo answers

[poedameronwifey]

A true home(The hobbit Fanfic)

Chapter 15

Author's Pov

Now let's get back to the book before Renee and Lilith get even more hangry. We need some Grumpy Thorin because who doesn't like Grumpy Thorin. If you don't, Your parents never loved you...Kidding. Or am I? Okay I'm really kidding but you really are uncultured. Now I think we should listen to what the grown ups have to say, aka, Lord Elrond and Gandalf and a childish dwarf but it's fine because we love him.

Third Pov

Lord Elrond was looking at the swords that Thorin and Gandalf found in the troll cave. He paid close attention to the runes on the swords.

"This is Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver. A famous blade, forged by the High Elves of the West. My kin. May it serve you well" Thorin bowed his head in thanks before Lord Elrond turned his attention to Gandalf's sword.

"And this is Glamdring, The Foehammer. Sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the Goblin Wars..."

Bilbo was listening as Lord Elrond spoke. He wondered if maybe his sword was anything special. He unsheathed out a little and examined it, turning it over, Balin took note of this.

"I wouldn't bother laddie. Swords were named after the great deeds that they do in wars."

"What are you saying? My sword hasn't seen battle?"

"I'm not actually sure it is a sword. More of a letter opener really." Bilbo looked at his sword and then back at Balin. Unsure of what to think. Lord Elrond turned to Gandalf, returning the sword to him.

"How did you come by these?"

"We found them in a troll-hoard on the Great East Road, shortly before we were ambushed by orcs."

"And what were you doing on the Great East Road?"

Thorin then excused himself. Gandalf was trying to think of something. Lord Elrond just watched as Thorin walked away.

"Thirteen dwarves, A halfling and three women. Strange travelling companions Gandalf."

"These are the descendants of the House of Durin. They are noble, decent folk. They are surprisingly cultured. They've got a deep love of the arts."

"Change the tune, why don't you. I feel like I'm at a funeral."

"Did somebody die?"

"Alright lads and lassies there's only one thing for it."

Oh dear. Here we go. Get ready everyone.

The girls were clapping their hands for Bofur' s beautiful performance. He bowed and winked at them. The elves seemed to disagree but they didn't care. Lilith and Kate were cheering and shouting. Renee hugged him when he sat down again, making Kili frown.

"Bofur, that was absolutely amazing."

Aww thank you lass. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Hell yea we did. Damn That was fucking brilliant. Right Kate, Lily?

The two nodded with wide grins. Bofur just laughed and gave them a wink.

"Why don't you lassies sing something for us? I seem to remember you singing a lot on our journey. Beautifully might I add."

Everyone's eyes were in them, even the elves. They just looked at them with wide eyes. The girls looked at each other.

"Hmmmmmm I mean sure but our music is very different from yours. You still want us to sing?

The dwarves just nodded with grins. Renee looked at her sisters. She wanted to make sure they were okay with it. They nodded at Renee, all of them turning to the dwarves.

"Sure we'll sing for you but just give us a moment. We need to change into something more comfortable."

They excused themselves and walked to their room, closing the door behind them. They helped each other with their dresses and changed into some spare clothes they had.

"Okay so what song?"

"Hmmm, we should do something from the 2000s. It's the safest option."

Renee and Lilith nodded to Kate's statement. Renee got her phone and started looking for a song. Lilith put her hair up into a messy bun while Kate put hers in a low ponytail.

"What about Teenage Dream?"

"Not bad but I don't think that's the one."

"On the Floor?"

"Nope."

"Wait, I think I found the perfect song. Hall of Fame."

"Yes that's it."

Now that they had a song they got everything they needed and left the room to where the others were. On the way, Renee put her hair up into a ponytail. The tables were pushed back and there was a huge space for the girls to perform. The girls walked up the stairs, gaining the attention of everyone. They quickly walked over to Gandalf, asking if he could make the music louder. He did a quick spell and the girls got ready.

"Alright Sorry we were late boys. We were looking for the perfect song. Most of the music is... questionable but we managed to find something. So bare with us okay. If your ears end up bleeding, we warned you. Are you girls ready?

Kate and Renee nodded. Soon music filled the air. The girls hummed along to it. (It's Karaoke so they will be actually singing).

(All of them Renee Lilith Kate )   (This is so you know who's singing to avoid confusion)

Yeah, You could be the greatest

You could the best

You can be the King Kong

banging in your chest.

You can beat the world

You can beat the war

You can talk to God

Go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up

You can beat the clock

You can move a mountain,

You can break rocks

You can be a master,

Don't wait for luck

Dedicate yourself and

You gon find yourself

Standing in the Hall of Fame(Yeah)

And the world's gonna know your name (Yeah)

Cause you burn with the brightest flame (Yeah)

And the world's gonna know your name (Yeah)

And You'll be on the walls in the Hall of Fame

You can go the Distance

You can run the mile

You can walk straight

Through hell with a smile

You could be a hero

You can get the gold

Breaking all the records they

Thought never to be broke, yeah

Do it for your people

Do it for your pride

How are you ever gonna know

If you never even try?

Do it for your country

Do it for your name

Cause there's gonna be a day

When you're

Standing in the Hall of Fame(Yeah)

And the world's gonna know your name (Yeah)

Cause you burn with the brightest flame (Yeah)

And the world's gonna know your name (Yeah)

And You'll be on the walls in the Hall of Fame

Be a champion

Be a champion

Be a champion

And you'll be on the walls

In the Hall of Fame

Be students

Be teachers

Be politicians

Be preachers

(Yeah)

Be believers

Be leaders

Be astronauts

Be Champions

Be truth-seekers

X 2

Standing in the Hall of Fame(Yeah)

And the world's gonna know your name (Yeah)

Cause you burn with the brightest flame(Yeah)

And the world's gonna know your name (Yeah)

And You'll be on the walls in the Hall of Fame

Yeah, You could be the greatest

You could the best

You can be the King Kong

banging in your chest.

You can beat the world

You can beat the war

You can talk to God

Go banging on his door

You can throw your hands up

You can beat the clock

You can move a mountain,

You can break rocks

You can be a master,

Don't wait for luck

Dedicate yourself and

You gon find yourself

Standing in the Hall of Fame

When they were done, there was a short silence. The dwarves and elves had never seen anything like that before. It was so unexpected. Bofur started clapping and it started to pick up , causing everyone to do the same. The dwarves were shouting and cheering. Kili was looking at Renee with so much love and admiration. He had never seen anything so enchanting like that before. He saw how she looked as she danced. Like she was in a trance and nothing else mattered. She looked so beautiful. He knew he liked her but now he didn't know if it was just like or if it blossomed into love.

Fili could not take his eyes off Kate. Her voice was so enchanting. It was like he was under her spell but he didn't care. He knew that he liked her but now she was certain it was more than that. He liked her-No he loved her. He found his One and he knew he had to tell her soon. He couldn't get her out of his mind since that night in Bag End. He tried to deny it but it was no use. He was in love with Katherine Baggins. He was scared. Not of his feelings but of what his uncle will say if he found out. For now he needed time to think and come up with a plan. All he knew was that he loved Katherine and he was determined to find out if she felt the same.

Thorin didn't know what to feel. Hearing Lilith sing brought back the memories of his past love. In fact everything about Lilith reminded him of her. He hated it. He didn't know how to feel. He thought that maybe this was punishment for not looking for her well enough. All he knew was that he was going to find out what this meant and why Lilith reminded him of Elenor, his past lover.

Everyone hugged them and gave compliments. Bilbo hugged his daughters, telling them how proud he was of them. Balin, Oin, Dori and Gloin gave them a pat on the shoulder with a smile. Bofur and Nori gave them hugs. Bifur signed something which Bombur translated for them and gave them each a hug. Ori came to them and complimented them shyly before walking back to Dori. Fili and Kili gave them each a hug and wouldn't stop complimenting them. Lilith laughed at them while Renee and Kate blushed. Thorin and Dwalin had yet to say something. The girls walked over to Gandalf and Lord Elrond. The two were extremely impressed.

"My dear girls, that was an amazing performance."

"Aww thanks Gandalf. We've been dancing and singing since we were kids. But we haven't really done it in a while. We're glad you liked it."

Renee smiled as she looked at them. She walked up to him and gave him a hug, causing Lord Elrond to smirk and Gandalf laughing as he returned it. As the girls leave, lord Elrond turns to Gandalf.

"They are bright young girls. Lilith reminds me so much of my daughter. It's almost nostalgic."

"I agree. Renee reminds me of my daughter, Aurora and even looks like her. It's like looking in a mirror. When I first saw her in Bag End, I thought it was her. My little Rory. She acts a lot like her. If Minerva were here, she'd agree."

As they silently looked back at the girls, they saw a glimpse of a young Elenor and Aurora. It made them miss them even more. The girls walked to Thorin and Dwalin, causing the two to look at them,

"Soooo what did you guys think? You haven't said anything yet. Wait, was it that bad? Damnit. Kate, Reni, we should have done Demons."

"Aye Lassies, it wasn't bad. It was actually very good. Didn't know yer can dance like that. I quite enjoyed it."

"He's right. It was a wonderful performance, girls. Probably one of the best I've seen in a long time."

Thorin gave a slight smile causing Dwalin to nod along to his statement. The girls gave them big smiles, received that they liked their performance.

"Thanks. It's been a while. But it sure was a lot of fun. Glad you guys enjoyed it. Who knows. Maybe we'll do another one some time. Right, Kate, Lilith?"

They nodded, causing Dwalin to win at them and Thorin to chuckle.

"We're holding yer to that, lassies,"

The girls winked back and excused themselves. They said goodnight to everyone and headed to bed. That tired them out so they quickly washed up and went to sleep.

At least they're not sleeping on the ground this time. Got to enjoy this relaxation before they have to leave again and before they go see the "great" white wizard.

This was going to be the best sleep they've had since Bag End.

#the hobbit #kili #fili #bilbo baggins #lilith everdeen #katherine wolfe #renee griffin #the company of thorin oakenshield #a true home #gandalf #hall of fame #dwarves #bofur #lord elrond #Youtube

[searchingforserendipity25]

Curufin!

Character Ask Game 💚🤍🖤

Thank you @welcomingdisaster! :)

Give me a character and I will give you my thoughts on

Curufin

one aspect about them i love 

Favourite Daughter Syndrome, and committed to it. 

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

As much Aredhel’s friend as Celegorm or Caranthir. Well-spoken and very compelling; very strongly attuned to everyone's position and presentation in any conversation, and when he talks/acts it's very deliberately a give-take-overcome situation, both in Nargothrond and confronting Beren and Lúthien.

Very reactive, aware of other people's possible reactions. Shows a remarkable talent in slipping in and saying the correct thing at the correct time with fantastic oration skills. These are good qualities and not evil in themselves! It's what he uses them for that's the problem.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

Genuinely liked Telchar more than most elves, including his brothers. A true friendship of like minds, soul sisters of the craft, bffs of the forge. Celebrimbor wants what they have (and he gets it with Narvi, but not after pining after a number of cool dwarrows and having his hopes for a partnership dashed.) 

as well as

one character i love seeing them interact with

Finrod. Everything about the bonds of betrayal and gratitude and betrayal again, mutual attraction and mutual (dis)illusionment, a far clearer mutual understanding than either of them wants to admit, both regarding the best and the worst parts of their characters…

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

Aredhel! Again, I find their friendship fascinating.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

Felt pretty bad - as in, mind-breaking guilt very badly managed - about telling Eöl where Aredhel and Maeglin were going, in hindsight; but genuinely thought this was a political move on Aredhel’s part at the time.

Marry a Sindarin lord, start thawing Turgon’s anger about her disappearance by presenting her cute kid, and then her husband shows up and boom! diplomacy happens. There’s a half-Noldo with a feet in Nan Elmoth. Not a bad choice, as far as he's concerned; Finrod and his siblings have Thingol’s favour, the Feanorians are all out, where does that leave Fingolfin and his children in terms of footing?  Eöl’s chase seems consistent to what he knows of Aredhel - hardly the first time she got an idea in her head and left others behind in the assumption they’d do what she planned them to do.

He didn’t at all think she did it on purpose for mere political convenience - Aredhel only does her own convenience, mostly, and power plays of the polis kind aren't her thing. But he knows how she chafes at restriction and longs for vastness, control, agency and liberty, and if she fell in love with a treacherous sentient forest, well, it’s not that surprising. 

Curufin’s failure is always in underestimating everyone else. The forest gripped Aredhel not the other way around. 

Quite envious that Turgon got to kill Eöl - but also very glad that he wasn’t the one to do it and deal with the consequences to his network in Himlad and in the dwarrow kingdoms.

Knowing Eöl, he suspected the consequences would be quite terrible; would not have been surprised at the Doom he cast over Gondolin, and indeed counted on it and mentally scrapped Gondolin as any kind of use afterwards (went so far as to be glad that they weren't joining the Union, and lowkey blamed them for the defeat and how it changed their plans/added another Doom).

If Aredhel and Maeglin had stayed in Himlad, Curufin would have done so much for them (derrogatory but mostly well intended). The coup of Nan Elmoth by Maeglin’s regents would be truly a tale for the ages (a horror tale). Strangling vines, poisonous ponds, anti-colonialist spiders, Aredhel vs Mablung in a fight for survival in the wilds when Thingol sends someone to figure out what’s going on, Maeglin running around with a cursed blade - we could have had it all! 

#thank you welcomingdisaster! #curufin is a hard one to pin down in a good way. i need to reread so many thing! #curuin #aredhel #eol #maeglin #the silm #asks and answers

[aeonianarchives]

Costumes

Fotfictober Promots: 29 - Costumes

Summery: Glorfindel tries out a tradition among men

Pairing: Glorfindel x Reader

Characters: Elrond, Estel, Erestor, Lindir, Glorfindel, Reader

Warnings: Glorfindel being a bit suggestive at times maybe

Reader Pronouns: He/Him

"Are you sure you'll be able to see with that costume on" You questioned glorfindel he had talked you into do a tradition among men were you dress up as scary things, you had kept your costume plan and simple as you decided to go as Fëanor as Glorfindel all but talked you out of imitating Morgoth or a Balrog, he however decided to do a myth among men, the headless horse man

"Ofcourse I will Meleth" Glorfindel said

"I think you should just put the pumpkin on your head insted of planning to throw it at Erestor" You said the blond hummed and shoved the pumpkin on his head

"I suppose you are right as always" Glorfindel said

"What would make this better is if we could get our hands on a Morgul horse" You said

"And there you go on your crazy tangent" Glorfindel said

"I am not about to go on a tangent, you can use my horse i highly doubt the headless horse man would have a horse as nice as yours or even mine" You said Glorfindel chuckled

"Give me a kiss" Glorf said

"No you have a pumpkin on your head" you said shoving the blond away

"What on Arda are you both doing" Erestor questioned, Lindir stood behind him with books in his hand

"It's Glorfindel's Idea" You said

"Ofcourse it is" Erestor said

"Hey don't throw me under the bus" Glorfindel said

"You have a pumpkin on your head and look ridiculous" You said

"And your dressed like Fëanor" Glorfindel said

"Atlest i don't have a pumpkin on my head" you said

"anyway this is for little Estel, we thought we should give him a taste of the traditions of the race of men" Glorfindel

"You thought we should" you said

"Stop being so grumpy and playing into the role of Fëanor" Glorfindel said wrapping his arms around you, and pulling you away from the two Estel was excited to see Glorfindel with a pumpkin on his head

"What are you supposed to be Lord Y/n, how can an elf be scary" Estel said

"You'll find out when your older buddy" you said ruffling his hair

"Is it to do with that weird oath thing Elrond refuses to tell me about" Estel said, you glance to Elrond

"Maybe, Maybe not, who knows, nobody knows, i have your nose" you said pretending to take Estel's nose

"HEY GIVE IT BACK I'LL TAKE YOUR NOISE" Estel said you chuckled and pretended to but it back the kid was on your chest

"Tickle him, Lord Y/n is deathly ticklish for an elf" Elrond said

"THE BETRAYAL, TO THINK I SAVED YOUR GRANDMOTHER FROM THE GRINDING ICE, TO HAVE HER GRANDSON BETRAY ME LIKE THIS" you shouted in mock horror as the child tickled you

"You know Estel is also related to her through my brother" Elrond said

"Even more betrayal, to think i served Turgon loyally and his descendant do this to me" you said

"It's like it was all planned the ghost of turgon telling them to betray you for surviving the fall of gondolin and until the 3rd age without being reembodied" Glorfindel said

"Not my fault I am just built different" you said Glorfindel soon joined estel

"Take that back" Glorfindel said as you had started to laugh you threw your head back onto his shoulder laughing

"Never" you said struggling to get it out

"Someone tickle his feet it's his weak spot" Glorfindel said

"No, Elrond, please have mercy on me don't do it, I serve you just as loyally, what have I done to you" You said trying to keep your cool as Estel and Glorfindel tickled you

"Entertained Glorfindel on some of his most ridiculous said trails" Elrond said

"I am the meleth of the said man, am i just supposed to tell him no" You asked

"Yes" Elrond said you sighed in defeat as the Lord helped Estel

"I hate the whole line of Finwë, i will curse you with all the magic powers i have" You said

"You have non" Elrond said

"Shut, that is a minor oversight" You said still laughing the three soon gave up when you were struggling to keep breathing due to the laughter

"Why must I be bullied in this way" you said panting

"Because you just built that way" Glorfindel said you shook your head

Elvish Translations:

Ada - Father

Meleth - love

#glorfindel #glorfindel x male reader #glorfindel x reader #elrond #lindir #erestor #estel #aragorn #middle earth x reader #tolkien x reader #tolkien #jrr tolkien #tolkien elves #imladris #elves of imladris #lord of the rings #the hobbit #fotfictober #fotfics october event #fotfics #writing prompts #october prompts #costumes

[elerondo]

Psst the published Silmarillion gave some leeway about the kidnapping of Elros and Elrond. Trigger warning for Third Kinslaying and all the triggers.

For the sons of Fëanor that yet lived came down suddenly upon the exiles of Gondolin and the remnant of Doriath, and destroyed them. In that battle some of their people stood aside, and some few rebelled and were slain upon the other part aiding Elwing against their own lords (for such was the sorrow and confusion in the hearts of the Eldar in those days); but Maedhros and Maglor won the day, though they alone remained thereafter of the sons of Fëanor, for both Amrod and Amras were slain.

Too late the ships of Círdan and Gil-galad the High King came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons. Then such few of that people as did not perish in the assault joined themselves to Gil-galad, and went with him to Balar; and they told that Elros and Elrond were taken captive, but Elwing with the Silmaril upon her breast had cast herself into the sea.

It is not specific about how Ambarussa died, or how Elros and Elrond were taken, only that those events happened. So, here I’ll attempt my own interpretation. Of course, open to other interpretations, and I’d love to hear about other people’s versions so long as you do so kindly as there is no right or wrong here.

Great was the sorrow of Eärendil and Elwing for the ruin of the havens of Sirion, and the captivity of their sons, and they feared that they would be slain;

My assumption here is either Elwing saw her sons Elros and Elros being taken, and she recounted this to Earendil, or she repeated the messages that other survivors spread. But clearly, Elwing and her young twin sons were separated. I reckon, at different locations. Either Elros and Elrond were pulled from her, or the kids could run away scared without direction. I do not think the kinslaying and abduction were clear cut events that happened one after another or something. It must have been full on chaotic.

Elwing still has the Silmaril. I imagine that Maedhros and Maglor as the eldest two brothers would not want to let the Silmaril aka Elwing out of their sight. They would be driven in a mad rush for the jewel of their Oath. The defense of Elwing would also be the thickest part of the fight because of her status as what remains of Thingol’s house. Perhaps the eldest brothers did not want Ambarussa there, especially when reading this “some of their people stood aside, and some few rebelled (...) against their own lords” Imagine having to fight everything + treason [remember this word? Feanor spoke of this first]. Maedhros and Maglor did not want to lose what was left of their kin. Hence my main interpretation is:

538 FA — Third Kinslaying. Elros and Elrond are taken by the servants of Amrod and Amras and chased into the forests. Ambarussa are slain upon the entrance of the forest. Elwing is barred by Maedhros and Maglor. Elros and Elrond flee their captors amidst the chaotic battle to hide in a cave behind the waterfalls.

There’s also a lot of points here that can be gleamed. Did the four remaining Feanorian brothers have a plan? I imagine yes, it would be strategic for the sons of Elwing to be held hostage against Elwing in exchange for the Silmaril. But it failed because Elwing in her madness and grief cast herself and the Silmaril into the sea. If there was no longer an opportunity for bargain, the kidnapping of Elros and Elrond after this would be kinda fruitless, no? Thus I feel that the captivity of Elros and Elrond happened elsewhere, such that Elwing did not have any confirmation whether her sons could still be alive, and so driven by despair she cast herself into the sea, not giving up the Silmaril to her last breath which so many were slain for.

After their failure, Maedhros and Maglor went to regroup with their youngest brothers and found through a trail of mud and blood that their plan to keep Ambarussa out of the most dangerous part of the mission is what got them killed! Here remember we, the doom of Mandos!

Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass.

One more thing, which is semi canon only as the etymology of Elros and Elrond has different changes through the years. In a letter from 1958 J.R.R. Tolkien explained that:

Elros is a Sindarin name that he was given, because he was found playing in the water of a waterfall that fell over the entrance to a cave. Elrond is a Sindarin name that he was given because he was found in a cave.

I do like this interpretation because it points to me that Elros and Elrond were basically by themselves when Maedhros and Maglor found them. Anyone who chased after Ambarussa and their servants could have either been killed or died from their wounds after slaying Ambarussa and co. Meaning, none survived. Hence, anyone who watched the whole chase go down, then subsequently joined with Gil-galad, did not have an exact account of what happened to Elros and Elrond because there no survivors made it back from that particular battle to tell the whole tale. No one to reveal that the captors and their company were slain. No one to clue that Elros and Elrond might have been safe and sound.

Again, I’d love to hear about other people’s versions so long as you do so kindly as there is no right or wrong here.

#the silmarillion #silmarillion #tolkien's legendarium #the lord of the rings #lord of the rings #lotr #elrond #elrond peredhel #elros #elros tar minyatur #maedhros #maglor #ambarussa #third kinslaying #oath of feanor #kidnapping tw #murder tw #death tw #suicide tw

[mediumsizedpidegon]

when it comes to my Bleach/Silmarillion crossover where Maeglin dies, loses his memories and falls into Hueco Mundo (subsequently becoming a hollow)– one of the fun things to come up with is what the FUCK is going on in Arda while Maeglin is gone.

Of course, the second age and third age go as planned, the lord of the rings happens unchanged, because Middle Earth is divorced from the dead. Elves reembody into Aman, not Middle Earth and so no one in ME has any idea that Maeglin is lost to Arda (nor would this fact really change,,, any events).

But in Aman? Tolkien doesn't really talk about what's going on in Aman. In that way it's sort of a blank slate because– are the Feanorian followers allowed to leave the Halls and if they are, how are they settling into society? Who are they giving their loyalty to? Has the system of government changed over the years? What are Teleri-Noldo relations like, several Ages after the First Kinslaying? What is the balance of authority and power like with so many kings, queens and lords stuffed into one land? Who has reembodied and who refuses? How does the absence of well known figures (Finwë, Míriel, Fëanáro and his sons, Celebrimbor, Maeglin, entire generations preceding Finwë) shape politics and healing? Who forgives, who tries to forget, and who holds onto their grudges?

I imagine that at first, no one is looking for Maeglin. Why would they? He just betrayed Gondolin and caused the deaths of a good chunk of people. Those newly-dead aren't going to want to even look at him. Those that survived and sail to Valinor (like Idril) are glad to not see him among the reembodied. They aren't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth and ask questions.

The only ones who would want Maeglin back are his parents.

On the topic of Eöl, I personally find it more interesting if he wasn't evil and his and Aredhel's relationship was happy and healthy for a time. The progression of a paranoid, traumatized parent and husband trying his best to what Eöl ended up doing just. makes a bit more sense to me, especially because I keep the bit of canon where elves can't have kids accidentally. I imagine Eöl passes through the Halls in a matter of decades instead of centuries, not because he is fast to heal, but because being in the domain and under the mercy of a Vala is doing the opposite of helping him. And since he's out before Gondolin falls and lives in solitude, he even doesn't know that Maeglin has died until Aredhel reembodies and personally hunts him down to interrogate him on whether his curse (his prophecy) consigned their son to fading.

It didn't. (With where their son is now, it might have been kinder if it had.)

On Aredhel's end: she searched for her son for years within the Halls before Námo came to her, troubled, and told her that Maeglin is not in his Halls, nor reembodied in Aman, nor wandering Middle Earth– that by all accounts, Maeglin is not in Arda at all. So her son is gone, and her brother is too upset to see it, and Gondolin's people hate him enough that they would celebrate this, and when Aredhel reembodies, her niece tells her she is glad that Aredhel is freed from being bound to evil (her husband) and having borne evil (her son). Her mother embraces her but cannot forgive her for leaving her, her father sees the daughter she was and not the daughter she is, and her other brothers think she grieves having been controlled and misled. No one in her family knows her son and husband as anything but a traitor and her killer– no one in her family knows her as she is now, the Aredhel who left Gondolin and courted a elf who carried grief entangled in his every step in the dark, beautiful forest he claimed as a home. Who lived there of her own free will and had a son of her own free will, and loved them, for all that it ended horribly.

Aredhel has been mistranslated her entire life. She has borne it with what little forgiveness she has. She finds, now, she can bear it no longer.

As time goes on, some members of the family that never met him nearly forget Maeglin ever existed. Reembodied elves of Gondolin write histories of their city and Aredhel stops visiting Tirion entirely for all the stares she receives. There is still no understanding of Aredhel among the Nolofinwions for all their love and she tires of it quicker and quicker. She ends up repairing and renewing her marriage to Eöl (there is much Aredhel can forgive for understanding) and it is not the same as before everything fell apart, but it is theirs.

Maeglin will be gone six Ages before his parents succeed in calling him home. He'll be different too, older, sharper, traumatized, his body strange, but still their child.

#turgon idril and the other finwions aren't wrong or evil for having the point of view they do #maeglin betrayed gondolin– under torture sure– but he still did and boy did it have consequences #and the history that was then written and told in Aman was influenced by this. were the writers there in Angbang with maeglin? #no. they don't actually know what morgoth offered or what maeglin suffered or whether maeglin broke or gleefully handed gondolin over #the people in gondolin werent all knowing. i bet they werent like 'oh maeglin is definitely his fathers son and going to betray us' #but the history is written retrospectively. people add people embellish people try to make sense of nonsensical things #and fill in the blanks #and sometimes they aren't accurate #but still what a gut punch to Aredhel to meet your niece again and have her tell you that you're safe now and you don't need to pretend to #love them anymore. the implication that you were wrong to. the implication that you were just playing pretend #as if you aren't aredhel master of concealment finest hunter of the Noldor and instead a poor weeping girl enchanted and led astray #the way your family can love you so much and still rip your heart out without meaning to #god. god #the simarillion #the silm fandom #tolkien #aredhel #eöl #maeglin #my posts #our long heritage of heresy

[imakemywings]

Been contemplating for a while but I've observed how the male characters in LOTR/Silmarillion don't get as much vicious hate as the female characters do. Indis, Elwing and Galadriel are some of the characters I've observed to be on the receiving end of this massive hate. Not even Feanor receive this much despite being an asshole.

Unfortunately anon, this is a cross-fandom problem.

In every fandom I've ever been in, the female characters are judged more harshly, by more exacting standards, and treated far worse for failing those standards. It's not even really a joke that people love male character for the same things they would castigate a female character for (for instance, the way Maedhros' suicide is treated as something complex and sympathetic, while Elwing's suicide is characterized as "abandoning her children"). Male characters like Feanor can be lauded and loved for being a Magnificent Bastard, while a female character who's even impolite on an occasion gets treated like the devil.

A female character has to be above reproach, and then you'll just get the Mary Sue label thrown around. Anything that can be perceived as a fault will be used to villainize her, along with some that people just invented. She can only be cool and likeable if she has no character flaws (See: Aredhel wasn't really abused by Eol because only weak women end up in abusive marriages).

This seems to go doubly for any mother characters. Fans will bend over backwards to explain why their male favs' problems are actually the fault of their shitty mothers (See: abusive Nerdanel is why the Feanorians took the oath). People love to find reasons why a mother character is actually a piece of shit (See: Calling Morwen a bad mom for sending Turin away from an occupied town where, as the son and heir of the presumed-fallen lord, he has a massive fucking target on his back), usually for, um, [checks notes] being a person with her own needs and desires outside of being a mother (See: Idril actually forced Earendil and Elwing to get married even though they didn't want to do it). If you are a mother character who has ambitions or dreams outside of raising your child, you are fucked as far as fandom goes, because everyone knows a woman is supposed to be wholly and totally fulfilled by motherhood and dedicate every remaining moment of her life to servicing her child (See: Nerdanel, Anaire, and Earwen should be hated by their adult children for not joining the rebellion of the Noldor). (Not to even mention if you are a mother character who turns out to not enjoy motherhood that much.)

But even where the character isn't a mom, the willingness to blame the lone female character in a situation for the shitty outcome is truly astounding (See: It's actually Idril's fault Gondolin fell). It doesn't matter if she canonically worked to avoid that outcome--some fans while find a reason to blame her for it (See: Elwing secretly wanted her kids to get killed by the Feanorians).

Some of this is obviously just straight-up misogyny from male fans who hate female characters having a place in popular stories or God forbid being stronger/smarter/more competent than their male favs (See: the hate towards Luthien for succeeding in obtaining a Silmaril where Maedhros failed), but some of it is also internalized misogyny from female fans who love to shred a female character who they feel wasn't adoring enough to their male blorbo (See: Idril was cruel to Maeglin for not returning his deeply unwelcome advances or "giving him a chance").

(Side note: I fee like Indis is the least culpable for the outcome of the Indis-Finwe-Miriel situation so it's always baffling to me how she gets the most hate for it. See: how it used to be (still is?) acceptable in some Tolkien fandom circles to call Indis a "breeder.")

All of these takes are ones I have seen genuinely argued by fans in the brief two years I have spent in this fandom. I don't know what it will take for fandom to grant female characters the same leash male characters get, but I think it will be a much broader, society-wide reckoning with how women are judged for their actions respective to men.

However, I do also want to say there are a lot of fans who make a real effort to delve into the lives of the female characters, both named and unnamed, and explore their side of the story and their feelings on it. If you're feeling disheartened by the hate, check out some of these authors and artists who have clearly put a lot of love into looking at the female characters! Recs below the cut.

Dis and her sister-in-law discuss the upcoming battle of Azanulbizar (fanfic; 1.3k)

Tauriel x OFC (fanart)

Earwen in the aftermath of Alqualonde (fanfic)

Feanorian wives (fanart)

Luthien, Aredhel, and Galadriel go hunting (fanfic; 12k)

Indis/Miriel (fanfiction; 2.5k)

The Lay of the Three Wives of the Sons of Feanor (fan poem; 810) Heather writes a LOT about female Tolkien characters if you're looking for more content!

Galadriel and Luthien in Doriath (fanfic; 17k)

Indis and Finwe (fanart)

Morwen and Aerin during Dor-Lomin's occupation (fanfic) Nelyo writes a lot about Morwen and her experiences if you're looking for more!

Queerplatonic partners Anaire and Earwen (edit)

Nerdanel over the years (fanfic; 5k)

Elwing in Valinor, on forgiveness (fanfic; 46k)

So while there definitely is a lot of hate for female characters, there is also a lot of love, and many fans who pour their hearts into connecting, exploring, and expanding these characters, and that should be celebrated (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

#asks #anonymous #mine

[doodle-pops]

agere anon again (shamefully). maedhros has so much experience taking care of babies and i... i'm average height, but he's so tall that i could just cling to him like a koala and even with one arm he could carry me around. writing this instead of preparing for university finals...

Hi hi 👋. Don't we all procrastinate when we have important things to focus on 🤪.

But this brings me to one of my headcanons I did with the Lords of Gondolin with a short S/O, however change it to the Feanorians with a short SO. Because Maedhros is going to have reader clinging to him like a child and people are going to ask him if you're his kid. Poor Mae

Random elf watching you cling to Maedhros: Is that's your kid? How adorable!

Maedhros: WHAT?! NO! That's my S/O!

Reader teasing Mae by going along with the joke and tugging his clothes: Yup! This is my papa!

Maedhros: 🤦‍♂️

Random elf: 🤨

Let's face it, we're all tiny compared to this 8ft + (250cm +) giant.

#someone please give mae a break #he's had enough #maedhros #˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳❥ misc

[katurdayss]

Rings of Power Real time blog of the first 2 episodes

Alright Friends! I'm doing a "live" react to the first 2 episode of Rings of Power and it will probably have some spoilers so don't read below if you don't want to know.

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Well that's a way to wrap up the First Age. Just glosses over the kinslaying, the War of Wrath, the sinking of Beleriand and a whole bunch of other shit involving the silmarils.

Also these male elves with short hair is bullshit. Those undercuts? I mean come on!

Wait isn't Galadriel fucking married at this point?

You know, I'm not really feeling these chainmail-snow-warrior outfits. Like are those even practical?

Oh look, what no one asked for in the 2nd age. Hobbits. Hobbits in camo nonetheless.

BABY ELROND

...Elrond is literally the (great?) grandson of the fucking King of Gondolin (who was High King too). He's a god damn elf-lord by birthright, wtf.

jesus, back with the hobbits already

so....like....these suits of armor look very man-ish and paired with the Laurel-wreaths its giving me ancient Greece if it was set in the renaissance. Which is like not elvish?

Elrond has the most traumatic childhood...he's seen some shit okay?

Also Galadriel is a Princess (or really high nobility at least if I remember correctly), essentially. I'm not happy how they're glossing over these backgrounds and making people seem like everyday folk who pulled themselves up with their own deeds. Yes, they did great deeds but they were also born into immense privilege.

.....whats with the Elf-hate? This isn't The Witcher.

I really hate all the short hair on the elves. They just look like men, which is so not the point.

Seriously, whats with the hatred of elves.

YOU ARE STILL A CHILD ELROND

okay seriously, enough with the goddamn hobbits

*snort* how quick men are to forget the evil of our ancestors.

.....what in gods name is this weird af ascension through the gates of heaven-esque shit?

oh look its meter-man. End of episode 1. Alright episode 2 lets DO IT.

Interesting opening credits, very on trend.

okay so how long can an elf swim for in the open sea? cuz dude that ain't a short journey.

SERIOUSLY I'M DONE WITH THESE HOBBITS

HA "and he's not handsome" ...still don't like all these hobbit interludes

Celebrimbor..... pride is the deadliest of sins mellon nin.

LOL "no" LOL

Well shit. thats beautiful.

Who the fuck is this guy?

Eww, slugs. no thank you.

Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming.

ooooo are we gonna get some Jaws action? YEAH WE ARE. You're gonna need a bigger boat.

Seriously, I don't get it. Why is everyone hating on elves? are we to believe all these humans are descendants of servants of Morgoth?

...Bro Dwarves live a few hundred years....but yes you do have a point.

.....does she have like a baby fuzz version of a beard? looks like it.

yo kids got some issues.

oh hell no, this is some horror movie shit. no thank you. BURN IT. SET FIRE TO IT HELL NO.

Badass, just plop a head down. Fuck yeah. Murder walk out that frame.

umm,what did the fireflys ever do to you buddy?

well thats not good.

Okay, I've it like....a 6 so far? We shall see. We shall see.

#show: lord of the rings: the rings of power #the rings of power #amazon prime video #lotr on prime #lotr fandom #lord of the rings #lotr #episode 1 and 2

[factorialrabbits]

For that ask game, how about Zelda (I am also basic-haha). (And if you're feeling froggy, how about Lord of the Rings/anything by Tolkien?)

Eh why not both. I'm apparently using Spirit Tracks because I'm currently playing it.

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Zelda. Zelda is so silly, I love her. The way she moves is really cool. She's scared of rats but she's Link's hype man, and she's just so good. She's doesn't want to be here at first and she just wants her body back, but she's doing her best!

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): Link. I mean he's a toon Link how can you not baby him? He has all those expressions and smallness. Also put him and Zelda together and they just squish.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Anjean. Sure she's just your generic old lady quest NPC but she wrangles those kids well, and has tragic angst with one of the bad guys. Plus, steam powered wheelchair things that all the guardian Lokomo have are really cool I want one. Also! She does /not/ know all of the things. She's the elderly mentor lady but she's taken off guard and needs to be taught more info and I like that.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): Teacher. I mean look at him, with his anxiety but desperate need to find and look after the princess, even putting on a bad disguise to get you to take him all over the world to try find her. He's the dad she needs but appears not to have.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): I'm not sure I have one in Spirit Tracks. Hm. Is saying I like the rabbit guy and his wife controversial? I /like/ the rabbit haven and catching bunnies. Even if I think Bunio should put a longer shirt on. Does that work? I can't really think of anyone else... If you liked Cole or somehting, but I don't. And I already used Staven for the next option...

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Staven (Byrne for you Americans out there). He's not really a favourite, but I would like to pick him apart and examine his innards while squinting at him.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): The fortune teller I'm sorry I know she's not evil or anything I just cannot stand the fact I have to go through the stupid fortune telling thing using the mic whenever I need anything from her, and half of it is generically scammy.

Now Tolkien stuff, lets see what I can remember...

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): Elrond. I mean that's just easy. You'd think its Earendil from the rest of this list, but I absolutely promise you its Elrond.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): I was going to put him elsewhere but, no, this one has to be Earendil. I cannot really comprehend with putting anyone else here. Kid Earendil in the Fall of Gondolin drafts, the only place he gets to speak rather than just be referenced, is my little one. Even when he grows up I keep him there.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Tuor is a fun character actually. (I... yes okay this family name is cool).

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): ... Does Celebrimbor count? Erestor? No? Okay I'm actually going to pick three people - Falathar, Erellont, and Aerandir. They get like a single line, BUT they are the dudes who sailed with Earendil and I can fit so so so many headcanons into them.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): I'm going to put Turin here not necessarily because he fits best but he's definitely winning miserable awards. Just fucked up everything whereever he went until he killed himself. Children of Hurin was the second Tolkien book I ever read, my parents mistaking me losing a free bookmark advertising it in the bathroom as a hint I wanted it for Christmas. I definitely read it too young, and it definitely leaves influences on things.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Boromir. I mean, look at him. I don't actually want him to suffer, its just kinda funny, you know?

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): Denethor, but specifically Denethor from the PJ films. In other mediums I'll remain basic and say I'm putting Morgoth in super hell. Or Sauron. Maybe both.

I feel like thanks to fandom half my 'barely shows up' sort of faves are fan favourites anyway... Celebrimbor, Celebrian, Erestor... I see all three of them a lot. Or maybe I just linger in the right places. Also now I'm in half a mind to ramble but definitely too tired for that.

#ask #hi hi hi hope you enjoy #honestly spirit tracks itself is my problematic fave #the tolkien one I had so so so many people #but I was rereading some of my Gondolin stuff yesterday so they're in my brain #Idril is like 2nd place in 4 catagories