#it's probably gandalf texting them

[maeofthenoldor]

The mithril shirt makes me so emotional. The way that Thorin gave it to Bilbo out of an act of love, even when he was deep in the gold sickness. It represented what they could have had. When Thorin and his nephews die, Bilbo leaves with the shirt, the only reminder he has of him. He then donates it to the Mathom-house, because he cannot bear to see it, again, a reminder of the terrible ending of his journey. When he departs from the shire, he brings with him the mithril shirt for his last adventure. 

He never even knows how valuable the armour truly is, how it was worth. And the FACT that Gandalf never told him probably leans to the idea that it would only remind Bilbo of what happened on the adventure. (We see how Bilbo's way of grief is denial, he never tells the true story, only child-versions of it so it doesn't feel real). Many years later, he gives it to Frodo, in hopes it would protect him, in a way that it didn't for him. Bilbo sent him off to a perilous journey and prayed that his wouldn't end in tragedy like his. 

 But It saves Frodo's life, and god the PARRELS of Thorin failing to save his nephews, but saved Bilbo's nephew.  In the the Tower of Cirith Ungol, the mithril shirt causes the orcs to fight over it. Remember, it was borne out of an act love, and orcs hate everything about light, so it was almost like an act of vengeance that they only saw the value in the mithril, and not how Bilbo saw it (love) which causes them to kill each other. This allows Sam to save Frodo and THIS is the most emotional scene about the mithril shirt for me. Thorin and Bilbo's story ended but it allows Sam and Frodo's to continue.

The mouth of Sauron takes possession of it, and mocks the remaining fellowship. Imagine how Gandalf must have felt in that moment. He knew what it meant already. How he would have to tell Bilbo that the mithril shirt, the one that already invoked his mourning now held the only thing left of his beloved nephew, who he loved like a son. The regret he must feel, for the both of them. No wonder in his wrath, he retrieves the mithril shirt.

Of course, Frodo is alive and the chain mail is returned to his possession. By then the shirt has saved his life twice. I think that Bilbo's thoughts on the shirt shifted, no longer a reminder of what he lost, but what has been saved. Now we dont know if it goes to Valinor with them, I’d like to think it did, but another idea is that Frodo gave it to Sam. It goes in full circle like Thorin giving it Bilbo then Frodo giving it to someone he loved.

it becomes a family heirloom and is passed down through the family, through the Gamgee's descendants. A final act of love.

Maybe I look to much into things and this is just a string of ramblings. Maybe this was a pointless analysis with a clear bias to my favorite ships then an actual true interpretation to the text. Either way, the mithril shirt makes me feel a sense of loss, love and hope. There is something more then a piece of armour that saved the protagonist. One cannot deny how valuable it is to the story.

#bagginshield #samfro #lotr #the hobbit #Thorin Oakenshield #bilbo baggins #lotr meta

[winwin17]

LOTR characters and things from our modern era they'd like (my humble opinion anyway):

Frodo: Duolingo, headphones/earbuds

Sam: refrigerators, Pinterest (would have multiple organized boards for gardening tips and recipes)

Merry: YouTube, thrift stores

Pippin: video games, theme parks (terrified of roller coasters but probably loves going on them anyway)

Aragorn: Google maps, FaceTime (always calling Arwen late at night when everyone else is sleeping)

Legolas: hoverboards, cameras/photography

Gimli: ATV's, drones

Boromir: football (American), laser tag (gets very intensely into the game, but if anyone actually manages to get hurt, he is swift to make sure they're okay)

Gandalf: the Internet, texting/instant messaging, yard sales (has an eye for valuable things everyone else thought was junk; probably would pick up a palantir or something from a seller who thought it was a worthless item with no function)

---

Feel free to add your ideas!

#lotr #lotr characters and modern things they'd like #lord of the rings #lotr fandom #lotr characters #the fellowship of the ring #frodo baggins #samwise gamgee #merry brandybuck #pippin took #aragorn #legolas #gimli son of gloin #boromir #lotr boromir #gandalf #weird headcanons sort of

[audhd-nightwing]

batfam as new girl quotes

steph: where are you, tim? this place is fancy and i don’t know which fork to kill myself with.

***

dick (16 y/o): i’ll take you through the whole thing. i’ll be like your guide.

jason (13 y/o): like gandalf through middle-earth?

dick: ok, first of all, let’s take the Lord of the Rings references and put them in a deep, dark cave where no one will ever find them.

jason: except smeagol. he lives in a cave.

***

tim: you text me “happy monday.” what am i supposed to do with that?

damian: oh, i don’t know. maybe have a happy monday?

(he’s trying to be nice)

***

jason: would you consider us adorable?

dick: no! we’re adult men.

dick: we’re cute.

***

cass: you always see the worst in people.

damian: yeah, because people are the worst!

***

steph: i mean, bruce, we love you, but…

steph: but you’re not a man of the people.

bruce: of course i’m not a man of the people. i’m above the people.

***

cass: we’re a family. families talk about things.

jason: no, families ignore things until they go away.

***

new parent bruce: dick, do you want to go to sleep?

9 y/o dick: no way.

bruce: if you do, i’ll write you a check for $6,000.

***

duke: what are you doing in here?

tim: eating cookies and avoiding confrontation.

(in the bathroom at a gala)

***

steph: jason, come on, that’s like the president and the vice president not being best friends.

jason: they’re not best friends.

steph: come on. everybody knows they’re best friends.

***

dick: i’m in love!

damian: titus, clear my schedule. i need a word with our brother.

***

steph: duke, those shoes are not brown! they’re green!

duke: you guys are idiots! they’re as brown as money.

cass: what color is kermit the frog?

duke: brown! he’s a brown frog.

tim: duke! you’re color blind, dude.

***

bruce: darn it! has anyone seen my croquet cleats?

***

tim: hey guys, do you think i’m a good person?

steph: you’re a terrible person. it’s hilarious.

***

dick: i’m very quick on my… uh…

jason: did you just forget the word ‘feet’?

dick: feet, yeah.

(he’s been awake for 72 hours without sleep)

***

duke: i can’t believe i didn’t notice this before but damian, you are legitimately crazy.

damian: i think we’re all a little bit crazy, don’t you, thomas?

duke: no, i mean, you’re like aging ballerina, child chess prodigy, professional magician crazy.

damian: it’s my grandfather’s fault.

duke: yeah okay fair enough

***

tim: if i was doing something stupid, you definitely would be involved.

dick: yeah, you’re damn right i would be. and i would probably be there to make it even stupider.

***

bruce: has anyone seen my good pea coat?

***

steph: i brake for birds. i rock a lot of polka dots. i have touched glitter in the last 24 hours!

steph: and that doesn’t mean i’m not smart and tough and strong.

***

jason: are you insane, bruce? we’re not ready.

jason: that’s like taking a musical from rehearsals straight to broadway. you got to workshop it first.

(pushing the theatre kid jason agenda)

***

dick: you realize i say goodnight to you every night and you never say goodnight back?

dick: what is the problem, jason? do you not want me to have a good night?

jason: oh my god you’re so overdramatic

***

tim: please don’t mistake my measured blank tone for calmness, as i am filled with waters of rage.

(he’s at a gala)

***

bruce: damn it! i can’t find my driving moccasins anywhere!

***

duke: what a dumb idea.

duke: do it.

(he is an enabler)

#dc comics #dcu #batfam #batfamily #the batfamily #incorrect quotes #new girl quotes #dick grayson #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #damian wayne #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #duke thomas #batkids #the bats #batman comics #dc #batman

[edges-of-night]

Hello dear friend! I was waiting for your request to open. Can I request a reader who is openly flirty while writing letters but in person is a complete love struck fool (I love flirting with my gf over text but I will scream and cry happily if she holds my hand or if she kisses me I FOLD)

Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you’ll enjoy your post!

･ﾟ✧ Aragorn.

Aragorn strikes me as someone who is not overly flirtatious. Maybe your letters have always been just a little too much for him. So in fact, he’s pleasantly surprised when he finds you’re not as forward in person! He has no problem with little displays of affection and would like you to grow more confident in your romantic desires.

･ﾟ✧ Arwen.

Arwen would definitely tease you about the discrepancy of your letters with your actual reactions to displays of affection. Maybe she’d even spread rumours about you being some sort of amorist or adventurer! This is, of course, never malicious, and Arwen is very good at noticing your daily level of comfort when it comes to this. She makes no secret of it: she enjoys your cute blushes to no end!

･ﾟ✧ Boromir.

Boromir fancies himself very suave, I think. But I feel like he would share the exact same situation with you, actually! His letters may be overtly flirtatious and even spicy as he tries to out-do your writings – but in person, Boromir is actually just as nervous and easily flustered as you. It takes him some time to admit it, but you both find comfort in your similarities.

･ﾟ✧ Elrond.

Elrond initially thinks there must be a mistake – some jester who writes spicy letters to him in your name. When he confronts you, his sweet and innocent partner, with this conspiracy, your face heats up – of course it’s been you! Needless to say, Elrond understands immediately once you explain the situation to him. He’d even laugh at how everything went down.

･ﾟ✧ Éomer.

To be honest, I feel like Éomer would be disappointed at first. After all, he thought he’d meet an outgoing social butterfly – which maybe you are – but not someone who covers their flushed face as soon as he’d play back some of the things you wrote in your letters, against a wall in Edoras. Even in the candlelight, he can make out your blush. However, after overcoming this initial disappointment he delights in your little interactions.

･ﾟ✧ Éowyn.

Éowyn would need more time than others to realise the difference between your letters and your real personality. She’d mirror your forward flirts and innuendos and not notice at all how incredibly flustered you’d get – not until someone would point it out to her. She’d apologise immediately and ask with what you’d be comfortable, because that is her end goal after all – to make you feel good ♡

･ﾟ✧ Faramir.

Poor Faramir would probably think something was wrong with him, or that you were disappointed by him in person. After all, why else wouldn’t you initiate any touches or flirtatious whispers, something that would be more in line with your letters? It’d take him some time to understand that you simply weren’t that kind of person. Needless to say, he’d happily take on the job of initiating affection himself!

･ﾟ✧ Frodo.

Being the dreamy bookworm that he is, Frodo initially thinks that you two were essentially role-playing in your letters! It is only when you apologise to him for being so flustered and nervous when he takes your hand that he understands. He’ll just laugh and tell you he wasn’t as adventurous as the character in his letters either. “Why, we can be flustered together then, can’t we? I’d like that.”

･ﾟ✧ Galadriel.

Galadriel, of course, cannot be fooled when it comes to your feelings. She is quite content with knowing only your thoughts, be it through letters or telepathy. That said, she likes to indulge in the occasional handholding, while always making sure you’re not pushed too far out of your comfort zone.

･ﾟ✧ Gandalf.

Gandalf wouldn’t buy into your letters in the first place. While he does find them amusing to read, he knows very well how you get in person with just as little as a kiss. He accepts you as you are and doesn’t push anything on you that makes you uncomfortable. He also makes you laugh quite a bit with the letters he sends back to you!

･ﾟ✧ Gimli.

Gimli finds your letters, no matter how spicy they actually were, quite scandalous – in a good way! He keeps them a well-kept secret, delighting every time you write him a few lines. He doesn’t see that big of a discrepancy between the characters of your letters and in person. He likes you as a whole. To him, it is fairly normal that one is more forward and suave when having hours to think of what to write, instead of a spontaneous display of affection.

･ﾟ✧ Haldir.

Haldir cannot help but feel a gust of gratification after realising just how easily flustered you’d get in person. He deems it payback for all those shameless letters you keep writing him! However, that also means the stony Elf has to get out of his comfort zone: If he really wants to embarrass you, he’ll have to initiate a kiss or two, sooner or later… How unfortunate (not)!

･ﾟ✧ Legolas.

Legolas would definitely approach your shy personality with “training” – meaning he would initiate many romantic gestures and little displays of affection, just so that you could get used to them and more comfortable in your relationship with him. He’d be mischievous but never cruel: “Why do you not try to go ahead and kiss me, dearest? There is no need to be shy with me!” He’d even guide your hands, your chin, etc. ♡

･ﾟ✧ Merry.

Although Merry has very eagerly sent you just as flirty letters backs, he is pleasantly surprised to meet you in person and finding that you would blush and get flustered so easily. He’d explain it to you as almost having ‘two partners’ – a ‘two for one’ deal, so to speak! He’s immensely excited about this difference but always makes sure to keep it a secret between the two of you.

･ﾟ✧ Pippin.

Pippin would grow ten feet tall (haha) once he learned how shy and lovestruck you were in person. Because of his playful character, he’d tease you while trying to make you more comfortable, à la: “I dare you to hold my hand right now! If you don’t, I’ll just take yours!” That said, Pippin would totally write back letters that are just as flirty and spicy as yours!

･ﾟ✧ Sam.

Sam may be very shy himself, but he is absolutely charmed by your sweet blushes and cute whispers whenever he takes your hand or gives you a kiss. The man is just head over heels in love with you! Although he knows how you’ll react, it always takes him by surprise, and he’ll grin widely as you try to hide your blush.

#lotr imagine #lotr headcanons #lotr x reader #aragorn x reader #arwen x reader #boromir x reader #elrond x reader #eomer x reader #eowyn x reader #faramir x reader #frodo x reader #galadriel x reader #gandalf x reader #gimli x reader #haldir x reader #legolas x reader #merry x reader #pippin x reader #samwise x reader #* ask #* request #* fluffy

[retellingthehobbit]

First chapter / Previous / Next

Webtoon/A03 /Instagram/Tumblr Sideblog

Chapter 13 of my comic adaptation of the Hobbit, "the Necromancer!" I put the title page at the end this time for Reasons, though I might change it back to the beginning later. Below the readmore are my "translator's notes' on why I made certain changes to the source material (ex why Thror is here instead of Thrain), if you're interested:

Gandalf’s art style is inspired by the work of Lotte Reiniger. I chose this for a variety of reasons: because it really captures the aesthetic of a 'classic fairy tale battle of light and dark,' because the smoky backgrounds remind me of the way Gandalf often does magic with smoke/fire, and because it's entirely monochromatic/'grey.' The only other note I have on this chapter is that, as I mentioned before, I’ve altered the timeline so that Thror is the ringbearer dwarf captured by the Necromancer (not Thrain.) The “in universe” explanation for the change is that Tolkien and I are both translating the Red Book of Westmarch & other ancient texts, but came to different conclusions. The history of the dwarves is especially different because Bilbo wasn’t as interested in political machinations, there was misinformation spread by the Elf-King of Mirkwood, and even the Council of the Wise may have spread misinformation to conceal the fate of the dwarven Ring of Power. There are two “out of universe” reasons I changed it: The first is that I wanted to explore a timeline where Thror vanished before the mountain fell, Thrain died during the fall of the Lonely Mountain, and Thorin became king while leading his people into exile. The second was to draw another link between Smaug and the Necromancer. Thror vanishes with the Ring….and it’s only then, after Erebor lost what strength the Ring gave them, that Smaug invades. The only question is, “why did Thror bring the map and key with him to Mirkwood in this version?” My joke answer is that it’s not relevant to Bilbo’s journey. My real answer is that none of the characters will ever know. Maybe they were so precious he always kept them on his person; maybe he was planning to strike some secret deal with the Elf-King; maybe the Necromancer used his influence over Thror’s Ring of Power to manipulate him into bringing him the map and key, for sinister reasons of his own. (It’s probably the last one.)

#the hobbit #lotr #lord of the rings #tolkien #middle earth #the hobbit comic #retelling the hobbits #chapters #chapter 13 #the necromancer #webcomic #art

[fluentisonus]

this is a losing battle but I wish people would realize that gimli was aware of how fucked up moria probably was. him and gloin address this from the start, back in rivendell: they talk multiple times about how they've lost contact with those in moria and they fear evil things. the whole lead up to going through moria is interspersed with descriptions of how deeply important khazad-dum and the mountains it's set in is to the dwarves, even in its darkness and abandonment. then when gandalf proposes the idea we get this line: "only Gimli lifted up his head; a smouldering fire was in his eyes" -- nothing about this speaks to naivety or foolhardiness or ignorance as to moria's situation, this is gimli looking clearly and the choices and dangers and deciding that, for him, moria is the path he wants to take, both because he feels it's the only choice left to them (they'd tried the pass over the mountains (in winter!) and it had gone badly, so he genuinely believed it was the best path to take!) and -- despite the ruin & sorrow he expects there -- it's meaningful for him to go there. this is spelled out explicitly by galadriel two chapters later:

"Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlórien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, though it had become an abode of dragons?"

I wish more people would get this not just because it's annoying but also because it's such an important element of his character, that he's sharply aware of his actions and choices, and their consequences, even as he feels them so strongly, and likewise that to him, that sort of grief and loss is ultimately worth facing & experiencing despite everything -- and that this is portrayed within the text as a meaningful choice that's worthy of respect and understanding

#like we can debate til we're blue in the face if it was a Good or Right choice. but it was by no means a Stupid or Silly one #thoughts #tolkien #gimli #idk if that makes sense it's 1am adkfhslkjfkdshfkj #but I wish people would get this bc the feeling behind it! is incomparable

[frodo-with-glasses]

More Reading Thoughts: The Prologue

I will never not love Tolkien’s framing device of “my fantasy epic is 100% a translation of an ancient historical book like Beowulf, it’s totally real, you guys, definitely”

“[Bullroarer Took] was surpassed in all Hobbit records only by two famous characters of old; but that curious master is dealt with in this book” is an incredibly intriguing line to me. You’d think it refers to Frodo and Sam, because of what they did to destroy the Ring—but the rest of the hobbits didn’t really care all that much about that. They saw Sam as just another mayor (if a very tenured one) and Frodo as a strange recluse. I think this line refers to Captains Meriadoc and Peregrin, actually, for their courage and leadership during the Battle of Bywater.

“To the last battle at Fornost with the Witch-lord of Angmar they sent some bowmen to the aid of the king, or so they maintained, though no tales of Men record it.” This cracks me up. First of all, the fact that hobbits claim to have sent some aid to the King’s war, but either they’re lying or mistaken or they’re literally so small and unremarkable that everyone completely forgot they were there. Secondly, this is the first and not the last time hobbits are gonna be a pain in the Witch King’s butt

“They were, in fact, sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it” is a line that goes so hard bruh

Today’s vocabulary word is “ramify, v: form branches or offshoots; spread or branch out; grow and develop in complexity or range.” So “large and ramifying tunnels”, in this case, paints the picture of the hobbit holes sprouting rooms and hallways that branch off like tree roots. Fascinating.

The fact that Merry probably has some Stoor blood in him still makes me giggle because they’re the only hobbits that could grow any sort of beard. I still maintain the headcanon that Merry has three (3) hairs on his chin, and he shaves them regularly and is inordinately proud of them.

“Sometimes, as in the case of the Tooks of Great Smials, or the Brandybucks of Brandy Hall, many generations of relatives lived in (comparative) peace together in one ancestral and many-tunnelled mansion.” That little interjection of “comparative” was not mine, it’s right there in the text, and it has me cracking up X-D

Merry’s little personal asides in “Concerning Pipeweed” are absolutely darling—including the shade at Breelanders, the almost wistful descriptions of how much better the plant grows in Gondor, and the fond way he speaks of Gandalf.

Okay so I once claimed that the book never refers to Frodo as Bilbo’s nephew, only as his young kinsman; but here at the end of section three he is actually called “Frodo his favorite ‘nephew’”, with the quotation marks and all. So the idea is already planted in our minds that their relationship is sort of avuncular (throwback to that old vocab word!) before we start the story.

“With [Thorin’s company Bilbo] set out, to his own lasting astonishment…” 🤣🤣🤣

Boy I still need to do Bilbo-With-Glasses someday

Tolkien taking several pages of prologue to explain the inconsistency of the riddle game in The Hobbit will never not be funny

“And no one else in the Shire knew of [the Ring’s] existence, or so he believed.” Except for Merry, who watched him put it on to escape the Sackville-Bagginses that one time.

It’s called the Red Book of Westmarch because it came from Undertowers!! Guarded by the Fairbairns!! ELANOR’S KIDS!! HI HELLO I’M HAVING EMOTIONS

“The original Red Book has not been preserved, but many copies were made, especially of the first volume, for the use of the descendants of Master Samwise.” I AM HAVING ✨EMOTIONS✨

PIPPIN BROUGHT A COPY OF THE RED BOOK TO GONDOR WHEN HE WAS OLD

AND THEN ARAGORN HAD IT COPIED AGAIN

AND THAT’S THE ONE THAT WAS “TRANSLATED” INTO LOTR

HELP

The fact that Merry wrote so many books and Pippin wrote none is honestly so in-character for both of them

And Merry frequently visited Rivendell!! You guys I cry

#chapter review #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing

[ilici]

homecoming.

Summary: Y/N gets noticed by the football team the week of homecoming by how she dresses.

NSFW MINORS DNI !!

Warnings: Choking, hair pulling, degrading, unsafe sex, thigh riding, some surprises.

Word Count: 8439

inspired by amaranthbb & slapnap’s anons.

shift in point of views, when the point of view is changed, the color of the text will change in the first word. I will have a parenthesis of the color that is chosen for those who are colorblind and may not be able to view the color.

Color Code:

Green - Dream

Blue - George

Orange - Sapnap

Purple - Karl

Yellow - Punz

Pink - Reader

Red - Third Person

(Pink) I looked down at my phone, sighing deeply when the group-chat continuously kept spamming. I wasn’t able to even keep up with what they were saying, when there was only four of us in it, counting myself. Finally, they stopped texting and I scrolled up rereading everything.

"Homecoming is this week?"

I asked myself, pinching the bridge of my nose. I had completely forgot about it. I had seen all the flyers and posters scattered around the college all last week.

Shaking my head, I bite my lip in thought. This was the week everyone got to dress up in honor of the school and mainly to support the football team.

"This basically is just everyone showing their support to the football team in a span of five days."

Groaning, I sit down on the couch looking up at the ceiling. They posted the dressing schedule for the week. I think to myself, pulling up the College website. Looking for the schedule, I find it and scoff.

Monday - Favorite Fictional Character

Tuesday - College Colors

Wednesday - Sports Day

Thursday - Favorite Celebrity

Friday - Pajama Day

"Friday is probably my favorite." I muttered, tossing my phone down and groaning.

Looking around, I walked over to my closet and scanned through the clothes I had hung up, finding none of them appealing. Looking through the clothes, attempting to find some that looked somewhat like a fictional characters outfit.

"Oh I forgot I had this."

Frowning I grabbed the hanger that held a green dress, and looked it up and down feeling the soft fabric.

"I may have my green wig somewhere around here."

I place the dress down on the bed, thinking about where the wig could be.

"I wore this two years ago on Halloween, I know it's somewhere in here hell."

---

(Green) "Are people seriously dressing up for this shit?"

Karl looked over at me like I had three heads, "Obviously it's their one chance to get away with wearing whatever they want." He said, and I rolled my eyes.

"You're saying that because you're dressed as fucking Gandalf."

Sapnap spoke up from the other side of the locker room, and I just chuckled rubbing the back of my neck. Leaning back against the cool lockers, letting them cool down my sweaty back.

"My outfit has nothing to do with this conversation."

He grumbled, looking away embarrassed. Punz snorted and sat down beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

Grimacing, I slightly push him away as he was also sweaty.

"Get off me you fuck."

I groan out, scrunching my face up in disgust. "Chill dude, you've been pissy all practice." Punz glared, removing his arm from my shoulders.

"Yeah, because I had to see all these girls dressed up as characters that wore horrendous clothes."

"There was someone who caught my eye though." Sapnap said, as he walked over towards us finally.

"Another one of your side chicks?" George asked, and Sapnap flipped him off.

"No, someone. I don't know her name but she was dressed up as Fubuki from One Punch Man."

He reasoned, and I rolled my eyes.

"Of course you noticed her, she was dressed as one of your favorite anime characters."

George said, laughing and Sapnap punched him in the arm.

"Shut up, and fuck off." Sapnap said in an awful British accent.

George just shrugged and rummaged through his locker, while Karl put his fake beard back on.

"We still have four more days of this torture."

Scoffing, I flipped Punz off for reminding me.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm gonna try and figure her name out."

Looking up, I gave Sapnap a blank stare, "You do you."

---

(Purple) Looking at my phone, I scroll through the groupchat.

"Fuck, watch where you're going damn."

I hear a feminine voice say, and I look up seeing a girl dressed in black and green on the floor glaring up at a guy who seemed oblivious.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I asked, reaching out my hand which she lightly slapped away and lifted herself up dusting herself off.

"I'm fine no thanks to fuckface over there."

She said, using her thumb to point to the guy who was now half way through the hallway.

"Nice outfit."

I complimented, and she looked down and smiled a bit.

"Thanks, it was the only stuff I had that matched the school colors."

She said, and I grinned looking her up and down.

"Well, I like the two different knee-high socks. It looks cool."

She looked down past her black skirt, and readjusted her left sock around her mid thigh.

"Although I'd got to say your shirt is my favorite." I giggled out, looking at her baby Yoda sweatshirt.

"It isn't really mine, it's my roommates. She doesn't know I took it."

Chuckling I shake my head and stick my hand out, "Karl. Nice to meet you."

Grabbing my hand, she shook it, "I know who you are, you're on the football team. I'm Y/N."

---

(Yellow) "This movie sucks." I whisper to George, who only nods in response.

"Punz quiet in my class." The professor lectured, and I bite my tongue.

Scanning the classroom my eyes stopped on someone who was wearing my number.

Elbowing George, I pointed to her and he glared before his eyes followed my finger.

"Who is that and why is she wearing your number?" He whispered.

Shrugging, I looked at her. Only the back of her was visible.

As if she felt our eyes on her, she turned around and looked directly at me and George.

Hitching my breath, George just waved to which she gave him a confused look and turned back around.

"Punz and George please exit my classroom if you aren't going to pay attention."

---

(Blue) Groaning stepping out of my dorm, I cursed under my breath as I opened my umbrella.

"Now is the time I wished I had a car." I complained, walking towards campus.

"Hey isn't that George?"

Hearing my name, I looked around for the person who said it. Stopping I saw the girl from yesterday with two other girls. They seemed to be whispering between each other, but she looked uninterested as she continued walking towards campus.

"Hey George."

Blinking out of thought, I realized the two others were now in front of me.

"Uh hey." I said, looking between them and the girl.

"We were wondering--"

"Hold that thought I gotta go."

I rushed out, stepping around them and jogging to catch up with her.

"You're the guy who was staring at me yesterday."

I heard her say. I realized she turned around when she heard quick footsteps coming her way.

Blinking not knowing what to say, I open my mouth yet nothing came out.

"If you don't have anything to say as a rebuttal, I'd like to continue walking so I can get to class." She said, and I cleared my throat.

"Right. Uhm. Sorry about yesterday my friend and I saw that you were wearing his jersey number."

She nodded, and started walking glancing over her shoulder at me.

Taking that as a sign to follow her, I started walking alongside her.

"It was the only jersey I own, I didn't know it was an actual number for someone on the team as it was 69."

Laughing I shook my head, "Punz fought hard for that number. It took seven calls to coach, a couple boxes of chocolate, and getting on his knees begging."

She looked at me incredulously, "Are you joking?"

Chuckling I nodded.

"He only got on his knees and begged."

She laughed and shook her head, "Tell him I aspire to be as brave and dedicated as him."

"I will."

Smiling and looking down at the wet grass, pavement was soon in my line of vision.

I hadn't realized we made it to campus this quickly.

"Well it was nice talking to you George, I'm Y/N."

Before I could question how she knew my name she walked into the building. I just smiled, realizing she was dressed as Zendaya from the Met Gala.

---

(Orange) As we all walked to practice I saw someone who seemed familiar.

"Yo! That's her."

I said pointing to her, and Dream grabbed my hand pushing it down.

"Don't point it's fucking rude."

He scolded me, and I scoffed.

"Oh, Y/N is the girl that was dressed as Fubuki?"

Karl asked, I looked over at him dumbfounded.

"You know her?"

I asked loudly, and Karl shook his head.

"No, we met a couple days ago though."

"Yeah, I ran into her yesterday, and she also caught Punz staring at her in class."

"She's wearing the wiggles pajama's."

Dream pointed out, and I finally looked at her outfit.

"It looks really comfortable."

He added, and we all just watched her get in her car and leave.

---

(Red) The day of the football game everyone was either nervous or excited. For the students, it was a mix of both. For the players, they were excited.

They were hardly ever nervous, as they always won almost every game.

"Do you think Y/N will be here?"

Sapnap asked, and Punz groaned.

"Dude you haven't shut up about her since you saw her on Monday."

Sapnap shot him a glare and threw his deodorant bottle at him. Dodging it, he flipped Sapnap off while George looked between the two.

"You both are idiots."

Dream said, as he closed his locker looking at Karl who was laying down on one of the benches on his phone.

"Well aren't you at least a little curious if she is going to be here?"

Sapnap asked, and they all groaned.

"If we say yes will you shut the hell up?"

Karl said, and Sapnap frowned while George nudged his shoulder.

"Yes. But it's doubtful I heard Y/N's friends talking about how they were gonna dress and it sounded like Y/N wasn't going to come."

George said, and Dream felt a bit upset about that.

Out of all of them, Dream seemed the most disinterested in her.

---

After the game, they cheered as they beat them. It was a close game, too close for their liking but they still won. As the bleachers started clearing out, the boys ran back into the locker room.

Y/N on the other hand did show up, but she wasn't dressed like she wanted to be there. Her friends dragged her out there, literally.

She was dragged out of bed, and forced into clothes.

"Hey Y/N."

Hearing her name, she looked over and sighed when she saw her uncle calling for her and waving her over.

"Could you take this to the boys."

He said, handing her a clipboard of what looked like things the boys needed to work on.

"Be careful they may be showering so knock or yell to make sure they aren't naked."

Rolling her eyes, she flipped him off.

She regrets ever going to the same college her uncle worked at.

"We'll see you after you get done."

Her friends said, and she just rolled her eyes flipping them off. When she reached the door that led to the locker room, she heard the muffled voices of the boys. Growing curious she pressed her ear to the door, yet to no avail she heard nothing.

'I am already regretting this.' She thought to herself.

Knocking on the door, she heard the muffled voices falter for a second, before she heard footsteps approaching the door. Flinching when the door was jerked open, she cringed when an awful creaking noise was heard.

"Oh hey Y/N."

Remembering the voice, she looked up to match the voice with the face.

"Oh hey, uh.. Punz? Right?" She asked, hesitantly.

Chuckling, the boy nodded.

"That's me." He reassured.

After a deafening silence, and an awkward exchange of eye contact she cleared her throat and brought her hand up.

"Coach wanted me to give this to you."

She finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

Hearing the showers in the background, she figured the rest had left Punz to get the door while they showered.

"Oh thanks."

Blinking back into reality, she nodded finally taking notice that he was shirtless and only a towel was clinging to his hips.

"May I ask why coach sent you of all people?" He asked, eyebrows pinched in confusion.

She scratched the back of her neck, and looked every where but at him.

"It's a long story." She muttered, flustered.

Punz took notice of this quickly, and smirked. Leaning against the doorway, he crossed his arms.

"I've got time."

'Of course you do.' She thought to herself holding back an eye roll.

"Well, to summarize it to save both our time and so you can shower because you reek. Coach is my uncle. I came to this college because he worked here, and I wanted to have a familiar face in a brand new place."

She explained, while Punz cringed at the fact that he got told he smelled awful.

Running his hands through his tousled hair, he nodded.

"Good to know I can't fuck you. Coach would have my head. You're automatically going on the no list." He said, nonchalantly.

Widening her eyes at how open he was, she shook her head.

"Wouldn't want to sleep with you anyways, now shower you fucking smell."

Turning around, she began to walk away as Punz smirked watching her figure.

Looking over her shoulder, she smirked, "Congratulations on the win by the way, tell Dream I said he's hot for scoring the winning point."

Shaking his head, he turned around and shut the door pushing his tongue against the wall of his cheek.

"She's going to fucking pay."

---

(Yellow) Scoffing as I walked into the shower area, everyone turned to look at me.

"Who was at the door?"

Karl asked, and I just groaned.

"Y/N."

Stepping under the water, her words played on repeat in my head.

"Why was she here? What the hell did she want?"

Dream said, bewildered due to the fact she came to the locker room.

"Well, her uncle sent her."

"Who the fuck is her uncle?" Sapnap asked, now intrigued.

"Coach."

Was all I said, and they all snapped their heads to me.

"Dude. Do you know how bad it would've been if one of us slept with her?"

Karl said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Even more of a reason to fuck her."

I simply said, and Dream scoffed from beside me.

"Why are you scoffing? I basically told her to her face I wouldn't fuck her. Then she turned around and told me to tell you that she thought you were hot for winning the game."

I told him, and he chuckled.

"She's playing a dangerous game."

Dream muttered, and I could only agree.

"If you ask me, I think her being coach's niece is more of a reason to fuck her. It's basically risky. If coach ever found out, he'd make us run till we've thrown up. Then make us run again until we pass out. It's cliche. Almost too perfect."

George spoke up, and Sapnap just agreed by a head nod.

I sighed, after washing up and quickly dried myself off.

"You two go ahead and take that shot. I'm not running till my death."

I bluntly said, and Dream just hit my shoulder.

"Fucking the coach's niece. Doesn't it just sound fun?"

He said, and I groaned.

"Sounds like trouble to me."

"Oh come on, you're always up for a challenge."

Sapnap said, patting my shoulder and I sighed.

"Fuck it."

"But let's make this a bet. Whoever fucks her first wins."

I looked over at Karl, shocked that he was the one who even came up with the idea.

"Alright. You're on."

---

(Orange) "Why did I even agree to that stupid bet."

I muttered under my breath, walking to my morning class.

'Of course, Mrs. Cassidy would have her class at 7 am.' I thought to myself, already tired as I was up all night playing Minecraft with the others.

"Fucking hell Sap, watch where you're going."

That voice instantly took all the grogginess out of me.

'Y/N.'

Realizing what I had done, I accidentally bumped her shoulder causing her to drop whatever she was carrying.

Squatting down to help her pick it up, my eyes widened when I saw that it was her laundry basket.

Some of her clothes were still in there, while others were sprawled across the grass. Getting damp from the morning dew.

"Great. Fucking great. Now I have to rewash some of them."

She complained picking some up.

I simply stared, guilt overcoming my body.

Reaching for pieces of her clothing, I grabbed two shirts, a pair of shorts, four pairs of mated socks, and a pair of her underwear.

She didn't seem too embarrassed at the fact that I was holding her undergarments.

"Thank you." She grunted out.

"You're welcome."

I quickly stammered out.

"I really don't want to put those in with the clean ones, can you carry them to my dorm?"

Seeing her mouth move, I heard nothing.

"Hm?"

I hummed and finally snapped back into reality.

"I said, do you mind carrying those back to the dorm? Since you're the one who caused it in the first place."

Almost jumping to agree, I remembered class.

"I would, but I have to get to Mrs. Cassidy's."

I told her, and she gave me a look.

"You do remember Mrs. Cassidy won't be having class today, and won't have a sub for another two days. Right? She notified everyone through her email that she was delivering her baby."

She said, looking at me as if I were dumb.

"Well, I don't even look at my emails."

I retaliated.

She only rolled her eyes and turned on her heel walking towards her dorm.

Following in behind her, I took notice of what she was wearing.

'She looks very comfortable.'

"You look comfy."

I said, attempting to spark up a conversation as the walk would be about a 10-minute walk due to how slow she was with the basket.

"It's my pajamas, I don't have class today until 4 pm."

She explained, and I hummed.

"Also I thought the laundry mat was closed until 8 am?"

I questioned.

She glanced over her shoulder.

"Perks of your uncle having a spare key for it. I get to do it as long as I also do his laundry in return."

Shifting the articles of clothing in my arms, I nodded.

"So tell me a bit about yourself."

Startled at the sudden question, I try to think quickly.

"I'm twenty years old, a junior in college, I am from Texas, I met Dream when we were teenagers. We promised to go to the same college when we were younger. We met George a couple years later, and he decided to come to this college as an experiment for America. Punz and I met during my senior year of High school, and Karl and I met freshman year of college. We've all been inseparable since."

Even though she was in front of me, I could tell she was smiling.

"That's sweet."

She hummed out, and I grinned.

Walking into the yard of the dorms, I finally learned that Y/N's dorm was only two minutes from mine.

"Which one are you?"

"C7."

She quickly answered, attempting to fish her key out of her back pocket.

Sighing, I came up behind her, "May I? I don't want to intrude or make you uncomfortable. But I'd rather you not spill more clothes."

She looked at me for a brief second, before nodding.

Moving all the clothes carefully into my right arm, I slowly grab her waist and move her a bit closer.

I could see chill bumps appear on her neck when my breath fanned it.

"Grab the damn key already."

Her voice almost sounded as if it were desperate.

Slipping my hand into her back pocket, I grabbed the key.

She stumbled a bit, and I hooked my fingers onto the pocket pulling her back with much more force than I intended.

Feeling her slam against my chest, I grunt in slight pain and she groaned in discomfort.

"Sorry."

I whisper, and I could've sworn I heard her whine.

"Unlock the fucking door."

She breathed out, looking up at me over her shoulder.

I instantly melted, her eyes said something that I had been dying to see.

"All it took was some physical touch? Are you that touch deprived? How cute."

I tease, and she shifted whining.

"Door. Now."

Chuckling, I walk in front of her, purposefully dragging my finger across her waist and stomach before unlocking her door.

Stepping inside, she followed behind in a rush.

Basically tossing the basket on the floor near what I assumed was her room door, she turned around grabbing my hand.

Dropping the clothes on the floor, I followed her like I was a lost puppy.

Opening the door that I saw prior, she pushed me onto the bed.

"Have you had breakfast?"

She asked, and my eyes dropped down to between her legs.

"Nope."

"Good, you are now."

Groaning at the thought, I was never one to openly be a bottom but the way she took control instantly had me excited.

"Lay down."

Listening, my mouth watering I hear her shuffling and some clothes being tossed onto the floor.

Raising up on my elbows, I gawk at her.

"Stop staring and lay down."

Taking a couple of seconds to continue looking at her body, I nod and lay back down.

Feeling the bed dip under her, I finally see her crawl on top of me.

"Don't hold back either."

"Didn't plan on it."

Grinning, I playfully reach up and pinch her thigh.

She yelped and slapped my hand away, moving up and positioning herself above me.

Lowering herself onto my face, I hook my arms around her thighs to hold her down as I instantly shoot my tongue out for a taste.

"Fuck Sapnap."

She moaned.

"Sapnap."

"Sapnap."

Hearing snapping, I open my eyes and Y/N was there, looking rather annoyed.

"Are you going to get the key out or not?"

Fuck.

---

(Red) For the next few days, Y/N would purposely avoid the football team, as she heard rumors going around that she fucked them. Obviously, this wasn't true, but did they know that? No. Only her friends and she knew the truth.

She was a virgin, after all, wanting to save herself for someone special.

The boys didn't deny it, though they didn't really hear this rumor. People took this as an answer. That actually happened. Plus, the boys weren't people who would fuck and tell.

"Y/N, Punz is heading your way." Her friend warned.

Y/N glanced to her side and rolled her eyes instantly seeing that it wasn't just Punz. Karl was right behind him, following in behind.

"What do you two want?" She asked, begrudgingly.

Punz feigned hurt, while Karl just frowned at her tone.

"Well, the boys and I were wondering if you wanted to hang out one day after practice."

He said while Karl nodded in agreement. Y/N dismissed her friend, who hesitantly left.

Raising an eyebrow, she finally turned around to look at the two. Both had looks of hope on their face. She looked directly at Karl, who had surprisingly crossed his fingers.

Sighing, she shook her head and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"Fine, but hanging out. That's it."

She said, her voice strict.

Punz was about to argue, but Karl hit him in a warning and nodded his head.

"Just hanging out, that's all."

He reassured, and Y/N rolled her eyes before walking off.

"You fucking prick--"

Karl turned and quickly ran towards the exit, and football field while Punz was hot on his tail.

Bad who was there to give them their waters, looked as Punz tackled Karl to the ground.

Widening his eyes in shock, he ran over to the two trying to pry Punz off of the other.

Sapnap looked at them, with a lopsided grin amused.

George pinched the bridge of his nose, as Bad yelped when he was ripped down on the ground by Punz.

"Dream."

George said, already fed up.

Dream looked at them and walked over.

"Unless you want to run until you vomit I'd suggest you stop acting like fucking five-year-olds."

Bad looked over at him, mouth wide open.

"That means you to waterboy. Shut your mouth, you'll catch flies."

Instantly, the three stopped and stood up. Karl had grass stains on his pants, while Punz just looked out of breath. Bad adjusted his clothes and dusted himself off.

"So?"

Sapnap finally spoke up, and Karl's eyes lit up.

"She agreed."

Karl said, and all the boys felt a heavyweight lift off their shoulders. Now they just had to execute the plan.

---

(Pink) Looking around, she debated on whether or not she should tell her friends about her date with the boys. 'Well, it's not a date.' She thought to herself, before deciding against it in case it fueled the fire of the rumors.

Deciding to just wear the outfit she wore to school, she walked out of her dorm and towards the football field. She saw some people lingering around, some just hanging out, yet there was no sign of the boys.

Sighing, she headed towards the locker room and knocked.

All the muffled voices came to a halt.

As she looked at the door, bored out of her mind George's face came into view.

"Hey, we're getting dressed. We'll be out in a moment."

As soon as George came, he left.

"Okay.."

She mumbled and turned on her heel sitting on the bench waiting for them to exit.

---

(Green) Holding back the groan, I watched as Punz stumbled around in an attempt to get dressed quickly.

"Dude, hurry the hell up she's waiting."

Sapnap rushed, while I decided to head on out. George and Karl followed in behind me.

Opening the door, I see her sitting on the bench her attention on her phone.

"I figured one of you had died, and you all mourned."

She joked, and I gave her a confused look.

"You guys took forever, and there's only three out of five of you here."

She said, motioning to the three of us.

"Punz decided it would be funny to hide Sapnap's clothes, which resulted in Punz getting Sapnap's clothes and Sapnap throwing Punz's clothes in the dirty hamper."

Karl explained, and she just gave him a bored look.

Hearing the door open, Punz and Sapnap rushed out.

"Finally." She whispered.

"What do you mean finally? This bitch caused it."

Sapnap instantly blamed Punz.

Looking at the two, I gave them a blank stare.

"I wouldn't be talking. You took forever to get a fucking key."

She snapped at him, and I looked between the two confused as to what they meant.

"Shut up. I did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Di-"

"Shut the fuck up."

George said, slapping both of his hands onto their mouths.

"Ew!"

He shrieked, pulling his hand away from Y/N's mouth.

"She licked me!"

He said wiping his hand on her shirt.

"Don't put your hand over my mouth it's as simple as that."

"Well, there is no telling where your tongue has been."

"Definitely not on your dick."

Stepping between the two, George tried to reach behind me to get to her as she gave him the middle finger.

"Alright alright, stop arguing with everyone. Let's go."

Punz said, scooping Y/N up and throwing her over his shoulder.

Yelping she basically just let it happen.

"Why are you just letting him carry you?"

Karl asked, and I glanced over at him.

"Better than walking."

She strained out, as she was basically upside down.

Karl laughed and shrugged.

---

(Red) "You two live like fucking animals."

Y/N said, looking around the dorm in disgust.

"It's his fault."

Karl pointed, and Punz put his hands up in defense.

"Well, George leaves his shit laying around as well."

Punz said, and George looked at him gobsmacked.

"Sapnap is the one who leaves his food everywhere."

George said shoving Sapnap, who glared in return.

"Don't even think about trying to put the blame on me. I clean up all of your guy's shit."

Dream stated, and Y/N just watched them bicker.

"Actually, Bad does that when he visits."

"I do it too."

He defended.

Clearing her throat, she crossed her arms.

"Can we do something? I'm tired of hearing you guys argue."

"Well, we can watch that one new movie on Netflix."

Punz suggested a devious smirk on his face.

"I swear to God if you're talking abo--"

Punz smacked his hand over George's mouth.

"Shut up." He whispered.

Rolling his eyes, they all migrated over to the sectional couch that was sat in front of their tv.

'That tv is way too big for them.'

She thought, looking at the giant tv that was mounted onto the wall.

"How did you guys even manage to mount it, and have everyone in one dorm. I thought it was two max?"

She questioned, and Karl cleared his throat.

"My dad paid."

That was all he said.

"Daddy's money."

She muttered under her breath, shaking her head.

---

(Blue) "You're fucking joking. You chose the new 365 days movie?"

"Yes, I did."

"Yes, he did."

Two voices spoke up at the same time.

Punz and Y/N.

Rolling my eyes, I sit the snack bowl down on the table and got comfortable in my seat.

Hearing my phone vibrate, along with everyone else's Y/N looked around curiously.

Seeing that Sapnap had texted the group chat, my eyes widened at the message.

"Sorry coach texted the chat about practice."

Dream easily lied.

Fuckboy 2.1 (Orange)I had a wet daydream about Y/N

Simp (Purple)You what?

Fuckboy 2.0 (Yellow)I'm not shocked at all.

Dom Daddy. (Green)You decided to tell us now when she is here? And during this movie? What the hell Sap.

Actually Dumb (Blue)Was this when you took forever to get the "key"

Fuckboy 2.1 (Orange)1. Had a wet daydream about Y/N right in front of her, 2. Fuck off Punz, 3. Yes, I did, 4. Yes shut the fuck up.

"Are you guys going to just be texting the entire time?"

Y/N asked, sounding bored out of her mind.

"Someone's being bratty."

Dream said, and Y/N somewhat froze at the tone.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"Fuck off."

"Only if I'm fucking you."

"Guys shut the hell up."

Sapnap looked between them all, and it was very obvious there was tension in the room. Whether it was awkward, angry, or even sexual. The sexual stood out the most, due to the movie that was on, the minor conversation that they had, and Dream's comment.

I slowly let my eyes scan Y/N, she seemed somewhat interested in the movie. But it was very obvious she was frustrated, as she kept rubbing her thighs together to cause friction.

Moving closer to her, I smirk taking notice that they were now all intrigued in the movie as another sex scene came on.

"Frustrated?"

I whispered.

Y/N's face instantly reddened, and it looked like she was internally thankful for the darkroom from the blackout curtains and every single light off.

"Yeah, now fuck off."

She said, and I rolled my eyes.

"I can help you."

This caught her attention.

"Help me?"

She whispered, clearly clueless.

"Yes, help."

"In front of everyone? They'd hear."

She muttered, looking around at everyone.

"Even more fun."

"What are you two whispering about?"

Karl asked, smirking at Y/N's flustered state.

"Y/N here is frustrated and needs help."

"Is that so Y/N? Do you need help?"

Y/N could only let out an inaudible whimper as a reply.

"Words. Use your words."

Karl said, gripping her thigh, and she nearly moaned at the touch.

'Was she really this touch deprived? Damn.'

"Yes." She replied sharply.

"Good girl."

I praised, "Hey guys, Y/N isn't feeling too well so me and Karl are gonna take her to the bedroom and make sure she is well rested."

Karl got up, picking Y/N up who hazily held onto him from the touch.

"Oh, alright."

Dream spoke up, his voice full of suspension.

Walking behind the two, I watched Y/N slightly grind herself onto Karl who only scolded her which led to her pouting.

Pushing open the door for them, Karl basically threw her on the bed, causing her to yelp.

As Karl and I watched her as if she were our food and we were her prey, she squirmed under our gaze.

"Strip."

I said huskily, and she slowly but surely started stripping off her clothes.

We watched with eager eyes, taking in her bare body.

God, she was perfect.

---

(Green) "You do realize they took her up there to fuck her, right?"

I said, and the two looked over at me shocked.

As if we talked through telepathy we all bolted up and ran up the stairs.

Barging into the room, I instantly groaned at the sight. Y/N laid there, Karl's dick in her mouth as George ate her like she was his last meal.

Y/N looked over at us with hazy eyes, that were slightly glossy due to her tears from gagging on Karl's dick.

Her whines and whimpers were muffled from Karl's dick, and she looked so needy.

Walking over I instantly fondled her boobs which caused her to arch her back up into my touch.

Leaning down, I took her left nipple into my mouth sucking on it.

One of her hands broke free from George's hair, now tangling in mine.

Punz and Sapnap seemed to have knocked themselves out of whatever trance they were in and got on the bed.

Looking up slightly, Punz had her other nipple in his mouth as Sapnap was going to town on her clit as George fingered her.

Her moans and cries were still muffled from Karl's dick, he wasn't even moving, nor was she.

He's cockwarming her.

---

(Red) Y/N was feeling herself cum for the third time, her moans drowned out as Karl's dick nestled in her throat. Groaning out, Karl tipped his head back as he felt the vibrations of her moans going through his dick.

Soon, he slightly twitched, as he let out a guttural moan releasing his cum in her throat and mouth.

Y/N choked a bit, swallowing all that she could the rest sliding down her chin.

Karl pulled out of her mouth with a pop, as he cooed down at her. Her makeup was ruined, her eyes bloodshot, and her hair now a mess.

Everyone pulled away from her, allowing her to catch her breath.

"So pretty."

Punz whispered, tracing his fingers down her body, loving the way her body erupted into goosebumps at his touch.

"You look so pretty like this."

George spoke up, her juices coating his lips from his prior events of eating her out.

She looked up at them through her eyelashes, batting them tiredly.

"You didn't think we were done did you?"

Dream asked, sharing a smirk with Sapnap, who traced all the hickeys adorning her skin.

It was noticeable who was who's.

Dream's were huge with teeth marks, George's was sloppy looking as if he were eager to leave marks on her, Sapnap's were much more hidden on the inside of her thighs as he was more gentle with her, Punz's were in the more evident areas: collarbone, jawline, and her hips, and Karl's were all over her neck.

Now it was known between the jocks that they all had their own kinks, which they were soon going to make sure she was comfortable with.

"Y/N look at me."

Karl said, and she slowly looked up at him, innocence in her eyes.

"Are you a virgin pretty girl?"

He asked ready to get rid of the elephant in the room.

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

Squirming under their gaze, she felt her stomach erupt in butterflies.

Slowly nodding her head, she looked away shyly.

Everyone's breath caught in their throats, all of them sharing a look: jealousy.

All because they knew one of them was going to be the one to take her virginity away.

"Who do you want to take it?"

Sapnap asked, sharing glances with everyone.

Y/N looked around, raising up into a sitting position. She nervously picked at her nails, shrugging.

Dream chuckled dryly at this, gripped her throat, and grabbed her hair to make her look up at him.

"You need to choose cupcake. Or else we're gonna fight over it."

He warned her, and she looked up at him with blown-out pupils.

"Sapnap."

That was all she said, and Sapnap almost yelled out in celebration.

"Before that happens, we'd like to do much more to you."

Punz licked his lips as he spoke, and Y/N felt herself getting wet at the thought.

Before she could do anything, Dream slammed her down by her throat smirking down at her.

"We want to know boundaries, we all have variations of kinks. Let us know when to stop. Choose a safe word."

He explained, his hand moving from her throat to rest on her cheek.

She slowly nodded, letting his words sink in.

"Uhm... Apple..?"

She said as if she were unsure.

"Okay, and choose another word so we can check up on you to make sure you're okay. This word will let us know you're still able to continue."

Y/N looked up in thought and grinned.

"Five. Since there are five of you."

She said with a small shrug, and Karl grinned.

"That's cute."

He hummed, letting his hand rest on her thigh.

"Now that that's out of the way, my turn."

Karl giggled, feeling excited as everyone backed away to watch.

"I'll be right back."

Before Y/N could question it, the boys all looked at each other knowing exactly what Karl was getting.

It surprised them, as Karl never did this with anyone. Only fantasied, he had told them he'd only do it when he found 'the one'.

Walking back in, Y/N wasn't able to see the object he was holding.

"Karl, are you sure?"

George asked, and he widened his eyes at the look on Karl's face. Pure bliss.

"Alright, are you able to look at blood?"

Karl asked her innocently, and Y/N nodded slowly.

Karl crawled on top of her, smirking showing her the object finally.

Gasping Y/N felt her stomach churn in excitement and arousal.

A knife.

"Word?"

He asked, using the knife to trail down her body making sure not to cut her in the process.

"Five."

Groaning, Karl kissed her hips before bringing the knife to them.

Moving her on her side, he gripped the knife, and carefully marked her skin with a simple, yet sloppy 'KJ'.

Y/N flinched, gripping the closet thing to her, which was Punz's thigh.

Digging her nails into the skin, she hissed at the burning sensation.

Blood trickled down her thigh, and Karl simply used the knife to lap it up.

The others watched, as Karl cleaned her wound, making sure the bleeding stopped.

There was now a visible, "KJ" on her hip and it made Karl giddy.

"Believe it or not cupcake, but Karl is actually a virgin too."

This caught her attention, and she looked back at Karl, who looked like he was about to combust.

"Your turn is up, move."

Punz said, and Karl glared.

"Please Y/N."

Karl pleaded, his voice sounding so desperate and whiny.

Y/N rolled over and grabbed his face slamming her lips onto his.

He could still somewhat taste himself as she slipped her tongue inside his mouth.

Now she knew why he was always so desperate to be around her.

Karl only whimpered against her lips, before she slowly pulled away.

"Please take it, they make fun of me every chance they get. Please I'm sick of it. I need you."

His voice was so whiny, that it went up a couple octaves.

Y/N felt some kind of power over him, she could barely touch him and he'd melt instantly.

"Gotta wait your turn, pretty boy, I'll take your virginity after Sapnap takes mine. Deal?"

She said, purring slightly.

Karl's eyes rolled back at the mere thought and nodded being slightly impatient.

Sapnap took this as a hint and instantly was by her.

"Are you sure about this? Because once I start there is no going back."

He warned, and Y/N slowly nodded her head.

"I'm sure."

That was enough for Sapnap to grab her hips, purposefully digging his nails into the carving in her skin and flipping her over onto her stomach.

Y/N yelped at the pain in her hips, knowing she'd had a bruise from his grip.

"I'm going to be gentle at first."

He reassured her, pressing on her back so it would arch.

Karl watched, mesmerized at the scene unfolding in front of him.

The others only scoffed at how nice Sapnap was playing. They knew he was a dick in bed.

Grabbing his dick, he slapped against her clit every now and then hoping she was prepped enough so it wouldn't hurt as much.

Slowly, he pressed the tip inside and Y/N shuddered, letting a whimper fall out.

Easing into her, he finally bottomed out and Y/N had tears streaming down her face from the mixture of the: burning, the pain from her hymen tearing, his nails digging into the fresh wound, and the pleasure.

After a while, Sapnap rocked his hips and Y/N moaned out, and something inside Sapnap snapped.

All the gentleness was thrown out of the window as he started slamming into her ruthlessly.

Y/N was now a screaming mess, which was cut short as George put two of his fingers inside of her mouth to quiet her down so the neighbors wouldn't hear.

Pulling her hips up a bit, she lurched forward as he hit a certain spot. Sapnap smirked and continued to relentlessly hit that spot over and over again.

"You on the pill?"

He groaned out, sweat falling down his forehead.

Not able to form words, she nodded quickly as her cum milked his cock.

Sapnap groaned loudly as he spilled his seed inside of her, thrusting into her helping them both ride out their highs.

Finally, he pulled out and Y/N fell to the bed breathing heavily.

Sapnap chuckled and softly spanked her ass before gripping it and spreading her cheeks spitting.

Y/N whined at the feeling and looked up at George who now pushed his fingers down her throat to hear her gag.

Smirking in satisfaction after hearing her gag, he pulled his fingers out smearing her saliva onto her own face.

Karl grabbed ahold of her torso and lifted her up onto his lap, and she rested her head against his shoulder already looking fucked out.

"My turn."

He whispered in her ear, as he easily slipped inside of her.

Karl was much bigger than Sapnap, and he reached deeper inside of her in this position.

Karl and Y/N both whimpered at the feeling, and Karl's cheeks flushed red at the sensation.

"Fuck."

Punz said, taking a quick photo of the scene.

Rocking her hips, Y/N started to ride Karl who whimpered and whined underneath her.

Y/N was obviously a moaning mess at this point, and she leaned her head back in ecstasy.

Taking this as an invitation Karl started attacking her neck again, as he whined into her ear.

"M' close.."

He whined out to her, and she nodded in agreement fastening her pace.

"Cum with me pretty boy."

That and the fact that he was mixing his cum with Sapnap's was enough to make him explode inside of her. Y/N shivered at the feeling, quickly milking his dick shortly after.

Putting her hands on his shoulder, she raised up off of him as his and Sapnap's cum leaked down her thighs making a mess.

"Such a messy girl."

She heard before she was grabbed by the throat and slammed back down onto the bed beside Karl.

She instantly knew who it was by the voice and gesture.

"Dream."

She mewled, looking up at him with swollen lips.

He groaned at the sight and smirked.

"Look at how much of a cum slut you are."

He tutted, bringing his hand down and raking some of the mixed cum onto his fingers.

"Open."

He demanded, and Y/N obeyed opening her mouth as he put his fingers in her mouth.

Y/N began to clean off his fingers, enjoying the taste of their cum.

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard that you won't be able to fuck the other two. They'll just have to use you as a cum dump."

He growled out, biting her ear harshly.

Y/N's eyes rolled back before Dream rammed into her causing her to let out a choked scream.

He was basically ripping her in half.

Nor did he care to give her time to adjust, he was ramming into her so fast.

"Damn Dream, built up frustration?"

George joked, and Dream ignored him throwing one of her legs over his shoulder and pounding into her, his grip on her throat tightening.

Y/N started clenching down on him, which caused him to falter slightly.

"Keep doing that and this won't last as long as I hoped for."

He warned, and slapped her clit harshly.

Instantly she saw stars, her mouth falling agape as a silent scream came out, pleasure taking over her body.

"Fuck dude, look at her."

Sapnap said, and everyone watched as her face scrunched up.

"Fuck!"

She yelled out hoarsely, as she squirted on Dream.

"Holy shit dude!"

Punz gawked at the sight, and it looked like Dream was nowhere close to being finished.

How he had this much stamina beats them, he was always the first to stop running during practice.

"Poor baby squirted all over me. You're so messy."

He said, slapping her face as he moved his hand down slapping her tit as well.

Y/N was quickly becoming overstimulated and tried to push him away.

Dream gave Karl one look and in an instant, Karl had her hands pried down onto the bed.

"You're going to take it. You asked for it."

He grunted out, feeling himself coming closer to his edge.

Clenching around him again, Dream cursed under his breath as he felt himself cum inside of her.

Riding out his high he made Y/N cum once more, and they both winced at the overstimulation.

Pulling out of her Dream saw his cum leaking out of her, and he glared as he pushed it right back into her with his fingers.

"Who's next?"

Sapnap asked, looking between Punz and George.

"I'd rather fuck her ass than anything."

Punz admitted, and George put his hands up.

"I'm already drained from making myself cum twice at that."

Dream rolled his eyes, and tapped her thigh.

"Are you okay with Punz doing anal with you?"

He asked tentatively, and Y/N slowly nodded not trusting her voice.

"This one will hurt more than losing your actual virginity."

Dream told her, caressing her cheek.

She only whimpered as Punz carefully brought her to the edge of the bed, flipping her back over.

"Go easy on her."

Karl murmured, and Punz rolled his eyes as if that were obvious.

"I'd rather not cause her too much pain."

After hearing this, Dream handed Punz the bottle of lube that was kept in George's room.

Opening the bottle he squirted some onto her, and she whined at the coolness of it.

Rubbing it in, Punz reached forward demanding her to spit.

Lubing up his dick, he slowly entered her giving her a resting spot every now and then.

After minutes of pure pain, he finally bottomed out.

Y/N was gripping onto Sapnap's thighs roughly, which he didn't mind.

Dream sat beside her, rubbing her cheek helping distract her from the pain.

Nodding, Dream smiled slightly.

"Okay, you can move."

He encouraged Punz, and Dream grabbed her hand leading it down her body to her clit to help rub herself.

Moaning out, Punz snapped his hips into hers, and Y/N's eyes closed tightly digging her nails into the other's thighs possibly drawing blood.

"Fuck it's so tight."

Punz muttered, pounding into her at a slow pace.

Karl was leaving kisses down her back, helping her through it while George watched with envy.

It didn't take long for Y/N to cum from Dream's fingers on her clit as her hand had gone back to Sapnap's thigh.

Clenching around nothing, Punz felt the movement and groaned as he filled her ass with his cum.

Pulling out, Y/N fell against the bed and everyone watched her.

"Fuck it. One more."

George said, slipping into her, spreading her legs slightly.

Y/N was already sensitive and not able to move, so she laid flat, allowing George to fuck her.

Looking up at Dream with pleading eyes, he sighed giving in as he tapped her mouth. She opened it eagerly as Dream slid his dick into it.

Allowing her to cockwarm him, George kept his rhythm even and gentle.

Y/N moved her tongue around the shaft of his dick, hallowing her cheeks as she maintained eye contact with Punz.

"Fuck don't look at me like that."

Hearing a guttural groan, George came inside of her and pulled out before he ushered Karl over to look at the mess they all created.

Dream leaned his head back as he came down her throat, and pulled out watching her swallow it all.

"That's so hot."

Sapnap mumbled, and they all got up looking at the mess of a girl.

Everyone took pictures of her, especially of her ass and pussy that were leaking with their cum.

"You look exhausted."

Karl pointed out, and Y/N attempted to laugh.

"I am."

She said, barely above a whisper.

"That sucks because we aren't through with you."

#dream x reader #dream smut #dream imagine #dreamwastaken #georgenotfound smut #georgenotfound x reader #georgenotfound #georgenotfound imagine #sapnap smut #sapnap imagine #sapnap x reader #sapnap fanfic #punz smut #punz x reader #punz #punz fanfiction #karl jacobs fanfic #karl jacobs imagine #karl jacobs x reader #karl jacobs #karl jacobs smut #mcyt #mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfiction #mcyt imagine #mcyt smut #dreamsmp

[cilil]

✧˖ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 °.

Are you looking to name a Maia or Vala OC or to write about an Ainu character, but aren't sure how to name them/refer to them? You've come to the right place! Here's a fun little breakdown of Ainur names (there's also a tldr at the bottom for quick answers). Hope it helps!

Level 1: What others call them (near, far, wherever they are)

Much like other characters in the legendarium, Ainur have different names in different languages and their identities may be seen differently depending on which culture they're currently interacting with.

One great example for this is Gandalf. His original name in Valinor was Olórin (related to "olos"/"olor" which means dream or vision), while the name Gandalf came from old northern Mannish and means "Wand-Elf". To the Dwarves, he was known as Tharkûn, which is Khuzdul for "Staff-man", and his Sindarin name was Mithrandir, which means "grey wanderer". These are just a few examples of his various names and nicknames, but you get the idea.

If you have other characters referring to the Ainu in question, consider which language(s) they would speak and see if a name has already been given to that Ainu in the specific language. Otherwise you can translate one of their existing names or give them a new one based on how you think the culture/group of people whose perspective you're currently writing would view the Ainu. An example to illustrate the latter: On Númenor Mairon was referred to as Zigûr, which means "wizard" in Adûnaic - fitting for a sorcerer.

As for the Ainu(r) character(s) you're writing, consider that they may also need different names in different languages depending on who they interact with. Ainur are omnilingual and will typically introduce themselves according to the language others around them speak. Depending on how open they want to be with their identity, they may simply give a slightly altered version of their name that reflects the other language (for example the Adûnaic version of Melkor is Mulkhêr), translate their name or make up a new one or accept one that was given to them. However, the name they identify with and use in their inner monologue may be a different one*... and this is where we move to the next level.

*Important side note regarding this: While Morgoth and Sauron are commonly used names for Melkor and Mairon, these names were given to them by other people and are intended to be derogatory, so even though it's not always explicit in the text, we can safely assume that they do not self-identify as such and stick to their more "flattering" original names.

Level 2: Quenya

When Ainur are introduced in canon, a Quenya name is usually given as their "real" name. Again, Olórin is an example (one among many) for this.

Having a Quenya name is pretty essential for every Ainu who lives in/has ties to Valinor and can be important for the ones in Middle-earth too depending on the time period and how they self-identify. Be sure to look up the Quenya names of existing Ainur characters and have a Quenya name ready for your OCs, unless they were never in Valinor and explicitly cut themselves off from their kin and culture. Gothmog might be an example for this, being an Ainu who is pretty much exclusively identified with a Sindarin name and seems to at least not object to the usage of his "evil Balrog name"/isn't mentioned to identify with a different name instead. However, even in such a case consider that other Ainur might still remember the character in question by their Quenya name and continue to use it.

Level 3: Valarin

As you probably know already, Valarin is the language of the Ainur that they created when they began taking physical forms. While they still use it among themselves and some Valarin words were adopted into Quenya, the alien and at times unpleasant sound of Valarin prompted them to learn Quenya instead to converse with Elves.

Would the Valarin name be a more "accurate" name of an Ainu, given how it was their first language and they only later translated their names? You could say that, and some authors have chosen to use Valarin names for that reason.

However, the main issue with Valarin is that so little is known about it and it can be intimidating and/or infuriating to even try using it aside from the few known Valarin names, which are:

Aȝūlēz (Aulë) Arōmēz (Oromë) Mānawenūz (Manwë) Oš(o)šai (Ossë) Tulukhastāz (Tulkas) Ullubōz (Ulmo)

Alright, don't panic. Valarin is, at least in my humble opinion, not a must. The texts themselves use Quenya, the Quenya names are a translation of the Valarin names and the Ainur in general are known to self-identify by their Quenya names a lot, for example Mairon liked calling himself "Tar-Mairon".

If this however isn't satisfying to you and you would still prefer to have Valarin names ready for the Ainur you're writing, but can't make much of what little is known (less than 20 words and names respectively), you can still "make up" your own Valarin rendition of the Quenyan names. Here's how:

If you look at the ones I listed above, you may have already noticed that there are strong similarities between the names. Manwë, for example, comes from the Quenya root "man" with the ending "wë", and you can see these elements being present in his Valarin name as well. So I'd suggest you take the Quenya root and simply... make up a name that sounds like it could be proper Valarin (yup, we cheese it). To give you an example I've seen floating around in fanon: Melkor's name comes from the Common Eldarin (common ancestor of all Elven languages) "melek"/"mbelek", which means powerful (root "bel"/"mbel"), and Valarin names people use for him are usually some variant of "(M)Belekorōz".

Level 4: "True Names"?

But wait, some of you may say, didn't you say that the Ainur only invented Valarin when they took physical forms? Yup, I sure did. The Ainur in fact existed before language was even a thing - as spirit beings who communicate telepathically (via good old ósanwë) by nature they don't need it among themselves.

And this why I think not even the Valarin names are technically the "true names" of the Ainur and that they in fact don't have "one true name". Given how the use of ósanwë, especially in an environment like the Timeless Halls where no physical barriers exist, allows them to pretty much project their entire identity, emotional state and being to one another, there should have been no need for names. Rather, they would have "titles" or "descriptors", a sort of summary of who their identity and function. You can arguably see that in Melkor's name still: "He who arises in might".

Now, again, what I'm saying in the paragraph above isn't explicitly spelled out in canon, but rather the conclusion I've come to after researching and thinking about it. I would also advise against giving various Ainur half a sentence as their original "name" for your Timeless Halls fics - I thought about it, but realized it would be both obnoxious to write and unpleasant to read.

[TLDR] To conclude my advice is this: Quenya as the original/default name is completely fine, you can create a Valarin version if you want to and otherwise you may need additional names in other languages depending on the setting and situation, as outlined in level 1. With that being said: Happy writing and character creating!

#ainur answers #ainur #maiar #valar #writing guide #tolkien oc #tolkien legendarium #silmarillion #silmarillion oc #ainu oc #it's a long way to say that you could theoretically just make a quenya name and maybe add a sindarin one and be fine in most cases #anyway uh #if you have further questions #feel free to send asks #or dm

[galadrielspeaks]

just thinking about thranduil and how he categorises his life and how the events of his life affects the way he rules his kingdom…. how so much of his development was defined by huge cataclysmic tragedies… thinking about how his youth is defined as before Doriath and his adulthood is defined as After Doriath… how when he became a prince he probably held on to his more idealistic beliefs only to be sternly reminded of the fickleness of life during war….. how the entire kingdom of the woodland realm probably has a Before Dagorlad and an After. how could you not after losing your king and the majority of your people? it is incredibly telling how these events of Thranduil’s past has affected his rule and everything about him down to his parenting. he understands he’s alone. that’s tragic. but he also understands his kingdom is alone. he’s a lonely king. there's no one higher than him, no one to seek advice from. he understands he is the final defender of a kingdom and he is fighting an inherited war, he has first hand witnessed the tragedies of this war and has been directly critically affected by it, he is just as much a victim of Sauron as his people. his nobility offers him zero protection, at any point he could lose everything, and yet he remains empathetic. he remains kind. he remains generous. he obviously sees the worth in fighting, he refuses to give up fully. he is (reasonably!) incredibly cautious which some call him an isolationist or consider him fickle for, during events like his refusal of gandalf’s invitation to the White Council but it becomes incredibly clear why he is like this when it’s put into context of his past. he has trusted allies before, he has seen what has happened. to join an organisation full of ring bearer’s as the sole leader of a nation with no ring to protect his people is almost an insult. they would not and do not understand what it takes to lead in that situation. Thranduil and all of his people are living in the after of the war of the last alliance. why would they join another? Thranduil has put his people first. He recognises that they themselves are the only ones who understand just how at risk they are. and yet with all of this in mind it should noted that he allies himself with men (who historically have experienced and understand the dangerous climate of their respective nations) and creates trade routes with them to provide for his people and also provides aid to them. and it is noted in the text that Legolas has been raised incredibly happily, and he is well-adjusted. throughout fighting a seemingly losing war thranduil found it implicitly important to raise his son with joy and hope. i like to believe he understands the importance of childhood whimsy and enchantment and worked to instill and maintain his child’s innocence. he raised his son as trauma-free as he could (saying this bc we do not know if his mother is dead or sailed or not but either way to be without the mother is traumatic but besides that Legolas appears to be generally mentally healthy). despite knowing first hand just how cruel and painful life is he did not feel the need to raise his child to be prepared and worried about very real threats. rather he raised his child happily, and simply worked to give his son the skills he needed to survive and to defend himself. usually military father's who have expreienced a great deal of trauma and haven't processed it correctly tend to succumb to the urge to raise their children to understand the cruelty of the world, and loathe their children for their innocence. i think that in thranduil not doing this with legolas, we can infer that he has taken time to healthily process his experiences. I believe that Thranduil is an incredibly important figure in the Lord of the Rings because he is truly an incredible example of someone who learns from their mistakes, learns from tradegy, who learns from life. i think that Thranduil never wanted to be a King, it is a responsibility that fell into his lap unwillingly and that is why he is a successful and well-loved ruler.

#didn’t really get into the war of five army’s bc i just don’t know enough about it #but yeah #just some random thoughts i had inbetween lectures today #also the military thing comes from experience i am a military brat i Know #i can write soooo much on how Legolas’ behaviour is a direct representation of Thranduil’s character like it’s just so telling #also i personally believe that thranduil’s wife died but since that isn’t canon i didn’t include it in this but yeah i think that has a lot #to do with a Lot about him #but that’s more headcanony so i held off on diving too into it #also sorry if any of this is a bad take this is off the top of my head inbetween classes i’m not double checking things rn #thranduil #woodland realm #mirkwood #greenwood #long post #meta

[vixensdungeon]

Back in the long-long-ago of 2001 or 2002, baby DM Vivian got a text message from one of her players asking how the elves in Lord of the Rings could be thousands of years old when their maximum age in D&D was 750. I explained to him that Tolkien probably didn't follow the 3rd Edition D&D rules when he was writing.

But he did, of course, use the rules of Rondor ar Rámalócer, an ancient roleplaying game he translated from Quenya! Dave and Gary would later unearth his notes and use them as the basis for their own game, Dungeons & Dragons.

Little known fact, Bilbo Baggins was actually Tolkien's own player character in a campaign ran by a different Loremaster (what his group called the Referee). He'd go on to write a book about his character's adventures, and even ran a campaign of his own centered around a piece of random magical loot his character had acquired, in the process making his friend's unnamed campaign setting a part of his own setting, Middle-Earth, much as Gygax would later incorporate Arneson's Blackmoor into the map of the Great Kingdom, along with the Necromancer (whom he renamed Sauron), who had been part of a solo adventure ran for Gandalf's player whose schedule rarely matched up with the rest of the group.

#dnd #tolkien #middle-earth #dungeons & dragons #true story #lord of the rings #the hobbit

[fangirl-erdariel]

It sort of just occurred to me, that in Lord of the Rings (the book, probably not the movie but on the other hand I don't remember the movies very well), there are a few references to "lesser" magical rings made by the elven smiths of Eregion as some kind of practice work (not exact quote, because I only have a translation of LOTR at hand right now and can't be assed to try and find the relevant parts of the English text. But it's somewhere in Gandalf's dialogue in the shadow of the past chapter in fellowship of the ring), before they were able to make the actual Rings of Power, the seven and the nine and the three. And in that same passage Gandalf mentions that the smiths did not regard those lesser rings as particularly valuable, but that Gandalf thinks they are nonetheless powerful enough to be dangerous to mortals

And just. What happened to those lesser rings? where are they, at the time of LOTR, are any of them still in the possession of some living person, or have all been lost or destroyed or buried in long-forgotten tombs and graves? And what were the lesser rings anyway, what could do with them? Clearly they had some power to do something, enough to be potentially dangerous in the wrong hands, or even in the hands of someone who had no clue what they really had, considering Gandalf's words. But like, what were they? How many were there? What happened to them?

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot given in the finished LOTR, and tbh I wouldn't be surprised if they never were meant to be anything more than a random name, a term thrown around a bit to make the world sound deeper and add in some more things just beyond the edge of what the reader can properly see. I don't know if it's anything I was ever really meant to think about. But even so, I can't help but wonder

Does anyone else have any theories? Whether founded firmly on canon or personal headcanons made for fun, I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has ever thought or wondered about the lesser rings at all

#erdariel rambles #lotr #lord of the rings #the lord of the rings #rings of power #middle-earth #lotr meta

[pod-together]

Pod-Together Day 4 Reveals 2023

something like a prayer [text, audio] (The Magnus Archives (Podcast)) written by Lua, performed by semperfiona Summary: It’s a never-ending prayer: his heart belongs to her. . . . It’s a never-ending prayer: his heart belongs to him.

A Lesson in Binary (Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types) written by cac0daemonia, performed by Flowerparrish

Angelic Rage Generates Humdingers (ARGH) (Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV)) written by Sodium_Azide, performed by Djapchan and Sodium_Azide Summary: Their bosses have less than no idea about the best way to actually get things done, so this cooperation with The Enemy is important in a couple of ways. Face-to-face conversations are easy, but few and far between. The humans have invented plenty of ways to communicate long distance-it will probably be fine. In which Crowley's handwriting is the true enemy, and Aziraphale somehow invents the Twitter thread via actual birds.

These Are the Words You’re Looking For [text, audio] (The Mandalorian (TV)) written by bluegeekEM, performed by blackglass Summary: The droidsmiths were onto something when they created the IG-11 mecha, so Din turns to them and Greef for help once again. (And again. And again...)

A Nightmare within a Dream (Hannibal (TV)) written by poppetawoppet, performed by NotBatman52 Summary: A Princess Bride fusion, as every fandom deserves at least one.

Illness of the Heart (The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien) created by Sivan325, PolynomialPandemic, and Juulna Summary: Gandalf could hear a very distinct coughing sound and when he stepped inside the room, there were green leaves everywhere. He stepped closer to examine the prince, and it was then that he noticed a symbol, inked over the prince's heart; a sword, a bow, and an axe. The elf prince looked paler than Gandalf had ever seen him.

The Great Globe Itself Job (Leverage) written by shadowsong26, performed by Shakespeare_stole_my_url and Wereflamingo Summary: So this is the Leverage team, going about their business--in the style of William Shakespeare.

The Art of Not Letting Go (Ted Lasso (TV)) written by rockinhamburger, performed by klb Summary:Beard takes a deep breath and gives in to the impulse he’s been restraining for weeks: “But with your permission, I'd love to run off this plane and into her arms.”

Ted’s eyes widen now, and Beard watches anxiously for hints of how he’s taking this. Ted leans back in his seat and closes his eyes for a few moments, like he’s doing some internal reflection. Then he opens his eyes again, looks at Beard, and says, soft and quiet, “No.”

No. The no hangs in suspension as Beard struggles to make sense of it, that’s how sure he was Ted would say yes. He’s too surprised to speak. He must be taking too long because Ted shifts forward, expression conflicted. “Now, obviously you got free will, Beard. I’m not about to tell you what to do. You’re free to make whatever choice you want, so if you wanna stay here… stay with her? I trust you to make good choices, and I’ll support whatever you choose.” Ted lets out a slow, emotional breath. “But if you’re asking for my permission, I--” He visibly swallows, “I’m not giving it.”

The Ones Who Need Us (The Ones We Need) [text, audio] (Good Omens (TV)) written by estelraca, performed by justaphage Summary: Aziraphale and Crowley haven't just had each other through the years. The problem is that pets (and people) just never last long enough.

Once a great love (Original Work) created by Colourofsaying, Flowerparrish, Hagar, jennisaisquoi, kittona, MsTiggy, Rambling_Company, sapphoenyx, stargateinmybasement, and bluedreaming Summary:“Once a great love cut my life in two. The first part goes on twisting at some other place like a snake cut in two.” -Yehuda Amichai Far out in the Asian Badlands, Colonel Dr. Baek needs to keep alive a psychic who just lost her supporting partner, and solve a seemingly-unrelated medical mystery.

I Am Not There (I Did Not Die) (The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir) written by zombified_queer, performed by CrimsonMoonn Summary: After everything that's happened, John Gaius, the Emperor Undying, takes a moment to read the letters his Saints have sent and kept secret behind his back.

#podfic #fanfic #the magnus archives #star wars the clone wars #good omens #the mandalorian #hannibal #lord of the rings #leverage #ted lasso #original fiction #the locked tomb

[hopeless-eccentric]

ok so now i actually have the energy to address this! let’s talk about boromir

i think my biggest issue with the way boromir gets characterized is that you see a lot of 1) prideful, near-spoiled cautionary tale characterization or 2) least “moral” member of the fellowship characterization, and i really just dont see either of them. if anything, i find him to be a very moving character with complex motivations that unfortunately get missed a lot because theyre not incredibly blatant and a bit hidden in the appendices

so boromir was raised to be an heir of what we know denethor sees as their kingdom, and faramir even mentions a young boromir asking why the stewards weren’t just considered kings after 1000ish years. a lot of what comes off as “pride” isnt just this guy being a dick, it’s directly what he’s been raised to think. he’s spent years learning how to be a good leader of a country he sees no reason not to lead. i wont deny he’s a proud character, but his reaction makes sense from someone raised to see this country as his responsibility. he’s not just gonna leave it the hands of some guy

to dig into that more, we know from the appendices that as a kid, boromir was his brother’s “protector” (the placement of this passage suggests that this may have been from their father, though it’s possible that faramir was just an incredibly bullyable child), but assuming either, he’s spent most of his life singlehandedly keeping what he loves safe. for faramir, he wouldve been his only supportive family after the death of his mother, and with the whole “best man in gondor” title going on, it doesnt seem like he’s in a place to get a whole lot of support or help when he needs it. im not saying boromir’s got older sister syndrome, but--

another thing along that line that pisses me off. especially when two children are close, favoritism towards one kid and maltreatment of another is going to fuck BOTH of them up. for one thing, if one child is constantly praised for successes and the other is constantly berated for failures, how supported or able to ask for help do you think kid A is gonna be? that is not a way to raise a kid if you want them to be able to handle pressure or failure normally 

as for the ring, this is a guy who’s got the weight of a nation on his shoulders. if this is the weapon that could singlehandedly save his home and his people and he just passes up on it? if the world ends and he couldve stopped it? that’s horrifying, on top of the fact that boromir’s probably got some nasty ingrained issues with failure from his childhood

and what REALLY gets me is the attitude that boromir was somehow “more evil” than the other party members for being taken over by the ring. resisting the ring is treated as one of the best markers of heroism throughout the text (galadriel, gandalf, faramir, etc), and boromir cant pull it off immediately, but he DOES IT. even in his last words, he tells aragorn he failed, but aragorn replies “no, you have conquered.” he’s talking about the ring man! boromir’s not necessarily naturally the most susceptible to the ring, he’s just more psychologically worn down than the other party members and the least supported. but he MAKES IT. he doesnt get gollumed, he doesnt waste away, he doesnt lose himself. he dies as boromir, as he was in life, protecting the people he cares about

and what really breaks my heart is that in the silmarillion, there’s an insinuation that because humans fear the Valar but love the ocean, most “miracles” are done through water. when faramir talks about finding boromir’s body, frodo points out that it wouldve taken a miracle to get him over the waterfalls safely, but faramir says it couldnt have been a dream because it left his shoes wet. so putting two and two together, the Valar step in to perform a rare miracle to bring boromir home

so at the end of the day, boromir was a man, and he was so much more than proud, and so often, his “proudest” decisions are motivated by fear. he wasnt the least good of the Fellowship, just the most troubled and the least supported. he was a protector, a man of his people, and a hero

anyway next time someone reduces him to just the “least moral member of the Fellowship” im gonna blow a gasket

#gandalf literally told pippin (A MINOR?) to go kill himself #for legal reasons that last tag was a joke #boromir #lotr #lotr meta #gondor #faramir

[unnamedelement]

Rings of Power ‘Review,’ featuring wood-elves and gender

I’m writing this for two reasons. Firstly, processing things in writing sometimes lets me stop obsessively thinking about them and actually get on with my life, which has been a major issue for me this past week. Second, people keep asking me what I think of the show and who I think The Stranger is (which I won’t actually be talking about here, but short answer is one of the Istari, probably Gandalf, which doesn’t make canonical/historical sense but does make narrative sense, though the Blue Wizards make historical/timeline sense, based on drafts/notes – phew!). Anyway, it is exhausting and anxiety-provoking to give the same thoughts to people across different parts of my life repeatedly, so I am putting it all in one place, though I would not count on this every week. So. Transitioning to the essay, which will be heavily footnoted, just like the Professor himself. I am not sorry. 

Thoughts on Rings of Power: Episodes 1 and 2

Rings of Power (RoP) has proved to be a different story than most of us could have guessed, given the scant scaffolding provided on the First and Second Ages in the The Hobbit (TH), The Lord of the Rings (LotR), and the LotR Appendices, those sources show-creators actually have access to directly use. (Admittedly, info on the Second Age anywhere is sparse, per not only Tolkien’s own admission in Letters but fans’ own scouring of the texts and drafts for scraps of lore.) In this post, I want to talk about some of the things I loved and did not love about the first two episodes of this particular adaptation. I will try not to get super into the weeds with lore here, because most people who follow me in these spaces already understand how this adaptation changed major plot, character history, and historical points. Instead, I want to talk about (a) my personal experiences with RoP, including (i) pre-watching anxieties and beliefs and (ii) watching- and fandom-related joys; and (b) my ongoing and developing thoughts about (i) Silvan and Nandorin representation in the context of intra-elven relations in the larger legendarium and (ii) concepts of gender reflected in RoP design choices.

Personal Experience

First, I want to talk about how I prepared for this adaptation, which is that I acknowledged it, ignored it, and then went feral with excitement (and debilitating anxiety) about it, all within the course of a one-year period. Anyone who knows me in fandom probably knows that–when I have enough energy to consistently engage–I try very hard to make the Tolkien world a welcoming place for people. As someone who was a child/teen in online Tolkien fandom as Peter Jackson’s adaptations were coming out (yes, I discovered fanfiction perhaps way too early), I was quite traumatized by some older, lore-heavy fans who vehemently corrected–and sometimes even subtly mocked–me as I was working my way through the appendices, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales. I am therefore very passionate about civility (within reason–I draw the line at supremacist nonsense) in fandom spaces. Ultimately, I never want rejection or belittling–subtle or outright–to be how people experience Tolkien fandom, or even scholarship: gatekeeping helps no one. (Insert boost for the new blog @tolkienfandomagainstgatekeeping!).

Still, while I did preach kindness and encouraged welcoming behavior in the year preceding the release, I nevertheless experienced a lot of change-related anxiety as a neurodivergent person preparing for the potential fandom-related change bound to happen in online Tolkien communities as we processed the new show; dealt with some people’s real (and, admittedly, sometimes scary) rage regarding–and therefore their disingenuous attempts to derail the success of the show due to–race and white supremacy; and, finally, prepared for the influx of fans to the open system of online fandom. I had to take a break from actively engaging with fandom because I could not handle the constant RoP-related emotional stimulus from all sides. However, when I saw the final RoP trailer, their sweeping vision of Middle-earth blew me away–my anxiety morphed into excitement by the end of those three minutes. I did not sleep the night before it came out, and I had to take off work the days after to emotionally recover from it.[1] (I unfortunately do not make the rules for how, when, and why my brain is overstimulated.)

Appreciated Moments

At this point, I will transition to a few things that I absolutely loved. This section is less critical and lore-heavy than the following ones, but we will start with a pseudo-lore moment I loved: the symbolism of the opening scene with Galadriel and the other children. While the show cannot talk about the Kinslayings–which is hugely problematic to me from an elven relations and politics perspective (more on that later)–this scene is very clearly an allusion to the Kinslaying at Alqualondë and the burning of the Telerin swan boats.[2] Whether these children who are harassing Galadriel are actually her Feanorian cousins or not, we cannot guess for certain, as we don’t have a clear birthdate for most of the younger Finweans.[3] (Further, if we think about it too hard, things get complicated and confusing very quickly.)[4] Still, it was a nice little homage to the parts of history the show is not allowed to talk about–I teared up due to the beauty of the setting combined with the lore it evoked, which is a very near and dear part of the legendarium to me. That being said, I think that opening scene made some of the lore choices that followed hurt all the more for those of us who did immediately understand the reference, as it alluded to an imminent complexity and nuance that, for me, the show ultimately did not–and, frankly, cannot–deliver. Still, I liked it. Mostly.

Next, I appreciated moments of the dwarven representation, and every single moment of the dwarven design. Having been introduced to LotR prior to Peter Jackson’s (PJ’s) adaptation, I latched onto a few characters at a young age and, for me–for some reason–that was Legolas and Gimli. Gimli in the books is rational yet passionate but, more than anything, he is silvertongued and poetic. As much as I love John Rhys-Davies’ performance in the PJ films, the writers made some mistakes in their choices regarding his role as, almost entirely, comic relief. The representation in the dwarves of Khazad-dum/Moria in this adaptation goes some way in repairing the lasting image of dwarves that took hold in fan communities following the PJ films. I found the opening scene–in which the dwarves challenged Elrond to a…show of strength?–a little hard to follow and a bit strange and othering given the show is told almost entirely from an elven point of view thus far, but I was overall pleased. I found Durin III and Disa likable, and the scene at the kitchen table went a long way to endearing Elrond’s character in this adaptation to me, while cementing Disa as an excellent original character in her own right. Overall, the design team blew me away with their conception of Khazad-dum. The ferns hanging off the side of the cliff inside the entrance illogically moved me to tears, and the dwarven ingenuity represented by the pulley-based elevator system felt very true to how I have always imagined dwarves. My only hope is that Celebrimbor and Narvi have some screentime. Elrond can't have everything.

Finally, like almost everyone, I enjoyed the Harfoots. [5] While I have heard a lot of commentary about how “hobbits weren’t supposed to be involved in the major events of the Second Age!!”, I also think it’s worth reminding the world that (a) hobbit-like folk were living in the Vales of Anduin by the Third Age, and it would be absolutely bonkers to think they never interacted with or minorly influenced characters who do have a “documented” role if they had been out and about earlier; (b) almost everything Tolkien wrote about history is written “within” his Secondary World, i.e., by one of the characters he imagined kept historical records and, thus, there is likely inherent narrative bias to what we do “know” about the Second Age; and (c) wood-elves were mostly only mentioned in the context of the Second Age in relation to Sindarin and Noldorin migration and expansion, but no one is complaining about Arondir. (Okay, they are, but they’re complaining about him for racist reasons, not simply because wood-elves exist in this telling.)

Oh, and the music! I am not the right person to talk about the music, but that–combined with the gorgeous design and setting–will keep me coming back for the rest of the season, regardless of what happens.

Nandorin-Silvan Elves, Intra-elven Relations, and the Related Significance of Omitted Elven History

Now, on to the critique. Let me start by saying: this section is heavily influenced by the utter bewilderment I have felt over the past year trying to understand how a show can be set in the Second Age without rights to most of the material of the First. What is the point in making a show when you cannot actually adapt the material realistically? While that is not the point of this section, it is hard for me to disentangle, so it feels only right to mention it.

Since I started writing this review, I came across @itariilles own excellent review on elves in the first two episodes of RoP. I recommend reading her piece as I will not be rehashing the points she made here regarding Galadriel’s character and motivation(s) or the complexity of casting an actor of color as a Silvan elf, with particular attention to her sections “Galadriel’s Motivations” and “Fantasy Racism Against Elves.” To understand more where some of the frustrations expressed by Itariiles, myself, and many other fans come from, I would further, and selfishly perhaps, recommend reading the section Consequences of Resettlement: The “Sindarizing” of the “Wild,” “Lesser” Elves by the Sindarin Princes and Noldorin Exiles of Beleriand in my linked paper here. Because I cannot write this section without at least mentioning elven ethnicity and lore, I do suggest refreshing your brain if you are not familiar with elven cultural groups across the Ages; and then proceed while keeping in mind the following: “Within Tolkien’s elven worlds, these [elven] hierarchies are governed by (a) proximity to Aman and the Valar and, within Middle-earth, (b) proximity to the Noldor, with the Nandor and then the Avari being most distant. Characteristic phrases used to describe the Silvan and Avari are ‘lesser Elves,’ ‘lesser Silvan race,’ ‘wild,’ ‘savage,’ ‘rude and rustic,’ and ‘more dangerous, less wise’” (...me, 2021). [6]

Itariiiles’ does an excellent job outlining why it is odd Silvan elves would be reporting to the High King Gil-galad at this point in Second Age history. She additionally reviews the complexity of the showrunners placing the Tirharad (the human people we see in the Southlands parts of the episode) under Elven dominion. She notes, “A line said by a Silvan soldier reasoning their station over the men of Tirharad as ‘descendants of those who served Morgoth' is uncomfortable as it plays into the established trope of South/Eastern men being inherently evil which links into Orientalist ideas of the East being perceived as fundamentally Other.” This is something I want to take a step further. In this adapted world in which, presumably, Silvan elves answer to the “higher” Noldor, what does it mean that the Silvan folk are being used to carry out what essentially amounts to Noldorin occupation of Mannish lands?

I have a few issues with this, and it has taken me a while to really pinpoint why, and I’m still not quite there on expressing it and do not expect to be until I have more data from the show.  Still, the first thing that bothers me about this setup is that–in this adapted universe–the Silvans reporting to the High Noldor creates unique issues across multiple contexts:

If we are fans of the traditional legendarium, this choice in the adaptation puts the Silvan in an even more more subservient context that Tolkien’s explicit and implicit language originally placed them (which is highly impressive); and

It tells us that within the adapted universe, the Noldor use another ethnic group–one traditionally ranked less highly–to carry out suppression and oversight of a third ethnic group.

This approach has not been uncommon in colonial and neocolonial history and, certainly, utilizing another group of people to establish and maintain strategic governmental and military control is part and parcel of imperialism. While all elves–in the ethnic hierarchy of Middle-earth–may be ranked higher than Men (due to being valued as firstborn by Illuvatar) and, thus, this oppression is not exactly lateral, it is still using one group of people to manage another, while the person in charge essentially handles war, decisions, and paperwork elsewhere.

Of course, all of this whining and speculating could be blown out of the water by something I could never have expected in this RoP universe as the episodes progress–in that they go “on record” changing the history of these ethnic and racial groups, or they reveal that the Noldor are already integrated with the Silvan at this point–but my hopes are not high. Itariiiles’ point–one also made by a speaker on the RoP reaction panel at Oxonmoot, as well (@fernstrike​)–still is not insignificant: What does it mean that the only actor of color cast as an elf thus far is a Silvan reporting to the Noldor, while all the Noldor we have seen–in the first two episodes, at least–are white? We cannot escape the potential impact, as choices in the Secondary World/in-universe are inherently consumed by those of us in this Primary World we share.

My next issue with the flattening of elven history and culture centers on the Sindar, part of the Teleri group to which the Silvan also belong. As @skyeventide asked in her reaction thread (featuring my highly articulate response):

So then: where are the Sindar at this time? And the “Sindarin Princes of the Silvan Elves”? Given the fact that Durin III is alive and Eregion and Celebrimbor aren’t wasted or strung up, respectively, we can guess a timeframe of a few hundred years for the show, during which the Sindar are certainly out and about, depending on the draft/source (Celeborn in Lindon, Oropher & co. already settling with the Silvan across the mountains). And it is not as if the Sindar are forbidden by copyright to be discussed: Though Doriath is destroyed by the Second Age, it and Thingol are still discussed in the LotR appendices; there is a paragraph exclusively dedicated to how the Sindar migrated and integrated with Silvans in the woods during the time Gil-galad is High King [7]; and Nimrodel’s story and associated Sindarin and Noldorin woes are mentioned in LotR. Certainly it is not unreasonable that this is a storyline that will emerge throughout the season (or the next four, which could ostensibly cover thousands of years), but considering the placement of Silvans beneath Gil-galad at this time, I am wary. Should Thranduil emerge (as Oropher is not mentioned in LotR or the Appendices)–or Amroth or Celeborn (who all also have messy histories across various versions and drafts)–what shall happen? Will the Sindar be placed under the High King’s jurisdiction? Will the Silvans who are not already, apparently, ruled by Gil-galad be lumped in with them, under the High elves, as well?[8]

I can only hope there will be some thoughtful delineation of groups and meaningful and realistic group dynamics based on Elven history and–gasp–even informed by modern political science, social psychology, sociology, or migration studies. Even if the “why” is not immediately apparent in the show, interested viewers can easily look up the backstory and, thus, the show avoids unintentionally rewriting cultural histories (which, real history or not, is tiresome), a constant risk in stories with colonial and neocolonial settings/actors. Ultimately, my biggest concern as a person who thinks way too much about Elven ethnic hierarchy and social stratification is that instead of using the actual history of elven migration, conflict, and the long-lasting effects of the Kinslayings to explain the creation of differing elven realms, the very same effect will be attempted in another manner, i.e., by pinning a split from the Noldor as a personal flaw or choice of some yet unknown Telerin leader, or by having Silvans rebel against Gil-galad’s leadership and thereafter align themselves with certain Noldorin-type leaders (e.g., Galadriel and Celeborn) or Sindarin leaders with skeptical attitudes toward all things High Elven (e.g., Oropher Thranduil).[9] I can see these approaches making narrative sense based on some things that have already been set up in the first two episodes. However, I am still giving myself permission to be skeptical about it and to also just… not particularly like it.

Now, of course, all of this relates to that omitted Elven history, one genre of omission more glaring than all the rest: the flight of the Noldor, the Oath of Fëanor, and the three Kinslayings that followed. The inability of showrunners to incorporate, or even really reference, these events surrounding the Silmarils is disappointing. War is complicated and, to most sides, generally unjust for one reason or another, which is certainly something viewers can relate to. Furthermore, flawed characters are interesting, even if they are flawed because they participated in or failed to actively oppose actions most would now consider unthinkable. Still, the political intrigue and narrative arcs that facilitate this kind of in-universe justification of atrocity in fictional worlds has long been a compelling storyline in myth, religion, and fiction alike. Even Galadriel’s character could be complicated by acknowledging this complex history, or–given copyright limitations–at least creating some alternative scenario that evokes the same historical complexity that the entirety of the First Age embodies, pitting elf against elf against man against elf, all of which barely pales in comparison to The War of Wrath. Galadriel’s behavior in “The Noldor in Beleriand” chapter of the Silmarillion during her conversation with Melian of Doriath (about why the Noldor returned from Aman) lays the groundwork for the type of high political drama this show could evoke, regardless of copyright.[10]

Ultimately, while Tolkien is well-loved by many due to his skill–intentional or not–in creating morally ambiguous characters, perhaps the showrunners are not prepared to address such complexity on screen. As those of us in the Silmarillion fandom know, discussing the human–elf?–rights violations at Alqualondë, Doriath, and Sirion can be tetchy [11], and inviting such tension to a show in the midst of the political uproar surrounding its very existence may have been too much to expect. However, because so much of elven history and hierarchy is situated within splits and migrations directly associated with the story of the Silmarils, it does feel that we are being cheated–especially fans of the Telerin Sindar and Silvan–of the complex story the elves deserve.

This Section Was Supposed to Be: Gender in the Primary and Secondary Worlds of the Original Legendarium and the RoP Adaptation

In this section, I meant to define Primary and Secondary Worlds according to Tolkien’s definitions in “On Fairy Stories,” weave a pretty little tale, and then right-left-punch you with the historical, modern, and in-universe implications of the weird decisions the show made about women.[12] While there is a lot to be said about the racial and ethnic implications of costuming decisions, this post was going to specifically focus on gender, clothing, and gender-related roles in those first two episodes.[13] I was also going to discuss gender-related costuming and cultural-cult-religious implications in some of the other imagery here. (Rest assured, I am certain I am not the first person who did a double-take at that boat scene.) However….  I am tired, I have a project for my research supervisor due tomorrow, and I am not going to let something I love (Tolkien) give me a mental breakdown once again, so I am abandoning that original plan. Instead of a well-crafted section, allow me to ramble at you about gender and, canonically, why I think the elven women in Lindon are ridiculously designed.

Now.

Tolkien and his legendarium were never the height of gender equality and progressivism, but they were also not exactly the worst, if we ignore the fact that he didn’t particularly care for short-haired women wearing pants (Letters) and also that he thought–at least at one point–that elven woman would be pregnant (and thus secluded from larger society??) for 100 years (Nature of Middle-earth, 2021). (Yeah, that’s absolutely bonkers, I know.) However, the text most fans have relied on for years–and which is not directly contradicted in NoME–is “Laws and Customs of the Eldar,” or LaCE in fan parlance.[14] LaCE fairly explicitly describes the similarities and differences between elven men (neri in Quenya) and women (nissi in Quenya), as reported by an unknown Mannish loremaster. Tolkien (said loremaster) writes:

In all such things, not concerned with the bringing forth of children, the neri and nissi (that is, the men and women) of the Eldar are equal - unless it be in this (as they themselves say) that for the nissi the making of things new is for the most part shown in the forming of their children, so that invention and change is otherwise mostly brought about by the neri. There are, however, no matters which among the Eldar only a ner can think or do, or others with which only a nis is concerned. There are indeed some differences between the natural inclinations of neri and nissi, and other differences that have been established by custom (varying in place and in time, and in the several races of the Eldar). For instance, the arts of healing, and all that touches on the care of the body, are among all the Eldar most practised by the nissi; whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at need. And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing, and that the virtue of the nissi in this matter was due rather to their abstaining from hunting or war than to any special power that went with their womanhood. Indeed in dire straits or desperate defence, the nissi fought valiantly, and there was less difference in strength and speed between elven-men and elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among mortals. On the other hand many elven-men were great healers and skilled in the lore of living bodies, though such men abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need.

As for other matters, we may speak of the customs of the Noldor (of whom most is known in Middle-earth). Among the Noldor it may be seen that the making of bread is done mostly by women; and the making of the lembas is by ancient law reserved to them. Yet the cooking and preparing of other food is generally a task and pleasure of men. The nissi are more often skilled in the tending of fields and gardens, in playing upon instruments of music, and in the spinning, weaving, fashioning, and adornment of all threads and cloths; and in matters of lore they love most the histories of the Eldar and of the houses of the Noldor; and all matters of kinship and descent are held by them in memory. But the neri are more skilled as smiths and wrights, as carvers of wood and stone, and as jewellers. It is they for the most part who compose musics and make the instruments, or devise new ones; they are the chief poets and students of languages and inventors of words. Many of them delight in forestry and in the lore of the wild, seeking the friendship of all things that grow or live there in freedom. But all these things, and other matters of labour and play, or of deeper knowledge concerning being and the life of the World, may at different times be pursued by any among the Noldor, be they neri or nissi.

(Morgoth’s Ring, HoME 10).

So then, why does elven gender in RoP weird me out a little bit, Galadriel–and her complicated characterization–notwithstanding? (And, yes, it was necessary to include the full quote to only point out how much more ridiculous what follows is.)

This:

Why are all the attendants female? And why are they all dressed like this in the background? Where are the rest of the women? Are they locked away, pregnant? Did we take NoME that seriously?

Bizarre.

Conclusion

In the big scheme of things, I suppose I was mostly pleasantly surprised. It was entertaining to watch for the scenery, settings, and music; and I was moved to tears by some of the beautiful cinematography–I’ll continue to be giddy about the scenery and design whether I want to be or not. I also think it is very important that BIPOC were included in casting. However, I am not going to hold out on feeling the story of the Second Age was done justice. I will–forever and always–always be hung up on Silvan representation.[15] But, unless something truly egregious happens, for now I am okay with a mediocre and mildly frustrating storyline.

FOOTNOTES

I have still not recovered, so this will be a long 1.5 months.

Not to mention the boats she will one day have in her own realm, in Lothlorien.

As Sky Eventide notes in her reaction thread on Twitter, the scene even includes one red-headed child, which may be harkening to Maedhros, though Amrod or Amras might be more realistic given I would expect Maedhros to be the ringleader of the band, were the red-headed child meant to be him.

See Itariilles’ piece and my own linked paper for more on this. It is confusing to think about in the show context because while Galadriel thinks the kinslaying are unfortunate and does not take an oath like Feanor and colleagues, she doesn’t think her Feanorian cousins are crazy for wanting to return to Middle-earth, though her motivations to return are different (yay colonialism). Again, see links.

Though an Irish Times article provides an interesting critique that, as an American many generations removed from Ireland, I would never have noticed. As someone who often complains about fandom’s jokes about wood-elf and Silvan culture/language as a stand-in for less cultured “hick” accents and cultures, the linked article really moved me and put these European-based English choices into perspective for me. And it also spoke to the odd feeling I got as I noticed that while watching, once again, an adaptation used different accents that are cultural- and class-marked in the ‘real world’ to sort of delineate place in Middle-earth.

And yes, some of this quoted language comes from material the show has explicit access to.

Keep in mind, this is only ONE version of Sindarin migration. Tolkien wrote more on this across his lifetime that is not reflected in the Appendices as published. See my linked paper for more on this.

 Dare I even ask if the show plans to somehow reference a group of elves like the Avari, given the showrunners’ interest in the Southlands thus far? I don’t know if my poor heart could handle the stress…

 Which conveniently echoes Oropher’s choice during part of the Last Alliance that left his people wildly diminished…

A political intrigue which we have seen snippets of, perhaps, with Elrond’s character–it’s just not a tension and positioning I can, yet, easily follow. I don’t ‘get’ this world well enough yet to do so.

I, too, have been guilty of this, as someone who spends way too much time thinking about the Sindar. While I am still very much opposed to atrocity crimes in our real world–obviously, it’s literally my job–I have come to see the issues of the Silmarils as more complex than I once did, taking into account cultural and political motivations for character behavior. (Though that has not stopped me from writing Sindarin accounts of the Kinslaying at Sirion to balance things out, “victors write history” and all that.) I have some patient acquaintances to thank for helping me develop a more complex view on Feanorian behavior in the First Age.

Do not judge me. I know nothing about boxing terms and I made that up.

Again, please read Itariiles’ piece (specifically the section “Neoclassical Aesthetic Given to the Noldor and its Unfortunate Implications”).

And, if you want to get really particular, one of the two drafts of LaCE is titled: “OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS AMONG THE ELDAR PERTAINING TO MARRIAGE AND OTHER MATTERS RELATED THERETO: TOGETHER WITH THE STATUTE OF FINWE AND MIRIEL AND THE DEBATE OF THE VALAR AT ITS MAKING”...

And yes. I have lived through PJ’s TH. I will survive it again.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to my acquaintances from the Silmarillion Writers’ Guild/Dreamwidth for encouraging me to finish writing this after I became discouraged. And thanks to my new acquaintances at Alliance of Arda for being interested in what I have to say. I would have just stewed in my anxiety without outside prompting to write this silly little thing that I actually really wanted to write.

#rings of power #long post #tolkien #lord of the rings #silmarillion #commentary and analysis

[wrath-ruin-reddawn]

OH GUYS I JUST MADE A HUGE REALIZATION

So, the thing about Sauron is that he's a masterful liar in that he very rarely actually lies. He merely implies by stating half-truths, and allowing others to come to the wrong conclusions on their own. In light of this, I've been marinating over a few of his lines that felt the most "off" to me, the closest to being uncharacteristically outright falsehoods. And I think I've hit on something.

Come down the rabbit hole with me!

Alright, so the first thing I clocked upon rewatch was the odd specificity during Sauron and Galadriel's chat in the prison. He warns her that “the heir to this mark is heir to more than just nobility, for it was his ancestor who swore a blood oath to Morgoth." Not just an oath, but a blood oath. This calls back to the conversation between Arondir and his captain, where Revion mentions that "the blood of those who stood with Morgoth still darkens [the Southlanders'] veins." It's also notable that the key-hilt relies on blood to form the blade of its sword.

During this same conversation, Sauron also says that "it was [his] family who lost the war." Again, another odd turn of phrase. It's hard to imagine that Sauron is speaking as himself here, given that while he may have loved Morgoth I doubt he saw him as family. But, it also doesn't track well from the Southlander perspective-- they weren't particularly influential in determining the outcome of the war, one way or another. (Or at least, I assume that they weren't, because the Southlanders aren't mentioned in any of the canon texts the way that other humans who sided with Morgoth and fought in important battles were.)

Next is the argument that he and Galadriel have in the forge. I find it very interesting that he leads by saying something objectively true-- that Galadriel doesn't know "what [he] did before [he] ended up on that raft," alluding to his time serving Morgoth. But, curiously, he follows that up by saying that she doesn't "know how he survived," and he seems to believe that it's a sin egregious enough to contribute to them "cast[ing] [him] out" as much as being allied with their enemy-- and not just Galadriel, but the Numenorians and presumably the Southlanders.

And then it hit me. Who is Sauron, besides the Lord of the Rings? Sauron the Deceiver, yes, but Sauron the Wizard, Sauron the NECROMANCER. Sauron, who will go on to start up the cult of Morgoth and perform human sacrifices! He didn't just take the heirloom from the dead heir of the Southlands-- he straight up TOOK THE HEIR OF THE SOUTHLANDS.

Think about it-- Sauron clearly hates being seen as lowly or less than. Why, then, would he choose the form of a "low" man? Unless... he had no other choice. Because his previous form was so badly damaged by Adar's attack that his spirit had to latch onto that of another to survive, a body whose blood was already sworn to Morgoth because of an ancient pact. Halbrand's family really did lose the war, because Sauron is still alive because of them. The war isn't truly over because of them.

Look at this carving from Ostirith! That is human sacrifice right there.

Halbrand isn't just a mask that Sauron created, he was a real person at one point in time. And that is what guarantees that, even if he could be forgiven for his past transgressions, Sauron would never be accepted. If Halbrand is dead, then every word from Sauron's lips has been him puppeting the corpse of a man he murdered, and if some part of Halbrand is alive in there... well, it doesn't bear thinking about. It does make this line much more ominous though:

"Halbrand, I thought you had died."

YEAH I BET SAURON YOU SICK FUCK

God, I haven't even touched on the Mystics yet.

They also lend credence to this theory, because although they misidentified The Stranger (aka Gandalf, he's probably Gandalf), they did seem to have some knowledge of both his and Sauron's re-emergence. Perhaps they're operating under the information in a prophecy about the comet-- it would track with Sadoc's comment that the star fall does "not bode well." However, I do find it interesting that they weren't surprised to find "Lord Sauron" confused, and indeed expected him to potentially resist their help... say, like someone who had come back from the dead and was in a different, unfamiliar body?

And lastly, there’s the music. Oh boy, let’s talk about the music!

The original soundtrack for Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore is famous for its use of leitmotifs, pieces of music used to represent a character, place, or idea. Bear McCreary, the composer for TROP, is following in his footsteps. I’m biased, but personally I love leitmotifs— giving a character a signature piece of music or musical cue makes moments so much punchier. If you’re wondering why the track that plays when the Numenorian fleet departs for Middle Earth, titled “Sailing into the Dawn”, makes you feel like you’ve had jet fuel injected straight into your veins, it’s because in addition to just plain slapping, it’s emotionally satisfying! It’s the grand unification of multiple leitmotifs in a beautiful triumphant tapestry: there’s the Southlands theme, the Numenorian theme, Elendil and Isildur’s theme, AND Galadriel’s theme.

But, that’s the kicker: because leitmotifs carry so much narrative and emotional weight, it’s a huge no-no to use them carelessly. If Theme A has been associated with Character A, you really shouldn’t use it for Character B unless there’s a clear reason for it, like if Character A is taking up Character B's mantle or is being influenced by them. Think of how upset an audience is by cheap twists in writing: it works the same way with music.

This is actually a HUGE portion of why I spent so much time going back and forth on whether I thought Halbrand was Sauron or not-- because Halbrand's theme IS the Southlands theme. "Surely," I thought, "they would have composed an entirely different piece of music for Halbrand if he was Sauron." Because Halbrand is tied so strongly to the Southlands theme, the Sauron reveal would basically tarnish its emotional weight moving forwards, which is a very bold move to make.

And then, again, realization hit me. All of the leaders in TROP share the same leitmotif as the nation they rule. So, Tar-Miriel's theme is the Numenor theme, and Durin III's theme is the Khazad-Dum theme, while their subjects have themes of their own: Elendil and Isildur have the track called "Father and Son" and Durin IV has a track that's named after him. Bronwyn and Arondir also have their own leitmotif separate from the main Southlands theme.

In this way, Halbrand IS the Southlands. And what happens to the Southlands? It's taken over and twisted by the enemy into something unrecognizable... which is the same thing that happened to the real Halbrand. They share the same fate, and so the musical connection is entirely appropriate.

I'm not saying that I'm 100% convinced that this theory is true, but the textual evidence is there. And man, what a great plot beat it would be! To reveal that, the entire time that Sauron has been talking about redemption and recompense, he's been using someone else's skin to do it, callously exploiting the hopes of an entire nation of downtrodden people for his own personal benefit... it would really cement him as a villain in a deeply personal way to the Southlanders, to Galadriel, and to the audience. What a twist of the knife to learn that the bright future and hope that Halbrand represented to his people, the friendship and camaraderie that he forged with Galadriel, were possibilities that had been denied to them because of Sauron and his selfishness.

#the rings of power #trop #trop meta #trop spoilers #i am in my feelings about the southlands #does this make things better or worse? #because on the one hand it would give us the possibility of getting to see Halbrand as just Halbrand in flashbacks #but on the other it's very depressing