#meanwhile aranor is still difficult in the way that canon aragorn is difficult but also greying hardcore warrior lady aragorn? hella.

[anghraine]

My f!Aragorn/f!Faramir AU is fun (for me) because it's actually an "every Númenórean throwback in LOTR, determined according to me, is genderbent."

So there's f!Aragorn, Aranor, whose existence breaks the father-to-son chain of heirs of Isildur carried on for thousands of years, but who manages to hang onto the heirship by fiat of Elrond and her own resolute will and immense abilities. She proceeds to fight canon Aragorn's uphill battle, but it's harder at virtually every turn. She passes herself off as a man as "Thorongil" but her gender and identity are recognized by—

—Andreth, the Steward's daughter/f!Denethor. Her only brother died young, while her older sisters are both childless and unwilling to return to Minas Tirith. Andreth, trained in both lore and, unusually, war, has recently waged a bitter if victorious political fight to be acknowledged as Ecthelion's heir, rather than at best a potential regent for her son Boromir. She knows all about fighting uphill battles. Despite her intense dislike of Aranor, Andreth's fight for the Stewardship plays a major part in paving the way for Aranor's eventual ascension as Gondor's first ruling queen.

In all of this, Andreth was backed by her ailing husband, Gwindor of Dol Amroth (m!Finduilas), and his powerful family. This included his gay older brother Túrin (m!Ivriniel) and his younger sister Imraphel (f!Imrahil). Imraphel in particular respected Andreth without feeling the need to like her, all the more after her own fight to get taken seriously as a (hulking) lady knight in Dol Amroth. Imprahel has unhesitatingly presented herself as another Haleth, replicating popular Gondorian imagery of Haleth and proving herself a fierce and dauntless warrior and captain.

Speaking of Haleth, Aranor doesn't have a picked bodyguard of women as Haleth herself did—I don't assume all the northern Dúnedain are throwbacks in the Aragorn-Denethor-Imrahil sense—but she does have a beloved cousin named Haleth (f!Halbarad), whom she trusts implicitly. This Haleth has been attached to Aranor from early in Aranor's active chieftainship, and faithfully joins her with some 30 other Dúnedain, but dies heroically on the Pelennor :(

One major figure is completely absent on the Pelennor, though, both in the lead-up to the major battle, and the battle itself. Míriel, daughter of Andreth, and now her only surviving child, has never had the slightest inclination towards war, though she understands its necessity. She has the iron will of her mother and aunt, along with a distinct strain of her father's gentleness, and like all of them, she can convince men and beasts alike to follow her commands. But she follows Andreth's lead as loremaster rather than warrior, making for a stern, commanding, yet personable Númenórean lady when called upon to convey her mother's will.

Andreth evacuates Míriel with the other women of Minas Tirith, placing her in charge of all the evacuees and warning her of the terrible duty that will fall to her should the battle go ill. They've often been at odds, but not this time; Míriel promises to protect their people as far as her abilities extend if the Stewardship should fall to her.

As it happens, Míriel does receive the news after the battle that her mother, after many years away from warfare, rode out to hold the city's troops together against the Nazgûl long enough for them to retreat into the city. The maneuver succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties, but Andreth died of her wounds not long thereafter. Míriel is now the ruling Lady of Gondor—but not for long. The heir of Isildur has come to claim the throne.

#someday i'll make progress on this! #...someday. #anghraine babbles #fic talk #fic talk: aranor #legendarium blogging #genderbending #long post #my interpretation is that male denethor + female faramir get on way better than in canon #because denethor does not expect fíriel to be a warrior or captain of course and she's a fine loremaster with leadership abilities #even if they clash at times #but female denethor + female faramir are basically canon bc andreth is frustrated by míriel not doing what she did #meanwhile aranor is still difficult in the way that canon aragorn is difficult but also greying hardcore warrior lady aragorn? hella.