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#it’s definitely not Denethor but he would believe so
lesbiansforboromir · 1 year
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Boromir and Faramir in the films are such comical characters when looked at from a certain angle. Like on the face of it they've got this terrible father who's driven mad by power hunger and a paternalistic need to continue his bloodline, so he disparages his younger son for some reason and supports his golden child eldest, okay, awful... but when you look at the actual actions of his two sons... HE'S KIND OF RIGHT!
Like Gondor is still definitely at war with Mordor in the films, no matter how much worse at it they are than in the books, BUT whilst Boromir is there they're doing things like winning entire cities back from the enemy AND Somehow defending themselves AGAINST the enemies apparently holding Osgiliath beforehand which is literally right next to all their farmlands AND WITHOUT EVEN THE RAMMAS BETWEEN THEM??.. Boromir makes a speech with such blatant optimism and such weirdly frivolous priorities like 'lets retake all the cities we have lost and make music and beauty in them again!' it's the speech of a pretty victorious country, not a country 60 years into a war of attrition where the measure of success is 'how much can we delay our inevitable defeat'. And the Steward even PERSONALLY arrives in this just-won warzone- like! the confidence the Boromir-lead Gondorian army has is unbelievable.
And then Boromir leaves... and everything absolutely falls apart. The the chronological next update we get about Gondor's situation is that Osgiliath is EASILY taken (almost immediately after Faramir arrives from Ithilien which begs the question why were you hiding in the woods if an attack was so imminent and how were you taken so unawares), the entire garrison is routed and sent fleeing madly and haplessly back to Minas Tirith and most of them are either killed on the way or killed during the first attack (which sees Faramir running about dazed with clearly no real knowledge of where most of his men are or what they're doing, needing to be literally saved from traps his subordinates create independently without his knowledge.) Faramir even shouts 'Nazgul' as though they definitely are already very accustomed to these creatures and yet still have no way to combat them apparently!
And then Denethor's like, retake Osgiliath! Which, whilst in the moment seems mad, if we're running on what BOROMIR accomplished, is a completely reasonable request! Faramir is like 'Osgiliath is overrun'- it was when Boromir retook it too! But what does Faramir do with this request? Accepts it as a death sentence and does NO PLANNING whatsoever. Literally eleven year olds with no prior military experience would be able to tell you that charging cavalry at a city WITH LINES OF ARCHERS is the most useless asinine action possible, but that's what Faramir does! And in the end he gets ALL THOSE MEN KILLED because of it!
So looking at it all this way... we've got a head of state (who's a pretty normal guy, not especially brilliant at ruling and struggling with the pressures of his responsibilities) his heir and eldest son who's this savant style military leader who was essentially the load bearing rock which was holding up the entirety of Gondor's sub-par military prowess and whom his father is relying on for essentially everything at this point, and the youngest fail-son brother who's only skills are #1 firing bow #2 telling others to fire bow at the right time and #3 looking sad. Literally IN the extended edition conversation, apparently Faramir lost Osgiliath THE FIRST TIME TOO, LIKE THIS IS TWICE THIS MAN HAS ALLOWED THIS FORTRESS TO BE BESIEGED AND TAKEN IN IT'S ENTIRETY!! WEST AND EAST OF THE RIVER!! Faramir makes this excuse like 'we had too few men' and everyone believes him but given Denethor's DERISIVE reaction at that and what ELSE we see of Faramir's military prowess, IT DOES SOUND LIKE AN EXCUSE TO ME. Even Boromir is like he TRIES to do your will, as in 'dont be mean to him he's doing his best!' Denethor's like 'dont trouble me with Faramir I know his uses and they are few' and Boromir has NOTHING to say against it cus he knows he's right!! Of course Denethor would only be able to trust Boromir to go get the ring,
Gondor's film!situation is an entire country of sub-par dudes plus Boromir who apparently was born with every single braincell the rest of them are lacking and whom has a VERY REAL UNDERSTANDING that literally everything is up to him to fix 'He looks to me to make things right and I will do it' who else is going to do it??? Certainly not Faramir!! It's so funny, no wonder he's so emotionally fragile and desperate for Aragorn's approval, he's just looking for ONE SINGLE OTHER GUY whose halfway competant to work with here. They didn't give him the 'Gondor wanes you say but Gondor stands and even at the end of it's strength it is still very strong' line because it narratively would have been a complete lie.
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marsharmonicorchestra · 2 months
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Tolkien Ask Game 🫶
ty very much for the tag @scyllas-revenge !!
(I was so excited to answer these but then I found myself also getting so stuck on narrowing everything down 🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️)
How old were you when you read/watched LOTR for the first time?: I was 8 when my dad took me to see The Hobbit in the cinema, and I thought I was going to be bored but ended up being so obsessed that I didn’t shut up about it for two years, and so after the last film came out, my dad introduced me to LOTR :)) (so about 10 I believe). I read the Hobbit in 5th grade and LOTR in around 8th and 10th. Definitely due for a reread.
Favourite LOTR character: Boromir (ik so shocking), Samwise and Frodo. Also Eowyn and Eomer (And literally so many others but u know, narrowing it down)
Book or films?: I love the books but I’m definitely a movie girl.
Favourite Movie: Fellowship of the Ring.
Which location in Middle Earth do you want to visit most?: First of all, how dare you. Second of all, the Shire (if I have to pick one.) I would love to live life as a flower growing, dessert baking, dancing hobbit with no qualms and cute clothes.
Favourite scene: All of them, obviously, BUT, I remember as a kid not particularly caring about Boromir as a character all that much (I’ve grown), until I sat down and watched the extended edition of The Two Towers and saw the flashback to the last time Faramir saw him alive. The part where he tries to praise his brother but Denethor doesn’t care, and even though he tries to stand up for Faramir, in the end he can’t risk losing the favour of his father because then no one can protect him. Idk as an older sibling I remember being like “that was disgustingly accurate” and then being attached to that one scene ever since.
Favourite quote: “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!”
Gets me every time 🧎🏽‍♀️
Which Middle Earth race would you want to be?: A hobbit :) But also maybe a human so I can be a shield maiden of Rohan. I feel like I could be both. Yes I’ll be both.
Favourite LOTR ship: I honestly have no clue, but I have also fallen down the Boromir/Theodred rabbit hole recently and I don’t think I can go back now. So them. I need more of them.
Not sure whose already been tagged, so I tag @nihilizzzm & @shirebarbie , and ofc anyone else who wants to participate (and if you’ve already been tagged imma be checking those answers cause love these tag games)
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tathrin · 1 year
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Writing three thousand words of The Definitive* History of Oropher was definitely not on today’s agenda...but here we are, I guess!
*definitive as in the definitive version in my head, not actually “definitive” in any way; obviously 80% of this is pure invention because Oropher barely even appears in the Unfinished Tales and basically nowhere else so we’re not working with a lot of canon here is what I’m saying.
And since I’ve written this nonsense out, I figure I might as well share it because frankly, the world needs more Oropher in it...and I might as well have something to show for my squandered day, even if it’s just an extremely geeky tumblr post about a dead elf-king.
And no I will not be including his deadname or his dead-to-him-after-the-Kingslaying name, because he wouldn’t want me to.
—Under a cut for both length and inevitable later edits—
Oropher was one of the first generation of Teleri, born before the Sun and the Moon were placed in the sky. He followed Thingol (then called Elwë) and his brother Olwë on their slow journey to Valinor but, like the rest of group that had fallen in love with the lands of Beleriand while they waited there, he refused to leave with the Valar when Thingol went missing.
When Thingol returned with his wife Melian, Oropher joined in the building of the Kingdom of Doriath and was from then on one of the Sindar. (At that time he was still going by his first name, but that is not a name recorded in any histories that have survived, so he will heretofore be referred to only by his third name as it is the only one by which he would allow himself to later be known.) He was fascinated and delighted by the strange dwarves who carved the caverns of Menegroth, which Oropher always held were the greatest and most elegant of all dwellings ever built in Middle-earth, even long years after they had been destroyed.
When the Green-elves of Denethor came to Beleriand and established themselves in Ossiriand, which they named Lindon, and brought with them warnings about Orcs and other foul creatures in the north and the east, Oropher was one of the quickest of Thingol's people to arm himself; for he (at that time still believed by all including himself to be a maiden; but the elves did not scorn women from their armies as many later Men did) loved his home and to Oropher love always manifested as a blazing urge to protect more than to possess, so he was determined to defend it against all threats.
It was in that time, before Morgoth destroyed the Two Trees, while the lands of Beleriand were still lit only by the stars, that Oropher fell in love and wed his husband, another elf of Doriath. Their son was born shortly before the Two Trees were destroyed, and Thranduil first opened his eyes in the gloaming before the coming of the Sun and Moon.
The family had many happy years in Doriath under the rule of Thingol and Melian, who were both beloved rulers and dear friends, and Thranduil grew especially close to Celeborn, Thingol's grand-nephew. The two were accounted nearly as close as brothers in those days.
When the First Age brought Finrod and Galadriel to Doriath, Oropher joined in the happy welcome of these long-estranged kin of his lord. It was at this time that he chose a new name, having determined that he would henceforth be an ellon instead of an elleth. Being charmed by the language that the Noldor had brought with them out of Valinor, and one of the few Sindar elves to begin learning it with enthusiasm, he crafted this in Quenya and was for a time quite pleased with it. His husband, too, briefly took a Quenya name, and it is likely that they gave one to their son as well, although no histories now record them.
Young Thranduil was especially taken with the prowess of Galadriel, and was delighted when his dear friend Celeborn married her, although even at that time he considered her less cheerful than she might have been; for in those days darkness had not yet darkened the hearts of the Sindar in Doriath. Indeed, Oropher at first argued with Thingol that the elves of Doriath should have closer ties with the Noldor and fight themselves in the war against Morgoth—although he ceased to make such arguments once the fell deeds of Fëanor and his sons became known.
It was at this point that Oropher abandoned the Quenya name he had given himself, and named himself Oropher instead. This was the name he bore for the rest of his life, and his first two were never spoken again; for the first was no longer suited to him, and the second felt like poison in his ears. Never again would Oropher let any word of Quneya pass his lips, for all that he had once praised the language as being the most beautiful tongue known or spoken.
Even after the truth of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë was revealed, the family of Oropher did not turn aside from their friendship with Galadriel and Finrod, accounting them as having been beguiled by the fell and faithless Feanor rather than judging them for being faithless themselves. They would be less forgiving of future betrayals, however, and would eventually grow estranged even from Celeborn in the years after Doriath's fall and the War of Wrath.
Oropher was left particularly bitter by the betrayal of the dwarves who coveted the Nauglamír, although he and his family survived the Battle of the Thousand Caves. He was left even more bitter, however, by the departure of Melian—whom he had heretofore adored as both queen of Doriath, and wife of his dear friend Thingol—because to him, her departure back to Valinor after Thingol's murder seemed to be yet another betrayal, for were not the people of Doriath hers as well? Should she not have stayed to protect them in Thingol's stead?
It seemed then to Oropher that all things that came from Valinor brought ill with them in the end, even the once-dear Melian, for if she had not left and lifted the Girdle of Melian around Doriath, the dwarves would not have been able to plunder it and kill so many—but all the Valar, it now seemed to Oropher, had no sense of duty or love in their hearts, for it was faithless of Melian to abandon her people in her sorrow over Thingol; surely she could only have done it if she never truly believed the Sindar to be her people at all, but that was no suitable attitude even for a member of a society, let alone a ruler of it. For years after, he would not even speak of his former friend, so bitter was the wound her departure over the Sea left on his heart.
Oropher has never been one to give up on a cause or duty, even when perhaps he ought to; he thus has little respect for those who are less steadfast (or less stubborn) than he, and is especially bitterly disappointed when his friends prove faithless (or sensible).
However, stubborn as he was, Oropher did allow his mind to change when circumstances warranted rather than clinging to old beliefs in the face of new knowledge; his opinion of the Green-elves, who had settled in Ossiriand under Thingol's generosity, had not heretofore been great; he did not dislike them, but he was not impressed by what he saw as their shirking flight from the Orcs in the north and the east and their decision to take refuse in Thingol's lands rather than rally and retake the ones they had left. After the Battle of Sarn Athrad, when the Green-elves helped Beren destroy the dwarves who had plundered Doriath, his opinion of them was raised much higher, and he thought of them henceforth as a brave and stalwart people.
He was pleased when Dior came to Doriath and was one of the peredhel's supporters when he took up the kingship of his grandfather. Oropher let go his bitterness and wrath then for a time in wonder at the renewed glory of Doriath under Dior's rule, although his sorrow for his lost friends never left him (nor did he ever fully forgive Melian for what he saw as her abandonment, although his heart lightened towards her somewhat in these days, and he could at least now remember with happiness the old days with his friends before Thingol died).
After Lúthien's death, when the Necklace of the Dwarves came to Dior, and rumor of the Silmaril within it spread to the Sons of Fëanor, Oropher scoffed at their demands to have the gem returned to them; for ever since word had reached Doriath of the Kinslaying, Oropher had had little love in his heart for any of the Noldor and for those of Fëanor's line least of all; although he had grown close to Galadriel, who was a kinswoman of his friend Thingol, and especially to her husband, Celeborn, who was a particularly dear friend of his son, Thranduil. It was not until the Sons of Fëanor came to Doriath to claim the Silmaril that Oropher's heart hardened against all their kin, including his one-time friend Galadriel; for the blood and the grief of that day never left him.
Oropher's husband was killed in the Second Kinslaying when the Sons of Fëanor assaulted Doriath with a surprise attack in the middle of winter. Oropher himself slew Curufin, although he was grievously wounded in the fight, and was forced by his son to flee bloody and weeping. Thranduil's sword was broken in the battle, but Oropher's sword and that of his murdered husband had been forged in the early days of arming when the Green-elves first brought word of Orcs and other dangers, and both blades remained hale and beautiful through all the ages of the world, despite the elf-blood that now stained them.
Along with some of the other survivors of Doriath, Oropher and his son now made their home in Lindon, and lived there briefly among both Green-elves and Noldor. However, some thirty years after Doriath fell, Maedhros heard that Elwing had survived the Kinslaying at Doriath with the Nauglamír and its Silmaril, and when news of the subsequent slaughter at the Havens of Sirion reached Oropher, he decided to have no more to do with any Noldor and led a small group of elves away from Lindon before the Valar returned to begin the War of Wrath against Morgoth.
Oropher and his small contingent of Sindar elves had no interest in getting involved in "the Valar's fight" or in "the wars of the Noldor," as they termed the current conflict; instead they sought the distant Silvan elves in the east, and there found Greenwood the Great and took refuge there. They were welcomed gladly by the Silvan elves, who had never suffered the bloody betrayals of the Noldor; the Sindar elves who had traveled with Oropher were relieved at the salvation they saw in these wild woods, and abandoned much of the ways of the Sindar in order to cleave themselves to their new Silvan people instead. They deemed the culture of the Silvan elves more natural and more wholesome, for it was free of interference from the Valar, whom many of them now blamed for much of the strife that had assailed them.
Many of the Sindar refugees flung away their swords, happy to think themselves free of the conflicts in which such weapons would be required, and heart-sick at the elven blood that they had been forced to spill during the Second Kinslaying. Oropher, however, kept his sword close, and Thranduil, who now carried the sword of his other father, did as well; they remembered well the lessons of Doriath, which had fallen when the Girdle of Melian was removed from it, and they knew that there were no such powers to protect their wild Greenwood.
The elves of Greenwood the Great did not participate in the War of Wrath, although they were not ignorant of the chaos and danger; even their fair forest was shaken by the upheaval. They kept to their trees, however, and turned away all messengers. At that time, Oropher led some of the Sindar elves to build a great refuge upon Amon Lanc, in case it should be needed: the tower was built both high amidst the huge trees and deep under the tall hill, and was fashioned to much resemble the lost Menegroth; although since it was made without dwarven skill the caverns could not hope to rival that lost magnificence. Its walls were sturdy, however, and its doors thick, and it would serve as a strong refuge that would turn back many an assault with ease; for in addition to its sturdy walls of stone, the citadel of Amon Lanc was festooned with many trees and watch-posts from which sharp-sighted archers might rain peril down on any enemy, and the elves of Greenwood boasted great skill with their short bows.
The native Silvan elves were somewhat bemused by the insistence of their Sindar neighbors that such a structure was necessary, but they were charmed by the craftsmanship of its creation—for they themselves had yet done no stonework or metalwork at that time, and lived in light wooden dwellings among their trees—and the perilous days of the War of Wrath had taught them caution, at least in theory if not in practice, and so they were glad enough to have Oropher's expertise in setting-up a strong place to which they might retreat should danger ever come to their woods.
Amon Lanc was abandoned some centuries later not because it fell to any attacker, but because of encroachment to the south and west by the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm and the coming of too many Noldor, like Celebrimbor and Galadriel, to Lothlórien. The elves of Greenwood were reclusive, the native Silvan wood-elves having heard many cautionary tales from their new Sindar kin, and the refugees from Doriath having still great bitterness and suspicion in their hearts from all the dark things they had survived. So slowly the Greenwood elves withdrew from the south of their woods, leaving the great citadel of Amon Lanc abandoned to the trees—and later, to the dark and evil things that would claim its mighty walls for their own.
Those evil things did not come to Greenwood for many years, however. Sauron first assailed and overran the lands of the elves in Eregion outside Greenwood's trees in S.A. 1697, and scattered the survivors. Then the Doors of Durin were shut, cutting that kingdom off from the outside world. Greenwood did not interfere, save to draw further north. By the end of the Second Age, the elves of Greenwood dwelt mainly in the western glens of the Emyn Duir, although they still roamed freely through the forest at will, and there was as yet no Shadow over their trees.
Even they could not ignore the fact that Shadow was gathering in the lands outside, however, and while they paid little note to the attacks on Gondor and Imladris, when the Last Alliance of Elves and Men marched over the Misty Mountains in S.A. 3434 and came to the Vales of Anduin, elves from both Greenwood and Lothlórien joined them, the latter led by Amdir. It was at that time that Greenwood the Great took Oropher as a king, although many of the histories written by outsiders assumed that he had claimed kingship shortly after his arrival in their woods; in truth the Greenwood elves had never bothered with kingships or lords the way the High Elves did, for they had never needed one before they went to war.
They chose Oropher then because he was the oldest of the Sindar refugees who had made their home in Greenwood, and the Sindar had experience at war which the Silvan elves did not. It had been Oropher's voice most of all that had pushed for the building of safe strongholds, and had cautioned his people to be wary of the dangers outside their trees, and they trusted in his wisdom and in his bitter history. Oropher had never sought to rule over anyone, having himself been content as a subject of first Thingol and then Dior, and then finding joy in the wild Greenwood where neither kings nor Kinslaying had ever come; but when his people needed a leader to guide them into war, he agreed to shoulder that task.
Calling himself King of Greenwood the Great, rather than merely captain or war-leader, was a choice made out of consideration for the Noldor and Men and Dwarves he knew they would have to ally themselves with; Oropher knew that his people, with their small numbers and scanty arms, would garner little respect from the High Elves at first glance—and he was not about to bow and place himself and his people under the command of the High-King of the Noldor, for all that he had agreed to swallow his pride enough to march to war with them.
And so Greenwood claimed a king, and marched to Mordor behind his banner, and they fought and died fiercely at his side out of love and loyalty rather than from oaths or duty.
Amdír pledged his warriors to Oropher's leadership, rather than Gil-galad's, the Greenwood elves being much greater in number than the Galadhrim from Lothlórien. They were friends of old, and while they had grown distant in recent years when Amdír welcomed many Noldorian exiles to his land and Oropher did not, there was still much trust and affection between them. It was Amdír who first pressed for a swift charge against Sauron's forces, thinking to wipe them out quickly and end the war with a mighty opening blow, but Oropher took to the idea immediately and it was he who argued the strongest against Gil-galad and Elendil's insistence on a more cautious assault.
Oropher died in the Battle of Dagorlad along with over half his army when they, and the Galadhrim, charged the enemy before Gil-galad gave the order for an attack. No one survived to tell whether it was Oropher or Amdír who gave the fatal order to charge prematurely, or whether it was agreed upon mutually by them both, they were in agreement on many things, and it was held likely in later days that they had decided between them that if they led their forces forward, the rest of the army would have no choice but to follow them rather than waiting on the orders of Gil-galad, with whom they had so often clashed.
Rather than retreat and risk taking heavy casualties for no purpose when they realized that Gil-galad was not going to order the rest of the army after them, Oropher and Amdír pushed forward with their doomed attack, hopeful that they might still win a retreat from Sauron's forces, at least, if not a victory; hopeful at least that they might do some damage to his army, rather than fall in vain. Amdír and the Galadhrim were cut off and driven into the marshes, and half of them perished there; the thousands of bodies that would be buried there later earned this place the name of the Dead Marshes, and memories of the tragic slaughter there ever-after haunted those lands.
The rest of the army of the Last Alliance eventually followed the rash charge of the Silvan elves, but too late to save the leaders of the Galadhrim and the Greenwood. The battle they began lasted for many months before Gil-galad and Elendil finally managed to turn the tide and press Sauron's forces back to the Black Gate. Enough of Sauron's forces died in that long battle that the remnants were driven back and besieged, and the surviving Greenwood elves could not help but wonder bitterly if they might have claimed a victory then if the High-King had only followed Oropher when he first charged.
Despite cutting down more than four hundred Orcs, Oropher died in the first onslaught and his son, Thranduil, was left to lead the surviving warriors of Greenwood for the seven years of siege that followed.
When Oropher's body was found in the carnage, he had been pierced by so many blades and was covered in so much blood and gore—both elvish and orcish—that it was only by the gleam of his golden hair that he was recognized. The body of his gon, a Silvan elf of Greenwood named Gilthawen, lay atop him where she had been hacked nearly in two by the enemies' weapons before she fell. Oropher's sword was afterwards presented to his son, but Gilthawen's lighter weapon lay shattered beneath their broken bodies and her hands had been ravaged by the heavy orcish blade she had wrested from her foes to use in its stead.
They were buried together with as much honor as the beleaguered Greenwood warriors could manage in that foul place, along with the rest of the fallen who now lie in the Dead Marshes.
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anghraine · 1 year
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Hi! I love your Hurinionath headcanons and often find that my own rest upon yours. You say that Faramir's daughter takes a liking to the King, well I add to that a layer of her believing that the King is her uncle (after all, he looks just like her dad?) and realizing, to her embarrassment, that he is not at ~15 :D Do you think that the Hurinionath of the fourth age moved to the Prince's household in Emyn Arnen, or do his aunts and cousins stay behind and do their own thing in Minas Anor?
Thank you very much!
I did have the idea that Glóredhel, the younger daughter, takes a strong liking to Aragorn (both when she's a very small lady of the Steward's house and later, when she's the King's daughter-in-law). I could definitely see a young Glóredhel assuming they all must be related and only later realizing (or being told) that Aragorn and Faramir are very distant relations.
WRT the House of Húrin in the Fourth Age, I imagine that a lot of the house had died out by the War of the Ring (hence Faramir's death meaning the end of the House of the Stewards for all intents and purposes). Denethor's older sisters were still alive in my headcanon, but both married, and while their husbands' families had residences in Minas Anor that they might visit (esp if the distance was not prohibitive), Faramir's (paternal) aunts didn't ordinarily live there in any case. I don't think those families would go to Emyn Arnen at all unless they were formally visiting.
I don't imagine Denethor's sisters had sons who could have inherited—rather, that one of his sisters is childless and another has only a daughter, Aerin. And Denethor's younger brother doesn't seem to be in the picture (might have died young). So as far as that side of the family is concerned, I headcanon that Faramir would have been pretty much alone in Minas Tirith had he not fallen for Éowyn.
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borom1r · 5 days
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Borimir, 4, 17, and 20
4) What they would do if they had one month to live.
augh???? that’s a good question. if we’re sticking with strictly canon, Mordor is still an active threat and he’s just gotten some horrible news from the healers….. hm.
I don’t think he’d ever get quite as desperate as Denethor, he doesn’t see much hope but there’s still practicality. Preparing someone other than Faramir to take over as captain of the guard for him, because he isn’t going to permanently saddle his brother with a position that 1) Faramir does not want and 2) will dump him directly under Denethor’s scrutiny All of the Time. Throwing himself into campaign planning, training troops, organizing relief efforts as much as he can. Anything Denethor isn’t doing to keep Minas Tirith as prepared as possible.
and it raises the interesting question of “what would Boromir do if he KNEW he was not going to be there to protect Faramir from Denethor?” because we know he does not particularly care for Denethor, we know he’d rather see himself in danger than Faramir, and we know Boromir left for Rivendell under the assumption he’d get some answers and possibly some help and go back to Minas Tirith. he wasn’t PLANNING on dying on that trip. not suggesting he’d do anything drastic here but I do think he’d do much more to either get Denethor to shut the fuck up about Faramir’s perceived failures, and/or remind Faramir that he is very much loved no matter what their father says. Because Boromir DOES try, but it’s very much in the vein of keeping the peace and less making an open stand against his father’s bullshit. If maintaining his position as the Golden Son in order to keep Denethor’s attention off of Faramir doesn’t matter, I do think he’d be more outspoken in defense of his brother
17) What they’d sing at karaoke
well I’ve tagged him in Metallica’s cover of Whiskey in the Jar over on my Aragorn blog, so I’ll throw that into the ring
definitely think he’d pick up Hulde aan de Kastelein from Théodred
20) Household chore they hate the most
firm believer that if he ever had to, he’d hate dusting. what do you mean he has to do it again? he dusted. you’re telling him it comes back?? more dust accumulates over time????? fuck off.
washing dishes, doing laundry, sweeping if he tracks mud into the place— that all makes sense. but fucking Dusting???
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helenaiism · 3 years
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WHOSE THE BEST DAD OF MIDDLE EARTH ?
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lightdancer1 · 2 years
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To bring up an evergreen point as far as my take on ATLA writing goes, there is a fundamental rift between a Zuko-centric and Azula-centric narrative
The Azula-centric narrative is not a perfect mirror of canon because Azula and Zuko exist for different kinds of stories. The ultimate heart of Azula's story works very well in the motif of the classical Greek tragedy, particularly in the concept of hamartia and how she's ground between the millstones of war and patriotism and what she's asked to do versus what she can actually do. It also hinges on the concepts of powers versus power, of superpowers/magic versus identity, and what it is to be ground beneath that. At a level rooted more in reality-focused aspects as well it deals with the lived realities of Asian girls versus Asian boys and how girls are punished for being successes and boys are infinitely rewarded for failure.
My Azula-centric stories, be they heroic or villainous, focus on these themes. Power, responsibility, the theme of where and how these lines are drawn and how the willpower/personal focus of Firebending creates a set of problems that Firebenders either rise beyond or it consumes them and everyone around them in the process.
Zuko-centric stories mirror too much of my original fiction to a point that I have no interest in telling this in a pseudo-19th Century setting when I can tell it with aliens and space weapons that crack planets apart and space Austrian bureaucracy serving space Romanovs. Zuko-centric stories have a 'rightful king returns' vibe to them where he's Aragorn against a blend of Denethor and Sauron.
To a Zuko-centric narrative Azula is always a central figure if Lu Ten is dead (if he isn't Lu Ten takes her role without much change). She is the great political obstacle, she is popular (for ultimately the wrong reasons but it's still a reality Zuko-centric storylines ignore when there'd be excellent stories to tell in exploring this and having Zuko actually see that and wonder if Azula actually LIKED that to begin with and connecting over that but). She is the model of everything the Fire Nation believes it to be. Zuko is a roiling maelstrom of rage in the abused child fashion and an abused child who can light everything on fire for real instead of imagination. Zuko is caught between love of a parent who doesn't deserve it and a slow, partial recognition that 'we are the baddies. Oops.'
In my Azula-centric stories Zuko can be peripheral at times because his themes only impinge on hers where her stories would logically have reasons for them to do so.
Even a less fully heroic Azula could be entirely happy to let Zuko grasp the nettle of unpicking the mess the Hundred Year War left of the Fire Nation and leave him to have everything he thought he wanted and to have it good and hard out of sheer 'put me in MY place? Fine. Good luck with your mess' spite.
Writing stories of her living her best life while Zuko flounders through a blend of Weimar and post-USSR Russia and trying to pick together a mess that a hundred years of war and the cultural mentality of imperialism have left adds up to a nifty contrast that's deliberately meant to be one.
For Zuko the idea of reforming the Fire Nation is the task he ultimately set himself to do with, judging by LOK, more than enough success that his successor strengthened it rather than FUBARing it like say, Hu-Ting.
For Azula as she gets older the idea of living a life absent the particular definitions of power forced on her might be very appealing......and this is where my architect idea comes in. She still gets to leave a legacy that will last far longer than Zuko's and becomes the architect of war turned into an architect of peace. It gives her an ideal element of her many heroic (and villainous) qualities, including the abilities to direct people and see visions come true, and for the people of the other nations they fear someone with a blueprint far less than they do someone with the most powerful army in the world even with the best intentions.
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melhekhelmurkun · 3 years
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Long post ahead, babes, I’m sorry ab that! And a quick reminder beforehand: this blog is anti-Denethor. I do not like him. I think he was an abusive father and a very cold man. I would have put this under an anti-Denethor tag, but there isn’t one as far as I can tell. If you are a Denethor stan, I do not mind if you reblog and add your two cents to this, just please be respectful! While I love a good debate and I like to see the other side of people’s views, I am not going to be flat-out arguing with anyone about my opinion on this character, especially not trolls who attempt to bait me into anger. This post itself is not a bait at Denethor stans. I am, again, not trying to start a fight. This is just my opinion on him, and I am sort of playing devil’s advocate against myself anyways.
You know what? I will admit that Denethor was a brilliant Steward for most of the duration of the War of the Ring. I will admit that. Before he went psycho nuts and tried to burn himself and Faramir alive, I will admit that he was a pretty great leader. Dude was a fucking abysmal dad but he was a good Steward who led Gondor through a war - a war in which Gondor was fighting MORDOR! Mordor and Sauron! Nazgul probably featured in most battles in the late end of the War, when they weren’t ring-hunting. Hundreds of thousands of orcs, all on Gondor’s doorstep.
Minas Tirith was right there! It wasn’t further back in the White Mountains, it wasn’t closer to Dol Amroth, it was right fucking there facing Mordor and Minas Morgul directly. Everyday the people who lived there had to wake up and see their doom on the horizon. They had to see black mountains and unnatural storm clouds and flames in the sky. Everyday. But they didn’t panic (much) and they didn’t flee - some did, of course, but there were a lot of citizens still in Minas Tirith! They were all there because they believed their armies would protect them. They believed the walls of the fortress would protect them. They believed their Steward would protect them, that Denethor would protect them and lead them to victory and peace!
Boromir talked about his father’s rule failing, in Lothlorien. He talked about how Gondor was losing hope, losing faith, but this is well into the war at this point. Denethor became Steward in 2984, a year after Faramir was born and the same year of Ecthelion’s death. Then, in 3001, Bilbo leaves and gives the Ring to Frodo, who Gandalf tells to keep it safe while he tries to figure out what exactly it is. That’s 17 years as Steward, Sauron will soon have enough power to start seeking the Ring in earnest - but first he must go through Gondor.
Aragorn and Gandalf capture Gollum in 3009 and take him to Greenwood the Great (aka Mirkwood) so King Thranduil can have him imprisoned. This is more or less where the War begins, I assume. Saruman starts to weaken and ensnare Theoden in 3014, 5 years after the War started. That’s 5 years that Denethor has been leading Gondor against Mordor. Then 4 years later, the Nazgul are released to find the Ring + attack Osgiliath, which is a very important control point in this War.
As everyone should well remember, it was only after Osgiliath was fully lost to the orcs that the tide of the War turned entirely in Sauron’s favor, and it was only with Aragorn’s intervention with the Men of Dunharrow and the Rohirrim that Gondor survived. This means that for about 9 years, Denethor has been supporting and leading Gondor, making sure the spirits of the kingdom do not fall as the kingdom itself surely would if the people lost hope. Boromir has of course been doing most of the fighting as Captain-General, and Faramir has been doing a good bit of it as well as Captain of the Rangers, but the Steward is just as important as either of them in making sure that Gondor gets through this War.
The Council of Elrond is also in that same year the Nazgul are released (obviously) and that takes place in October. The Fellowship leave in December, making it to Moria and Gandalf’s death in 3019. That’s another year to add to Denethor’s rule during the War of the Ring. 10 years total fighting directly against Mordor, and it is only during the last year and a half of that fight that Denethor’s rule and sanity began to decline (I assume). However much I hate to say it, he’s very strong. You have to be of strong will and strong mind to go up against such a terrifying foe, and even stronger to battle him in the sense of the mind - which he did, with the Palantir.
Denethor regularly used the Palantir to get an edge over Mordor, and though Sauron likely manipulated what he was seeing and even directly spoke to him through the seeing stones, the Steward did not give in to him. He is an incredibly strong individual. Jealous and cold, stubborn to the point of malevolence at times, abusive and downright cruel when it comes to Faramir, but strong. I can respect his ability to lead, even if I fucking hate him with all of my being. I know I definitely would not have been able to lead a kingdom like that for two weeks let alone 10 years.
Anyways, just my thoughts on this. Sorry for the long post, doubly sorry if I got some of the timeline wrong (my favorite timeline website for tolkien was taken down, so I had to rely on the fandom wiki instead, meaning I got none of the explanations and half of the important dates)
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morwensteelsheen · 3 years
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farawyn and borodred for the ship ask game thing?
thank you so much!! :)
okay i’ll start with borodred because for some unfathomable reason i actually got there first —
1. What made you ship it?
One of my favourite Types of ships is the Elder Statesmen Of War-type set-ups, where it’s less about people brought together through theatrical romantic gestures and more about the steadiness of people who are going through similar (immensely difficult) circumstances, who know that in their hearts they’re always going to put their duty to that cause first, but still seek out human comfort in other people who will understand what their priorities are and why.
I think there’s also a lot of similarities about the kind of helplessness they both face despite having this tremendous innate strength. Both of them still have to deal with family dynamics that are complex (made more complex by the war) and that can’t be fixed just by their own sheer will power; both of them die these utterly unnecessary deaths (not that death makes a ship but I think in this instance it actually points to the constant tragedy these guys face); and both of them are meant to be the principal figures of their families and people and are ultimately sidelined by the cruel mechanisations of war and the forward march of history or whatever wanky term there is for it — my apologies to ep thompson's ghost, dont haunt me bro.
Plus there’s obviously the interesting thread raised when Faramir starts bitching about Gondor and likens Gondor (and by very explicit extension, Boromir) to Rohan. That always made me go ‘Hmmmmmm, wonder what else Boromir liked about Rohan,’ lmao.
Anyways for me the ship is the equivalent of Star Wars’ Kanan and Hera or (my OTP to end all others) Luke and Wedge, just people getting by on love and duty and without big ol fancy romance.
2. What are your favorite things about the ship?
The fanon, I think, really makes it, as with so many other LOTR ships. battlefield manners, by themightypen is essentially the definitive take for me on them — these two guys who are just so fucking exhausted, man, but still overcome by defensive love for their families, even if their (foster-)siblings are naïve fools. That I just love, love, love. Plus I think they’re unique for their ability to pretty comfortable explore the relationship between Gondor & Rohan in advance of the Ring War without having to stray too far into AU, which I always appreciate.
3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?
Not really, tbh, except in that I don’t think Boromir is necessarily as laddy as people like to portray him. I’m happy to play into it in, say, my modern AUs because I think that’s a fun and sweet niche for him, but I am a bit 🤪 about Boromir as this kind of reckless, drunken playboy (not least because I think that’s a much funnier niche for Faramir to fill, at least when he’s younger). Chapter Four of Swaddledog’s Hearts and Minds gets my preferred Boromir characterisation absolutely spot on, I think.
And now, sigh, the ultimate OTP, Farawyn —
1. What made you ship it?
For starters, I think I am obsessed with Éowyn in a way I’ve never quite been obsessed with any other fictional character. I came to reading LOTR at this moment in my life where I was intensely frustrated about everything — trapped inside permanently (helplessly!) because of the pandemic, just starting a new political organisation that I truly believed in but that was still making me feel like shit, facing down an untenable about of work, and, fundamentally, really, really hating being a woman and what that means. And along comes Éowyn, who is bitter, who is cold, who is ANGRY, and who doesn’t perform joy or softness or gentleness just because people expect her to. She’s this seminal Woman Of War in so many ways, I think the kind of person a lot of us wish we could be. She’s got her emotional taps cut off at the source, she holds her head high and faces down unimaginable personal and political terrors, and at the end of it all still has this abiding love for her family that, I would argue, is almost unparalleled by anyone else in the book.
After all that, she gets this incredible moment of emotional catharsis (or what we expect to be emotional catharsis): “no living man am I!” She undertakes THE greatest martial act of the Ring War, and in that moment there’s this unbelievably sophisticated dialogue happening about gender (“Éowyn it was, and Dernhelm also”), and leadership (Merry finding his courage not because of the immediate scenario of the Witch-king, but because he’s spurred into it by Éowyn’s presence), and love and care.
And then we learn that no, actually, this glorious act of violence wasn’t the emotional catharsis we thought it would be. She gets to ride to war, she gets to throw herself headlong at death, and in the end that hopeless act of individualism isn’t really what does it for her. She’s still left desolate and despairing, and actually all of her problems haven’t gone away.
And then we need to rewind a bit, because along comes Faramir, who is gentle, and is kind, and does seem to believe in joy, but not because people expect it — actually it's made abundantly clear nobody expects it — but because it’s something quite innate to how he figures the world. And he’s a huge fucking nerd too. I have a lot of thoughts on Faramir’s flaws and why I find them endearing, which I won’t put here, but almost immediately you get this sense of a guy who’s quite melodramatic, good humoured, and very much not made to live in a time of war.
But he’s also clear-headed about war and what it requires (tactically, if not strategically, though that’s a post for another day), but who is kind of cynical and weary of it in his own unique way. And it’s a unique cynicism given his personal circumstances because he’s the second son of The great family of Gondor, he’s apparently — though with some big ol’ question marks hanging about the extent — very able to command some of the elite units in the realm, and what’s more than that, he’s got all these fantastical powers (the light mind reading to start, to say nothing of this apparently magical ability to command animals too. bruh.). By all accounts he should be this brazen hot mess, but he’s not. He’s desperate to claw his way out of this war-torn cage of expectation his people have for how a man should comport himself in time of war. Is it a little naïve? Sure. A little fussy? Absolutely. But does it point to that same desperation that Éowyn has? Yes! But also the practicality, like, neither of them are really enjoying the circumstances they live under, but good fucking god are they both able to Make It Work.
So finally we get to the Houses of Healing and what is the finest and most aggressively romantic writing of LOTR. Seriously, it’s so fucking much. It’s breathtaking. It reminds me quite viscerally of this fabulous quote from Les Mis:
The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.
At some point I will devote more time to talking about the two reasons line, and the blissful Queen of Gondor speech, but I think to me that big, important line is: “And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.”
It’s not about Éowyn changing herself entirely (though, I think, it really does bear mentioning that she does change, and that’s every bit as important to understanding that scene as it is romantic), it’s about Éowyn coming to terms with how to live with herself as herself, and how to live in communion with someone else. She can’t just cut people out anymore, and she can’t just treat them as objects of infatuation as she did with Aragorn, she has to reckon with people as they are. And that’s sort of the moment where I knew I was about to plunge fully off the deep end with these two and never know a moments’ peace again, lmao.
2. What are your favorite things about the ship?
Someone on here once called Farawyn a love letter to women and, by god, yes, exactly that. I love the capacity for emotional intimacy, that is beautiful in ways I can’t express. To me, though, my favourite thing is the promise of life they speak of. Not as in oh they shag loads and have babies (though not opposed to that, obviously), but in the sense that unlike Aragorn and Arwen, who are always going to be buried under/burdened with the crushing weight of history and tradition, Éowyn and Faramir are going out yonder those hills and they’re going to do some real cottagecore farming shit. Obviously with all the trappings of rank and nobility and whatnot, but they, unique to anybody else in the books, get to sow this new idea of what life should be. They are, outside of Aragorn, the single most powerful people in Gondor. Éowyn’s got the ear of a king, a steward (which is essentially a prime-ministerial deal here), and functionally her own prince (if the hobbits are to be believed when they refer to it as essentially hers). I suspect that, in life, there were remarkably few arguments she wasn’t winning, and that Ithilien probably trended towards the jumped up noble hippie camp Tolkien so desperately wanted Oxford to be (or, in other words — Cambridge, lol).
3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?
Yeah, man, everybody stop treating Faramir like he’s a big fucking crybaby and Éowyn like she’s some kind of shrieking 2010-era tumblr girl.
One of the single most important lines defining Faramir’s character is when Denethor roasts his ass for always trying to appear noble and lordly, if you ignore every other piece of textual evidence we have about him, what part of that line makes you think Faramir’s some simpering daisy? And why would you want to link tremendous emotional intelligence and care with being too limp-wristed to function, lol??? Like I struggle loads with writing Faramir, because I have never once in my life tried to be noble or self-restrained, so find it hard to get into that mindset, but better, I think, to imagine him too closed off than to do this wilting flower song and dance lmao.
And stop making Éowyn out to be this over-emotional angst machine. She’s got problems, yes, and she’s sure as shit got a lot of angst, but at almost every point in the book where we’re overtly dealing with her emotions, she’s sublimating them into something else. One of the most serious times we see her cry is when she’s fighting with Aragorn about riding out, and after that moment she literally tries to kill herself. Those tears aren’t standard, man, that’s a real watershed (lol) moment for her. You have to read around what the text is saying to get a better feel why everybody’s constantly calling her cold and distant.
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estelfortuna · 3 years
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So, I was thinking it's kinda weird that Boromir wasn't married.
- He was 40 years old, and supposedly didn't have the same longevity of the Numenoreans.
- He was the eldest son, heir of the Steward of Gondor.
- He was a military commander, risking his life all the time while diving into constant battle against Mordor.
- In case Boromir died, Denethor would definitely want a grandson, son of Boromir, to be his heir. Anyone but Faramir.
It would make sense that he was married and had at least one son. Even if he wasn't interested, he had too many responsibilities and was exposed to many dangers, it would be his duty to have an heir.
Sure, there's a good explanation for this. The Professor believed in marriages forged through love, specially considering all his struggles to marry Edith against all adversities. Even though we have some cases of bad relationships in his Legendarium (Eöl and Aredhel, Aldarion and Erendis), even these began with love before the shit hit the fan. The History of Middle-earth explicitly states that elves do not marry if not out of love.
So, the Professor wouldn't give Boromir a wife and son just because it would make sense, he would only do it if he could develop well their bond (they would certainly be very important when Gandalf and Pippin arrived in Minas Tirith, but it would possibly be too much work, specially considering he didn't even plan Faramir before he "showed up" in Thw Two Towers). So, he didn't do it. But I can' help but imagine how would it be if it happened. It would add more complexity to Boromir, as he would try to take the Ring not just to protect his kingdom, but also to protect his wife and son. Also, imagine Faramir having people in his family that legitimely loved him and cared about him, unlike Denethor (who's slightly better in the books, but is still a terrible father). Imagine Pippin meeting them.
The Legendarium is perfect, Boromir is perfect, even if this didn't happen. But I would love if something like that had happened.
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gffa · 4 years
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I was talking with @himboskywalker​ about Tolkien and fandom and fic, because I’m always curious where people’s “area” of the wider Legendarium are at, whether they’re a fan of the Dwarves or the Humans or the Elves or the Valar or what!  (As a surprise to absolutely no one, the Elves are where my heart is at, where I very much love the Noldor, but if you give me a choice I’m going to run over to that Sindar-centric fic every time.) Which got us onto the topic of fic recs, where, yes, I’ve done a LOT of Tolkien fic recs but I tend to read something of a wide variety and this is a list specifically aimed at those who are familiar with the wider Tolkien world, but haven’t really read much fic and want to know where to start! Other Recs First: - If you haven’t gotten further into Tolkien’s work (like say beyond the movies), I’ve done something of a primer here, which includes fic recs and brief explanations and links to videos that help explain some things.  It’s not as hard as it seems to get involved, honest! - Some other fic recs here, as an addition to the above. - My Tolkien blog (which I haven’t been on in awhile, though, I haven’t let it go in my heart yet) has, I’m not kidding, A LOT of fic recs, I did recs regularly for about three years, so it’s almost as massive as my collection of SW recs. If I Could Only Pick Three To Start You With: ✦ And What Happened After by thearrogantemu - This is the fic that took me from enjoying the Silm characters to diving face-first into really loving them, because it wove such an engaging story about the characters sailing to Aman at the end of LOTR, where various characters you wouldn’t think interacting would be as meaningful as they are, but the fic absolutely sells them on it.  Frodo and Feanor having a conversation about language?  Sam and Maglor sharing a boat to the West?  These things are amazing, as this is a fic about healing and what it means to sail into the Undying Lands.  Also, it has a Feanor and Fingolfin reunion that literally put tears in my eyes. ✦ Interrupted Journeys by ellisk - I’m generally not someone who does a lot of rereading of fic just because I have so many new ones to get to, but I’ve read my favorites in this series (parts 3 to 5 are my sweet spot especially) probably four times through now because “Elfling Legolas growing up in Greenwod with a whole cast of characters around him, as the Shadow so very, very slowly creeps towards them” may sound somewhat simple, but the worldbuilding here is off the scale.  The weaving in of how much the First Age and various Elven politics influenced Thranduil’s ruling of a Silvan people is a major theme, but it’s also good parents raising that precious Elfling right and he and his cousins+friends getting into all sorts of mischief, so it’s balanced between humor and drama in the exact amounts I want.  You can skip the first two fics and jump into the third if you like, which is when Legolas is introduced, but I enjoy the whole thing. ✦ Return to Aman OR Quenta Narquelion by bunn - I can’t pick between these two, they’re both incredible.  Return to Aman is basically “Elrond grabs Maglor and drags him to Aman with them” and it breaths such incredible lift into all the characters of Aman, it doesn’t negate the terrible things the Feanorians did, but neither does it negate Elrond’s love for them and his biological family, too.  It’s another fic that’s about healing and forgiveness and it made me glow to read it.  Quenta Narquelion is basically “Feanor refused the call of Mandos after he died and everything started to snowball from there” and it’s an absolutely heartbreaking look at all our Problematic Fave Feanorians and how they were once good people trying to do the best they could, but bit by bit they slipped into the dark.  It’s especially amazing for capturing the complexities of Feanor, as he hovers over his children as a spirit and it really brought me around on his character. The Silmarillion and other First Age Batshit Faves: ✦ The Starlit Sky by Cirth is the fic that really made me get the potential of reading about Maedhros and Maglor raising Elrond and Elros, where it does such a fantastic job of showing that there was genuine affection there, even the midst of all the angst and trauma and pain.  You really get why Elrond could never give up on them, after reading this fic. ✦ In Courts of Living Stone by ncfan - “What if Maeglin never left Nan Elmoth and instead, several decades later, found himself on an errand to Menegroth and developed a relationship with Finduilas instead?” isn’t a fic I expected to capture my heart, but boy did it ever.  Beautiful characterization and beautiful writing, it really captured my imagination, but also gave me ALLLLLL the Maeglin feelings, as well as made me pine that this Finduilas couldn’t have been more common in fandom. ✦ naught but the shores and the sea by ncfan is more of Elrond and Maglor, where it’s an AU that has Elrond finding Maglor after the disastrous attempt to recover the Silmarils and I loved it a lot. ✦ The Crane Wife by Trebia is one that takes an underused character from Tolkien (Lalwen, in this case) and breathes this incredible life into her, gives her personality and joy and sorrow and meaning and, look, any fic that can convince me that Thranduil would marry a Noldo and utterly believe it, you know it’s well-written! The Second Age Is Kind of Quiet in Fandom But I Love It Regardless: ✦ The Art of Long-Distance Grandparenting by Kazaera is a lovely and bittersweet (but mostly lighter in tone) fic about the separation of the Sea between family members and does a wonderful job with Idril’s character, as she tries to stay connected to her grandchildren while being so distant from them and unable to see them, unless they choose to come to Aman.  There’s joy to be found here and it’s a lovely read. ✦ Relativity by French Pony is a lovely look at the final meeting between Elrond and Elros and strikes the right amount of bittersweetness, where it’s awkward and difficult and heartbreaking, but also feels natural and like this was how it was meant to be.  I had many, many Elven Twin feelings during the whole thing.  (I like all their fic, they’re worth checking out their other stuff for, too!) ✦ A Thing or Two About Elrond by Crookneck is a series of fics about Elrond and the various relationships he has--with Celebrian, with his children, with Gil-Galad, etc.--and I remember being really charmed by all of them and how much shit Elrond has seen over the course of his life. The Third Age, Lord of the Rings Version: ✦ Boromir's Return by Osheen Nevoy - This one is sort hard to summarize, but it’s basically “Boromir lives, makes a friend, and slowly changes everything about the LOTR plot”, but it’s so much more than that, where the worldbuilding is phenomenal, the pacing is incredible, it made me fall in love with Boromir as a character all over again, it contains probably the best portrayal of Denethor I’ve ever read in fandom, and I really loved the OC and so on.  It’s utterly engrossing and honestly I cannot recommend it highly enough, even if you’re not usually into this sort of thing. ✦ The River by Indigo Bunting is a fic where Legolas and Sam get separated from the others for a brief time and I love fics that take two characters who don’t interact much, throw them into an intense situation, and sees what happens.  It’s not precisely a light-hearted fic, it’s very intense, but it’ll make you fall in love with the sheer good in both characters and the friendship they develop.  It’s brilliantly written and I cannot recommend it enough. ✦ A Bit of Rope by Aiwendiel is a fic where Gandalf doesn’t fall at Moria and it changes everything--not necessarily for the better.  The slow, creeping sense of things changing, things going just a little bit worse here and there, until you realize how much darker the Fellowship’s journey could have been, was brilliantly done, and one I thought did justice to the idea, it’s not grimdark, there’s still light and hope here, but it makes you feel like, oh, maybe things happened as they did for a reason, even as hard as that seemed sometimes.  Gorgeously plotted and utterly engrossing. The Third Age, Mirkwood Version: ✦ daw the minstrel has an entire series of fics about Legolas growing up in Mirkwood and there’s absolutely a reason why she was one of the most well-known authors in that corner of fandom.  Her ability to create new characters (including two brothers for Legolas) was incredible, I cared so much about the family dynamics and got swept up in the drama (which was in a very loving family, but Legolas was definitely a mischief-seeker) and they’re fantastic.  If you find yourself in something of a stretch with too many OCs and your attention wavers, you can always skip around, they don’t have to be read in order and a lot of the non-canon characters can be skimmed over, imo. ✦ In a Field of Blood and Stone by ScribeofArda is so much better than what The Hobbit movies gave us of the Battle of Five Armies, it does such beautiful justice to the complicated character of Thranduil and Legolas, not sacrificing the warmth there for how difficult these times are and the war they find themselves in the middle of.  This Bard is also really engaging and fun to read--I read pretty much the entire novel’s worth in, like, a day or two because I could not put this one down. ✦ Swordplay and Swimming by cliodna_bright has an incredible meeting where Thranduil comes to visit Rivendell, runs into Elladan and Elrohir, who are young enough that they speak without thinking, and it’s not precisely a humor fic, but I was screaming the entire time because it’s so sharply written and so absolutely delightful, I LOVE IT. ✦ Deep and Crisp and Even by rivlee made me fall in love with how Elves and humans may look very similar, but there’s this sense of otherworldliness to the Elves, as shown through Bard’s eyes when he has a meeting with Thranduil.  Beautifully written and just the right amount of atmospheric. The Fourth Age Where Everything Actually Does Mostly Work Out: ✦ Far Horizons by Bodkin is the Fourth Age fic of my heart, where the various Elves that we came to know in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are all in Aman and decide to build their own realm there.  Which is difficult because Elven Politics even just amongst themselves, much less clashing with all the established politics of the other Elven realms in Aman!  But it’s a light-hearted fic (for the most part) that’s about healing and moving forward, balancing their ties to their history versus that Middle-Earth changed them, and I love it for soothing my soul.  (Thranduil sailed, you can’t tell me otherwise!!!)(Bonus moments of Glorfindel being pretty hilarious.)  I like all of bodkin’s work, but this one has a special place with me. ✦ Age of Healing by trollmela is one where Maedhros and Legolas have a conversation in Aman and it’s about the bittersweetness of healing and how difficult it is, taking two characters who would never have met in canon and weaving something entirely engaging and poignant out of it. Collections That Span The Ages: ✦ This Taste of Shadow by Mira_Jade - This is a collection of dozens of various shorter stories (or sometimes 10k “ficlets”) that you can largely skip around in if you have specific characters you like or you can just start at the beginning and read through.  It contains looks at pretty much everyone, from Maedhros to Galadriel to Thranduil to Elrond to Caranthir to Glorfindel to the Valar, etc.  I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read in this collection! ✦ Fiondil's Tapestry and Tales from Vairë's Loom by Fiondil are in the same vein and I have really enjoyed everything I’ve read from both of them!  I especially remember that there was one chapter that had a scene between Thranduil and Cirdan and thinking, ahhhh, why has no one ever written that before!? as an example of the neat things it does.  But also lots about Elrond and Glorfindel and the Valar and so on! This probably doesn’t feel like a super extensive list, but those collection series will give you an excellent spanning of Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Hobbits, etc., not just the same central characters, but giving time to a lot of lesser focused ones as well.  Like, I feel I’ve read a fair chunk of Elwing fic, but I couldn’t point you to a specific one in my list of recs, which means I’m pretty sure it was in the collections ones or else she got some good scenes in one of the Aman-based fics, so I swear the above is at least a solid place to start for dipping one’s toe into Tolkien fic. AS ALWAYS, OTHER PEOPLE’S RECS ARE WELCOME, god knows I haven’t read anything in the last two years (and will have missed a lot even before that) and so I always need more recs, too!
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cienie-isengardu · 3 years
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▼ childhood headcanon for Faramir? And maybe ♥ - family headcanon for a Mandalorian of your choice :p
Aww, thank you! Writing about Faramir was so fun, to the point my hand slipped a bit XD Sorry for that in advance! Once my cats stop sabotaging me, I will write family headcanon for Mandalorian too, I promise!
▼ childhood headcanon
Faramir was very young when his mother died. Since then, with each passing day Father seemed to be more and more distant, colder for the people in general and in particular for the youngest son while the household became more and more sympathetic for the half-orphaned boy. 
Faramir didn't want their pity. Didn't need it. Because no matter how strange, introverted and quiet, how different and unlike other children he was, Faramir still had an older brother who loved him no matter what. Who protected him from the father's ire that Faramir himself provoked, who told the wildest stories and fairy tales and endured the endless list of questions about elves and dwarves and all magical creatures that came to Faramir’s curious yet childish mind. Who believed in Faramir when he didn’t believe in himself and who dragged the little boy into all sorts of adventures through the whole White City, breaking all possible etiquettes and social norms along the way. 
(Father never approved of that but never forbidden it either. Maybe because Boromir took all the blame on himself. Maybe because father knew that childhood for both of his sons would end very soon. Faramir never learned, was that love for the older son or pity for both of them that stopped Denethor from punishing his wayward children.)
What Faramir knew, even as a child, he wasn’t and would never be like Boromir. His older brother impressed people without effort, so easily bonded with fellow cadets, whatever they were the young sons of nobleborn soldiers or just common people. Everyone in Minas Tirith knew and loved Boromir, not because he was the future Steward but for how lively, brave yet large-hearted he was. How stubborn and dedicated and good he was at protecting the White City. Boromir was born warrior first and foremost. 
Faramir was admired for a gentle soul and sharp mind, but never truly loved the same way people loved Boromir. In Gondor, it was strength of body, the fortitude and battle skills that mattered the most. Not the thirst for ancient knowledge, not love for music or books, nor desire to avoid conflicts and definitely not the pity for fools. Since mother died, Faramir simply learned to not talk about dreams and fairy tales to growns up and children alike, unless it was beloved Mithrandir or older brother. In all fairness, he did not talk much at all. Because of this quietness, Household worried about him and pitied; between themselves called him the poor boy. Faramir did not bother to tell them how little they understood. Even as a child he knew people didn’t like the strangeness and he was, indeed, a strange boy.
(Not for a long though. It was a matter of a few years before father would allow him to join the army and thanks to brother Faramir didn’t worry about that. He was a master of bow and almost so good with a sword. Was that childish bravery or growing up mature that he didn’t fear death? Or was that a desperate hope to stop being the youngest, the weakest, the less useful and prove himself once and for good?)
Faramir was still just a child when Boromir for the first time left safe Minas Tirith to join the war campaign against orcs. Father did not talk to him through the whole three weeks and once Boromir came back, the fatherly pride was palpable in his stern eyes. He could be young and foolish, but Faramir understood the same bravery and skills were expected from him. Yet no matter how good he was with a bow or sword, how well learned in diplomacy and books, people saw him as meek, less brave than his older brother. It hurted, but it couldn’t be helped. Because the truth was that Faramir didn’t want to fight. Didn’t want to kill.
Didn’t have a warrior heart. 
It wasn’t fair, but life in general wasn’t fair as far as he learned. And when you are the son of Denethor, you learn pretty fast to not raise father’s ire. Faramir was always the smart child.
Though that never stopped young Faramir from confronting his father. Boromir said he and father were too alike in that regard. As the oldest son, he tried to keep peace between them. But Boromir couldn’t be there all the time. There were weeks when Faramir did not speak to father at all. Weeks he did not speak much with other people.
There weren't many children close to Faramir's age that he was allowed to hang out with. Partially because he was a son of Steward and as such, according to etiquette, should associate with people of similar status (a rule that Boromir broke all the time). Partially because all his childhood was focused on endless learning. Learning of languages and diplomacy, history, laws and war crafts; everything and all to prepare him to perform his service to the Gondor, to aid the nation in times of war and protect it from rising Darkness. To aid the older brother, once Boromir will take its rightful place as the new Steward.
(No one really taught young Faramir how to live in peace. No one believed a time of peace would come one day; to be even possible. No one was waiting for the King to return anymore. It was just a story, a fairy tale.)
(Faramir has loved fairy tales since he was a little. It was all he had in the darkness time of lonesome, while waiting for brother’s return from another battle.)
Faramir was a strange child, too smart for his own good, too gentle to command a true respect. Father grew more and more distant, colder for the people in general and in particular to the youngest son while the household became more and more sympathetic for the half-orphaned boy. 
Faramir didn't want their pity. Didn't need it.
He still had an older brother who loved him so deeply and unconditionally that sometimes Faramir wasn’t sure if even his own mother could love him as much. It wasn’t fair to her, Faramir knew, but the memory of Finduilas was fading the older he was, leaving him with only a vague impression of her warmth and beauty. Only the memory of sickness that took her away stayed untouched by passing time. Because of that he clinged to everything what Boromir could still recall of her, to all the overheard stories about the late Lady Finduilas told stealthily in the corners of Minas Tirith. Father did not talk about Finduilas, did not want to hear about her either and most people weren’t brave enough to open the old wound in the heart of their respected Steward. 
(Boromir did so, from time to time, because he didn’t want to forget mother. Faramir did so too, because he kept forgetting her with each passing day. Maybe they were just too selfish to let go of her. Too greedy to think about Denethor’s broken heart. Father always looked at them in an incomprehensible way once asked about Finduilas but sometimes he recalled her noble soul, the bravery and gentleness, the sharp mind and love for Minas Tirith. All Faramir could think was how much Boromir must resemble her. It was no wonder why father loved Boromir so much, so much more than him. But that was okay.
Boromir loved him, even when mother and father couldn’t anymore.) 
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lesbiansforboromir · 4 years
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Kim’s right tho and as much as I adore Boromir with every inch of my heart and do believe his more middle men focused lower class appeal came from genuine feeling? He is not in the right either. Boromir used every piece of these qualities to encourage a deep connection between common people, common problems and the Military. He definitely made the military cool. He is absolutely responsible for the kind of warrior idolisation we see in Gondor and Faramir’s anger against it in itself is thoroughly warranted. Because Boromir knows what he’s doing! And if you asked him about it, he would tell you that if Gondor has the time to worry about it’s war romanticising then he’s done his job right. But Boromir is focused and single minded about the path he’s chosen to take for Gondor’s survival and if you suggested other ways he would be loath to try them. Which are all attitudes he’s inherited from his father (although Denethor’s relationship to this is even more complex due to him actually being very like Faramir ect). But if you haven’t heard yet... I fucking love complex characters and relationships dude I fucking JAM with this so hard my guy I love this MM I love it. 
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melnchly-a · 3 years
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@abrazimir​ asked : Was lothiriel aware of the imminence of gondor's destruction? Did she know they wouldn't win this war and that she may be dead or enslaved before she was thirty? Did she contend with her own death, come to terms with it? Did she engage in the youthful rebellion culture of her similarly doomed peers? If she wasn't aware, how did she feel later on knowing her family was viewing her as a girl who would soon be a victim of the horror they were trying to keep at bay?
erran, you ask me so many good questions. and you get so much rambling in response. i am so sorry.
i think we have to start not with lothiriel’s thoughts on the imminence of gondor’s destruction, what might happen after, etc, but with imrahil’s. because, as is usually the case, i think whatever she does have a concept of regarding all of this comes from her father’s actions/philosophies, whether spoken or unspoken. and i am absolutely grasping at straws here, but there are a couple of things i found interesting in the debate chapter before they ride for the gates. imrahil says to gandalf:  “Then you would have us retreat to Minas Tirith or Dol Amroth,or to Dunharrow and sit like children on sand-castles when the tide is flowing?” to which gandalf replies: “Have you not done this and little more in all the days of Denethor?” which i think is a little unfair to imrahil, all things considered, but also kind of telling. because the fact is (and this is my own opinion here more than anything else) i don’t think imrahil would have left dol amroth if there was no hope of gondor surviving. there would have to have been some hope in him for victory or else no hope at all, and the latter isn’t ever a read i’ve ever gotten from him. further on, he says (about minas tirith, but again...i’m extrapolating some from this): “I would not have us return with victory to a city and ruins and a land ravaged behind us.” leaving dol amroth, he must have thought either that a.) he would not be returning and there would be nothing/no one to return to, b.) he would be returning in victory to a city held safe by those he left behind. 
so i think lothiriel sees her father’s hope, sees his actions (leaving dol amroth to fight for gondor’s survival) in this light. she sees him, the swan knights, the other men, leaving from dol amroth with singing and music, and though i think she knows there’s a very great risk that everything could come crashing down, i don’t think she ever fully believes it.  (i also just don’t think it’s in her character to think that way? i don’t think her mind would look at something like the threat of mordor and think “well that’s definitely it, destruction is imminent.” i don’t think her mind works like that.) 
it should also be noted that, yes, i do think lothiriel was sheltered from a lot of the worst of the news, particularly in the gradually darkening years leading up to the ring quest/the war. she was VERY young in that time-frame, she’s STILL very young when her father rides off to minas tirith. but she’s not entirely naive, and she’s too smart to remain entirely in the dark about the truth of the situation.
AND there’s the fact that dol amroth is canonically noted at some point to have been rather more sheltered from the darkness as a whole. it’s so far south, the sea offers some degree of protection, etc. i don’t tend to imagine the area as a whole having the same dark view of the future or hopelessness of the threat as other areas understandably would. not, it should be noted, that i think they’re all skipping about blithely oblivious, just that i don’t necessarily agree with there being much of a cultural facet in dol amroth specifically surrounding how dark and hopeless everything is.  (though i will take a moment to note here that it’s my own personal headcanon that lothiriel’s mother may very well have had some fast-acting poison on hand in case capture/torture were imminent, something i think she absolutely would have kept secret from lothiriel unless/until the time came to use it - - which thankfully does not happen.) 
so yes, i do think she knows it’s dark, there’s a very real threat, that something terrible could happen to her family, to dol amroth, to her, but i don’t see the mindset you mentioned in your questions really being true of her or her family. (potentially one or some number of her brothers, but imrahil in particular strikes me as hopeful, if not optimistic.) 
as far as coming to terms with her own death, i think that’s a yes and no question. yes in that her father leaving to fight really does drive home the severity of what they’re facing, that she has to do the remainder of her growing up very quickly, and part of that does include realizing there’s a very real possibility that she might die before she sees her next birthday. and i think she comes to terms with that insofar as the rest of what i’ve said makes her able to. i don’t think she truly believes that’s going to be her fate or the fate of dol amroth, but she knows it’s a real possibility. she has to confront death much more directly in those moments than she would have had to since she received news of boromir’s death (which is where i think a lot of her realizing her own mortality/coming to terms with it comes from, moreso than the threat of mordor as a whole.) 
when it comes to the way her family views her and how much was kept from her, i think it does trouble her to a certain degree, but i also think she appreciates it. i think she knows there wasn’t much she could have done with that knowledge in that point in time (due to her youth, even her social position as imrahil’s youngest child), and she makes peace with it. 
she makes peace with it and i think she knows it gives her her own kind of strength and grace and difference in the world that follows. she isn’t untouched by the war, but it never hardened her in even the slightest bit. there’s still a lot of innocence and hope, gentleness, laughter, etc, in her that’s different insofar as it wasn’t ever touched by years of doubt or fear or fighting. it means she’s not oblivious to the impact of war, to what that fear felt like, to the reasons the people she spends time with feel and react to things the way they do. but it also offers her ways to comfort and care for them that others don’t have. 
ASK ME HEADCANON QUESTIONS : ALWAYS ACCEPTING
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theyilinglaozus · 3 years
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My favourite thing about Samhain is indeed the spiritual energy I mentioned, which to me is not quite as strong on other holidays. However, I like these others too because... I guess it's hard to explain, but it makes me feel more in tune with nature? The wheel of the year is basically the celebrations of equinoxes and solstices, it has three harvest festivals etc. so the main thing for me is that feeling of honouring, feeling and experiencing the nature we come from! -✨
I definitely see your points about LQR, too! I think he's incredibly dutiful, which in my opinion is a similarity to Denethor, they both have a duty towards their people (for LQR it's his nephews, for Denethor the entirety of Gondor). But yes, LQR definitely wants to protect LWJ from... rash decisions, maybe? Seeing how quickly and entirely he falls for WWX, I imagine LQR is scared of him ending up like his father. The rules also play a very important part -✨
I feel like they are some kind of thing that the Lans, especially LQR, hold onto very tightly because a) it's basically their heritage and b) it gives a very clear guide for life. I don't want to say LQR doesn't know to live life without those rules, but he definitely sees them as incredibly important and cannot accept that LWJ is trying to bend them because a) again, they're basically heritage and b) he just wants the best for him, and maybe the rules have made a good life possible for LQR -✨
Now, how did you spend Christmas? And did you have a good time? I really hope you did😊 Question for today is: I'm giving you a couple of Kiss Marry Kills! (kills included because I'm a little evil I guess) 1. Wei Wuxian - Jiang Cheng - Jiang Yanli 2. Lan Jingyi - Jin Ling - Lan Sizhui 3. Nie Huaisang - Nie Mingjue - Lan Xichen 4. Xue Yang - Song Lan - Xiao Xingchen I wish you a good remainder of the holidays! -✨
Hey CC! 😊
Christmas was lovely, thanks! I spent it at home with my parents, so we had a rather relaxed Christmas from usual. But we still got to speak to the family over the phone and on video chat, so that was nice. 
How you describe the spiritual energy and being more in tune with and honouring nature sounds really nice, actually! I can imagine that would be a great feeling and way of celebrating and connecting more with it, especially since nature is always there and does so much for us! 🍃 I think that’s such a cool thing to honour and respect. 
You explain my Lan Qiren feelings perfectly! I imagine that a lot of the Lan elders are very much beholden to the tradition of the rules, since to them it’s just the done thing to abide by and they’ve probably not really felt that they’ve led them wrong. There was a photoset I saw earlier today which seemed to sit almost perfectly with what we were talking about, which was this comparison here. To Lan Qiren, his brothers’ downfall was breaking off from the path they all followed and doing what he liked in the name of love, and he was only rewarded with tragedy in the end by doing so. To him, as long as his nephews stick to the path and abide by the rules set by their clan, they won’t suffer in the same way. He wants the best for them, and Lan Qiren truly believes the best is ‘abide by our rules for they won’t steer you wrong’.
And to be honest with you, when he see’s what happens to both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian when they do fall off the path, Lan Qiren probably feels justified in his belief. To him, the troublesome Wei Wuxian dies for doing his own thing and practicing in the art of an unnatural cultivation, and Lan Wangji suffers through both a) the grief of loosing him and b) the punishment he receives through the effort of defending and protecting him. He doesn’t want to punish his nephew, but then again Lan Wangji wouldn’t have ended up in such a situation if he had just followed the path that the rest of them do. 
Of course, we as the reader/viewer know that Lan Wangji is right in questioning what he’s always known and that Wei Wuxian has changed his views for the better by allowing him to see that the world isn’t black and white but rather different shades of grey, but Lan Qiren doesn’t know that. His view is different, and all he sees is his youngest nephew being led astray by the troublesome boy from his childhood. If the rules of tradition have never steered Lan Qiren wrong, why would he not have faith that they would always guide his nephews in the right direction? 
Oooh, Kiss, Marry, Kills are always fun! Let’s see:
1. Wei Wuxian - Jiang Cheng - Jiang Yanli
😧 You want me to kill one of the Yunmeng trio? That is cruel! 😭
I’d kiss Wei Wuxian - because I think if I even thought about marrying him I’d have Lan Wangji on my case and nope. I’m not risking death by cold stare 😂. Probably marry Jiang Yanli, because she is an absolute sweetheart and I cannot, will not hurt her. And I am so sorry my angry purple berry, but I think I’d end up killing Jiang Cheng just because he’d be so stubborn and angry over something we’d be arguing about and I would have enough™
2. Lan Jingyi - Jin Ling - Lan Sizhui 
I’d kiss Sizhui (wow that’s weird after saying I’d kiss Wei Wuxian but there is no way I am killing the best son). Marry Jingyi, because I reckon that would be hilarious and a marriage where there is always entertainment (plus we could both be the most un-Lan Lan’s together that way 😂 ). Once again, I am so sorry golden boy, but I guess I’m killing Jin Ling here. 
3. Nie Huaisang - Nie Mingjue - Lan Xichen
I’d kiss Nie Huaisang. Marry Lan Xichen - he’d be such a good husband! 😍 Plus I think he needs some happiness in his life after all the death and betrayal that’s happened. Sorry Mingjue, guess you’re staying dead in this scenario too. 
 4. Xue Yang - Song Lan - Xiao Xingchen
Kiss Song Lan. Marry Xiao Xingchen. And kill the murder boy Xue Yang. You’re an interesting character Xue Yang, but I gotta protect the boys. Plus I’m sorry, if I even tried to kiss or marry him he’d probably just stab me with a dagger or sword he has hidden somewhere on his person. Boy’s a menace 🗡️
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cosmicbug379 · 4 years
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Alive
Okay nerds. I have a LOT of feelings, and I’m in a Mood™ so here, have this garbage that I wrote in an hour and definitely did not edit.
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
Pairing: Faramir x OFC 
Words: 773
Warnings: Mentions of death, Denethor is a dick, but that’s canon so..
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Morwen watched from the Citadel walls as Faramir led the riders closer and closer to the fallen city. He shouldn't be going. They were all going to die, but his father didn't care. Denethor insisted that Faramir reclaim Osgiliath, but he was just sending them to their death. She had begged him not to go, but he wouldn’t listen.
“Please Faramir! You don’t have to do this!” she called to him as they left the throne room. 
“I must, my lord commands it,” he replied.
“Your father does not deserve your loyalty, Faramir.” she spat. “He does not care for you the way he should.”
“Nevertheless, I cannot disobey him,” he said, turning towards the armory.
“Faramir you will die! And so will all your men! And then those creatures will march across Pelennor Fields to Minas Tirith and the city will fall. All because her best warriors were sent on a fool’s errand to try to reclaim Osgiliath! You cannot go!” 
“Morwen,” he stopped walking and turned to her. “I cannot disobey my father. Boromir would go if he were the one here.”
Faramir had sadness in his eyes and it broke Morwen’s heart to see it. 
“Boromir is dead,” she whispered. “And if you try to take back Osgiliath you will be dead too, and I will be alone. You think your father will let me stay in the Citadel if you die? He didn’t like me much when Boromir convinced him and he barely tolerates me now. Faramir you cannot do this, you are needed here. By me and by your people.”
He hesitated, he knew she was right. His father’s disdain for her was the reason they hadn’t been able to marry yet like they wished to. If he died, his father would surely make her leave. He almost agreed to stay. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and leave with her, they were both rangers, they could live in Ithilien for a long time. But that was only a fantasy, she could survive without him, and he was bound to serve his father and Gondor.
“I’m sorry, my love,” he whispered, holding both her hands in his own, and kissing her knuckles gently. “I must do my duty, I do not know if I will return, but I will try to come back to you.”
“At least let me go with you,” she begged. “If you insist on going to your death at least don’t make me stay behind.”
“No!” he exclaimed. “You are still not healed from the battle that lost us the city. And I am not willing to let you ride to your death.”
“How do you think I feel?!” she yelled at him. “Why are you allowed to risk your life but I am not?”
“Because it is my duty to Gondor and to my lord steward! It is not yours. You are not a soldier, you are not bound to fight for my father.” he said, keeping his voice low.
“I may not be bound to your father, but I am to you.” she insisted. “No, Morwen. I am sorry,” he kissed her forehead before leaving her behind.
Now she watched as he rode closer and closer to Osgiliath. Morwen turned away from the wall, she could barely see them now and she wasn’t going to watch her love die if she didn’t have to. She sat beneath the white tree for several hours, praying to the gods of elves and men, hoping some of them would listen and bring Faramir back to her. 
This was Denethor’s fault, she hated him. The man had always favored Boromir and treated Faramir like he was worthless. She still couldn’t believe she had really heard the man agree that he wished Faramir had died instead of Boromir. Well this battle might just grant him his wish. 
Morwen watched the tree for a few more moments and looked up in surprise when sure heard someone shouting. Denethor was coming out of the Citadel and coming towards her and the tree. She looked to her left and saw some of the guards carrying a man towards them and she almost gasped when she saw who it was. They laid him down next to the tree and Denethor wailed over the death of his son before going to the wall and looking out at the army of Mordor at their doorstep.
She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, she watched as Pippin came running down the steps and stopped next to him. Pippin looked up at Morwen with a smile.
“He’s still alive!”
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