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onthesandsofdreams · 3 years

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A Father’s Regret

Fandom: The Silmarillion Characters: Elu Thingol & Lúthien Rating: G Summary: “Will you not stay?” He finally asks, breaking the silence. His daughter turns, his little Lúthien. “This is still your home.” Words: 750 Notes: Takes places after Lúthien and Beren return, before their departure to Tol Galen. Tagging: @flashfictionfridayofficial

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He stands in the doorway of his daughter’s chamber and simply watches.

He watches as she moves with still unmatched grace, with the elegance of the eldhil on her limbs, but she is no longer one of them. And he swallows down the knot in his throat and the bitterness, both were of his own making.

“Will you not stay?” He finally asks, breaking the silence. His daughter turns, his little Lúthien. “This is still your home.”

But his child, the greatest thing he ever did, simply shakes her head. “It is not my place anymore.” Her voice is soft, free of reproach and resentment. “I think it is best for Beren and I to leave, to make a home for our own.”

He swallows down disappointment, ‘your own fault’ supplies his mind, his heart and soul. So he simply nods, “Very well,” he starts slowly. “But dear child, this will always be your place. Your home.” he stops and curses the lack of water and his dry mouth. “Should you and Beren ever wish it so, the doors of Menegroth and Doriath will always be open to you both.”

There is a sudden sadness in his daughter’s eyes. “I know, adar. And I thank you.”

They fall into silence once more, and there is so much he wishes he could say. But words fail him, the ones he has seem poor and ill suited for this moment. As if they could take away any remaining affection his daughter may still hold for him. So he does not speak, he simply watches until his daughter is done packing, he takes her bag without being asked. If this is one of the last things he’ll ever do for his daughter, then, at least, let him do so.

They walk side by side, Beren is waiting at the stables with his wife. The words ‘forgive me’, are at the tip of his tongue, but they somehow never manage to cross the threshold of his teeth. So he simply walks side by side with his daughter and does his best to commit to memory every single aspect of hers.

At the entrance of the stables, his heart wrenches. There, a very selfish part of him, wishes that he could turn back the days, the months, the years. Turn back to those days when Lúthien was a babe in his wife’s arms. But the bitter reality is, he can’t. His wife does not hold that power either, none save Eru could, possibly. And he doubts The One would feel very merciful at his pleading. It was he who drove his daughter away.

His wife had warned him, but pride had blinded him. It had taken his daughter, brave, beautiful child of his to make off and achieve the impossible. Only to die and return, and he, unable to do anything, simply lets her go.

Because now, it is the least he can do. He can remind her that this will ever be her home, for her and her now husband. But he can’t take back the words, the actions and only has himself to blame for this distance between him and his daughter.

His law-son is weary of him, and the only thing he is able to do is offer material comforts. The mortal will possibly never trust him, nor like him maybe. But he is the one who earned that mistrust and dislike, they are civil, for his daughter’s sake, even if love never grows between them, they both love Lúthien enough to put aside that dislike and be polite.

His daughter takes her bag and gives it to Beren, he places it in the horse that will bear his daughter away with the help of a stable hand, and once that is secured, his daughter mounts. And for a moment, his daughter looks at him with something he can’t quite place, and feels the hand of his wife slip into his own.

“Fare thee well, daughter. Son. Do remember, this will always be your home. You are welcome any time that you wish it.”

His daughter nods and Beren holds his hand over his heart. “Thank you adar, we shall remember.”

And with that, both riders set off. His mouth grows dry. And he simply stands there, and watches as his daughter grows smaller and crosses the lines of trees that make for Doriath, and she vanishes from his sight. And something inside of him dies, there is no turning back now.

#Flash Fiction Friday #elu & luthien #luthien tinuviel #luthien #elu thingol #luthien x beren #the silmarillion fic #the silmarillion #missing scene fic

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env0 · 4 years

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I was tagged by @notquiteinsane name my top 10 favorite women from 10 different fandoms/pieces of media and then tag 10 people (do i know ten people???)

Alanna of Trebond. From Tamora Pierce's the song of the lioness series was sand still is one of my favorite book series. Alanna overcame so many struggles but never relented it backed down.

Lessa, Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr. From Anne McCaffreys Dragon Riders of Pern. Lessa and her golden dragon Ramoth lept 500 years between to the past after The Red Star made its final pass and Pern was safe to bring all the dragons 500 years to the future. In her youth she was able to orchestrate the death of one of the most notable warlords Pern had ever seen and didn't even have to bloody her hands.

Menoly of the Harper Hall, from Anne McCaffreys Dragonsong trilogy. She fought against such oppressive family and authority just so she could do what she loved. Performing music.

Lara Croft. From Tomb Raider. I grew up with my whole family playing these games and while they were a huge challenge for me it was so fun to watch my siblings adventure through Lara. challenges

San, from Princess Mononoke. This movie influenced much of I am. San was unflinching in her drive to achieve her goal.

Red Ring Rico Tyrell from Phantasy Star Online. She was the first Hunter to go to Ragol and got possessed by the intergalactic extradimensional being, Dark Falz in the ancient ruins they found. Only to be saved by the player on Ultimate difficulty lv200.

Artesia Some Deikun from Mobile Suit Gundam. After hey father's assassination and losing her brother to the One Year War, she took up and to fight for what she believed was right. And was a pillar for that.

Atla Fayon from Rising if the Shield Hero. Her sacrifice and love permeates the rest of the story into its final moments of climax she remains ever present. She to was unwavering in her desires.

Yuuko the Space Witch. From various Clamp works. She's just a smoking hot timehopping, reality warping babe. Oof

Hermione Granger. She took no shit and was really the greatest witch (who should have gotten more credit for being so great)

@owoinginthedark @sinfulsamuraii @maghrabiyya @babylungzzz @cockyvonmurdertits @epicwinsauce @sweet-decay

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crusherthedoctor · 5 years

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Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 12: THE HARD-BOILED HEAVIES

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be covering the rotund oppression squad of Sonic Mania, and celebrated improv artists among the Badnik community: the Hard-Boiled Heavies.

The Gist: Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower were heading to Angel Island in pursuit of a mysterious new jewel that their nemesis, Dr. Eggman, was on the hunt for. Unfortunately for them, a squad of Egg Robos had already beaten them to the punch, because literally everyone in the Sonic universe is faster than Sonic. Upon being unearthed, the jewel in question - the Phantom Ruby - wasted no time in working its magic, and with its unexplained distortion efforts, it sent Sonic and Tails (and Knuckles) to Green Hill.

Also, it gave the Egg Robos more than a few nifty accessories.

The king was on his own with finding the tip of his scepter though.

Thus began a new adventure that proved to the non-believers that this franchise can in fact work beautifully when the characters have gameplay mechanics in common with each other and aren't going around picking up guns and turning into werehogs. Sonic was on a mission to get to the bottom of the Phantom Ruby shenanigans, but his upgraded opposition, dubbed the Hard-Boiled Heavies, did whatever they could to stop the hedgehog's pulse, which largely involved making use of old Badniks in refreshing and exciting new ways... much like themselves.

This is a more compelling take on Arthurian legend than the entirety of Black Knight.

All the while, Eggman carried on using the Phantom Ruby to his heart's content to make things even more difficult for our heroes, like teleporting them away as often as a Kirby final boss, and giving Metal Sonic a brand new Final Smash. Eggman planned to use the Titanic Monarch, a giant robot that made the monsters in Shadow of the Colossus look vertically challenged by comparison, to achieve his lifelong dream of taking over the world. Complications arose however, when the leader of the Heavies decided he wanted the Phantom Ruby for himself. Sadly for him, this was not an Adventure Era title, meaning Eggman actually fought back, and on equal terms at that. Sonic, with his super form, was forced to take on Eggman and the King at the same time.

In a stunning revelation, Sonic defeated them both. But not before the Phantom Ruby itself teleported the hedgehog away one last time, to a different time completely, where he would experience a different journey altogether... Then he came back, did the whole thing all over again, and now he's cracking a cold one with the boys (and King, for some reason).

Fucking 4Kids censors at it again.

The Designs: The Heavies are still Egg Robos at their core, so they share the same general body structure. Don't assume that makes them indistinguishable however, for they've been given a lot of bells and whistles that play to each of their thematic motifs, right up to their weapons of choice.

Heavy Gunner is a robo-bobby:

"You're nicked, hedgehog... But before you're sent to the chair, are there any pencils you'd like me to sharpen for you?"

Heavy Shinobi is a stealthy ninja, despite being neon green:

He speaks entirely in fortune cookies.

Heavy Magician is always dressed to impress:

These guys certainly do make me feel like magic.

Heavy Rider is a rough n' tough knight of the round table... if that table was Eggman's:

She dances when'ere she's able.

And the top dog, Heavy King, is suitably imposing without trying too hard and looking accidentally hilarious in the process, unlike certain other villains in this very series:

Why did he watermark his chest hair?

His Majesty also gained a second form during his final battle, which sacrificed his legs for size, power, and high quality Tee Lopes rips.

And a chimney for his head.

These designs already go far to give the Heavies their own sense of individual character. As you'll soon notice however, that's only half of it...

The Personalities: You can laugh all you want, but these Egg Robos in a game with no dialogue whatsoever managed to show vastly more personality than many of the villains in this franchise WITH dialogue. Look at this shit right here, and tell me they don't immediately ooze charm like it's nothing.

Pictured: Love at first sight.

And this extends to your confrontations with each of them. Gunner is crafty, and willing to sacrifice his own men to cover his ass, but the panicked look on his face when things go south for him is very relatable.

"Wait... I'm in a Sonic game...? ...For Sonic fans...? ...Oh god..."

Meanwhile, Shinobi puts up a cool and suave front, and never hesitates to go in for the kill, but he's not above playing around for the sake of his own cockiness.

Magician is a bubbly showoff, always popping up to mess with the heroes at a moment's notice. But she's also rather affable, and well-mannered to her mortal enemies.

Almost makes up for the Strangelove hands.

And Rider is perpetually in the midst of a cocaine rush, as her thirst for thrill and fun never sleeps. Yet she appears to have great affection for her pet Motobug, Jimmy.

Finally, King is a no-nonsense frowny face with a Sean Connery accent who is sick of his fellow Heavies' shit, who can nonetheless back himself up as the group's undisputed leader.

They may be fairly straightforward, but through the subtleties of their animations, there's a lot of life put into these guys, and their characters don't start and finish with their default trait like so many before them. You don't need to be Shakespeare in a Sonic game. You just need to be memorable and entertaining while fulfilling your role. And the Heavies do that with considerable ease.

The Execution: This might come as a surprise to you, but I love the shit out of the Heavies.

How can you hate this???

You have to understand that an overwhelming number of villains in this franchise not named Eggman have not only ranged from mediocre to terrible, they've also had a tendency of feeling the same as each other. When it's not a giant monster with little backstory of genuine interest, it's a guy dressed in all black who does evil for evil's sake. And that's without adding the recolours and their penchant for gaining disproportionate fandoms simply for being recolours.

Why is it, then, that a group who are all based on the same robot succeed where those villains fail?

Well, I'd argue there's a few elements at work there. The obvious one is that they're simply better implemented, and they leave an impression through their boss encounters and animations rather than whether or not they played tonsil hockey with Shadow or Amy in a fanfic. Another factor is that unlike other villains, they were never hyped up to be the Raddest, Baddest, Greatest Enemy of All Time for Sonic, and thus they didn't run the risk of not being able to live up to that claim. They were allowed to simply exist and do their own thing, as one addition to help compliment an overall package.

You could also argue that their status as a group works in their favor too, as it helps to make each of their traits pop out that little bit more. And they're honestly really clever with their strategies, like how Magician transforms into forgotten characters to spice things up, or how Shinobi's shurikens aren't actually shurikens, but rather Asterons, one of the most notorious enemies in the series. And need I mention Rider using a goddamn Motobug like it's a steed? These characters could have been very throwaway, but there's a surprising level of thought put into how each of them work, and giving them a characteristic spin that works to Sonic's tastes, and considering this is the same franchise that gave us a bad guy named Black Doom, I'd say it's worth noting.

"...Please explain why Boobie Bots Weekly is in my search history."

So yes, in this world where Dooms and Mephiles's's's's's's have been running rampant, the Hard-Boiled Heavies share their creator's honor of making a name for themselves. And as much as I have a fondness for the Deadly Six in spite of their issues (Zazz and Zor are still hilarious, fight me), I will agree without argument that the Heavies are a much better execution of the quirky boss group format on the overall side of things. And I swear to GodJesus and the Bear, if they never make a single appearance past their debut, I will be a very sad panda. If they can give Silver and his tiresome schtick countless second chances (and failing to make it interesting every single time), they can sure as hell give these juggernauts another go.

But until then, at least we still have Mania. Now if you'll excuse me, Shinobi's about to teleport behind me. Hope it's nothing personal.

Crusher Gives the Hard-Boiled Heavies a: Thumbs Up!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #The Hard-Boiled Heavies #Sonic Mania

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